Generally in art there are two archetypal female characters; the whore and the
Madonna. In film noir we are introduced to both of these women: the dark,
sexual and active spider woman and the maternal virgin. To give a meaningful presentation
of the women's role in film noir I will first give you a short reminder of how the
traditional family was viewed, and which values it represented in the world of movies in
the forties and fifties.
The institution of the family reveals significant social values and beliefs. It functions
as an ideological cornerstone of our society with its embodiment of traditional values. It
represents the framework for reproduction, because marriage is the only institution that
legitimates reproduction. Marriage at the same time both legitimates and conceals sexuality.
Married couples are the only ones that are allowed to enjoy the erotic, but they are rarely
presented as sexual partners or in any other ways erotisized. With breeding follows the upbringing
of children which responsibility traditionally is lain on women. From a feminist point of view
these practices of oppressing women are seen to be legitimated by this representation of the family
institution. This image of the family, where the man is the family's head and ruler, is also a
legitimizing model of a hierarchical and authoritarian society. Here the family can be seen as a
metaphor of society on a larger scale. Thus the representation of the family institution in movies
contributes to legitimize different social values, among other things the value of the family
institution as a social unit, the ruler role of the man, the domestic role of women, and the total
dependence of children.
In film noir the family relations are not normal. In some ways the noirs are
based on the absence of the family. If a family, or more likely family relations are represented
they are often broken up, filled with mutual hatred or in other ways perverted. The movies often
concern themselves with what the loss of these family values and satisfactions can lead to. Marriages
in film noir are often described as boring and sterile or non sexual. Because of this twisted
family life, both men and women seek satisfaction outside marriage in film noir. This
satisfaction is not only sexual, but also an attempt to reassure and find themselves in this confused
and threatening society, an escape from the frustrating routine in an alienated existence. The
violation of the marriages and traditional family values often results in destruction for the violators.
In this manner both pleasure and death await outside the family institution. The family represents
an antithesis to the femme fatale. I think that instead of showing and offering women an
alternative to the traditional family life, film noir shows what happens if one chooses to
stand outside the traditional values of the patriarchal system.
The dark, strong femme fatale of noir is the main female character in these
movies. These women are given not only sexual powers, but also ambitions. They are longing or
looking for independence, often economic, and freedom, often from relationships with men. These
women that are masters and possessors of their own sexuality represent a danger to the males.
She is--because of her ambitions and independence--a threat to the patriarchal system. On account
of this she gives the males a feeling of alienation from his environment, and she must be punished
for this to restore the patriarchal balance. The femme fatale is promiscuous, exiting,
intelligent and narcissist while her opposite is the boring, but stable wife and mother. The
virgin is capable of total devotion to the male, something that the sexual woman is not. The former
is thus described as the ideal role for women, and it fits in well with patriarchy.
The sexual women's power and strength are visually expressed in the films, both through the
iconography of the image, and through the visual style. It is often the woman that dominates and
controls the camera, both because of her own strength and because of the male heroes attraction
to her. Thus other participants become static within the image. But in the end when she is destroyed,
she also loses her physical motion in the picture.
The dress code is also applied as her
appearance defines her moral transformation. In Mildred Pierce for instance, she is dressed up in
more manly clothes during the film and her own development. These women also use for example
cigarettes and guns for phallic symbols, something I view as an extension of their bid for masculine
powers. Filmaticly, the woman that represents an alternative to the dark world of film noir
is often placed outside this world.
The spider woman uses her sexual powers in the quest for reaching her own ambitions. The
mere possession of such ambitions is unheard of for a woman, and represents a danger to the male.
She is a dangerous woman and the males own sexuality along with the patriarchal system are threatened.
The only way to control her is to destroy her, something that happens in most noirs. Even
though she is destroyed, it is her vital, deadly strength we remember.
ESSAY SOURCE
Sunday, 12 January 2014
EDITING: CHANGE IN FORMAT
While editing the film, I have decided to change the format slightly. Instead of having each of the drawers opening and closing I am going to show them all open and more shots inside of it, in a closer format, as though they are stills. I think it looks a lot more interesting. The opening shot will show the drawer opening and the finishing shot will show it closing to emphasise the length of the opening and closing and all of the products in between this. It makes the film much more interesting to watch.
RESEARCH: BEAUTY THROUGH THE AGES
Ancient Egyptian women used kohl to darken around their eyes. They used copper and lead ore to make cosmetics along with berries to tint their lips. This image shows the pharoh's wife, Nefertiti.
Renaissance - Women would pluck their hairlines to make
their forehead appear higher and would often scrape their hair back under an
elaborate headdress. A curvaceous figure was seen as being beautiful at this
time.
