Entry #5

Women: Politics, Family and Celebrity

Women have not always had the right to vote for their Senators, House of Representatives, or even the President of the United Sates. Today though we are seeing more and more women not only vote, but these women are becoming our Senators, House of Representatives and hopefully one day our President of the United States. While women have come a long way, they still have many obstacles to climb. In this entry I am going to talk about females as politicians, the family lives of these female politicians and these politicians as celebrities.

Female Politicians

Female politicians are becoming more common yet are still very uncommon. Forty-five women have been elected or appointed into office after their husband had passed away (pg. 95). Many women have come into this after having run in the campaign with their husband. They are familiar with what is going on and the voters have seen them campaigning alongside their husband and family. Some women use a different approach when getting votes. One approach woman politician’s use is to focus on issues that comply with women’s customary roles in the family such as health, and education (pg. 96). As women we are closely related with education and health because it is the most closely related to women and taking care of families. Women politicians also usually stay away from attack ads and negative advertising, because it’s at odds with voters views of the “proper female behavior” (pg. 97). When we watch female politicians campaign videos we usually see them use these approaches to gain more voters.

In the clips below each one shows two of the commercials House member Stephanie Herseth Sandlin used in her 2008 campaign. In the first one we see how she talks about health care for veterans. Once again, we have a women House member talking about an issue such as health care. In the second clip we see her talking about education and healthcare the two issues women in congress are most commonly seen supporting.

Family of Female Politicians

While it is okay for men to be politicians and fathers, it seems that there is still an issue with females being both a politician and mother. Van Zoonen explains, “The main topics for female politicians are family life (for the married ones) and love affairs (for the single ones)” (pg. 90). Whoever the female candidates is we always hear about her family and how it will affect them, never do we here how it will affect a man’s family. In the book, Entertaining the Citizen it states, “The families of female politician suffer because of the ambitions. The families of male politicians can see similarly little of them; nevertheless, their plight is constructed as heroic, and in support of the man’s political career” (pg. 91). Female politicians are often seen as having to be a mom or politician. It is hard for them to be both. We also see female candidates running at an older age, when her family has grown up, while with men we see them as younger and having families still at home (pg. 90).

In the pictures below they are of Sandlin’s family. The first one is of Stephanie and her husband, Max Sandlin, at their wedding on March 31, 2007. The second one is of Stephanie and her son, Zachary Lars, who was born December 15, 2008. Stephanie was married and had her son all while she was in the House seat. Her son is not even a year old. She has taken on the roles of politician, wife and mom. She shows us that you can do all three and still be successful.

Politicians as Celebrities

Van Zoonen, describes celebrity as being well known because of mass media exposure (pg. 93). Women politicians get tons of mass media exposure. Females get exposure for being a female, having a family if they do, and what outfit they are wearing, while men get recognition for what issues they are promoting. During this past presidential election we heard what Sarah Palin was wearing and about her family, but we never heard what Joe Biden was wearing or about his family. We heard more about the issues he presented.

When Stephanie announced she was pregnant it made news all over. Everyone was talking about her having a baby, rather than the issues she was fighting for. When I was looking for websites that announced her being pregnant I found tons. Here are couple that of websites that announced she was pregnant, making a bigger deal out her pregnancy than her political issues.

Stephanie Herseth Sandlin Pregnant

Stephanie Herseth Sandlin Pregnant #2

In Conclusion

While women have come a long way since the days of not being able to vote, there are still many things that we need to overcome. One day it might not be such a big deal when female politicians do have families, and people will focus more on what their issues are.

Journal Entry #4

Gender in the “Slasher” film Scream






Ever since I was a little girl, horror films have TERRIFIED me. One of the films that I was so horribly terrified by was Scream. When I read about popular themes in slasher films I knew what my next e-journal entry would be.

Every horror film has similar themes that are seen through out the movie. After reviewing the film Scream, I found some major key themes we had talked about in class. The themes that I decided to talk about were the gendered violence each slasher film has, the virgin-whore complex, and the “final girl.”

