In class, we talked a lot about how Bridget flipped stereotypes of women and how this impacted our viewing of the film.  The majority of the class seemed to agree that if Bridget were a man the character would simply be a malicious jerk.  As a man, Bridget would lose her cunning charm.   However, I think it is important to also consider the role of Mike and how he flips the male stereotype.  How would he be seen if he were a female character being tricked by a male Bridget?  Mike’s character is constantly being tested and he often appears as being weak and insecure.  He begs for Bridget’s real attention and fears she is using him for sex.  In the end, he seems to be willing to do anything for his love for Bridget.  Bridget seems to represent this unobtainable goal for Mike of breaking out of his small town.  In this way, I would say that Mike explicitly demonstrates female stereotypes in a relationship.  Women are constantly being criticized for being too clingy after sex and using men as a source of self identification.  By having Mike, a male character, play this role John Dahl, the director, is able to flip stereotypes in a way that force the viewer to see how ridiculous they actually are.

For those interested (or weirded out,  either one) by the feminist sex scene discussion and my contribution in class, here is the link to the list I was talking about on Friday:

http://www.alternet.org/steamiest-pro-woman-sex-scenes

Going over this list now, I actually noticed something that I hadn’t caught before– in the first paragraph, there is another link that goes to a controversial quote from Shailene Woodley about feminism. Apparently when Woodley was asked if she was a feminist, as all of her major roles have been strong and independent young female characters, she stated:”No, because I love men, I think the idea of ‘raise women to power, take the men away from the power’ is never going to work out because you need balance … And also I think that if men went down and women rose to power, that wouldn’t work either. We have to have a fine balance. My biggest thing is really sisterhood more than feminism. I don’t know how we as women expect men to respect us because we don’t even seem to respect each other.”

I’m glad I was able to catch this, because this kind of thinking is so clearly pertinent to what we’re trying to analyze and study in class this semester. The fact that the basic definition and meaning of feminism is still a gray area for people (particularly female actresses who so actively need to be thinking about how they are portrayed on screen) is a troubling issue. Also, the way celebrities and Hollywood is so idolized in Western culture gives even more weight to what actors/actresses are saying in the media; if skewed or flat-out incorrect interpretations of feminism are being dolled out by one female actress after another, this only gives feminist awareness an even tougher job of being properly represented in the world of film.

Back to the feminist sex scene though, the 2 that stuck out most to me were “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” and “Love and Basketball.” I’ve seen both films and each one has a very different sexual dynamic. In the first, Rooney Mara overtly dominates Daniel Craig (not to say he isn’t willing), but in terms of the equal relationship and role dynamic we were discussing, I’m not sure if this scene would qualify. “Love and Basketball” would probably be more accepted on an equality level, but there is still a male-dominated presence that the camera gives us. The male character is much more experienced than the female character, so he’s the one taking charge and enlightening her, so to speak. It’s unfortunate to admit, but I can’t say if I’ve ever seen a truly feminist love scene. The very fact that I couldn’t think of one when the topic was first brought up in class says enough. Who knows though, hopefully I’ll be enlightened as the semester goes on. After all, I’m still just a young tadpole in this sea of feminist film knowledge! I can only hope to one day sprout into a beautiful feminist frog.

In her article, Kaplan discusses how women have been represented in media, particularly in film. She defines representation as “mediations embedded through the art form in the dominant ideology.” The infamous “gaze” has always been male. It is something that has represented the power of action and of possession that is lacking in the female gaze. Kaplan asks many questions:

• Is it possible to structure things so that women own the gaze?
• Would women want to own the gaze if possible?
• What does it mean to be a female spectator?

Kaplan claims that in order to revert the objectifying representations of women in film, we need to ask these questions as often as possible. Asking these questions is half the battle, and holds a lot of power.

Kaplan also discusses how most fantasies follow a dominant-submission formula. However, she wonders: does the dominant force in any situation have to be associated with masculinity? At the end of her article, she leaves us with a lesson. She tells us that it is dangerous to view society in black & white binaries such as male/female, dominant/submissive, matriarchy/patriarchy.

Therefore, I pose this question in regards to The Last Seduction: Does Bridget, our protagonist, violate these boundaries? For example, is she a perfect representation of dominant/female?

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.

Last week we were talking about unequal pay between genders in the work place. I recently came across this sketch where John Oliver satirizes that very topic. I thought it was pretty funny, take a look if you have the chance!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z46JXK92e0

On Monday we discussed the role of the femme fatale in film noir.  The femme fatale is often mysterious, dangerous, and after money or wealth.  More often than not she is more concerned with her own agency and power and has little concern for family or other domestic things that women of her era were expected to take interest in.  This character represented a subversion of feminine expectations and an empowerment of sexual liberation and personal freedom.  Although many femme fatales are not typically nice or good people they are capable of the same autonomy and power that typically only male characters are allowed.  That being said, most femme fatales meet their demise by the end of the film.  Most of the are either killed or punished with jail time or something worse.

What does this punishment say about strong female characters?  Is it enough that the character was seen on screen even though they didn’t live to see the end of the film?  I believe that although it is important for female characters to be portrayed powerfully they must also make it through the movie.  By killing them off, it gives viewers the ability to say because she was a powerful woman she had to be punished.  Some may argue that all bad, power-hungry characters should be punished in the end, but what makes femme fatales stand out from this statement is that their power is based in their femininity.  By punishing them, you are punishing them for being feminine.  In conclusion, although it is important for strong female characters to be displayed in any matter, the fact that they usually by the end of the film is sending the message that strong women should not be allowed to be successful.

http://nyti.ms/1qDAduz

Klute seems like a bit of an oddity in noir genre. The stoic, serious male protagonist is there, there’s the femme fatale who’s liberated sexually and whose arc hinges on the male’s, but some of the deviations the film makes from the standard tropes of the genre make it stand out to me.

Firstly, there’s the vastly different levels of nuance between Klute and Bree. Bree is the one providing the voiceover narration from time to time (Klute would fill this role in a typical noir film) and we see every aspect of her life, even those when she is alone and living her life outside of the plot. One could argue that this adds to the voyeuristic layers of the film, since we pry into her activities in a way we do not with anyone else, but I believe that this helps strengthen and build her character. Bree’s character is built upon complexity, from the various ways she fills her time (sex work, acting, therapy, etc.) to the conflicted thoughts that run through her mind (the one that particularly stood out to me was her weighing the positives of her detached sex work with the intimacy of her relationship with Klute).

Compare this to John Klute. By the end of the film, we know nothing about his life, have not seen him without some relation to another character, and don’t get any major insight into his thoughts or ulterior motivations. It’s almost a wonder that he is the film’s titular character.

Bree’s character arc does ultimately occur due to Klute’s role in the film, but, if the ambiguous ending hints towards her parting ways with Klute, it shows that it is not entirely dependent on him. Bree is the one that holds the film’s attention, the one who has the most layers, the one that we end up remembering the most. The film is really about her and that, in itself, is a noteworthy deviation.

I really enjoyed the conversation we had the other day in class about the stereotypes surrounding single parents. To take this a step further though, I’m also wondering how this relates to race. Women already presumably “made a mistake” when they are seen as single parents. Does the judgment increase further depending on race? I think the answer is yes. In films we are shown time and time again that women in different races and cultures are discriminated against. However, men are looked at as a heroes. They are the powerful father who stepped up to the plate in order to care for their child. Why is it that we have this double standard in our society?