Response to Slumdog Millionare

How does it represent India/Indians? How does this compare to our notion of The Other or the Oriental stereotype? Try to link your answer to the theorists/ideas we were looking at last week





http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=HJRzk2WfOAo- Danny Boyle on slumdog millionaire



http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/24/oscars-india-slumdog-millionaire-ian-jack- Ian jack on slumdog millionaire being "poverty porn"



http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/jan/18/slumdog-millionaire-british-asian-reaction- British Asians response to movie


Response


The film slumdog millionaire is a representation of life in India for poverty stricken children and the rise of one boy in particular from rags to riches. The foreign director Danny Boyle attempts to show India as economically incapable and the people being poor, lazy and evil in the early parts of the film. This was seen as a huge risk but due to the overwhelming response and support as well as publicity the movie has gained it seems that the risk of doing something different to other directors as defiantly payed off.

The article written by Ian jack on slumdog being poverty porn explains the difference in generations between India now and 40 years ago. The binary oppositions about India through time are made clear through the government rejecting the documentary made by a British director and having the BBC and any other foreign organisation banned from filming 4o years ago in comparison to the widespread joy in response from the majority of India in 2009.

Danny Boyle is a white man from a white background and with him coming over to India to film a movie highlighting the negative aspects of Indian society it is understandable that some parts of the Indian community will despise it both in both India and British Indian citizens.

In some ways it relates back to colonialism in the suggestion that foreigners are coming to Indian territory and filming a movie that puts spotlight on Indian lives and in someways represents Indian people, this was done in the colonialism era when the British army and government attempted to trick the British people into believing that India was "the other" and different to them in every shape and form. In what the British public were being told by the government at the time in the 1940s they were being shown in 2009 through the movie and this is why they are similar in that respect, although in exposing what life is like for poor Indians to the British Danny Boyle and the 1940 government had different purposes.

The movie attempts to give a "realistic portrayal" of India to show that there is more to Asian culture than all singing all dancing happy Bollywood which after movie after movie of the same narrative plot becomes drastically unrealistic. This feel good movie ideology is to show that anyone can make a good life for themselves in even when faced against early upbringings obstacles, it is to get the audience to believe that India is apace where dreams can come true if you work hard and attempt to escape the worse of parts of the country. So while giving a bad representation of India's lifestyle if also shows some aspects of India's wealth as a new economic superpower.

First Paragraph Rewrite

"Storm, I hadn't thought of you as my student for years. In fact, I thought that, perhaps, you might take my place some day" From prof Charles Xavier [1]

Are the female roles in the modern day genre of superhero films a victory for women or are they still objects of desire? With particular reference to the film x-men 3?

The superhero genre is credited for having a long history of providing great memorable films such as superman, fantastic 4 and the spider man sequels. However they have a direct link and association with Hollywood a film industry that has been accused of "symbolically annihilated" [2] females on screen. For generations women have been giving negative representation of being weak, dumb, narrow minded and only interested in housework just to name a few.
It isn't just in Hollywood that they have been discriminated it is apparent in aspects of different industries, in sports their is the tag that they cannot play as well as men and in the corporate world their is the myth (that Barthes created)[3] that women cannot compete intellectually with men and are only their to play token employees to show the company isn't sexist.

The respective feminists movements (1920s and 1970s) have played an inaugural part in creating positive representation for females and expanding the limited roles that they played in movies such as the femme fatale (where the woman would be sinister, driven and even in some cases potentially deadly) or the heroes love interest when their only existence was generally for a purpose to be saved by the leading male protagonist. They have seen both sides of the story and this essay will be undermining the answer to the question I have set that's is to justify fully whether female roles in Hollywood in the modern era as apposed to generations before have changed for the better or are they subjected to being objectified. What is encouraging for women in the film from the quote is that the boss of the mutants team believes that storm ( a female) can take over his position in power which will ultimately mean she would become to most powerful character [4]



[1] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0376994/quotes
[2] G Tuchman
[3] Barthes
[4] X men: The last stand (2006)

Self Evaluation 2

Attainment: 2

I don't think there has been any progress from the last time I wrote this in terms of attainment but it was already on a 2 so there wasn't much to improve on in my opinion. The work i have produced i feel hasn't got significantly better or worse it has just stayed the same standard throughout being honest.