Summary of Scream

Scream starts out a year after the murder of Sidney Prescott’s mother. After two of her classmates are murdered, she worries that they may be related to her mother’s death. Eventually the murderer goes after other kids one by one while continually going after Sidney. Eventually Sidney finds out who is behind the Halloween mask.

Gender Violence

In almost every horror film, there are both males and females that are being killed through out the film. "America on Film" explains, “Men are usually killed quickly off-screen or in shadows, while women are killed in full view, often in extended sequences of suspense and torture” (p. 289). In most horror films, we always see the male character being killed right away, while the women are being tortured and killed in a slow painful way. Women’s murders are a lot more graphic and disturbing than the men in the films.

In the clip below it shows Drew Barrymore’s boyfriend in the film being killed off-screen but then goes to him to show he has been killed. While Drew’s character is being chased by the killer, stabbed, tortured, and killed on screen. It shows the differences in way females are killed in the slow, painful way onscreen while guys still get to die off-screen and quickly.



The Virgin-Whore Complex

Another theme that we see repeatedly in films is the virgin-whore complex. Benshoff and Griffin define the virgin whore complex as a simplistic sexual term as either “good” (the virgin) or “bad” (the whore) (pg. 430). Usually the “whore” is killed right away in the film and dies a painful death. The “virgin” is usually the last one killed if they do not end up living. In our book, it explains the slasher films’ narrative imperative is to punish the sexually active woman. It is not okay to be sexually active; therefore, they need to be punished for being provocative.

In this scene, it shows Rose McGowan’s murder. Throughout the film, she comes off as sexually active. Rose is seen as the whore character in the film and therefore the killers think she deserves to be punished for having had sex. As this scene shows, she is killed in a vey painful way.



The “Final” Girl

The final girl is the girl who is the last one to make it to the end of the film and comes away as a strong woman. Banshoff and Griffin describe the final girl as usually a sweet, virginal character-one who represents the old-fashioned model of proper womanhood (pg. 289). Every horror movie has that final girl, the one who after being chased all through out the movie finally defeats the killer. In most slasher films, the final girl is the one who has recently gone through something traumatic annd does not sleep around, like her friends.

In the beginning of Scream, it shows Sidney who had just lost her mother a year ago and was finally coming to terms with it. Her boyfriend keeps trying to pressure her into having sex becauses she is a virgin and comes off as the sweet young girl. At the end of the movie, it shows Sidney coming face to face with her killers and then the killers even commenting on her not being a virgin anymore, so she could be killed. In the end, she ends up killing them, proving she is the "final" girl.



Overall


After seeing my share of horror films I can honestly say that I am still terrified by them. After reviewing Scream and thinking about other horror films I realized that all horror films have the slasher film key concepts of the gendered violence, the virgin-whore concept and the "final" girl. I guess I know what to expect the next time I watch a horror film!

Race in The Bucket List

Race in The Bucket List

The Bucket List has been one of my favorite movies, since the first time I had seen it. Just like most movies we watch, it is a movie that we can relate to. The Bucket List helps audiences realize how short life is. While recently watching this film, along with our discussions in class I have been able to relate concepts from the movie to our discussions. In this post, I am going to talk about how the film fits the “buddy movie” genre, the “whiteness” in the film, and how some of the stereotypical roles are portrayed.

We have come along way in film, since the first films came out. Not necessarily, kids now, but our grandparents and maybe even parents did not get to see an African American in a leading role. Today we see African Americans not only being the lead actor but also winning Academy Awards, Grammys, Oscars, etc.

In our book, “America on Film: Representing race, class, gender, and sexuality at the movies” it states, “And although Hollywood’s use of the black and white buddy formula (or black and Asian formula) may be abating somewhat it is still exemplified by films” (pg. 97). We see the “buddy” formula in The Bucket List. Morgan Freeman, an African American, and Jack Nicholson, a Caucasian, are the two actors that play the characters and both are leading parts in the film. The clip below is the trailer for The Bucket List, while watching; we see that both of these actors are equally show in the film. They both make up a huge part of the movie.




