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Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality in the Films Meek's Cutoff and The Rear Window
Essay Instructions:
Compose a comparative research essay of 3000 words on two films and at least four scholarly texts, two of which should come from the syllabus. A comparative essay is an essay in which two films are placed in conversation with each other and the thesis argues how and why the two films illuminate each other or should be viewed together. You may compare different versions of the same film, films by the same director, or films that have similar narrative, thematic concerns, or other elements. Your essay might reflect, for example, on the relation between film and reality, on the political or ideological foundation of cinema, or how film narrative is unlike literary narrative. The goal of this assignment is to demonstrate your ability to make an original contribution on your film using an approach of your choice. Now that you are familiar with the stylistic and narrative systems of cinema, you can make sense of these elements and how they generate meaning.
You may write about two films from the syllabus (the compulsory or supplementary lists), or one of the two films may be a choice that is not from our syllabus. At least two of the scholarly texts must not be listed on the syllabus and should be researched independently. There are no official topics for this assignment and each student should devise their own topic and thesis statement. Here are some examples of areas of thought you may wish to write about: • Film Ideology o Gender and Sexuality o Race and Indigeneity o Queer Theory • Genre Study • Auteurism • National Cinema • Kinds of Formalism • Film History The essay should conform to MLA style rules for research essays. The essay should be doublespaced in 12-point Times New Roman font.
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Comparison of Feminism, Gender and Sexuality in the films Meek's Cutoff and The Rear Window
Films reflect society, and film writers get their ideas by observing their surroundings. The primary goal is to express various social, economic and political themes through art. Feminism, gender and sexuality are related themes which most films, including Meek's Cutoff and Rear Window, have explored. The themes explore how various gender relations in society. In most cases, these themes aim at exploring a woman's place in society based on traditional gender roles and the dynamism in the world that led to gender equality campaigns. The campaigns got a significant boost from artworks like films. While other films portray women as submissive and confined to doing household chores, others portray women fighting for their position in society by contributing to the traditional feminine role. Regardless of how these themes are developed, the aim is to create awareness about feminism, gender and sexuality in society. This paper compares how these themes are developed in the films Meek's Cutoff and Rear Window. Meek's Cutoff portrays women as not accepting being judged based on their gender and that they are equally productive with men. In contrast, Rear Window portrays women as inferior to men and enjoying the injustices against them based on the traditional societal positioning of the female gender.
Films Summaries
Meek's Cutoff is an American film directed by Kelly Reichardt. It was released in 2010 and is loosely based on an 1845 Oregon Trail historical event where Stephen Meek led a wagon train on a tragic journey through the Oregon Desert in the Western United States on a route that was later called the Meek's Cutoff. The movie stars Bruce Greenwood (Stephen Meek), Michelle Williams (Emily Tetherow), Shirley Henderson (Glory White), Will Patton (Solomon Tetherow), Tommy Nelson (Jimmy White), Neal Huff (William White), Zoe Kazan (Millie Gately), Paul Dano (Thomas Gately), and Rod Rondeaux (The Indian).
A group of settlers travelling across the Oregon Desert become suspicious of their guide, Meek, and the certainty of the route. A journey of two weeks stretches to five without crossing the desert. Their food and water supply is running out, yet they have not found a clear route out of the desert. The women in the group are sidelined when men brainstorm on what to do to save the situation and how long they should continue following Meek, the guide. They captured a native and forced him to lead them to a water source. Meek thinks this is a wrong idea a that they should kill the captured native Indian because natives cannot be trusted (Hearne 107). But since the travellers have lost trust in Meek, they do not follow his advice. Mrs Tetherow intervenes when Meek wants to shoot the native. Meek has no option but to submit to the shift in power dynamics and the majority opinion. In the end, the fate of the travellers remains unknown as the native continues guiding them under duress, although they find a green tree, a positive sign.
On the other hand, Rear Window is an American mystery thriller written by John Michael Hayes and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It was released in 1954 and is based on the 1942 short story "It Had to Be Murder" by Cornell Woolrich. Rear Window features James Stewart (L. B. "Jeff" Jefferies), Grace Kelly (Lisa Carol Fremont), Wendell Corey (NYPD Det. Lt. Thomas "Tom" J. Doyle), Thelma Ritter (Stella), Raymond Burr (Lars Thorwald), Judith Evelyn (Miss Lonelyhearts), Georgine Darcy (Miss Torso), and Irene Winston (Mrs Anna Thorwald).
