Film clips

The men (1950)



High noon ( 1952)



1950s film

The 1950s was a time when audiences both young and old wanted new and exciting symbols of rebellionism and as a result of the demands saw the rise of the anti-hero. These types of heroes were mostly men and had a different attidute and persona to the typical hero associated in hollywood. This is portryaed in films such as high noon where sometimes the hero doesnt always have good intentions and is out for himself. In additon the 50s was a time when women still relied on the help of men espically physically wise as is shown in the clip of the men, when the male lead character helps the female counterpart open the bottle.

Cleopatra (1963)


Psycho (1960)


1960s film

The 1960s was a big step for females in terms of on screen envolvement in film but their fortunes in how they were represented took two different directions. A binary oppostion is created when comparing the two clips as in cleoparta the lead actress is given a positive represenation in that she is powerful and in charge of all around her, however you could argue that this is only an attempted reanctment of an apperent period of time in history and that the directors had no choice but to cast a female. In psycho the lead actress is playing "the final girl" role that is so well known in the slasher movie genre of noawadays as she is given a representation suggesting she is scared, vunerable and incapable of looking after herself, this is a stark contrast with cleopatra.

James bond - dimonds are forever (1971)


Star wars - a new hope (1979)


1970S Film

In the 1970s women are supposedly seen as more valuable as they are portrayed more often than in other decades as prizes for the male hero after his completed conquest. In the star wars clip when the two male protagonists are being awarded it is the female who is awaridng them that catches thier eyes. However they are aslo seen as a disctraction and sometimes a welcome one for the male who is on his quest like in dimonds are forever when they are mostly seen fighting semi naked or flirting with james bond. This as a result empahsises the statement by sharon smith (1972) in saying that women and the mating games are key roles played in the film, as this is apperent by how james bond acts around the ladiesand the fact that they hardly do anything else fully clothed.

Honey I shrunk the kids (1989)


Fatal Attraction (1987)



1980s Film

In this decade you had the rise of the extreme femme fatle, although the phrase had been around since the 50s thier evolved and much more senial and deranged personailties becamce more eveident in movies such as fatal attraciton. They didnt want to just steal money from their male counterparts or be potenial homewreckers but their roles had now been developed into attmepted killers which is shown in the clip of fatal attraction, this is a negative represetnation of females by which it is implying that if females get some sort of power they will abuse it and go out of control. In contrast in honey I shrunk the kids the girls actresses are shown to be just as interllectual, brave and entuhsastic to get out of trouble as thier male counterparts.

Beuaty and the beast (1991)



American beauty(1999)



1990s Film

Up until this decade It was widely felt that female characters in film had been restricted to the easy categories that classical narratives and familiar genres demanded of them with the typical complaints being that women in films are either virgins, mothers or whores. To an extent this was still the case like in beauty and the beast when it portrays the female character as the domesticisits, that she is conformed to just her housework and is waiting for a man to save her from the life she is living. This isnt the case in another sample movie from the 1990s in American beauty as the main actress has the leading role in the film and is more obsesed with her, career , relationship and appearence then the usual sterotype of females in the past, this also backs up the study from gunter in 1995 that thier were more leading women.