While our society continues to become more diverse, whiteness still exists in films. In the movie, Jack Nicholson plays a successful man who runs hospitals. He is the exact definition of a privileged person. He is a man, white, upper class, educated, and well traveled, all the things that classic Hollywood used to depict in their films. While Morgan Freeman only went to a semester of college and dropped out because he got his girlfriend pregnant, was a mechanic, and had a harder life. The way the producer portrayed Jack Nicholson’s character and Morgan Freeman’s shows that whiteness does still exist. In the clip below it shows the first time, the two men meet. Jack Nicholson’s character being as successful as he is expects to get his own room because it is his hospital.




Another idea that portrayed whiteness was tokenism, putting in a non-white character to discourage any ideas of racism (pg. 52). “More and more films each year now feature non-white leads” (pg. 52). While the movie might not have been the same with a white man playing Freeman’s role, it could have been played by a white man. I think part of the reason they put Freeman in this role was because he is African American, and more people could relate to him having a hard life.



While Morgan Freeman is not Jack Nicholson’s servant in The Bucket List, he comes across as an Uncle Tom figure. He is laid back, happy go lucky, hard working, all the things Uncle Tom’s were. He teaches Nicholson’s character some valuable life lessons. Freeman is the responsible adult, with the family and dreams. Nicholson starts out as a jerk to everyone, only cares about himself. As the movie develops, Morgan starts to wear off on him and he turns into a good person. He gets back in touch with his daughter and makes changes in his life for the better. In the clip below, Freeman writes Nicholson a letter and shows Nicholson making things better, and “finding the joy in his life.”




We never know when our last day will be, so why not live it to the fullest like Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson did in The Bucket List. Race will always be an issue in our society, but it is slowly becoming smaller. While America has come a long way since the classic Hollywood period, there is still a long way to go.

Journal Entry #2

Twilight




In class we have been discussing the different aspects that make up a film. I decided to use the film Twilight and discuss the literary design, visual design, and sound design.

Like most people that read the Twilight series I could not wait for the movie to come out. While the movie was a little disappointing, the literary design was closely related to the book. Both the movie and the book take place in present day time in Forks, Washington. The movie shows Forks as being a dark, rainy, small town. The movie and book are both told from Bella Swans point of view. Bella Swan is a high school girl who has just moved to Forks to live with her dad Charlie, a police officer. Bella uses the modern day speech, along with the majority of characters in the movie. Edward Cullen, a vampire, is also a high school student. Edward’s speech is more outdated than the other characters in the film, since he has been around since the 20th century. The other vampires in his family also use outdated speech. In our book America on Film the authors state “ Film is capable of many devices: metaphor, irony, satire, allegory, and so forth” (pg 4). In Twilight there are many different metaphors they use; one is when Edward makes a comment about how the lion fell in love with the lamb. The clip below is a clip from the movie where Edward uses that metaphor.



While reading the book I figured out the literary design pretty easily, but the movie really helped with the visual design. In the movie the characters are dressed in contemporary clothing styles. Even the vampires are dressed to fit the present day clothing styles. The Cullen’s have money, so there clothes are more designer looking clothes, and more in fashion. The kids also dress more like high school kids, and the adults dress in more professional clothes. Make up is another way they helped to differentiate the Cullen’s from the rest of the people. The actors that played the vampires all had to get their skin bleached, so they could be extremely pale, compared to the rest of the population. They also had to dye Jacob Black’s characters skin to make him darker to play a Native American. The way they styled the characters hair was also a way to get the actors into character. Emmet Cullen’s actor is naturally blonde, for the movie they dyed his hair dark brown, Rosalie Cullen is naturally a brunette and for the movie they dyed her hair blonde. Another thing the movie did well was make the vampires look perfect and beautiful at all times, while the other characters look like every day people. The vampires in the book are described by Bella as the most beautiful thing she has ever seen. In the movies the vampires are all good looking. The vehicles the Cullen family drives are newer vehicles which are extremely nice. Bella and the majority of the high school kids in Forks, drive older cars that have gotten their use. Below I have two pictures. One is of the Rosalie Cullen’s vehicle which is a Mercedes Benz. The other picture is of Bella’s 1986 Volkswagen Rabbit. You can see that Bella’s vehicle is not quite as nice as Rosalie’s car.






