Our discussion in class left me thinking a lot about the idea of feminism in music and I came to the conclusion that it’s hard to find a true female musician in today’s media that draw the same attention as Madonna(which anything I’ll say would be bias having a mother and grandmother who idolize her) or Sinead O’connor. Today the music industry is surrounded by sex appeal. Beyonce to me is not a feminist just because she has the words lit up behind her.  That was in response to the events prior to the performance where it was revealed her husband Jay Z was in an altercation with Beyonce and her sister (all rumored) in a New York elevator. If you look at the events of the situation and how she handled it, Beyonce doesn’t show any feminist ideals. Rather she uses the term at the end of the performance to make viewers think she actually did something in response to the situation.  On a musical level her lyrics are great for entertain and I myself am a Beyonce fan, but I don’t feel she does much for it.

Rather I look at artist like Lorde and Lupe Fiasco as feminist. That’s another thing that kind of threw me off was the focus on female musicians when some men have shown feminist ideals. Lupe Fiasco and Lorde have both done something we haven’t seen in recent years and that make the media and audiences uncomfortable. Lorde’s lyrics can be empowering at times like in her songs Royal or Team. Outside of music she makes statements that draw our attention like her criticism of the United States and other events.

Lupe Fiasco to me is a feminist as well as a social justice advocate. In his music he makes social critics and returns Hip Hop  to its roots of jazz and storytelling and not the pure sex, money, and drugs mainstream Hip Hop is today. In his song Bitch Bad he talks about the use of the word Bitch in our society and how its double meanings can be hurtful yet empowering. He is educating us about this misuse and its danger which is more than many artist have done today. With that he faces a lot of backlash for the media and other rappers. He has been dropped from label and faced the same struggles that the musicians in the documentary faced. To me he is on small aspect of feminism, but just like all the others he is being pushed out since he cannot be branded like The Spice Girls or Beyonce.

To me today’s feminist in music would be

J. Cole

Lupe Fiasco

Mary J. Blige

Jhene Aiko

Lorde

Recently we have been talking, reading, watching different forms of feminist text and how the theory is shaped in different areas of the world. This has been a more contemporary setting, but during my Classical Mythology course we got into a Greek tragedy that had elements of feminism, and even today is considered a feminist text. The story is called Medea by Euripides that tells the tale of betrayal and revenge. In my Classical Mythology course we had a discussion about  how the character of Medea displayed feminist traits as well as how this is probably the only story that puts a woman in a strong dominant role and how she tries and accomplished the breaking of the patriarchal society.

I found this really interesting that even in really early forms there hints at feminist ideas. It’s also interesting to see how much variety there is in feminism. Or even things that we wouldn’t think of has a feminist texts can be viewed that way by different audiences. I think it would be interesting to talk about some different types of Cinema, books, plays, etc that hint or talk about feminism that aren’t contemporary. It would be a nice way to compare the past with the present and even the future. If you’re interested in the Medea story here’s the wikipedia link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medea.

For the past few classes we have been talking about sex scenes and how they work in terms of feminism. Scrolling through Facebook I came across this article that talks about what it is really like to film a sex scene. I thought this would be an interesting insight to the behind the camera so we can learn about the actors feelings. It also go me wondering why we were uncomfortable watching filming desire, but when it comes to watching movies like Boogie Nights we don’t get as freaked out. I’m not sure if it’s because we know Boogie Nights is about the porn industry or just that we can’t take Mark Wahlberg serious. That brought me to wonder if because in the US pornography is such a huge thing does that take away cinematic sex scenes or just make it more awkward. We went out of our comfort zones and watched sex scenes from the Eastern part of the world, and the content was pretty much the same. Is it the fear of the unknown? I personally got weirded out when we watched Film Desire then I questioned why I am I able to watch so many films with sex especially graphic like Boogie Nights and not feel weirded out.

http://nofilmschool.com/2014/10/what-really-happens-while-filming-movie-sex-scenes

Cristina Degli-Esposti article begins with an understanding of the film and it’s uses of sign-functions. Sign-functions within the film are used as guides for the passing time as well themes. The author moves to defining the baroque style, which is expressed in literature, architecture, and visual arts. The next term she defines is the Neo-Baroque and how it’s used within the film Orlando. Degli-Esposti talks about how the film is an exercise in the changing perspectives and how it has a voyeuristic feel. There is a distinction between what is real and what is represented. With that the director is able to develop a new gaze for the audience. Potter focuses on the relationship between us and the character and how the character’s world and our world overlap. With this Potter is able to develop a new type of filmmaking while also using elements of the Neo-Baroque.

The Neo-Baroque movement is meant to shock and create a sense of marvel for the audience. In terms of Orlando Potter tries to shock the audience with the use of masculinity, femininity, and androgyny has themes. Rather than covering them with false pretenses Potter uses Orlando’s frequent looks into the camera as a stream of consciousness. With this the character Orlando is represented as uncanny by breaking the rules and modes of “aesthetic representation of the real”. Orlando is the fantastic figure that can change form between sexes and uncanny traits.