Effort :2

I think the effort is actuality better than in the first term of the year because I now realise that their isn't much time left in the year to improve the level of my work but I still wouldn't say it was a 1 just yet because I think I will really become focused and work much harder than before when it is around march April time when the pressure increases.

Punctuality: 1

I believe that i have improved this aspect of the self evaluation more than otherwise as I don't come late anymore and hardly ever forget to bring things that I need to work in class i.e pen, books and notes. I have improved that from the beginning of term and thus my organisation has been improved as a result.

Submission and quality of my homework: 2

Its definitely better than beforehand as I have handed in pretty much every homework that both teachers I have set consistently and to a high standard in my opinion. I felt i was doing this to a good level at the start of the year and think it has improved as the year goes on as Ive started to write more broadly and more detailed as apposed to year 12 and the beginning of year 13.

Ability to work Independently: 1

Unlike at the beginning of the year i don't have to rely on anyone telling me what to do to complete my work nor do I depend on answers from other people in homework's in order to finish my work. In terms of my class mates I very rarely feel the need to ask them what for help in class discussions or group work but with the teacher I still regularly ask as the work we are doing is becoming harder to understand.

Quality of writing : 2

I think my writing has improved dramatically since the 1st term simply because of the expanded vocabulary I now have compared to the start of the year, I am able to to remember all the key quotes, theorists and words that potentially will make my essay sound better and write them down, this has improved not only the quality of my writing but also the flow of it as I often struggled to get some of my writing to make sense.

Organisation of media folder 1:

Since being asked to make a media folder I have put all of notes I have received in class into a folder and split it into sections of topics i have done over the year in both med 1 and med 2. Since making it I haven't altered it in any way so I would say everything is where it suppose to be so i would give it a 1 because I can look at it straight away and know where to find what I'm looking for to revise off.

Oral contribution in class 2:

I haven't been contributing as much in class as last time which is probably down to the emergence of other people speaking more often and me finding the work we are currently doing a bit harder to grasp. When i feel more comfortable about the work i tend to contribute more but this hasn't been the case as much as last year.

Standard of Med 1 blog : 1

My blog has been kept up to date with relevant information to help my independent study as well as completed homework. It has the expected amount of posts on it for around this time of year which is a reflection of how much work i have done in order to achieve a high grade in the independent study. It don't think it needs to be improved and it hasn't gotten worse since last time so i would keep it as a 1

Standard of Med 2 blog : 2

This is one of the big improvements from the first term which is probably due to my attitude change towards the 2 blogs. Before I admitted to being guilty of prioritising the two blogs as I spent much more time and effort making sure med 1 was of good standard but since then I have balanced the two and as a result my med 6 blog has a substantial amount of info on it to help me answer the med 6 assignment tasks.

WWW
- I have balanced the two blogs out to an equal level focusing on getting good grades in both rather than a good grade in one and an average in the other.
- Ive managed to write a promising essay plan that leaves me confident that i can get a good grade in the independent study itself.
- I haven't come late to either Mr bush or ms holidays class and have always attended when the revision classes.

EBI
- I put more effort in miss holidays class in an attempt to understand her work better
- I did extra work on my blog that isn't set as homework as it could turn out to be helpful when writing the essay
I had done more revision leading up to the med 1 and 2 retakes, i done it to a satisfactory level and could have done a lot more.

