MACRO: The representation of women in the thriller genre.
Hypothesis: "Independent films represent women as strong and independent where hollywood films do this but have to reinforce the fact that women need a man to protect them."
The dystopian adventure fantasy thrillers, The Hunger Games and Snowhite and the Huntsmen contradict one another in the representation of their lead female protagonists; in independent films women are represented as strong and independent where Hollywood films do this but have to reinforce the fact that women need a man to protect them. The Hunger Games presents a world that is unlike our own where there are 12 districts governed by the Capitol and every year one boy and one girl are chosen as tributes from each district to compete in the hunger games; the children have to fight to the death and the remaining survivor wins the games. In this year's games Katniss volunteers as tribute in place of her sister. She is presented as a strong independent woman that can look after herself and her family and use her feminine attributes to her advantage to achieve her survival; she is the lead in the rebellion against the Capitol. In comparison Snowhite and the Huntsmen is presented in a kingdom that is governed by a a queen that is infact a witch and uses the youth of women to stay young. Snowhite is presented as a vulnerable girl that escapes the castle she was trapped in for most of her life and sees the carnage and ruin that the evil queen has made in her reign and starts a revolution with the help of the Huntsmen; a romance blooms between them and their love is the driving force to overthrow the evil queen.
Point 1: The Kiss
Analysis: In 'The Hunger Games' scene, it shows the motherly side of how Katniss looks after Peter, and gets him through recovery. However, both these scenes show how eventually during a film, a kiss is shared between the main two stock characters in this type of fantasy thriller. In 'The Hunger Games', it was a political movement on Katniss' part, so that the Capitol would have more of a story on their district and support them, which meant more of a chance of them surviving; in one way this reinforces the fact that Katniss is strong and always plotting on how to keep herself alive, whereas in 'Snowhite and the Huntsmen', it is the inclusion of a scene from the traditional fairytale, where true love's kiss brings her back to life; this emphasises how Hollywood has to always reinstate the importance of a man and make Snowhite weak to the power of poison and love- having to rely upon a man to stay alive.
MICRO: The camera shots in these scenes are contradicting, as in 'The Hunger Games', Katniss is dominant as she is on top and the camera looks down on peter, whereas in 'Snowhite and the Huntsmen', the man is dominant as he is on top and the camera looks down on Snowhite.
Point 2: Rebellious Attitude
Analysis: These scenes show the beginning of the rebellious attitude that Katniss and Snowhite possess and gain through their journeys. In 'The Hunger Games', this scene shows her independence and strength against the Capitol, and how she takes risks to achieve the best result; it almost foreshadows the rebellion she will lead- this is where it starts. She is capable on her own and she does not need a man to help her through it. In 'Snowhite and the Huntsmen', it shows how she does not trust anyone and she is already wielding a knife against the Huntsmen- she is strong and brave and won't be used and manipulated by anyone- she can stand up for herself; this is a contradiction to the fairytale. However even after this display of her strong womanly independence you witness her following the huntsmen with a desperate display of body language because she obviously does not want to be left on her own- this yet again reinforces the importance of a man.
MICRO: The use of camera angles on these women protagonists is eye line, medium shot- as if for the female audience to relate to them, they also are not made to be seen through a 'male gaze' which adds to their strength and independence that is portrayed.
(S&tH-Magic forest fight/chase scene)
Point 3: Men's Importance
Analysis: Even though majority of this film shows katniss' bravery, independence and strength, there is always a scene where a man intervenes and 'saves the day'. Even so, the man lets her escape his wrath but from there on out she is looking after herself with no man watching her back or helping her out- in fact she does this for Peeta as he is the weaker party out of the two which supports my theory on how independent films contradict Hollywood as they allow their women to be the stronger party. This scene shows how the Huntsman is completely protecting Snowhite and she is 'running for her life'- this conforms to the stereotypical Hollywood formula of the man protecting the woman as they cannot protect themselves. its almost as if the director is saying 'yes women can be strong at times but at the end of the day they need men to protect them'
MICRO: the camera angles were high angle for Katniss when she is almost defeated but then it is an eyeliner shot when the guy lets her escape which conveys that even though she has just been saved by a man the rest is up to her and now she has no men's help in the rest of her journey. the close up on her face emphasises that she is scared and vulnerable, following the Huntsman's instructions to run away.
