Plan for essay

Hypothesis: The romantic comedy and drama independent films 'The Perks of being a Wallflower' and 'Submarine', both place a male in the main role of feminine character, that would usually played as a female in a hollywood film, to show that boys do have feelings too.

MACRO: The representation of gender in independent rom com/drama films

Introduction: The films The Perks of being a Wallflower and Submarine are both independent films that  cast a boy in a feminine role to show that boys do not have to be masculine and can show their feelings just as much as teenage girls. In hollywood films, the feminine person in the films would be cast a teenage girl, as it is more relatable compared to if boys are cast in the film, because these genres target audience is more teenage girls, rather than teenage boys. The Perks of being a Wallflower shows a teenage boy just starting high school who has found an older group of friends that are different like him,  outcasts of 'normal' social groups. Throughout the film, Charlie narrates it from him point of view as he is writing a diary type thing to an unknown person, within these letters he shares his experiences of his first year at high school through his first crush and his breakdown, which is seen as a particularly feminine thing. Submarine follows another teenage boy who is seen as one of the weird kids in his class, it shows his first experiences with a girl that he likes and how he tries to help the spark in his parents relationship relight. It shows how he is seen as a weak small person on the outskirts of the socially acceptable, finding his first love in which she is seen as the more masculine person in the relationship as she takes control of him.

Point 1:Weakness

Example The Perks of being a Wallflower:


Example Submarine: Within this scene Oliver the main character has been put into a headlock as Jordana, the girl he likes, told him to write down horrible rumours about the bully's girlfriend in a diary and leave it where someone would see it, as the bully is Jordana's ex boyfriend. In the scene, the bully is making Oliver say things that he doesn't want to say, to get revenge for the diary, to persuade him to do so he is threatening to beat him up. To show that the bully is in power, they use a low angle on him, after this the scene cuts to Oliver laying on the floor with a nosebleed, showing he has been punched. To show that Oliver is weak, they use a high angle on him.

Analysis: In these scenes both main characters Charlie and Oliver, show signs of weakness making them seem more feminine and vulnerable. In 'The Perks of being a Wallflower', the clip shows Charlie crying and breaking down as his friends have gone to college and left him with no one to confide in. He feels alone and vulnerable, showing he is more feminine as he is letting out all of his emotions and feelings about the situation he is in. This is more of a girl thing to do, as boys are seen as more masculine figures that do not show emotion in this genre of film, but as this is an independent film it portrays Charlie as a more girly character, to challenge the way we think about teenage boys and the way they feel. In 'Submarine', the scene I chose is when Oliver is getting bullied and beaten up because the girl he has fallen in love with has persuaded him to write rumours about the bully's girlfriend and leave i where someone can see it. In this scene the bully has Oliver in a headlock making him say things he doesn't want to. To show that the bully is in power, they use a low angle to show he is more important and more masculine, afterwards they use a high angle on Oliver when he is laying on the floor with a nosebleed to show he is weak and more feminine.

Point  2:Showing feelings

Example The Perks of being a Wallflower:


Example Submarine: In the scene I have chosen for 'Submarine' Oliver is happy as he just got his first kiss from Jordana, a girl that he likes. After walking her home, Oliver realises they are in a relationship, so when Jordana shuts her front door Oliver runs around literally with joy, because he is in a relationship.

Analysis: In the scene from 'The Perks of being a Wallflower', is the opening scene where it is evident that Charlie is narrating the film, making it seem as though he is writing all of his thoughts and feelings down in a series of letters to an unknown person. This is usually seen as a particularly girly thing to do, to create a diary type thing to keep all of their feelings in, this could be seen as a feminine trait, as boys usually do not like to show their feelings. In this clip, part of it shows Charlie's bedroom, most teenage boys bedrooms would be dirty and untidy, whereas Charlie's bedroom is very organised and neat like a girls bedroom would usually be.This is another feminine trait of Charlie's that is with the film. In the scene from 'Submarine', it is just after Oliver has his first kiss so he is happy and after he walks Jordana home, he literally runs and jumps around with joy which could be interpreted as a feminine thing as girls are usually the ones to show their feelings and it is not seen as particularly masculine to jump around and show how happy you are after your first kiss.

point 3: Doesn't go to plan

Example The Perks of being a Wallflower: This part of The Perks of being a wallflower, Charlie and his girlfriend come back from a dance where the girl asks the boy to be their date. She makes a move on Charlie, he feels uncomfortable as he likes the girls friend, but he doesn't say anything because he feels to awkward so goes along with it.