The film tells the story of Jefferies alias Jeff, a journalist confined to a wheelchair in his apartment following a leg injury. Jeff resolves to spy on his neighbors for entertainment. It is during summer, and the heat is unbearable; thus, neighbors keep their windows open. During one of his spying episodes, he notices that Mr Thorwald, a businessperson married to a bedridden wife, walks in and out of his apartment after a loud cry from a woman. Jeff suspects Thorwald when he finds out that Thorwald's wife was murdered and convinces his wife, Lisa and nurse Stella that Thorwald is guilty. Jeff calls Detective Doyle, his friend, to the scene, but he dismisses Jeff's claims after assessing the scene and investigating the claims. Unlike everyone else in the neighborhood, Thorwald seems not surprised by the discovery of a dead dog buried in the flowerbed. Jeff lures Thorwald into leaving his apartment through a phone call and sends Lisa, his wife, to investigate. Police arrive and arrest Lisa for breaking into Thorwald's apartment. Lisa signals a finger to her husband, signalling that she found the murdered wife's ring, a signal Thorwald interprets correctly. Thorwald goes to Jeff's apartment, intending to kill him. He pushes Jeff out of the window, breaking the other leg, and the police arrest Thorwald. The film ends with Jeff in a wheelchair with both legs injured, and Lisa is happy that she contributed to finding the evidence of Thorwald's wife's murder.
The two films, Meek's Cutoff and Rear Window illustrate feminism, gender and sexuality.
Feminism
Meek's Cutoff portrays women as fighting to be recognized as equal to men. The women in the film are sidelined, but they are aggressive enough to fight for their recognition. During the journey Meek, the guide seems lost and does not know the route. This prompts the settlers to hold a consultative caucus to discuss the way forward. However, women are excluded from these meetings. Glory White asks the other women what they think their husbands are discussing. In this scene, the cinematographer uses a wide shot to show how far apart the males are from the female. This shot shows the seclusion of women in crucial issues in the film.
The seclusion of women from discussing the desert route and the welfare of the settlers also illustrates the gender spectrum in ancient times. Men are the sole decision-makers in the film, inferring the traditional societal setup when women were subordinate and not involved in decision-making. Therefore, Meek's Cutoff shows the traditional division of labor based on gender. Men should care for society and guide the community on good and bad. On the other hand, women were confined to household chores and taking care of children. This traditional division of labor based on gender is evident in the film when men treat women as a subordinate who should wait for commands from their husbands because it is their duty (Paszkiewicz 156). Paszkiewicz ( 157) argues that women were always considered weak and needed protection like children. Therefore, their seclusion in the film also demonstrates masculinity and femininity. The men considered women weak; thus, there was no need to involve them in crucial decision-making issues to avoid creating panic and worsening the situation.
On the other hand, Rear Window seems to actively involve women in theme development. Rear Window portrays women accepting injustices against them and rejoicing in them, maybe because they do not know that it is not right for them. Women in the film do not try to fight against the injustices meted on them. Instead, they appear to accept the status quo. Jeff's wife, Lisa, collaborates with her husband to spy on Thorwald. Lisa agrees to sneak into Thorwald's house, knowing that amounts to trespass, but she disregards it.
Similarly, Stella, Jeff's nurse, collaborates with Jeff and his wife to spy on Thorwald. Stella knows the boundaries of her professional job, but she breaks her professional code. These women seem ready to follow men's commands because of historical feminism and gender structures in society. Women were sidelined from crucial issues such as taking care of society and ensuring justice (Cosma). Men were always the investigators and judges. Stella and Lisa are excited to be consulted and given masculine roles in Rear Window.
The theme of feminism in Rear Window is primarily seen through the dominant maze gaze. The feminism theory defines the male gaze as a sexualized way of portraying women (Ponterotto 134). According to the theory, the male gaze portrays women as objects by representing them through the sexual desires of the heterosexual male audience. Therefore, through the male gaze, women's bodies are seen as objects to sexualize, own and conquer. The first instance of the male gaze is Lisa, who suffers emotional damage trying to domesticate Jeff (Cosma). Based on when the film was released, Lisa was a standard woman of the era. She is beautiful, well-mannered, has great fashion taste and is ready to care for a man who takes her as a wife. However, Jeff is not pleased enough by Lisa's character. This limits Lisa's development in the film into trying to make Jeff happy. Her character does not change at the end of the film as she abandons her book and takes up a fashion magazine to learn more ways of pleasing her stubborn man.