(S&tH-sitting/ dancing around fire scene)
Point4: Male Gaze
Analysis: in the hunger games there is a scene where Katniss goes on a talk show where she is 'dolled up' in a red dress where the top part hugs her breasts and waist and emphasises her womanly curves and then it flares out at the hips, she wears makeup that makes her face 'glow with beauty' and her updo shows the curve of her neck- these are womanly stereotypes that are usually presented in hollywood films. Also, In Snowhite and the huntsmen, there is a use of the male gaze in the scene where Snowhite and a dwarf are dancing beside the fire with the huntsmen watching her.
MICRO: the close up shots used makes her the centre of the shot and makes her be seen through the male gaze as it focuses upon her bum, breast, waist, hips and face/ neck/ shoulders- the fire that inflames on her dress draws the attention to her- she is singled out from the rest of the tributes and makes her adamantly the symbol for the rebellion. In Snowhite and the huntsme the use of camera shot and angle makes it seem like we are seeing Snowhite from his perspective; this gives the audience an emotional attachment to the huntsman.
(THG-End battle scene cornicupice and wolves)
Point5: The final Battle
In the hunger games it is a fight for survival where in Snowhite and the huntsmen it is spurred by the need to be the fairest in the land however both these drives for their own fight shows that the women are strong and can fight their own battles; in the hunger games this is true as Katniss is fighting to keep both her and Peeta alive, where in Snowhite and the huntsmen she is always looking for help from the huntsmen. In snowhite and the huntsmen this scene shows how she has an army of men to fight the evil queen's deciples so that she can focus on the queen herself; this shows she os a good leader and is brave to be able to put herr plan into action. The fact that she kills the evil queen herself immediately shows how this has strayed from the stereotypical 'princess' representation that Hollywood usually uses. However the fact that she has a man fighting half her battle for her illustrates how it is still portrayed that women need a man's help to be able to succeed.
MICRO: the camera angles are often making Katniss the bigger one in the shot or the centre and using a slight low angle to signify that she is the stronger one out of the two of them and she holds the key and power to their survival. When Katniss is helping Peeta up onto the cornicupice the camera looks down on Peeta struggling to avoid his feet getting bitten off by the wolves below and his face has a frantic expression which is emphasised using a close up. These signify that Katniss is the strong and brave one not the male protagonist. The camera angles often used are a slight high angle when looking at Snowhite and an eyeline shot when looking at the Huntsmen which shows that he is slightly more in control than she is. When Snowhite kills the queen the camera is low angle close up which shows that even though she is now on the verge of death the fear and angst she has brought into Snowhite's life will never disappear.
Conclusion:
Overall, both these films use their lead female protagonists as a symbol of the rebellions they are to lead. However in contradiction to one another the independent film makes their female protagonist as a strong independent woman that uses her womanly attributes to her advantage to gain her survival, where the Hollywood film portrays their female protagonist as strong but always reinforces the fact that the women need a man to help and protect them to achieve their success. Independent films allow more of a scope for women to be presented as strong and independent as they do not reinforce the fact that women ALWAYS needs a man to look after them and then use the traditional kiss as a way of showing her manipulation and clever thinking as to getting the result she needs. Also, women are presented more masculine as there are no dresses, frills or ruffles and are in jeans, covered in dirt with no makeup- as a normal everyday girl and not some impossibly good looking, well known actress that might as well be a God. Hollywood films show that even when there is an odd film where the women is 'supposedly' independent and strong etc there is always the establishment of the male stock character looking after her and showing that women always need a man even if they think they can survive without them. Even though they allow the women to be de-feminised in some scenes such as dirty, armoured clothing, there are still the occasions with the dresses, makeup and feminism reinforced and are usually well known actresses.
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