No 2!

"You know me I don't really believe in marriage, Now botox on the other hand works every time." [1] How are females represented in Sex and the City the movie, are these representations stereotypical and do they differ from the representations of women in the past.

For many years it could be argued that women are “symbolically annihilated [2]
through the media. Women are usually portrayed as week and powerless [3] . According to “Mulvey” [4]only their to satisfy the male gaze. However to a certain extent this theory is a controversial representation and is mainly linked to stereotypes, [5]which is a social classification of a group of people identifying common characteristics and identifying them in a often over simplified and generalised way.
Sex and the City the movie illustrates the basic outline of proving women’s independence. Women being the main protagonists [6] of the movie is evidence of women’s independence. Independence is also portrayed through the sexual freedom, sophistication and career focused of all the women acting as in the film. However this change created a moral panic to members of society though the media. The four main characters of the film Carrie Bradshaw being the main protagonist as she is the narrator of the film, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte . All the women are represented to have sexual freedom, be financially independent and have opportunities to rise in their occupations however in some aspects of the film the women are represented to be week and helpless and needs the man for protection and love which shows a week side to their in dependency.

Historically it is obvious that women did not have any specific or certain roles apart from being sex symbols for the male gaze [7]. Females were stereotypically represented to be, uneducated, man dependent having a sexual image for the male gaze[8]and being helpless. Vertigo (1958) is an example of women being week , helpless and man dependant [10]. However comparing this text to Sex and the City it differs in many ways. Similarly to Sex and the city the women in Vertigo are seen to be glamorous sophisticated and sexy. However in Vertigo Propane’s theory [11]comes in to place as the women being the princess needs to be rescued by her prince the male who is shown to be independent , soupier and strong. However it could be argued that as time goes on the position of the women is changing.

“Some like it hot”[12] (1959) staring Marilyn Monroe shows females in a different light. Females are represented to be more independent and being able to work and have a career however their was still a big element of the women needing a man to be in her life for support and comfort. Also due to Marilyn Monroe having all the requirements to be a “Femi fatal”[13] as she uses her seductive looks to manipulate the man into giving what the “Femi Fatal” wants. It could be argued however that the that certain character in behaving in that kind of way for the male gaze according to Mulvey.[14]



Through out Sex and the city movie Carrie Bradshaw forces the audience to identify with her as she is the main protagonist of the film, and the narrator [15]. The character of Carrie is shown as an image obsessed women who is constantly purchasing the latest designer labels in order to feel the self confidence she requires to succeed in her personal life, social life and her carer. According to Feminists[16] Carrie is presented in an extremely positive way, the fact that she has a career and is able to purchase anything she wants with out the help of a man shows a very independent side to her, However in some aspects this could be argued as the main reason why Carrie moved to New York is to find love therefore this could show that even though women are very independent financially and lead their own life there is still the certain link were women such as Carrie Bradshaw still need to find a man for love and support.

Furthermore In the film the main protagonist is a women who is played by Marilyn Munroe [17], which in them times could be seen as quite surprising as Sex and the City the movie has a main protagonist of a women however this is in the 21st century. Marilyn Munro is known to be a successful actor, who is idealised by many women due to her being a beautiful sexy individual that women aspire to be like. In the film she is dressed in reviling clothing , her voice could be described as seductive at all times throughout the film. The main protagonist of the film is seen to use her appearance and body to seduce the rich men for their money and her own pleasure, following Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze the film [18] could be said that it is mainly aimed at men however women who aspire the main protagonist could also be the main viewers. However it could be argued that the idea of the female gaze is coming in to practise around the 1960’s, which was discovered by Linda Williams [19] (1984). The audience views Monroe to be gazing at the men she is attracted to however films before the 1960’s did not include such a thing.[20]

Furthermore the idea of the female gaze is coming in to practise much more often in recent films. In Sex and the City the male is represented in a certain way that is not a stereotypical representation. Samantha was said to “ watch a more interesting show” which was seeing the man have sexual intercourse with a women. This could be seen as the male being the sex symbol for a change instead of the female. However in some certain aspects Mr Big takes on the traditional role of a man who is providing for the women and being their to support her in anyway he can.