Example Submarine: In this chosen scene Oliver tries to make everything seem romantic for his first time with his girlfriend, by having a dinner date and making everything looks nice in the bedroom. Jordana his girlfriend doesn't actually like this and thinks it is stupid, so she walks out. She comes back a few minutes later and everything is completely different to what Oliver planned the situation out to be.

Analysis: In 'The Perks of being a Wallflower' this is the scene where Charlie loses his virginity to a girl that he doesn't actually like, because he likes her friend more. These films usually show that the boy gets the girl, but in this film he is more or less settling for second best. The reason why he doesn't actually say no to the girl is because he feels to uncomfortable and awkward to say anything, and that he feels that he will be embarrassed to say he isn't ready. This is a feminine thing as he doesn't know how to say no as he would feel guilty if he said something, usually it is a girl being sort of pressured into these types of situations and feeling like they can't say no, but in 'The Perks of being a Wallflower' it seems as though Charlie is being pressured into a situation. Another reason why he may not want to say no, is that he doesn't want to seem any more feminine that he has put across already. In 'Submarine' Oliver attempts to make everything romantic for when he loses his virginity, which could be interpreted as a feminine thing to do, as girls what everything to be perfect and they care more about their first time that boys do. Jordana seems like the masculine one in the relationship, as she basically thinks that the whole situation is stupid because when Oliver shows her what he has done to make it romantic, she walks out as she thinks it is just embarrassing. After Jordana walks out, she come back and he loses his virginity in a completely different way to what he first thought he would.

Point 4: Masculine females

Example The Perks of being a Wallflower:


Example Submarine: In this clip Jordana is telling Oliver what to do, he is doing everything she says. She tells him to kneel down then she kneels down in front of him and then they kiss, only because she wants to. All of this is taking place as she is telling him what to do making her more in control of what is happening.

Analysis: In The Perks of being a Wallflower, Charlie discusses with sam about her first kiss and he then explains that he has never kissed a girl before. This is when Sam, the girl he likes, tells him that she wants his first kiss to be with someone who loves him. She then kisses him, this shows she makes the first move, making her seem more masculine and charlie more feminine, as usually it would be the boy to make a move and be in control. This scene shows that the roles are switched as she is taking control of the situation, which is seen as a more male thing to do. In submarine, it is basically the same situation, where Jordana takes control and kisses Oliver, this is more masculine as she is telling him what to do and when to do it. This makes Oliver seem more feminine, because she is bossing him around and he is following her lead, which shows he is more of a girl in their relationship. In both films, these are both boys first kisses, which makes them seem innocent and more girl like as girls are seen as the more innocent gender, therefore they are seen as feminine. 

Conclusion: Both 'The Perks of being a Wallflower' and 'Submarine' cast a male in a feminine role, because they are both independent films meaning they are challenging the usual representation of teenage boys and their masculinity. In usual Hollywood films of the same genre, they would cast a female in a feminine role as it is seen as more familiar and normal, as boy do not usually show their feelings and try their best to be seen as masculine not feminine. However these two films go against the usual girl meets boy point of view, they change the perspective so that the situation is seen from the boys point of view as it is unusual and interesting to the viewer. The message of these two films i would say was to show that boys do actually have feelings too and they may not be as masculine as they are making out to be, so girls should be more considerate as boys could be just as emotional over situations which would only be seen from girls point of view in these genres of films.

