How stereotypical are the representations of woman in the action genre, with particular reference and analysis of Tomb Raider, Lara Croft and Tomorrow Never Dies from the James Bond franchise
For my research investigation I plan to discuss, how stereotypical are the representations of woman in the action genre, with particular reference and analysis of Tomb Raider, Lara Croft and Tomorrow Never Dies from the James Bond franchise. My aim within this investigation will be firstly, to question whether these films stick to the stereotypical female character roles, which have little real importance to the narrative. Secondly, whether the characters break the stereotype of a traditional representation of females and gender roles and instead portray a strong feminine character, which is in control and doesn’t rely on the male characters. Lastly I will be investigating if woman are often represented as using their body and beauty to gain power over males, rather than their minds and intellect. To assist my analysis I will apply the theories of The Male Gaze by Laura Mulvey and Prop’s Narrative theory alongside Post Feminism.
A dictionary definition of representation describes it as “a widely held but fixed and over simplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.”(1) Women, in the past, have had a very obvious stereotypical representation within film that has developed somewhat throughout time. “Women were a symbol of family, Keywords associated with women some 50 years ago were children, home and household” (2). This sums up the stereotypical and traditional representation of women that, you could say, is still held in modern society and represented within film. However, producers have to be subtler if they represent these issues as we live in a modern world, where stereotypes can be frowned upon.
The narrative of Tomb Raider depicts a young, attractive and athletic woman living in a large mansion and having two male servants at her command. This does contrast to the stereotypical representation of women because it represents a woman who has power over males, which is unusual in modern action films. However, to discover if this film totally opposes the stereotype representation I need to apply Propp’s theory to see if Lara advances the narrative and therefore breaks this stereotype. Lara could be given the role of hero, as she is the character that under takes the quest to search for “The Triangle of Light”. This suggests that she should be able to advance the narrative. This role is usually taken by a strong, dominating male character so it is unusual that a woman undertakes this role. “Findings showed that 58.6% of VFACs (violent female action characters) were portrayed in a submissive role to the male hero in the film, and 42% were romantically linked to him.” (3) This demonstrates that it is quite rare for a woman to be the dominant character in the action genre as well as only acting as a goal for the male characters, but does this statistic apply to Lara Croft? “Women continue to be shown as sidekicks to more dominant male heroes” (4) It is a common held belief that woman are given the role of sidekick (A role in Propp’s theory), or “sidechick” (5) and don’t add to the narrative. To discover whether Lara’s Character is a female hero and therefore whether she advances the narrative I analysed a key scene in the text where both she and the illuminati agents are trying to collect a piece of the triangle of light. Lara uses her intelligence to work out the 2000-year-old puzzle, that men could not, and then uses a battering ram like device and her momentum to destroy the crucible that holds the first piece of this magical triangle. She manages to do this before the male villain (another of Propp’s roles) and she manages to escape with it, while defending herself against both the male illuminati agents and resurrected stone temple guardians. This implies that she is not a damsel in distress that is often seen in action films and that she can defend herself against many strong male characters and this clearly dictates the narrative. Lara can be seen as intelligent as well as being physically strong.
The Tomb Raider text is an adaption of the very popular video game series, released in 1998. “There is no doubt that Tomb Raider marked a significant departure from the typical role of women within popular computer games” (6). These games were hugely different to other popular games at that time as it allowed the audience, mainly young males, to control a young, athletic and beautiful woman opposed to an equally strong male character. This may sound like a positive that a strong female character has finally been created in a virtual world dominated by males but in fact it could be the exact opposite. “Each of her provocative curves was as much part of the game as the tombs she raided.” (7) These video games allowed young males to control a young and sexy female character. Its success could be down to theories such as Mulvey’s male gaze, as the audience will look at Croft as voyeur.“Two key insights which appear relevant to Lara are Mulvey's argument that the female body operates as an eroticized object of the male gaze and the fetishistic and scopophilic pleasures which this provides for the male viewer”(8). “Video games allow the player more free choice than a film” (9). In a film the audience are forced to watch the shots that the director choses, whereas in a video game it is up to the player. They get to choose where they want to go and where the camera is; this is a big factor when it comes to Lara Croft and her body image as it allows the audience to gaze and linger at the females curves in whatever perspective they desire. “She is probably most well-known for Barbie-like proportions, which are exaggerated even for Barbie.” (10) The Lara croft video games allow the player, usually males, to manipulate the camera angles to gaze at Lara’s over exaggerated proportions and gain pleasure from them.