Hitchcock portrays Miss Lonelyheart as a sexual object to men in the film Rear Window. When the audience first meets Miss Lonelyhearts, she prepares for a date. Lonelyhearts rehearses for the date trying various outputs and how she will behave on the date (Hitchcock). She actualizes her rehearsal by going to a café to hang out. ...
Professor
Course
Date
Comparison of Feminism, Gender and Sexuality in the films Meek's Cutoff and The Rear Window
Films reflect society, and film writers get their ideas by observing their surroundings. The primary goal is to express various social, economic and political themes through art. Feminism, gender and sexuality are related themes which most films, including Meek's Cutoff and Rear Window, have explored. The themes explore how various gender relations in society. In most cases, these themes aim at exploring a woman's place in society based on traditional gender roles and the dynamism in the world that led to gender equality campaigns. The campaigns got a significant boost from artworks like films. While other films portray women as submissive and confined to doing household chores, others portray women fighting for their position in society by contributing to the traditional feminine role. Regardless of how these themes are developed, the aim is to create awareness about feminism, gender and sexuality in society. This paper compares how these themes are developed in the films Meek's Cutoff and Rear Window. Meek's Cutoff portrays women as not accepting being judged based on their gender and that they are equally productive with men. In contrast, Rear Window portrays women as inferior to men and enjoying the injustices against them based on the traditional societal positioning of the female gender.
Films Summaries
Meek's Cutoff is an American film directed by Kelly Reichardt. It was released in 2010 and is loosely based on an 1845 Oregon Trail historical event where Stephen Meek led a wagon train on a tragic journey through the Oregon Desert in the Western United States on a route that was later called the Meek's Cutoff. The movie stars Bruce Greenwood (Stephen Meek), Michelle Williams (Emily Tetherow), Shirley Henderson (Glory White), Will Patton (Solomon Tetherow), Tommy Nelson (Jimmy White), Neal Huff (William White), Zoe Kazan (Millie Gately), Paul Dano (Thomas Gately), and Rod Rondeaux (The Indian).
A group of settlers travelling across the Oregon Desert become suspicious of their guide, Meek, and the certainty of the route. A journey of two weeks stretches to five without crossing the desert. Their food and water supply is running out, yet they have not found a clear route out of the desert. The women in the group are sidelined when men brainstorm on what to do to save the situation and how long they should continue following Meek, the guide. They captured a native and forced him to lead them to a water source. Meek thinks this is a wrong idea a that they should kill the captured native Indian because natives cannot be trusted (Hearne 107). But since the travellers have lost trust in Meek, they do not follow his advice. Mrs Tetherow intervenes when Meek wants to shoot the native. Meek has no option but to submit to the shift in power dynamics and the majority opinion. In the end, the fate of the travellers remains unknown as the native continues guiding them under duress, although they find a green tree, a positive sign.
On the other hand, Rear Window is an American mystery thriller written by John Michael Hayes and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It was released in 1954 and is based on the 1942 short story "It Had to Be Murder" by Cornell Woolrich. Rear Window features James Stewart (L. B. "Jeff" Jefferies), Grace Kelly (Lisa Carol Fremont), Wendell Corey (NYPD Det. Lt. Thomas "Tom" J. Doyle), Thelma Ritter (Stella), Raymond Burr (Lars Thorwald), Judith Evelyn (Miss Lonelyhearts), Georgine Darcy (Miss Torso), and Irene Winston (Mrs Anna Thorwald).