First Paragraph

Are the female roles in the modern day genre of superhero films a victory for women or are they still objects of desire? With particular reference to the film x-men 3

The genre of film classed as superhero has a long rich history of providing great long lasting in the memories style films such as superman, fantastic 4 and the spider man sequels. However they have a direct link and assassination with Hollywood a film industry that has been accused of "symbolically annihilated" females on screen. For generations women have been giving negative representation of being weak, dumb, narrow minded and only interested in housework just to name a few. It isn't just in Hollywood that they have been discriminated it is apparent in aspects of different industries, in sports their is the tag that they cannot play as well as men and in the corporate world their is the myth (that Barthes created) that women cannot compete intellectually with men and are only their to play token employees to show the company isn't sexist.

The respective feminists movements (1920s and 1970s) have played an inaugural part in creating positive representation for females and expanding the limited roles that they played in movies such as the femme fatale ( where the woman would be sinister, driven and even in some cases potentially deadly) or the heroes love interest when their only existence was generally for a purpose to be saved by the leading male protagonist. They have seen both sides of the story and this essay will be undermining the answer to the question I have set that's is to justify fully whether female roles in Hollywood in the modern era as apposed to generations before have changed for the better or are they subjected to being objectified.

Bibliography

"The passive audience of the 1960s became the active audience of the 1970 in the uses and grats theroy of elihu katz and others, this reversed the imbalance of ealier theories in that it advocated a more active role for the viewer"
pg 30 Introducing Media studies Ziauddin Sardar



" Intertextaully can create extra layers of meaning and associaions leading to an understanding of a text that is based partly on what preceeds it"
pg 45 Introducing Media studies Zaiuddin Sardar



"The only path to redemption for her sinful ways is to be upgraded to an honourable marrried women patricias role is to remind the audience of mens natural intended rightful place for women which is to raise children and dutifully supporting the more important work of men"
pg 138 Introducing Media studies Ziaddin Sardar



" Members of the audience will discuss whether lara croft is a femenisit icon or a het mle wet dream"
pg 203 Introduction to film Nick lacey



"As richard dyer (1993) suggested sterotypes are both an ordering process and a short cut to meaning, he goes on to demonstrate how a woman with blonde hair, voluptious, figure and pouting expression offers many connotations"
pg 263 Introduction to fim Nick lacey



"Hegemonic masculinity is hegemonic because we all participate in the same fears and fantasies"
pg 155 Impossible bodies Femninity and Masculinty at the movies Chris Holmund



" Women were repeatedly shown as housewives, mothers, homemakers while men were often represented in situations of authority and dominance over women"
pg 95 The Media studies students book Gill branston



" Femenist critics have in particualr been attracted to iconic images of strong women"
pg9 Action and Adventure cinema Yvonne tasher



" The post femenist character of the action heroines showcased in such movies are physically strong, independent though often emotionally vunerable, typically glamorous and even overtly sexy it represents an extension of the tradition of fiesty heroines"
pg 9 Action and Adventure cinema Yvonne Tasker

"The action film has historically been a male genre dealing with stories of male heroism , produced by male filmmakers for principally male audiences"
pg 9 Action and Adventure cinema Yvonne Tasker

"The problem the meledromatic structure faces is one of the producing drama while conforming to social defenitions of women in thier domestic roles as wives and mothers"
pg 163 The cinema Book Pam cook

Essay Plan

Are the female roles in the modern day genre of superhero films a victory for women or are they still objects of desire? With particular reference to the film x-men 3


My Independent study is focusing on the way females have been are now and seemingly will forever be represented by all sorts of Media i.e Internet, t.v and radio. The major factor that the independent study will be based on is the comparison of females in today's generations to all those who came before them.


Introduction: The intro will be trying to get the examiner to focus on all the aspects of life in the working world that females have faced sexism and ageism to give an indication to how long this has been happening, i.e jobs in Hollywood, the music industry, sports, business and society in general to show how females have been given an immediate disadvantage


Part 1 - A M.I.G.R.A.I.N and partly SHEP Analysis

* I.e Historical - X men 3 has relations to the Holocaust with the social outcasting of Jewish people could be related to how females felt in the past

*Social- Mutant ants vs Humans is the basic narrative of the film which could echo the female power struggle fought to get equality.

