The Power of Women in Cinema-Female figures in "Contempt", "Ju Dou" and "All About My Mother"

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Women in film and the power they hold
As a general perception in society, women are viewed as inferior to their male counterparts. Men have a prominent role and are assumed to always have the power as compared to women. Their masculinity gives them confidence and strength. One would feel at ease, knowing that a man is a leader and protector at the same time. Women are viewed in contrary to men. The physical build alone showed how fragile and weak-hearted a woman is. Women have always been depicted as scared and need protection. Thus, the quote "damsel in distress". The society has shaped this concept of women continually needing some sort of protection and guidance. However, this notion has been proven to be false as women have shown their own strength and capabilities in several occasions, such as in real-life situations or as depicted in movies with women as a central theme.
Gender-typing in the society has been an on-going issue since it does not only affect gender development, but it is a factor in several important aspects of human's lives such as talents, opportunities, career and occupation, sociostructural constraints, and perception of others as dictated by their gender role. Realistic representations are not often depicted in the media such as in cinema, but presents gender-typing of men and women in a most traditional manner, in regards to personalities, abilities, and aspirations presented. As Bussey and Bandura claimed, gender development and gender role are still perceived to be heavily influenced by society's perception for both sexes.
As quoted from David Gautlett's Media, Gender and Identity, "the traditional views of a woman as a housewife or low-status worker has been kick-boxed out of the picture by the feisty, successful 'girl power' icons." Despite the increasing number of films portraying women as a central theme, evidences still showed that women are not represented fairly and equally in media. It again shows that women are more portrayed in cinema as a mother, wife, or lover. Women are even often represented in a character who is overly-dependent and very emotional in comparison to their male counterparts. As claimed by Montgomery (1984), women are often portrayed in films with "themes of self-sacrifice, defined…in relationship to children or to men, and have encouraged the female audience to identify either female figures on screen who were powerless or victimized, or…with active male heroes".
It has been assumed that post-feminism could be a factor that influenced the views of female in terms of their societal roles (Gautlett). One of the defining features of post-feminism states that as the movement of women is assumed to be mainly concerned with the oppressed, it is their personal decision to change the perception of society. (Orr, 1997, p.34) In decision-making, women's actions as portrayed in the film are divided to being independently healthy and at the same time, being able to maintain their femininity. (Ferris & Young, 2006, p.9) The idea of power feminists against victim feminists puts a highlight on individualism which focuses on the power and strength that one's body possessed as compared to social change. A woman's sexual energy utilized for widespread consumption creates an image of being intelligent than bimbo as supported by Wurtzel (Coleman). This is the situation of women in film are in. Possessing and praising one's sexuality through the ability to control a particular situation provides women power.
Another issue concerning this is the objectification of women that have internalized the audience' gaze. Providing a framework for women's sexualization, Frederickson & Roberts' Objectifying Theory (1997) is utilized by Aubrey & Frisby (2012) in conducting research concerning women's body exposure and dress types seen in other media such as in music video in describing artist's own objectification in terms of genre and racial differences. Another research was conducted taking into consideration the television and advertisement in which significant results have shown that there's more sexual objectification in women as compared to men as depicted in the media. Additionally, the most common form of this women's sexual objectification is the type of clothing which is revealing or lack of clothing that exposed too much skin. Identification of sexual objectification of women in film is significant as it often misinterpreted as sexuality that is considered as healthy. Several factors are affecting the sexualized situation depicted in the movie, and this includes the audience' perception, visual representation of provocative skin, the character's intention, and the context of the case being presented.
To elaborate further about how women in films are depicted and how they gained power through these representations, this paper will analyze, compare and contrast the women represented in three movies namely Contempt, All about my mother, and Ju Duo.
Contempt
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard, Contempt is a film adaptation of Alberto Moravia's novel titled Il Disprezzo with few notable alterations. The plot revolves around Paul Javal, a failed playwright, who is hired by an arrogant American producer, Jeremy Prokosch, to work on a screenplay of a German film version of Homer's "Odyssey" as he was not satisfied with the previous script. Oblivious to his producer's interest to his wife, Javal becomes so preoccupied with writing the text to the point that her wife thought that he was pushing her to Prokosch for his own benefit when he allowed her to ride with Prokosch to his villa, saying that he would just follow behind. The producer made several pass at Camille, who would always turn him down, feeling so bothered that his husband is not defending her as if trying to push her to Prokosch. He denied this allegation during their argument and wanted to make it up to her. As a result, Camille has resented his husband Paul and expressed her hurt and change of heart throughout the movie, with Paul's slow comprehension of her source of contempt (Falkof).