The film tells the story of Jefferies alias Jeff, a journalist confined to a wheelchair in his apartment following a leg injury. Jeff resolves to spy on his neighbors for entertainment. It is during summer, and the heat is unbearable; thus, neighbors keep their windows open. During one of his spying episodes, he notices that Mr Thorwald, a businessperson married to a bedridden wife, walks in and out of his apartment after a loud cry from a woman. Jeff suspects Thorwald when he finds out that Thorwald's wife was murdered and convinces his wife, Lisa and nurse Stella that Thorwald is guilty. Jeff calls Detective Doyle, his friend, to the scene, but he dismisses Jeff's claims after assessing the scene and investigating the claims. Unlike everyone else in the neighborhood, Thorwald seems not surprised by the discovery of a dead dog buried in the flowerbed. Jeff lures Thorwald into leaving his apartment through a phone call and sends Lisa, his wife, to investigate. Police arrive and arrest Lisa for breaking into Thorwald's apartment. Lisa signals a finger to her husband, signalling that she found the murdered wife's ring, a signal Thorwald interprets correctly. Thorwald goes to Jeff's apartment, intending to kill him. He pushes Jeff out of the window, breaking the other leg, and the police arrest Thorwald. The film ends with Jeff in a wheelchair with both legs injured, and Lisa is happy that she contributed to finding the evidence of Thorwald's wife's murder.
The two films, Meek's Cutoff and Rear Window illustrate feminism, gender and sexuality.
Feminism
Meek's Cutoff portrays women as fighting to be recognized as equal to men. The women in the film are sidelined, but they are aggressive enough to fight for their recognition. During the journey Meek, the guide seems lost and does not know the route. This prompts the settlers to hold a consultative caucus to discuss the way forward. However, women are excluded from these meetings. Glory White asks the other women what they think their husbands are discussing. In this scene, the cinematographer uses a wide shot to show how far apart the males are from the female. This shot shows the seclusion of women in crucial issues in the film.
The seclusion of women from discussing the desert route and the welfare of the settlers also illustrates the gender spectrum in ancient times. Men are the sole decision-makers in the film, inferring the traditional societal setup when women were subordinate and not involved in decision-making. Therefore, Meek's Cutoff shows the traditional division of labor based on gender. Men should care for society and guide the community on good and bad. On the other hand, women were confined to household chores and taking care of children. This traditional division of labor based on gender is evident in the film when men treat women as a subordinate who should wait for commands from their husbands because it is their duty (Paszkiewicz 156). Paszkiewicz ( 157) argues that women were always considered weak and needed protection like children. Therefore, their seclusion in the film also demonstrates masculinity and femininity. The men considered women weak; thus, there was no need to involve them in crucial decision-making issues to avoid creating panic and worsening the situation.
On the other hand, Rear Window seems to actively involve women in theme development. Rear Window portrays women accepting injustices against them and rejoicing in them, maybe because they do not know that it is not right for them. Women in the film do not try to fight against the injustices meted on them. Instead, they appear to accept the status quo. Jeff's wife, Lisa, collaborates with her husband to spy on Thorwald. Lisa agrees to sneak into Thorwald's house, knowing that amounts to trespass, but she disregards it.
Similarly, Stella, Jeff's nurse, collaborates with Jeff and his wife to spy on Thorwald. Stella knows the boundaries of her professional job, but she breaks her professional code. These women seem ready to follow men's commands because of historical feminism and gender structures in society. Women were sidelined from crucial issues such as taking care of society and ensuring justice (Cosma). Men were always the investigators and judges. Stella and Lisa are excited to be consulted and given masculine roles in Rear Window.
The theme of feminism in Rear Window is primarily seen through the dominant maze gaze. The feminism theory defines the male gaze as a sexualized way of portraying women (Ponterotto 134). According to the theory, the male gaze portrays women as objects by representing them through the sexual desires of the heterosexual male audience. Therefore, through the male gaze, women's bodies are seen as objects to sexualize, own and conquer. The first instance of the male gaze is Lisa, who suffers emotional damage trying to domesticate Jeff (Cosma). Based on when the film was released, Lisa was a standard woman of the era. She is beautiful, well-mannered, has great fashion taste and is ready to care for a man who takes her as a wife. However, Jeff is not pleased enough by Lisa's character. This limits Lisa's development in the film into trying to make Jeff happy. Her character does not change at the end of the film as she abandons her book and takes up a fashion magazine to learn more ways of pleasing her stubborn man.
Hitchcock portrays Miss Lonelyheart as a sexual object to men in the film Rear Window. When the audience first meets Miss Lonelyhearts, she prepares for a date. Lonelyhearts rehearses for the date trying various outputs and how she will behave on the date (Hitchcock). She actualizes her rehearsal by going to a café to hang out. ...
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