Carry on from the start of the Essay by giving a detailed M.I.G.R.A.I.N and Shep analysis to demonstrate links to the key and wider content of women in society today and how it relates to the film. Shows That I have a knowledge of the film and some others in its genre


Part 2- How society has changed up until now

* The rise of feminism and what it meant for women at the time

* The second wave of feminism and what impact it has on males (i.e male backlash)

* Attitudes towards females in the late 1970s and how movie story lines and roles would reflect them

The examiner needs to understand what happened in the past to see what kind of rise women have had compared to their male counterparts in the movie industry and that is the yardstick where success is measured of how far they have come. Compare the two sets of feminism waves and argue weather they seriously have contributed to the more respectful roles in which women play in the modern Hollywood era


Part 3- The expansion and evolution of women's roles in movies

* Go over the roles in which the 3 main female characters in X-men 3 play and whether they play it to a convincing and justified standard.

* Explain what roles such as femme fatale, token character and the final girl were and what they were about

* Talk about some of the newer roles women are assigned to play i.e the hero's boss or the protagonist herself

* Argue both sides of outlook audiences would get from seeing a female main hero compared to a male hero and how realistic it is

* Describe some roles they play on the small screen (TV) in sitcoms or soaps then compare it to films

This section of the essay will explain that throughout the decades the gender roles that directors have cast females in have been widen as a result of the changes in society and the assumptions made by the public on certain types of women (bimbos, career women)


Part 4- Stereotypes

* Explain what exactly stereotypes are and how they have come about

* Argue how and why the media are so powerful in brainwashing people into believing stereotypes

* Summarise whether I have a more Hegemonic or Pluralistic thinking

* Explain whether either model has a direct effect on the number of females in Hollywood and peoples attitudes towards them

This part is one of the most important parts of the essay as it will bring to light just how destructive the media and government can be in sending down moral messages and laws. In this section I will summarise whether young girls conform to the false consciousness that institutions employ on them and how it effects their adult life.


Part 5- Lack of Female directors

* Name and describe the few female directors that have made names for themselves

* Why their aren't so many in contrast to men

* Analyse whether the lack of female directors has a direct effect on the number of female actresses and the negative roles they play in some movies

* Would female audiences get a better deal if they viewed a film that had a female director that shares their ideas and feelings.

There is an argument that if you employ more female directors then they will look after and protect their female actresses and not conform them to degrading roles that they play in this day and age. I will look to find out if their purposes to satisfy the audiences would mean they would have to sacrifice personnel morals they have grown up on.


Part 6 - Conspiracy of prejudice towards women

* Sexism, Ageism why is it that men seem to last longer then females even though they are apparently over the hill

* Give Reference to some examples in the media where T.V companies have been offenders i.e Selina Scott and Five news

This will be the penultimate point in the essay to back up the ill feeling in Hollywood that men still get a longer and therefore more prosperous career. The sex symbol status that are put on women last a lot less then their male counterparts, so i will talk about the prospect of having an older women still paying the main protagonist and what reaction it would receive from passive and aggressive audiences.


Conclusion

* Relating to other superhero texts

* Quoting theorists and arguing if it has any significance on the actresses of today for instance with them being "symbolically annihilated".

* Make a decision on my answer

* If their isn't an answer evaluate reasons for why I have not come up with one

I will round off the essay by taking everything that has been said into account and making a conclusion of the question that i originally set for the study. I will relate to different texts such as kill bill and fantastic 4 to show how female roles have changed and how they are still similar and whether it will be likely that their will be a change.