Sex and the city could be compared to Kill Bill[21] as they are both modern texts however differ in many ways. Even though the texts are very modern the actress in Kill Bill is represented as a fighter acting all the roles of the strong stereotypical male.[22] However sex and the city girls are independent in certain aspects such as through their career and finance but they are always represented to be in need of the male, Carrie quotes “ women come to New York in search for labels and Love”[23] This connotes that women would go to extreme measures in order to find the certain individual that is right for them. On the other hand feminists[24] could argue that the female in Kill Bill is still listening the main man who is giving the orders “Bill” and following them which gives a anti- feminist representation[25].

Similarly to Kill Bill, the film “Mr and Mrs Smith”[26] has the same idea of the women taking on such a masculine role however due to the film being produced in 2006 it is more advanced than Kill Bill therefore the main two protagonists of the film one male and one female are fighting to try and kill one another even though they are married.[27] This shows the idea of as time moves forward women are being much more independent relaying on themselves and not needing the male figure at all.

Further more Sex and the city girls could also be compared to the girls from the James bond series “Bond Girls”[28]. Previously in James Bond movies the girls were placed in the film for the male “ eye candy”[29] as they did not have any purpose or took part in any main roles of the film apart from being their for the sexual pleasure of the male audience. However it could be argued that the role of the women over time is improving majorly especially in films such as James Bond[29]. In recent films now we see the women having status and actually has a specific purpose of being their not only for the male gaze[30].

However it could still be argued that even in this day and age women in other aspects of the media are still “symbolically annihilated [31]as they are still represented as sexual objects. An example of this is advertisements, nearly all advertisements have sexual connotations to them even though the advert itself does not relate to sexual acts in anyway. Usually the audience views a women holding a certain object which represents a “Falic Symbol[32]. The main purpose of this is for the audience to be attracted. to the product and then purchase the item that is being advertised. Furthermore certain stereotypes[33] of women still lives today in the media as the media emphasises the fact more. For example women with blond hair are stereotyped to be “airheads”[34] therefore the media will emphasise the label by making the women look exactly how she is stereotyped to be. However this could be extremely difficult to be removed from the media as they a known to be the “fundamental drive” [35]witch meets the main requirements for the audience.

Furthermore this could be argued as films such as “Legally Blonde”[36] are trying to break the stereotypes that blonde women are only their for the male gaze and to be symbolically annihilated. “Legally Blonde” could be seen as an inspirational text due to everyone doubting the main protagonist as she was judged by her stereotypical image. However instead of fulfilling the stereotype[37] she went against it and achieved her target of being a lawyer, proving that stereotypes are not necessarily true

It could be argued that due to the birth of the Contraceptive pill[38], women had much more grater power to take control over their bodies. Due to the contraceptive pill women could have sex freely without the risk of getting pregnant, also due to the contraceptive pill and also abortion clinics that came about In the 1960’s women do not have to have to have an unwanted baby as there are many alternatives. Sociologist “Sue Sharp” (19..)[39] conducted a research discussing the correspondence she found between the images of femininity portrayed in popular culture and the aspirations of the majority of girls were wanting to have many children, get married, settle down and get a office job. Sue Sharp then followed up her study 20 years later were she found a much more different attitude towards marriage as most of them said they would not like to get married early and have children the most important aspect they were focusing on is getting the best career they can do.

In Sex and the city the character known as Samantha is represented to having a very important sex life. “Samantha colours everyday every hour if she could do” this could be the cause of the contraceptive pill as women could be seen to taking advantage and therefore being extremely sexually promiscuous. Samantha quotes “ I met a guy with the funkiest taste in spunk”[40]. This shows that women in the 21st century could discuss anything like such a normal thing, without no rules against or laws saying it is wrong. However forty years ago this would not have been acceptable and women would have been servilely punished for their actions.


