MEDIA QUESTION: HOW ARE FEMALE PROTAGONISTS REPRESENTED IN 'LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER' AND 'THE HUNGER GAMES'?
Within this investigation I want to look at how female
protagonist are represented in the action genre and specifically the two texts 'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'
and 'The Hunger Games'. Some audience members might stereotypically believe that the first expectations of both female protagonists are that they are a dominant and
positive representation of the female gender, but are they actually represented
in this contemporary form or are they still being objectified in the ways Laura
Mulvey discusses in the male gaze theory. I firstly will explore the female
protagonist’s reliance on men, secondly I will investigate if their ideology
and mindset is relative to the present or some what dated? Lastly I will
discuss the representation of female body, are females still being objectified,
is a realistic body images being projected and if so why is this the case? To
help answer my investigation I will apply relative theory such as audience
theory such as uses and gratifications, Laura Mulvey, The male gaze.
In recent years there has been
an increasing number of action heroines within the film industry (1). Women in
modern society are seen as equals to the male gender leading the way for
strong, female characters to be created in the film industry as a means of
inspiring and encouraging this outlook that may have not have been seen in the
past. However it is hard to depict whether they are being represented in the
idealistic way imagined; are they dominant, powerful women or are they just
simply seen as a “chick with a gun” (2)?
(3) google book - ‘Inside the Gaze’
In recent years there has been
an increasing number of action heroines within the film industry (1). Women in
modern society are seen as equals to the male gender leading the way for
strong, female characters to be created in the film industry as a means of
inspiring and encouraging this outlook that may have not have been seen in the
past. However it is hard to depict whether they are being represented in the
idealistic way imagined; are they dominant, powerful women or are they just
simply seen as a “chick with a gun” (2)?
The first case study I looked at
was ‘Lara Croft: Tomb Raider’ in which actress Angelina Jolie plays one of the
most well-known female actions heroes. Despite her character being portrayed as
this tough female who is not only intelligent and beautiful but is control on
the males around her, within the film she is still very much sexualized according
to Laura Mulvey’s male gaze theory (3). Throughout the film the character’s
heavy layering of sexual signifiers such as her glasses, holster and garter
belts, short shorts and long swinging hair automatically build her up as a
visually pleasing aspect taking away the seriousness of what she is supposed to
be representing. Some people may see it as Croft using her beauty to her
advantage in the film to gain what she wants (4) but her persona as a ‘seductive
supervixen’ is still not diverting away from the past stereotypical female
roles in film like it claims to be attempting to do (5). Originally Lara Croft
was created as a video game before later being made into a film, the idea being
that the male dominant audience of the video gaming industry could almost
control this idealistic women who could be seen in a sexual manner but still play
an action genre game; this being said even with the expansion of this into the
film industry and the widening of the audience she is still associated with
this original by many people. It could be said that she is not this image of empowerment
nor is she operating outside the boundaries of traditional gender restrictions,
so by being the way she is conforms to the stereotypical gender role.
However saying this there are
particular elements of her character in the film which do keep to the idea of
the female protagonist. In the ‘No Guns’ scene of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider she
is positively conveyed as a dominant female. She not only takes control at the
beginning of the scene by telling the other men to leave so she can deal with
the antagonist on her own so they don’t get harmed but she also successfully defeats
him with her body strength alone despite him being a being a dominant male.
Unlike other scenes she is not sexually objectified in anyway but they camera.
The camera angles mainly show her facial expression, followed by long shots of
her fighting the antagonist.
(3) google book - ‘Inside the Gaze’
(4)
http://www.helium.com/items/2322178-women-empowerment-female-
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