Other texts to relate to

Superman
Fantastic 4
Kill Bill
X- men
X- men 2
Cat woman
Daredevil
Wonder woman
Spider man 1,2,3




Books to Refer to

Title: Media Studies, The essential guide resource
Year published: 2004
Author Name: Rayner,Phillip
Place it was published: Canada

Title: Halle Berry: A stormy life
Year published: 2004
Author Name:Sanello,Frank
Place it was published: USA

Title: The cinema book
Year published:(1981)
Author Name: Cook,Pam
Place it was published:Britain

Title: Media , gender and identity
Year published :2002
Author Name: Gauntlet,David
Place it was published: Britain

Title: BFI Film and television handbook
Year published: 1999
Author Name:Dyja,Eddie
Place it was published: Britain



Websites

http://people.stu.ca/~hbgxh/engl2223/research2.htm- Argument that women's reputations were affected by the roles they assumed on stage

http://www.representationofwomensuperheroes.blogspot.com/ -Another student on representation of females referring to cat woman played by halle berry who i will be talking about
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Modules/MC30820/represent.html- Displays the media representation triangle of Production- Reception-Refrence

http://loo.me/2006/08/28/mr-mrs-smith-and-hollywoods-gender-role-reversal/- Suggesting that gender role reversals such as the one in Mr and Mrs smith is now believable and should be done more often

Historical text

Superman : The Movie (1978)



Superman 1978- An overview

Superman : The movie is a 1978 epic superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name. Richard Donner directed the film, which stars Christopher Reeve as Superman, as well as Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder, Marlon Brando, Glenn Ford, Phyllis Thaxter, Jackie Cooper, Marc McClure, Valerie Perrine and Ned Beauty. The film depicts the origin of Superman, from infancy as Kala-El of Krypton and growing up in Small ville. Disguised as reporter Clark Kent, he adopts a mild mannered attitude in Metropolis and develops a romance with Lois Lane,while battling against the villainous Lexi Luther.

The film was conceived in 1973 by Ila Salk ind. Several directors, most notably Guy Hamilton, and some screenwriters were associated with the project before Richard Donner was hired to direct. Donner brought Tom Mongolic's to rewrite the script, feeling it was too campy. Monegasques was credited as creative consultant. It was decided to film both Superman and Superman II simultaneously. Principal photography started in March 1977 and ended in October 1978. Tensions rose between Donner and the producers, and a decision was made to stop filming Superman II and finish the first film. Donner had already shot 75% of the sequel, eventually giving birth to Superman I The Richard Donner Cut. Superman was released with critical acclaim and financial success. Reviewers noted parallels between the film's depiction of Superman and Jesus The film's legacy helped create a reemergence of science fiction films and the establishment of the superhero film genre.

This movie represents the early forms of movies in the superhero genre and because it was produced in the 70s their is a clear difference in not just the effects that are shown in the original superman compared to the same genre films of this generation but of also the accepted and the generally expected views of society. It is for that reason mainly why I picked this film to study as it would give me an indication into how aspects of the typical superhero movie have changed with particular reference to gender roles played within the films and what effect they had on the world back then and the world now.

The level of patriarchy that is contained in the film would have not pleased much feminists which shows the contrasts into Hollywood today as the designed gender role the female generally seems to play is the women who needs saving because she is weak and is apparently incapable of getting herself out of a difficult situation as shown in one of the scenes in Superman: The movie when superman is shown flying through the air at maximum speed with the purpose of saving a half unconscious women from a car that is on the verge of blowing up. This repeatedly happens in the film but jut with different situations in a clear portrayal of male dominance as their is no sign of female empowerment or women possessing the same superpowers as superman. The most relevant role a respective female plays in the movie is by Lois lane who is Superman's love interest and is hardly shown in any strong positions throughout the whole film giving females a negative representation once again.

The movie doesn't seem to create a supposed vendetta against women by casting them in traditional very bas represented roles such as the female fettle but it demonstrates a signal of the order of society that was in place at the time. They re is some concise contrasts yet some similarities between this piece of historical text to the one I'm studying now that's why i think its a good text to relate to.