Elizabethan – Queen Elizabeth set the standards at this time
and the pale complexion and red hair was in fashion and was what was deemed
beautiful. To get this look ceruse or white lead were used which was later
found out to be poisonous. To get a glow to the cheeks a lead based rouge coloured
with dye was used and alabaster pencils were used for eyebrows, lips and blue
veins. A thin glaze of egg-white paste was also often used to hold it all
together.
18th Century – Hair played a great part in what
was deemed to be beautiful in this era. Hair was curled and decorated with
garlands or bows and often powdered.
Victorian – The emphasis of beauty was on the women’s facial
features, not much makeup was worn at this time. Health and hygiene was of
great importance at this time.
1920’s – Makeup became of high importance and the bobbed
hairstyle came in fashion. The impact of cinema influenced the fashion of women
strongly for the first time. White woman applied pale powder and cream rouge to
their cheeks, they shaped their brows and pencilled them in, and painted their
lips red to emphasise the cupids bow. They looked very done up in contrast to
the previous era.
1940’s – Hollywood starlets began to arise and in turn they
were setting the trends to. Longer hairstyles became popular along with waves
and curls. Tanned skin became a symbol of high class for the first time.
1950’s – Following the war, conservative values made a comeback
and so the glamorous woman at home came about. Domestic chores were done without a hair being
put out of place. They were expected to be beautiful at all times. The ‘doe eye’
look was also created using eyeshadow, eyebrow pencil, mascara and heavy
eyeliner with a pale complexion and coloured lips.
1960’s – Women began working in
this time, and opted for short practical hairstyles to go with their lifestyle.
There was only one makeup look – dark eyes paired with pale lips or none at
all.
1970’s – Women wore their hair long and natural. Farrah
Fawcett’s look of long free falling curls, bronzed skin and glossed lips became
one of the most important looks of the era.
1980’s – the ‘age of excess’. The bigger the better. Madonna
and Cyndi Lauper popularised the look that included heavy makeup, neon colours
and messed up hair.
1990’s – The standards of beauty were very diverse and
constantly changing. Kate Moss created the thin popular look sometimes known as
‘heroin chic’. The grunge movement was popularised. Jennifer Aniston’s ‘Rachel’
haircut also became popular.
Images can be seen at & references taken from: http://www.ukhairdressers.com/history%20of%20beauty.asp
RESEARCH: BEAUTY PAGEANTS
I was thinking about beauty to the excess and thought about beauty pageants. They do have them for all ages but I think the most relevant when thinking about it to the excess is child beauty pageants as it is the most shocking. Child beauty pageants have surged in popularity and are being shown a lot on television as it is so shocking. It's a world away for most people, they would never put their children through it, but it is so interesting to watch as it is so different to most daily lives.
They use so many beauty products on these children. They doll them up so that they look so much older, but through seeing the size of them you can see that they're children. It's a really weird site, which is why it is so shocking. They are sexualising the children, using the products that are used on much older women to make themselves beautiful which always comes back to sexualisation, but they're using it on children. They lose their innocence.
It is hard to find realistic photographs of what they actually look like as with each of the images of these children they are all edited so much - as if the makeup wasn't enough. They look flawless. They have virtually no dimensions to them, they look like plastic barbie dolls. They don't look real.
Linking this to my work, although mine doesn't link to children, it is showing excess exactly as this is.
They use so many beauty products on these children. They doll them up so that they look so much older, but through seeing the size of them you can see that they're children. It's a really weird site, which is why it is so shocking. They are sexualising the children, using the products that are used on much older women to make themselves beautiful which always comes back to sexualisation, but they're using it on children. They lose their innocence.
It is hard to find realistic photographs of what they actually look like as with each of the images of these children they are all edited so much - as if the makeup wasn't enough. They look flawless. They have virtually no dimensions to them, they look like plastic barbie dolls. They don't look real.
Linking this to my work, although mine doesn't link to children, it is showing excess exactly as this is.
RESEARCH: 'NATURAL BEAUTY' BY LERNERT & SANDER
A years worth of makeup is applied in one day, it expresses similar ideas to that in my film as it is showing the extent women go to to look beautiful but through showing it in excess. It shows it by putting all the makeup on in one go, where as mine is showing all of the products.
RESEARCH: NAOMI WOLF 'THE BEAUTY MYTH'
Naomi Wolf's 'The Beauty Myth' is a book based around the idea that women have gained social power and prominence in relation to beauty and that the standards of beauty have grown.
