Monday, January 08, 2007
Task 14
Introduction“There’s a lot of stereotypes floating around which I don’t think are true” [1]
How and why have the representations of women changed and do they break or conform to the stereotypes?
‘Pretty Persuasion’[2], an independent teenage comedy film is about a young girl, Kimberly, a “monstrous girl who is both amoral and immoral”[3], who willingly uses her brain and body to achieve her main goal in life which is fame. What is different about this film is that it exposes various representations of women, presenting much stronger women than shown in history. The representations of women have gradually changed from when they were shown as passive and inferior, although they are still shown to be “objects of the male gaze”[4]. Historically, women have “usually taken supportive roles rather than key, decision making ones”[5] and they often conformed to stereotypes. This film aims to move away from those representations and break away from the traditional stereotypes and fight away from the myths that are perpetuated by the media.
[1] Said by Kimberly in the film, Pretty Persuasion
[2] Pretty Persuasion directed by Marcos Siega 2005
[3] http://emanuellevy.com/article.php?articleID=143
[4] Smelik, Anneke (1998): And the mirror cracked: Feminist Cinema and Film Theory. UK: Palgrave Macmillan
[5] Nelmes, Jill (1996): Introduction to Film Studies. UK: Routledge
Sherish at 1:53 PM