On the other hand Charlotte could be seen as a stereotypical housewife who enjoys to have children and also enjoys to look after her husband. Charlotte quotes “ Carrie I’m pregnant” with all excitement and joy showing she is not interested in the big carer and the sexual freedom but she is however interested in being a domestic house wife, it could also be said that Charlotte is taking on “The triple shift”[41]. therefore this links back to Sue [42] theory and even though this is the 21st century some females actually choose to live the traditional way instead of the modern, but with choice. It could be said that the “Pluralistic model is reflecting on society.[43] However due to always living in a male dominated society their will always be a certain kind of element throughout the media were women are represented as the week and helpless housewife/nurturer, and the male will be represented as the main strong superior Breadwinner who is also known to be “The head of the house.” [44]

Through Sex and the City it is obvious to say that society is not as much a patriarchal society as it once was[45]. Individuals from all ethnic backgrounds in society are slowly understanding and allowing the idea of women being successful and independent in their carers and general life. However this could also be seen as a problem to the male as he may face the idea of “the Masculinity crisis”[46] were he may feel that he is not worth much in society any more and always compete with a female in the work force which could be very challenging for the male.


According to Fluid's book “ Backlash The undeclared war against American Women, argued that that in the 1980’s [47] their was a backlash against feminism especially due to the spread of negative stereotypes against career- minded women[48]. However it could be said that Sex and the city contradicts this theory and rebels against it as they are still independent, career minded, inelegant, educated, and sexually free women.[49]

On the other hand “ David Gauntlet” “Media, Gender and Identity”[50] was published in 2002 and explains that differences between women today and women in the past. It is obvious that through society being a more open minded place there is many changes of the position of the women in society. Gantlet discussed gender in contemporty TV programmes, during the 1990’s and into the new century, gender roles on television became increasingly equal and non stereotyped within some limits however still the majority of lead characters were still mainly male. A key study of portrayal of women was shown during the 1990’s by “Elasamer, Hasegawa and Brian” [51] was not published until six years later. Through statistical evidence we can see that in prime TV shows men took the bigger percentage of 61% speaking and acting the main roles however women only had 37%. [52]

On the other hand during 1992 to 1993 another research was conducted finding that only 3% of women were still represented as housewives as their main occupation this was seen as a massive decrease since the 1970’s [53]

The women in sex and the city are represented as week even though they have a good working position in society such as being a very good lawyer such as Miranda, However she is represented as being quite desperate to find a husband. Women in sex and the city are also represented as promiscuous they are portrayed as not caring how they get their sex but as long as they get pleasure from it it is seen as normal.

A quote from “Feminism and film” on Gender in contempery movies states the following: Often and anxiously envisions women stereotypically as good mother and bad hysterical careerists. in the past and today, every Hollywood women is some else’s other[54]. This quote is suggesting that however much forward women move there is still a certain element of the being housewives in some respect.

“Charlie’s angles”[55] however staring , Diaz and Liu represent redhead, blond and brunet respectively are all representing them selves in a negative way by using their body's for things they are looking for. However they are also seen as role models through them being represented as Strong as a man and even stronger[56]. On the other hand the girls are known as “Charlie’s Angles” therefore this shows that they are listening to everything the male says and then follows it which could be argued that that patriarchy's still exists in society today.

Gunter (1995) [57]suggested that women are represented as being week, victimised and always shown to be in need of a man’s support and care. Linking this theory to Sex and the city there is still some elements that are true such as Miranda getting cheated on by her husband because of the lack of sex she gives him shows that women are providing this certain “free service”[58] that is not optional if they want to keep the man. This shows that in certain aspects men are still in control. However this could be argued as due to their being much less marriages because women want different things in life that they did not want in the last it could be said that women could leave their husband if they are not receiving what they need form their men and this also emphasises the “musicality crisis”[60] of the man worried he may not have a status in society because of women taking over.

Therefore after understanding and assessing the certain representations and stereotypes of “Sex and the City” it could be confidently said that women in pervious historical texts had very degrading, sexual and housewife roles overall very stereotypical roles . However due to having these roles previously it has sent a message that this can not go one in films and society anymore therefore the tables have turned for women as now they are represented to be sexually free, carer focused, not putting up with an abusive relationship and women are just as good as men are represented, females are now seen to be more than capable in representing themselves as strong, capable, and hardworking. The four main characters have a very positive representation showing that they have a much bigger status in society than they did previously encouraging more women to be like the Sex and the City girls.

Cover work essay

Comparing the old TCM with the new question:

I have been asked to compare the old version of TCM which came about in 1974 with the new TCM which came out in 2003. The movie was linked and inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s film “Psycho”. The film typically follows the generic codes and conventions of different slasher texts from the past however due to technology films have are becoming better quality with the usage of higher class iconography. This essay will be comparing and contrasting the old vergin of Texas chainsaw masicaer in comparison with the new version which came about in 2003.