Quotes from the book:
“Beauty provokes harassment, the law says, but it looks through men's eyes when deciding what provokes it.”
- I find this interesting when thinking about this in relation to my film. These ideas make the sheer amount of what is there within the film feel even more overwhelming as it links to ideas such as this.
“Sadly, the signals that allow men and women to find the partners who most please them are scrambled by the sexual insecurity initiated by beauty thinking. A woman who is self-conscious can't relax to let her sensuality come into play. If she is hungry she will be tense. If she is "done up" she will be on the alert for her reflection in his eyes. If she is ashamed of her body, its movement will be stilled. If she does not feel entitled to claim attention, she will not demand that airspace to shine in. If his field of vision has been boxed in by "beauty"--a box continually shrinking--he simply will not see her, his real love, standing right before him.”
- Beauty is taking over. It's a cover that shields things, including these feelings.
“What becomes of a man who acquires a beautiful woman, with her "beauty" his sole target? He sabotages himself. He has gained no friend, no ally, no mutual trust: She knows quite well why she has been chosen. He has succeeded in buying something: the esteem of other men who find such an acquisition impressive.”
- Beauty can definitely be seen in different ways. Those that try to make themselves beautiful by using all of these products in some cases can do it for a reason, much like within this quote. The, woman knows why this man wants her and this can put her in a position of authority. She might think that she is better than him. She could think that she has power.
“Whatever is deeply, essentially female--the life in a woman's expression, the feel of her flesh, the shape of her breasts, the transformations after childbirth of her skin--is being reclassified as ugly, and ugliness as disease. These qualities are about an intensification of female power, which explains why they are being recast as a diminution of power. At least a third of a woman's life is marked with aging; about a third of her body is made of fat. Both symbols are being transformed into operable condition--so that women will only feel healthy if we are two thirds of the women we could be. How can an "ideal" be about women if it is defined as how much of a female sexual characteristic does not exist on the woman's body, and how much of a female life does not show on her face?”
- Aging and 'fat' have been defined as ugly and ugly is a bad thing. These products are used to stop aging, stop the appearance of fat or even stop it. The amount of products show the amount of ways women will go to make themselves stay beautiful but really, you can't stop aging fully. You will always age, weight will always change too but it doesn't stop the want from trying to prevent this. Culture has made us believe that each of these things aren't normal or that they're an awful thing as though it's almost as though it is a disease.
“Cosmetic surgery processes the bodies of woman-made women, who make up the vast majority of its patient pool, into man-made women.”
- Talking about beauty, a further step almost in relation to cosmetic surgery. The next step up from what is being showed within the film. It is almost as though it could be implied as if a woman would go to the extent of using all of those products then what wouldn't they do? Beauty is a sexualised thing, and through going to these extent they are making themselves become 'man-made' for the man.
I really like a lot of the ideas expressed within this book. The ideas work really effectively with the ideas expressed within my film.
Quotes from the book:
“Beauty provokes harassment, the law says, but it looks through men's eyes when deciding what provokes it.”
- I find this interesting when thinking about this in relation to my film. These ideas make the sheer amount of what is there within the film feel even more overwhelming as it links to ideas such as this.
“Sadly, the signals that allow men and women to find the partners who most please them are scrambled by the sexual insecurity initiated by beauty thinking. A woman who is self-conscious can't relax to let her sensuality come into play. If she is hungry she will be tense. If she is "done up" she will be on the alert for her reflection in his eyes. If she is ashamed of her body, its movement will be stilled. If she does not feel entitled to claim attention, she will not demand that airspace to shine in. If his field of vision has been boxed in by "beauty"--a box continually shrinking--he simply will not see her, his real love, standing right before him.”
- Beauty is taking over. It's a cover that shields things, including these feelings.
“What becomes of a man who acquires a beautiful woman, with her "beauty" his sole target? He sabotages himself. He has gained no friend, no ally, no mutual trust: She knows quite well why she has been chosen. He has succeeded in buying something: the esteem of other men who find such an acquisition impressive.”
- Beauty can definitely be seen in different ways. Those that try to make themselves beautiful by using all of these products in some cases can do it for a reason, much like within this quote. The, woman knows why this man wants her and this can put her in a position of authority. She might think that she is better than him. She could think that she has power.
“Whatever is deeply, essentially female--the life in a woman's expression, the feel of her flesh, the shape of her breasts, the transformations after childbirth of her skin--is being reclassified as ugly, and ugliness as disease. These qualities are about an intensification of female power, which explains why they are being recast as a diminution of power. At least a third of a woman's life is marked with aging; about a third of her body is made of fat. Both symbols are being transformed into operable condition--so that women will only feel healthy if we are two thirds of the women we could be. How can an "ideal" be about women if it is defined as how much of a female sexual characteristic does not exist on the woman's body, and how much of a female life does not show on her face?”