The article takes a deeper look into the idea of identity as well. According to the article we as viewer get into Orlando’s head and go on a voyage through his/her consciousness. Here is where we find gender blending and code switches. For example the author talks about the opening scene and how Orlando appears to be young man, but as the scene goes on we as the audience learn that Orlando is a man being played by a woman. In the novel it is never clearly stated if Orlando was man or woman. Rather it guides the reader through the life of a human perspective away from the idea of sex or gender.

In essence the film blurs the idea of identity. The author even argues that the film displays utopian possibilities when it comes to gender identification and possible changes. Though the film is not only about or for woman. It is also about liberation of men and breaking down the gender barrier and celebrating each sex.

Question:

Could the idea of no gender-identification only be accomplished in a utopian society?

What does it mean to viewers to have a woman playing a man in a film?

Last class we talked a little about the background of Blaxploitation and it’s role in the 1970s. It was an important movement and as we learned virtually saved Hollywood. Last year in American Cinema we talked extensively about Blaxploitation in terms of Sweetback and Shaft  as well as small discussions of Coffy and Foxy Brown. This genre of film is very interesting and are some great movies, but what think is important to talk about is the other groups of oppressed people.

In the 1970s there were no other groups of minorities in film. The screen basically consisted of black and white, which is why I feel it is important to talk about other races in film. Bruce Lee broke the barrier of Chinese in American film bringing the Kung Fu genre which displayed strong women as well as a hero other than white or black. Cheech and Chong as well even though they aren’t heroes or women they open the doors for Latino actors and actresses.

I feel like this would be an interesting topic to look into. To look deeper into other groups of people and how woman are shown in these films. So far we have been very black and white, which I feel only confines us to two perspectives. Though this will be difficult as even today there are barely minority female stars in film.

Scrolling through Facebook I came across this video by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Recently Gordon-Levitt has started a new movement for filmmakers called hitRecord where everyone can contribute to a community oriented project whether film, screenplay, etc. In this video he talks about his ideas of feminism and hits a lot of the ideas that we talked about in class. I think this is a great video to watch because Joseph Gordon-Levitt in apart of the Hollywood community as an actor, but also as a filmmaker with his movie Don Jon.  He also goes on to talk about Feminism as his new project on hitRecord which is something we could all possibility contribute too as well. Check out the video its actually really cool and interesting.

Monday and Wednesday was the first time I’ve actually seen The Help and I have to say it was a great experience. What I loved about the film is how it had different types of women characters rather than one singular like we have seen in the previous films. We have the high white elite, the “white trash”, the educated woman, and most of all the African American maids. It was so interesting to see how these women interacted with one another and how they shared the screen together.

It was nice to see a film solely based off the women’s lives rather than their dependence on men. If anything the men were apart of the subplot and most of the time gave “the gaze” or “power” to the women. I think this was a great way to show that women can carry a film, and do not need a male element to keep the story moving. I still feel that the best element of this film is all the different types of women. The high class New York contrasted with the Mississippi women. There is so much going on and it’s great to just see a film that has women in a variety of roles not just one non-linear character.

Wednesday’s film The Last Seduction a real thriller to me just by how the use of gender roles were reversed. Mike is constantly it what society would categorize as the feminine role. He is begging and pleading for Bridgette to open up to him, and we get a visual representation of him covering himself after sex as he feels dirty. This is a great attribute about the film is how it plays on the norms we think of. Throughout the film I found it hard to see Bridgette as the villain. If anything she was the smartest person in the entire film, and had morals that could be seen as empowering to woman. To me Bridgette was a type of anti-hero for women. In an extreme context of course, but Bridgette shows signs of a strong feminist with a twisted perspective. She wants to help wives that have been cheated on, and always points back to her husband hitting her. She ingeniously uses our socially constructed ideas to her advantage, and displays a modern femme fatal. In my opinion Bridgette was a twisted human, but her characteristics made her so polarizing beyond just physical attraction. I found myself more interested in her mind or the way she acted. That leaves me wondering what others think. Is Bridgette in a way an anti-hero or just a twisted human? Either way she is great on screen character.

I had never seen nor head of Blonde Venus before this class, so I didn’t know what to expect. Luckily I was more than happy with what I saw in the film. The film to me still stands relevant today. If you look at the ideas of costuming or a strong independent women being scary to male authority. While constantly watching the film and even our discussion today I noticed there was mentioning of the way Helen dressed. It came to my mind when did mothers begin to have a dress code? Viewing the film from a social justice perspective Helen’s costuming shows he breaking barriers and going against the institution. She is being true to herself in some aspect even though at some point she is in disguise. This point or idea is relevant today when we look at “power suits” for women or the idea of dressing too revealing. Women in 1932 and in 2014 still find it difficult to find a balance to what society says is okay. That’s why I loved Helen’s use of costume while talking to the detective. She’s clearly not dressing to try to pick him up, but she uses it has an advantage. Truly showing how easily she could have outsmarted him. Blonde Venus is also relevant in modern films. Right when I saw the ape scene I thought of Uma Thurman in Batman Forever. Thurman playing Poison Ivy appears at a party in a full ape suit and just like Helen reveals herself by showing her hands first. I thought it was really cool to see that Helen’s actions and Dietrich performance was so strong to still be used today.