Both the films have their similarities as well as their differences. In both the films they both follow “Clover’s” theory of the final girl. In both the films the last person to die is the female showing that society is not male dominated as it was and has opened up much more. This argues with “Tuchman’s” theory about women being symbolically annulated showing the comparison that now in slasher genres women are not represented as sex symbols for the male gaze however are represented as the independent survivors saving themselves until the end without a male’s help.

On the other hand during both films it is obvious to the audience that if a female and a male have sex then they are one of the first people to die suggesting that they may be getting punished for being immoral. However the binary opposition is the vergin is one of the last people to die this is portrayed in both the old film and the remaking of Texas Chainsaw Maserca.

In the 1974 film the main serial killer “Leather Face” is shown to be the most powerful man as he kills anyone who comes in his way weather it being male or female, However in comparison to this in the 2003 edition we see leather face getting his had chopped on which can easily link to the idea of the new man not being ashamed to be represented as week and powerless, therefore “Struts” theory comes in to practise as we as audience notice binary oppositions between a male being strong and week.

Similarly in both films leather face kills all the teenagers that come across him however due to the modern technology that has come about the iconography and props used in the 1974 film are less realistic and therefore bring a less thrill to the audience. However the killings of the teenagers in the 2003 film were mush more realistic and graphic making the audience associate with the film more. Furthermore there is a shot in the 2003 film of a camera being able to go right through a girls head. This proves how advance technology has become as before their were not a camera trick that was able to do such as shot.

Therefore in conclusion it is obvious to say that the film has changed through the idea of modern technology however the storyline of both the films are more or less similar, however in the updated version it could be said that certain parts are emphasised, such as the murders are much more graphic in comparison to the first version were it is less graphic and much more subtle. Therefore films like Texas Chainsaw Maserca are still known to be the “Granddaddy” of the slasher genre as they are highly entertaining as well as satisfying towards the audience.

A nightmare on Elm street franchise

A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 1984 American horror film directed and written by Wes Craven

The film features John Saxon, Heather Langenkamp, Ronee Blakley, Amanda Wyss, Jsu Garcia, Robert Englund and Johnny Depp in his feature film debut.

This film was set in the midwestern town of Springwood, the plot revolves around teenagers being terrorized in thier nightmares by the ghost of a serial child murderer named Freddy Krueger.

The estrimated budget of the film is $1.8million. Grossing $25.5million at the USA box office.

Nightmare on Elm Street has become one of the most popular entries in the horror genre and the film's villain "Freddy Krueger" has become one of the most well recognized villains in cinema history.

Scary Movie Franchise

Scary Movie is a 2000 film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans, as part of Wayans Bro Entertainment.

It is an American dark comedy which parodies the horror, slasher, and mystery genres.

Scary movie is known to be a spoof therefore having a genre of comedy

The purpose of this film is to re act scream however criticising it in a funny way.

In 2001, Scary Movie 2 was released (with the tag line "We lied"). The film was followed by a series of sequels Scary Movie 3 (2003), and Scary Movie 4 (2006). The original title for the film Scream was "Scary Movie" which ironically was later used to parody it. Both films were released through Dimension Films.

Thrusday cover work

key terminology and linking it to Scream the movie

post-modern= Postmodernism means 'after the modernist movement'. While "modern" itself refers to something "related to the present", the movement of modernism and the following reaction of postmodernism are defined by a set of perspectives. It is used in critical theory to refer to a point of departure for works of literature, drama, cinema and design as well as in marketing and business and the interpretation of history, law and culture in the late 20th century. This can relate to scream through the technology used and the open mind of society now, also combining different cultures together is part of postmodernism.

pastiche = Describes a literary or other artistic genre. This could be linked to Scream as scream is updated enough to include music and and art in modern days and in Ancient.

Irony= Irony is a mode of expression that calls attention to the character's knowledge and that of the audience. This relates to the scream movie as their are many situations were a character says one thing however means something different by it. This creates Irony towards the audience.

Intertextuality= Intertextuality is the shaping of texts' meanings by other texts. It can refer to an author’s borrowing and transformation of a prior text or to a reader’s referencing of one text in reading another. Linking this to Scream it could be said that the audience can interpreter the movie in a different way to other audiences.