How femininity is represented in the role of teenage boys in The Perks of being a wallflower and Submarine

Thesis:

• Both The Perks of being a Wallflower and Submarine do not conform to the usual representation of femininity in rom com/drama films, as they both follow a teenage boy in a feminine role. They do this to show that boys can be just as feminine or even more so than girls

What will i be discussing?:

•I will be discussing how these two independent films use teenage boys in a role that would usually be a female role.

•The perks of being a wallflower is a drama/romance that would usually portray a female in the main role instead of a male. Submarine is a romcom/drama that does the same.

•Both films represent femininity within teenage boys, that is different to usual romance films as it is trying to make you think about the boys point of view with ‘young love’, rather than a girls point of view.

Outline of the films:

•The perks of being a wallflower is  based around a teenage boy starting high school who is trying to be normal, during the first year of school he finds an unusual group of friends, in which he falls in love with a girl who is older than him.

•Submarine follows a teenage boy on his journey through his first love and unpopular school life, where he tries to fit in.

How they are different to normal films of the same genre:

•In the usual romance films, the main role is played by a teenage girl, however they replace a girl with a boy. Both films are independent, this shows as the message of the film is that boys can be just as feminine or even more so that girls.

•They change the roles to show a different point of view from a boy instead of a girl, this does not follow normal ways of a romance film as usually girls are usually seen as the gender with feelings, but this shows femininity through boys.

•Both films are independent and they show the message of the film being boys can be just as feminine or even more so that girls. This is because 

Scenes that compare and contrast my two films:

•In Submarine the main character Oliver gets into a fight and is seen as feminine as he cannot fight back. This shows that Submarine makes their main character seem weaker, more girl like, as he gets beaten up. After he is beaten up, it cuts to hi laying o the floor with a nose bleed, they use a high angle looking down on Oliver to make him seem weak and so making him more feminine. 

•In The Perks of being a Wallflower, Charlie the main character starts to cry and gets overwhelmed with the fact that his friends have left to go to college and he feels he has no one to confide in. This makes him seem more feminine as he shows his feelings, which is seen as more of a girl like thing to cry and show their feelings.

 

• In my second clip of The Perks of being a Wallflower, Charlie is narrating it, showing that he is writing to someone about his feelings, sort of like a diary. This is more of a feminine trait to do, as boys do not necessarily write down their feelings. Also the clip shows Charlie sitting down and writing down what is being narrated, as he is doing this the light quite bright and makes him look sort of angelic, this is more of a feminine thing to be innocent and angelic. 

Equilibrium= at the coffee shop mankind is rubbish
Disruption= kee is pregnant shown in the barn
Resolution= cliffhanger

Thesis is analysis of compared films
Similarities- births & mothers, birth & infertility, terrorism vs state control,
Difference- metaphorical/spiritual birth vs actual, v is a hero in some ways and theo is a hero he redeems himself for humanity sacrifices himself, v is more of a hero because theo runs away but theo is a hero because people are more like him than V, v is a warning and children of men is hope (put in thesis),

Style- director has a familiar style over all his films. blue colour depressing, handheld camera feels like you are there, blood splashed on the camera more realistic, long shot scenes more realistic.

Dietrich father figure to evey, jasper father figure to theo.
V follows classic hollywood narrative, but subverts it.

module 2 lesson 1

The long take where the soldiers stop firing as they notice the baby.
Why is this scene important for the themes?
Shows one of the themes of war,
Why is this scene important for the representation of gender?
He was protecting her and the baby masculine role, she was holding the baby feminine role.
Why is this scene important for the style?
Tracking the characters making it more realistic,
L T?
Long takes

Independent films challenge the classic hollywood narrative ending. Children of men could be an independent film because it doesn't have a happy ending.
If you take children away, makes women redundant. No high placed women. Masculinity replaced maternal. Hyper-masculinity masculine army is put to a stop when a child is born.

Children of Men-
Themes: war, infertility, hope, realistic. Independent film so it will challenge themes.
Style: strike entertainment is an in dependant production company so it would not follow the classic hollywood narrative.
Genre:

V for vendetta there a war between V and the government. V is either a freedom fighter or a terrorist. If V is a terrorist, the government is seen as good, but if he is seen as a freedom fighter, the government is bad. The war is seen as necessary, it is the resolution. But in Children of Men the war is the bad. The baby represents peace in Children of Men, so when Theo dies at the end, he is sacrificing himself for peace and innocence.