The sound design of the movie definitely adds to the movie. At different times in the movie they use different sounds and songs to portray the actor’s emotions or how the audience should be feeling. “Most films have a musical score that the audience can hear but which the characters cannot” (pg 5). In different parts of the movie they have scenes in which there is music on in the background that the audience hears and helps the audience understand how the characters are feeling at that given time. In the clip below the Cullen’s and Bella are outside playing baseball, the music is faster and gives the audience a feeling of fun. At the same time the audience is getting a feeling of anticipation, as if something is going to happen.





After having seen the Twilight movie, and looking at the literary design, visual design, and sound design it gives me a better understanding of what all have to go into making a movie. In the clip below is the Twilight trailer. While watching it notice the literary, visual and sound designs the film represents.

The Movie Enough and Popular Culture



Popular media influences us on a day to day basis, whether it is what we wear, what we drive, where we shop, etc. Media is always with us, but do we realize how much it affects us and how often it does?

During all of our class discussions I am always brought back to one movie in particular because I feel it meets a lot of the different topics we have talked about. The movie Enough starring Jennifer Lopez illustrates different masculine and feminine gender norms in families, social constructionism, and girl power.

Gender Roles

The movie Enough portrays the masculine and feminine gender norms of our society. When they first meet, Mitch is the passive male saving Slim from a rude customer at the diner where she is is working at. Having Mitch come to the rescue shows himself as the hero and automatically the audience likes him. Later on after they get married Slim becomes a stay at home mom, who cooks, cleans, and takes care of her daughter while, Mitch is a successful businessman who works outside of the home. It is the typical wife staying at home and taking care of her family, while the husband provides for the family. After awhile Mitch becomes abusive to Slim, since she found out he was having an affair. Since Slim, is a woman Mitch thinks that he should have all the power and say in the relationship and be able to abusive his wife if he wants, because she cannot do anything about it. “Men like the identities to fit within masculinity” (pg. 12) Mitch wants to be seen as masculine so beating his wife, and being the successful one in his relationship makes up his identity and is seen as masculine.

Social Constructionism

“People’s personality and behaviors are not predetermined by biology, but are shaped by society and culture” (pg. 18). I feel that people’s behaviors and personalities can be biological but I also feel that our cultures and our society play a huge role in shaping our personalities. We learn things from our friends, teachers, and media. In the movie Enough, after her husband abuses her she puts up with it for awhile because that is what she thinks she has to do. Eventually Slim realizes that she needs to do something about it and leaves him. Her behavior starts changing, because the advice she is getting from her family and friends, along with being chased by her abusive husband. Once her behavior starts changing, her personality becomes different. She becomes a fighter; she gets motivated to do something about Mitch. Slim begins taking fighting lessons from a teacher and he changes her personality. Slim becomes independent, confident, and a fighter.

Girl Power

Enough starts out as a movie, the audience thinks is about an abused wife, but in the end it shows girls to stand up for themselves and have power. Slim takes these lessons on fighting and trains herself to fight her abusive husband. When she goes to fight Mitch, he says “Man against woman, is that really fair?” Mitch makes it seem as if a woman cannot fight a man and win. As Slim is beating her husband, she has girl power. She is the total definition of femininity “Now just a swishy kind of glamour—and ideally just a masquerade, utilized by a confident woman who knows exactly what she’s doing” (pg 13). Slim is confident, and knows what she is doing as she is beating her husband. I think that this shows women that they do not have to be abused, but should not kill their husband either. It was empowering for me just seeing her go to the police, and leaving Mitch after being abused. Most women who are abused and have children do not leave their abusive relationships. Seeing Slim leave him and get even was empowering to me.