Scream Franchise

Scary movie series took over $817 million at the box office.

The Scream movie was redirected in to a spoof which would be categorized as a horror comedy.

Anna Farris and Regina Hall are recurring characters in the film.

Scream was one of the highest grossing films of 1996

certian rules that were described by Randy

You may not survive the movie if you have sex.

You may not survive the movie if you drink or do drugs.

You may not survive the movie if you say "I'll be right back","Hello? or "Who's there?"

A similar set of "rules" was used for the movie's trailer:Don't answer the phone Don't open the door

Don't try to hide But most of all don't scream

cover work for Genre

UNIT ONE

• Genre is a crucial tool, the word has the same origin as genus, the classification used by natural scientists.


• every year around 300 new films are released in the UK and thousands of films are available on television and video.


• Trying to decide the criteria for grouping films encourages to study the film closely


• looking at similarities and differences between films, both within groups and across different groups, helps us to think about how films are understood and what their meanings might be.


• Genre is an important concept throughout film and media studies and it is now becoming familiar in everyday use.


• Genre are not fixed in using genre our objective is not to allocate films permanently to a fixed category


• commercial successful films we may find a pattern of repetition and difference.


• Their are many arguments and debates about the concept of genre and about how it is used.
• genre is associated with film making, which means that most of the films discussed in terms of genre are part of mainstream commercial cinema.

UNIT TWO

• A mixed genre, an action comedy. The action refer es to martial arts and modern technology.
• Hy birds genre means two genres combined together
• Genre is dynamic with no criteria for entry into classification.
• The definition of any particular genre is fluid, changing over time and changing with cultures
• Iconography derives the Art history and refers to a classification of paintings based on common images and sounds.
• it can be difficult to see the difference between iconography and style
• Iconography refers to objects or sounds
• style refer es to how they are presented.
• Narrative refer es to both story structure that films employ and the specific narrative devices or elements that are used in the such construction.

UNIT THREE

• The genre critic or theorists,according to Altman:
• reads industry documents and critical papers,
• he begins to outline and analysis genre
• Hollywood studios now distribute films rather than make them

UNIT FOUR

• This is the basic premise of most genre studies. In genre films, the expectations of audiences are meant by the familiar elements and are undermined and confounded by the varying use of those elements.

Emotional pleasures

The emotional pleasures offered to audiences of genre films are particularly significant when they generate a strong audience response.

Visceral pleasures

Refers to internal organs are defined by how the films stylistic construction elicits a physical effect upon its audience.

Intellectual puzzles

Trying to aneavel a puzzle whilst watching the film

Counter- culture attraction

Altman;s theory argues one primary pleasure offered to the viewers is the cultural rules and regulations.

Counter reading of genre films

Generic pleasure can take place from counter reading of the repertoire of elements.

Genre communities

genre is designed to be noticed by the mass media.

• Repetition and Variation the horror genre is defined by a repertoire of familiar elements that are manipulated in order to generate fear.
• Audiences expectations of the genre are therefore manipulated.

UNIT FIVE

• Stars were an important part of theatre and show business generally in the nineteenth century
• Cinema created a new kind of star in the early twentieth century.
• Individual films are usually conceived with a particular star in mind.

wednesday cover work (18/03/09 more!

I have been asked to summarise all the years of Friday 13Th
and then conclude how the development of technology
has made the movie better every year.

Friday 13th (1980)

This year of Friday 13th was the first to come out
therefore due to the technological point of the one
was the weakest. In this episode we see the killing
of Jason’s mum due to a disagreement between her
and her son Jason about reopening the lake were her
son drowned in. Steve Christie however responses
the lake and leads to the councillors dyeing painful deaths.

Friday 13th (1981)

After killing Mrs. Voorhees, who was avenging her son Jason's death, Alice is shown to finally be able to be relieved from all of this. in this series we are told that Jason never drowned in Crystal Lake and lived in the nearby woods as a hermit all this time. The day that Alice beheaded his mother, Jason saw everything and his heart filled with thirst for revenge. Two months later Alice gets stabbed by an ice pick in the temple and disappears. this leaves the audience thinking who was behind this murder?