Visceral impact- Like watching a horror film so it scares you

Audiences between hollywood films and independent films, are opposed, they are different.
Independent film viewers want to be challenged.
Children of men doesn't particularly fit into a certain genre.

1. What significant of father/ mother roles - which characters?
V is cooking for Evey, sort of mother role, so V and Evey switch roles.

2. Which scenes demonstrate birth?
When they both get reborn, V through fire (Hypermasculine- superhero) and Evey through water,Evey birthed through freedom, V birthed through vengeance

3. How are the relationships with parent figures used?


4. What psycho sexual meaning and symbols ? Yonic? Phalic? Orgasm?
When V cones out of the fire and when Evey steps into the rain, phalic associated with rain, yonic associated with fire. Evey represents orgasm as she steps into the rain.

5. Why is gender important in this film? What is it saying/purpose?
Because V is seen as genderless because he has feminine traits and Evey switches gender roles through the film. Evey goes from feminine to masculine when her hair is shaved off. V is responsible for defeminising everyone, he takes their fear away. Masks make everyone gender neutral



She is looking for a protector when she goes round Dietrich's house. Oedipal complex.
V and Evey being rebirthed. Hyper-masculine
When V cooks Evey breakfast he is a mother role to her. Mother/ father nuture.
Rebirth scene, of Evey and V .yonic and phalic imagery
Evey's hair is cut off, defeminised. Hyper-masculinity.


Hyper-masculinity: making someone more masculine (v could have died in the fire but he didn't)
Phalic and yonic imagery: Thor-Water is phalic, big muscles (mines bigger than yours), fighting in mud (mud wrestling match basically), queer gaze.     Teeth-Rose is a yonic object, warning against having sex, attempted rape so revenge. Threat to men's masculinity.
Mother/father birth procration nurturer:
The oedipal complex: Looking for qualities that are in your parents, in your partner.
Men act, women appear: women do not act, they are only in films to be looked at.

V is a metaphorical mother to Evey- grows her as a person, V has feminine traits.
Valerie is a mother to Evey- Gives her confidence through gentle words, comforts her.
Sutler is a father to creedy- He is harsh to him, he kills his 'father' to gain his power to get with his 'mother' the population(they are fearful so they are the mother). The fatherland, 'protecting' people
Dietrich is a father to Evey- He has authority over her, he is her boss. He becomes weak when people find out, he is feminine.

V born out of fire, birthed out of hate and intolerance. He could have been muslim, disagreed with the government, gay, not white.
Subversive gender roles, distorted.

Thesis= your interpretation, your idea, your answer to that question.
Point= representation of (gender/mother/father)
Example= scene & analysis of micro(textual detail)/symbol (yonic/phalic/orgasm)
Analysis= what is being communicated/ messages            Role of female- fear/passive         Role of male- threat
Conclusion=

Revolution-  Guns, phalic objects. Big group of them, masculine. Roses, represent yonic (femininity) and love. The leaver is phalic, has lots of power, causes an explosion (orgasm). They point their guns down, flaccid phalic object. Passive revolution by the people, non violent, feminine. Organised in perfect rows, masculine. Evey births the revolution, she is a metaphorical mother, tunnel is a yonic object, the revolution is the train. Explosion is the orgasm. V represents everyone, v is Evey's mother and her father.

v for vendetta clips

Evie in the opening scene, she is important, male gaze voyeurism, close ups of her legs and face, damsel on distress
V may be bad because he is dressed in black, he is mysterious, close ups of his mask, out to harm people because he has knives, he doesn't have guns because it needs more force and he is closer to the person, personal.

Close ups, eyeline angles, tracking and pan for movement, frame rate is slow until change started happening to make the scene more dramatic. Slow mo on evie because of a flashback, she is unable to do anything, helpless. always eyeline to show they are equal, that lesbians are equal to straight people. Roses yonic image to symbolise women. When it changes, the lighting isn't yellow like before, it goes dark. She gets her hair shaved, removes her femininity, voyeuristic that you can't help but watch it because its unbelievable.