- Aging and 'fat' have been defined as ugly and ugly is a bad thing. These products are used to stop aging, stop the appearance of fat or even stop it. The amount of products show the amount of ways women will go to make themselves stay beautiful but really, you can't stop aging fully. You will always age, weight will always change too but it doesn't stop the want from trying to prevent this. Culture has made us believe that each of these things aren't normal or that they're an awful thing as though it's almost as though it is a disease.
“Cosmetic surgery processes the bodies of woman-made women, who make up the vast majority of its patient pool, into man-made women.”
- Talking about beauty, a further step almost in relation to cosmetic surgery. The next step up from what is being showed within the film. It is almost as though it could be implied as if a woman would go to the extent of using all of those products then what wouldn't they do? Beauty is a sexualised thing, and through going to these extent they are making themselves become 'man-made' for the man.
I really like a lot of the ideas expressed within this book. The ideas work really effectively with the ideas expressed within my film.
IDEA CHANGE: BEAUTY
I had planned to have different shots around the house, but when brainstorming the idea it all just didn't seem right. I loved the shot of the egg breaking that I had as it appeared really abstract and different but that was all that worked effectively. I couldn't think of a strong enough idea that worked well to have a project solely using the eggs and so thought about changing the idea as a whole.
I thought about what I had that I could film directly and as a beauty blogger I have a lot of beauty products and thought about making a film about that - what it takes to make a woman beautiful. I envisioned a film with a large number of different shots where the editing was key. Tubes squirting out product, nails being painted lots of different colours, my makeup drawers etc. The shots would be very quick to emphasize how overwhelming the sheer amount of what it took to make a woman beautiful and so I started filming. I began by filming a large number of shots of my nails being painted different colours. I thought these would work well in sequence flicking between the different colours at speed. I then went on to film my drawers: a drawer set of 9 drawers filled with an excessive amount of beauty products. I filmed them being opened, revealing the sheer amount of products inside.
I took these shots and my new idea to my tutorial with Shirley, and discussed it further. When discussing it, Shirley thought that it would work best if simplified down to solely the drawers. The reveal of what was inside worked well and it was unusual for people to see this amount of products in the one place. The drawer was opened, stayed open and was then closed. I like this idea of the opening and then the closing as though it is being put away and hidden. As though it is a secret, this is the revelation, perhaps to men, to the extent that women can go through to make themselves look beautiful.
I had to reshoot the shots as I wasn't happy with the framing in some of the ones I had filmed before. When shooting, I wanted some of the drawers to be a mess to emphasise the frantic nature, making it seem almost stressful.
When thinking about the sound over the top of the film, I had always planned to put voices talking over the top. I wanted to get quotes from films etc of people saying things about beauty. Things like 'she is beautiful'. The talking will add to the frantic nature previously mentioned.
I am in the process of editing currently.
I thought about what I had that I could film directly and as a beauty blogger I have a lot of beauty products and thought about making a film about that - what it takes to make a woman beautiful. I envisioned a film with a large number of different shots where the editing was key. Tubes squirting out product, nails being painted lots of different colours, my makeup drawers etc. The shots would be very quick to emphasize how overwhelming the sheer amount of what it took to make a woman beautiful and so I started filming. I began by filming a large number of shots of my nails being painted different colours. I thought these would work well in sequence flicking between the different colours at speed. I then went on to film my drawers: a drawer set of 9 drawers filled with an excessive amount of beauty products. I filmed them being opened, revealing the sheer amount of products inside.
I took these shots and my new idea to my tutorial with Shirley, and discussed it further. When discussing it, Shirley thought that it would work best if simplified down to solely the drawers. The reveal of what was inside worked well and it was unusual for people to see this amount of products in the one place. The drawer was opened, stayed open and was then closed. I like this idea of the opening and then the closing as though it is being put away and hidden. As though it is a secret, this is the revelation, perhaps to men, to the extent that women can go through to make themselves look beautiful.
I had to reshoot the shots as I wasn't happy with the framing in some of the ones I had filmed before. When shooting, I wanted some of the drawers to be a mess to emphasise the frantic nature, making it seem almost stressful.
When thinking about the sound over the top of the film, I had always planned to put voices talking over the top. I wanted to get quotes from films etc of people saying things about beauty. Things like 'she is beautiful'. The talking will add to the frantic nature previously mentioned.
I am in the process of editing currently.
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