Friday 13th (1982)

This episode we see Jason recovering from a shot to his shoulder done by his own gun, he is back to revenge as he comes to visit the woods again. A new group are introduced and come over for a party at an area close to the campsite. Jason goes to a roadside store were he gets new cloths and is seen to stalk a married couple. The hockey mask that Jason took from one of the friends starts the killing spree again which will not let the bunch of teenagers have a good time.

Friday 13th (1984)

In this chapter we see Jason killing his way to the lake once again the murders is starting again. Jason has now found a little boy called Tommy this leaves the audience thinking what he will be doing with him. There are two survivors left, this is the girl and her little bother Tommy.

Friday 13th (1985)

While Jason lies unconscious, a local man decides to use Jason's old M.O. and wreaks havoc at a halfway house for troubled teens. The little boy Tommy having survived he witnesses a murder by Vic,which convicts Vic to put him in prison however the murders still continue.

Friday 13th (1896)

Tommy returns to the grave to make sure Jason is dead and accidentally brings him back to life. Now it's up to Tommy to stop Jason's mindless killing and put him back where he belongs. therefore Jason is still left to die.

Friday 13th (1988)

Jason is released from his grave by the telekinetic girl. The teenage residents of Crystal Lake have something more to fear than Tina's powers as she accidentally frees Jason Voorhees from his watery grave. And Jason's really in the mood for a good ol' teenage massacre

Friday 13th (1989)

Again Jason is once again back to life from his grave,
Jason starts killing all students that he end up with
apart from a certain group of students.

Friday 13th (1993)

Jason is bought to life for the third time by the FBI.
We see Jason being killed by his own niece .
The FBI have put the body in a medical centre in order
to carry out how these deadly attacks happened.

Friday 13th (2002)

in this chapter scientists realise who bought the
masked character home which was the bunch of teenagers.
Children start acting like Jason and more drama comes along

Friday 13th (2009)
This was the final one made which came out this year. The purpose of this one is to redirect the one that was from the 1980's showing how technology has made horror movies much more realistic and scary towards the audience.

wednesday cover work (18/03/09

Friday 13th franchise


Friday the 13th is an American horror franchise that consists of twelve slasher films a television show, novels, comic books, and various merchandise.

The original film was written by Victor Miller, and was produced and directed by Sean S. Cunningham neither returned to write or direct any of the sequels.

Original Halloween came about in 1980.

Made another Halloween updated in 2009

Frank Mancuso who produced the films also developed the television show Friday the 13th:

The Series after paramount released what would be their last film

The television series is not connected to the rest of the franchise by any character of setting but was created out of the idea of “ bad luck and curses”

Cover work for TUESDAY 17/03/09

Halloween: UK

Me and my group have been told to remove some elements from the original movie of Halloween and exchange them with our own different ideas in order to create a different style of content including different elements of wider context, reflecting the film with the current Zeitgeist and try to match with the audience’s expectations.
I and my team members decided that we will be keeping most of the iconographic symbols and images that have been used in Halloween as the conventions used are typical for a horror film. Furthermore the symbolic representations as well as images are also typically associated with the horror genre.
Typical iconographic such as masks, the typical representation of a bunch of teenagers up to mischief, the pumpkin used at the begging will all still be included in our new franchise as this will create drama, tension and link to the stereotypical conventions of a horror film.
At the beginning of the film, through the iconography a thrill of Halloween day is created therefore I and my group decided to keep this how it is as it sets the scene for the audience.
However in our discussion we decided to change the setting that was used in the film which was large houses, this is common and stereotypical, in order to create a thrill and excitement for the target audience we decided to set the story in a mansion located in the suburb’s. Around it will be quite, deserted areas and grave yards in order to create the sense of Halloween to the audience and set the scene. Furthermore me and my group also decided to upgrade the sound by using certain sounds such as jumpy music when a scary scene comes on, also a beat to start up the tension and build up to the excitement. This will make the audience get in to the film more and link to it in several ways.
Linking this to SHEP there are certain issues that horror films raise. Women are usually represented as the weakest sex symbol who dies first and the men lasting, therefore we decided to change this as we will be using the idea of the “final girl” and therefore the men will be dyeing first. Furthermore I and my group also decided to use over weight characters in order to break the stereotype of all actors have to be anorexic and have eating disorders, this reflects on the Zeitgeist.