Dystopia - chaotic near future, little bit sci fi, v is more realistic to make you think it could happen soon, corruption of government, big divide between rich and poor, global warming climate change, over population,
Oppressive society, revenge,  sacrifice, governments should fear their people, controlling media, rebellion,

Feminine traits from v, long hair, make up on his mask, makes breakfast, evey has typical feminine traits, she is more masculine when her head is shaved,
Both switch gender roles throughout the film, evey sort of becomes v, masks make everyone gender neutral,
A controlling government, marxist control, repression of creativity, vengeance, rebellion,
Revolution, religion, terrorism, Totalitarianism, vengeance

Terrorism- one person terrorist is another persons freedom fighter

Totalitarianism- warning if you don't care about voting 

v for vendetta style theme and genre

Genre:
Categories of what the film goes in depending on the characters, props.
Fits in with action genre, the clip of him bombing the old bailey. Find conventions. Explosions, fight scenes that are fast. Detective.
a sci fi film, doesn't have aliens. Because its realistic and wants to warn you.
In the future it has a curfew, its deserted. Has speakers in the streets.

Style:
is the way its written, comic book / super hero. V is in a mask.
The fight scene, goes slow mo, super heros mostly have fight scenes.
Theme: What the characters and events are trying to tell you. What message are they trying to send out.
Dystopia, totalitarianism. Warning us about the government controlling every aspect of our lives. Lots of action, and explosions.

Narrative:
The way the camera helps tell the story and how the characters are portrayed.


Voyeurism: Looking at the person secretive.
When the man is showering it he is vulnerable.

summary of whether v for vendetta is a classic hollywood film or not

Cause and effect is narrative throughout classic hollywood films, and V for vendetta does conform to this as he wants vengeance from the people who experimented on him. Character driven/ psychological motivation is within the film as Evie wants protection from V, and he gives her protection in a form that he makes her protect herself, he makes her stronger. V for vendetta does in a way conform to the opposition and conflict, but not entirely. Usually it is between two people and it's a big fight scene, but in this it is the symbolism of the government (parliament) being blown up. Normal hollywood films end with the bad guy being killed and theres a good outcome, whereas this ends where Evie blows up parliament.

the film is deliberately undermining the rules of society

How does V represent typical gender roles to communicate messages?

Thesis-

In the film V for vendetta, Evey is seen to represent the mother role as she metaphorically births the revolution, which helps to change everything, she 'birthed' the revolution which maybe considered the rebirth of the government, starting off fresh.This is shown in the last scene of the film in the final revolution, as Evey pulls the leaver that send the train off to cause the explosion in parliament. The tunnel symbolises a yonic object and the revolution is what Evey is birthing. This part of the revolution is the opposite to passive and passive is shown as a feminine trait, this shows that part of the revolution is considered as masculine.

V is seen to be a metaphorical mother in parts of the film as he helps Evey become who she is by the end of the film. He represents the mother figure as he helps Evey grow as a person and makes her stronger. this is shown in the scene where V cooks Evey breakfast, which is usually a feminine thing to do. He also has other feminine traits such as his mask has make up on it, which is considered feminine, it also has long hair. Evey accepts this as she did not have a mother role in life, which may be why V wants to nurture her, as he sees that she needs that role.

Evey is looking for a protect in the film, which is pushed by the fact that her parents were taken away, this shows she didn't have any mother and father role models as she grew up, which forces her to want to find another mother and father role as she grows up. In the scene where Evey is going to Dietrich's house, this shows she is trying to find a protector within him, as she did not have a father role as she grew up, this is to with the oedipal complex. Evey want to find aspect of her father in men she is wants to be with, but because she did not know her father, she doesn't know who to be with, which shows why she is attempting to visit Dietrich, who is her boss. Dietrich can also symbolise authority as he is her boss, which is what she was also missing in her life, as her parent were absent.

