1 / 29

Learning Goal

Learning Goal. To understand the film’s message about gender roles. All About Women. Not just all about Eve But, provides a portrait of women in general Celeste Holm (Karen) said the film was “all about women” Eve – biblical first woman – the mother of all mankind, reinforces this idea.

cliff
Download Presentation

Learning Goal

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Learning Goal To understand the film’s message about gender roles

  2. All About Women • Not just all about Eve • But, provides a portrait of women in general • Celeste Holm (Karen) said the film was “all about women” • Eve – biblical first woman – the mother of all mankind, reinforces this idea

  3. All About Women • 1. Women and ageing • 2. A woman’s place in society

  4. 1. Women and ageing

  5. Group Discussion Questions Assign a scribe • Why is it considered rude to ask a woman her age? • Does this same rule apply to men?

  6. 2. Do you notice anything strange about this poster? What is going on here?

  7. 3. List as many male actors you think of who are roughly older than 35. You have one minute.

  8. Now do the same for female actors. 1 minute.

  9. It’s not your fault if your lists are uneven… A study titled: Age, Gender, and Compensation: A Study of Hollywood Movie Stars published January 28, 2014: • Average earnings of a female movie star increases until age 34, and then drops off significantly. • Men, on the other hand, hit their peak earnings at 51 and keep on making good money until they retire. • The study authors even had trouble finding women over 45 to include in the study. 

  10. ?? • So, if there are barely any actresses over 45, who is playing the love interests of the older men?

  11. The Oscars • 29 - most common age of best-actress winners • Only ONE MAN has won it at that age, and he was the youngest best-actor winner of all time(Adrien Brody, The Pianist)

  12. So, it seems as though… • Women’s attractiveness and worth diminishes with age • After a certain age (35-40ish), women are no longer seen as sexual objects, therefore, there are no leading roles for them

  13. Sally Field and Tom Hanks • In the 1988 movie Punchline, Sally Field was 42 and Tom Hanks was 32. She was his love interest. • In 1994, for Forrest Gump, she was 48 and he was 38. She played his mother.

  14. Same ideas expressed in the film, 60 years ago: • Men’s attractiveness and worth is ageless "Bill's thirty-two. He looks thirty-two. He looked it five years ago, he'll look it twenty years from now. I hate men.” • Women’s attractiveness and worth diminishes with age Karen: “Bill is all of eight years younger than you.” Margo: “Those years stretch as the years go on. I've seen it happen too often.”

  15. Construction of character Mankiewicz specifically chose for Margo to be 40 “It’s a bitterly sad point of no return for an actress”

  16. Use of lighting • Margo, lighting used to create shadows and emphasise her wrinkles • Bill, bright lighting makes him appear more youthful

  17. Mise-en-scene • Margo positioned next to caricature of her on ‘Aged in Wood’ poster

  18. Why does a woman’s attractiveness and worth diminish with age? • The film suggests that women are expected to be decorative and pleasing to men“light which flashes on top of [a tower]” • One standard of female beauty is approved • Femininity is what’s attractive • Youth and naivety is what’s considered feminine “so feminine and helpless…so many things I want to be for Bill”

  19. Result:Ageing can bring about feelings of shame, worthlessness, and vulnerability: “forty years old. Forty. Four oh. That slipped out, I hadn't quite made up my mind to admit it. Now I feel as if I'd suddenly taken all my clothes off...”

  20. How is this struggle explored through different characters?

  21. Margo • Insecurity about her age affects her relationship with Bill: “you're a setup for some gorgeous wide-eyed young babe.” “Am I going to lose you, Bill? Am I?” “How childish are you going to get before you quit it?”

  22. This insecurity existed before Eve “You know what I think about this - this age obsession of yours” “You've had so many reasons for not wanting to marry me...” • Margo worries that Bill is in love with the performance, not her • The age gap and being at the end of her career, Margo can’t help but worry that once she is no longer “Margo Channing” Bill will not love her

  23. This existing insecurity is heightened by Eve’s arrival Margo feels even more threatened: “So you've pointed out, so often. So many qualities, so often. Her loyalty, efficiency, devotion, warmth, affection - and so young. So young and so fair...” “it spells a paranoiac insecurity that you should be ashamed of”

  24. Trapped in destructive behaviour she can’t control “due to some strange, uncontrollable, unconscious drive you permit the slightest action of a kid like Eve to turn you into a hysterical, screaming harpy!” “It's obvious you're not a woman” Mise-en-scene – four poster bed, like a cageHigh angle shot – small, powerless

  25. 1. Women and ageing - Summary • What does the film suggest about how ageing affects women? • Which character is this theme predominantly explored through? • Which techniques are used to convey these ideas?

  26. Application – Quick write • Respond to this question: How are viewers positioned to feel about the maturation of women? Cover: • What the film suggests about how ageing affects women • Which character this theme is predominantly explored through • Which techniques are used • Whether we are made to feel pity for them

More Related