The film is interpreted in a different way. It is compared to the play "Odyssey" itself, whereas others would claim that the movie is about death, ruined marriage, or the art of filmmaking. However, another theme is also presented in the film, which shows the puzzle in regards to a woman – who is not easily deciphered by the protagonist (Lopate).
The protagonist's wife, Camille, depicted dual entities as characteristic of Godard – as the girl next door and femme fatale. This is characterized as a woman who has both an appearance that can be admired and has a risky, deceptive, and dangerous trait. Represented as a female characteristic of Godard, Camille illustrated an unpredictable character as shown by her willingness to walk away from her husband, unrecognizable desires, and her denial to discuss on the source of her contempt. The film has depicted dual femininity wherein Camille represents the character of an eternal feminine. She can stand alone and is a unique individual. As illustrated by her role, she does not need any clarifications as she naturally shows a womanhood's image. Her dialogues and her movements, her effect on her husband as well as her appeal to the producer are enough to categorize her as another version of a cinematic archetype of a female (Vegari).
The movement of the camera also put emphasis on objectifying the character mainly concerning the portrayal of women in films. The scene wherein Camille's body was traced by the camera as she looked for Paul's reassurance about each part of her, fragmenting herself with every spoken word illustrates that the materiality of Camille is owned by her – not belonging to the male gaze or touch (Falkof).
In addition to this, the small quantity of people in the film Contempt gives more highlights to the character of Camille. The limited action on the outside provides emphasis on Camille as having the nature of being unbreakable. Godard has created an image of Camille that embodied being mysterious, unmoving, uninfluenced by the busy life (Falkof).
All About My Mother
All About My Mother is a film by Pedro Almodovar. As portrayed mostly in Almodovar's films, women are either characterized as a victim or heroine, but its characteristic feature is that each woman is a survivor. This movie is about Manuela who is an administrator in a transplant unit in Madrid hospital. She lives with her son Esteban who is a massive fan of a famous actress, Huma Rojo. Esteban's present for his 18th birthday is to see the performance of her idol who starred in A Streetcar Named Desire. Unfortunately, Esteban was killed as he was running to get the autograph of the famous actress. Manuela has to decide about transplant and organ donations from his son. This left her agonizing that she decided to go to Barcelona to look for Esteban's father, who has no idea that he had a son. In the course of tracking down Esteban's father, she was reunited by her old acquaintance Agrado. The plot was intensified when Manuela learned that Esteban's father turned out to be a fugitive transsexual prostitute who had impregnated a nun, Sister Rosa (Maddison).
In comparison to Godard's Contempt, this movie is also described as parallel to the performance presented in the film – A Streetcar Named Desire. Produced by Tennessee William, this play contains the film's motif of the producer's concern as well as acting as an essential factor for the movie's crucial episodes in the protagonist's life – Manuela. In the first few parts of the film, Manuela and Esteban have watched the performance in Madrid, and then the same scene of the concert was shown again that was attended by Manuela alone in Barcelona after the death of her son Esteban. In this performance, women are represented in a way that they are independent in making decisions, they have the options to choose from, they can grab opportunities and have their own experience without including men in their lives. The use of Streetcar performance in this movie is described almost too appropriate as it forms asymmetry with the plot of All About My Mother wherein the protagonist, Manuela, have formed unexpected familial bonds with other women whom she encountered to be reconciled with her challenges and struggles that men in her life have given her (Holland).
The tone sets in the movie are emotional yet confrontational that revolves mostly with the situation concerning death, pain, and disease. However, the depressing tone was lessened through the characters' resilience and how they overcome each case with good humour despite the emotional burden that they have to bear. The protagonist was able to incorporate it all together, depicting a woman with strength and powerful instincts who is always facing challenges and obstacles against...