The imagery of yonic and phalic symbols is present in the film as in the rebirth scene, it shows both Evey and V becoming stronger as they came out of something bad that made them a better person. In the scene of Evey stepping out into the rain and V stepping out of the fire,

themes

Is v a hollywood film?
No because it is not a traditional film where there's the good side and the bad side. The sort of good guy is a terrorist.
Yes because it has all of the action and explosions in it.

Themes come from what the characters are doing and why they are doing it.
Characters symbolise things, they aren't real, they are a function. They are there to play out the messages.
Distopia opposite to utopia, bleak near future. Has to be realistic to warn you that its going to happen.
V is trying to give you a warning that the government is trying to control everyone and everything. (totalitarianism- one guy is in charge)
We don't like this, we want freedom. But we have strength and a vision.
You can violently overthrow the government or take to the streets in a peaceful way.
Conspiracy theory, a belief from a group of people that circulated on the internet that the governments story is a lie. Lost trust in the government. Like 'wikileaks'.
Democracy, government that we voted for. It can be used in a way that makes us think we have a choice.
Fascists, are mostly totalitarian.

Children of Men and V for Vendetta comparative essay of style and themes

The two films, V for Vendetta and Children of Men, are similar in style and themes, as they both are set in the near future. This is because they want to make the viewer think that it could actually happen to them soon, warning them about the potential near future. Both films do not stick to the classic hollywood narrative, as in V for Vendetta, V is considered the hero, yet he wanted mainly revenge and not freedom of the people . In Children of Men the hero isn't the typical hero, yes he has sacrificed his love, but he is different to the normal hero.The themes that are mostly seen throughout both are dystopia, as it is a future that has gone down hill, completely opposite to the ideal future, and freedom as the people in V for Vendetta are not able to be there self as they could be locked away, and in Children of Men no one is allowed in or out of the country as the government has taken control of the boarders.

Children of Men is set in a near future where women are infertile and the youngest person is 18 years old. People struggle to survive as there as there are many gangs that go around killing other innocent people. There are people blowing things up and shooting people, which is dystopian as people wouldn't be able to survive, it is so unappealing as a future that suicide kits are sold, which shows how bad the people think about it. The government has gone power heavy, as they do not let anyone in or out of the government, they are controlling the peoples freedom of choice to where to live as they have put soldiers at the boarders to control potential immigrants that want to go into the country.

V for vendetta is also set in a near future where the government control everything within the country, they put in place things such as curfews, so that people do not go out late and they arrest anyone who is individual in any way, such as gay people and freedom fighters.This is because they're goal is to control every aspect of the peoples lives, as the government fear the peoples individuality. The theme dystopia is within this film as it is not a nice future to live in, they created it this way, as they wanted the viewer to think about the way the government is right now and consider the similarities to the government in the film and our government.

A theme present in both films is torture, as in V for Vendetta, the government were torturing and experimenting on people who were different and fear of being a terrorist or just individual. The government are also torturing all of the people in a different way, as they are taking their freedom away from them and making them uniformed in a way that they can't be different for fear of being arrested. The theme of torture in Children of Men is shown when the people find the girl that is pregnant again and take her away from Theo, the main character who was looking after her.They take away her freedom as a type of torture, taking her away from the person who was trying to get her to a safe place.

Another theme within both films is freedom, as it is taken away in both films by the government, but in different ways. In Children of Men, the government take away the peoples freedom of place to live as they control the boarders with soldiers, so that people from different countries cannot get into they're country at all. At one point during the film, you see people being locked up in cages because they attempted to get into the country, this could be the makers showing us that this could happen in the future if the government gets worse with their power. In V for Vendetta, the government take away the freedom of uniqueness as they lock away anyone with an individual trait or a different opinion to the government, like the character Evey's parents, they were taken away for fighting for freedom of speech and Dietrich had to keep it a secret that he was gay, as he would have been locked away for it. The government even enforced a curfew for all of the people to be home by, to try and control them.The reason why the government in V for Vendetta was doing this is because, they feared the people and what they were capable of doing as a mass.