This theory can also be applied to my text. There are several scenes where the camera lingers over her body before it moves onto the next shot. “In the case of film, control of the camera and therefore the control of the gaze is almost always firmly settled in the male sphere.” (11) In the first scene of the film Croft is exploring what looks to be an ancient tomb, as she steps through the threshold she surveys the area while walking down a set of steps. There is then a 5 second shot of her bare thighs as she moves around the tomb. A minute after this shot there is another shot of her bare thighs. This proves that some aspects of the film employ the voyeuristic male gaze theory and that they try to satisfy the male objectifying croft and not just relying on her personality. “There is an identification of the sexual with the female body.” (12) In the modern age directors have to be discreet when applying the male gaze to women, this can be seen in Lara Croft. In this scene Lara’s guns are attached to her thighs. This means that they can direct the gaze of the viewer at her thighs and her guns; this shot is obviously there so the viewer can look at her thighs but the guns makes it more subtle.
James Bond films have always been famous for the Bond girls. “The phrase ‘Bond Girl’ usually spurs up an image of an attractive woman in beautiful clothes capturing the attention mainly of men”(13). The camera techniques really emphasise their purpose of visual pleasure by the use of pans up and down the woman body or slow motion shots. This puts the audience in the position of a male and forces them to look at woman the way a male would. “She is being watched without her knowledge: the female is subjected to the male gaze by both Bond and the audience”(14). This can be seen in the text Tomorrow Never Dies. After meeting Elliot Carver (the villain) at his party, Bond retires to his hotel room. There, he sits and waits for Paris Carver (A Bond Girl). After a short dialogue sequence they embrace and a long shot depicts Paris removing her dress and revealing her almost naked body. The camera shot forces the audience to look at her body through the eyes of a male, by using close ups and camera movements, such as pans, it forces the audience to look at the women body in a sexual way. Paris is using her body rather than her intelligence to gain an advantage over bond reinforcing the Mulvey’s male gaze theory. Using Strauss’s binary opposition this contrast to the character Wai Lin, who rejects Bond’s attempt at seduction. After Bond and Lin escape Carver men on a bike, they have a clothed shower together and try to release the handcuffs that are holding them together. When Bond tries to seduce her, Lin manages to pick the lock, with her earring, and says “Don’t get any ideas, I work alone” before handcuffing Bond to a drainage pipe. Here she clearly rejects Bond’s advances and escapes from him into a village square. However, eventually after they have killed Carver, Lin gives in to the temptation and makes love to Bond. Which shows that even some of the strong, independent woman are itemised by Bond. “Even women were initially portrayed to be independent and strong-willed, having a stern attitude towards men eventually succumbed to Bond’s charm.” (15). This however links to the theory of post feminism, which suggests that woman can be strong and independent, as well as using their sexuality for their own gain. This applies to Lin because she can be independent and complete her mission, but she can also use her body to achieve what she wants.
Applying Propp’s character theory to my text the ‘Bond Girls’tend to act as the princess, who acts as a reward for the hero when they have completed their quest. This is the case for many of the Bond films as they act as sexual relation to Bond.
“Women in the film add a sexual aspect to the plot” (16). However, this may not be the case for the character Wai Lin as she has a key part in the narrative and she could be classed as the sidekick. In the final scene of the text, Bond is captured by the villain and is just about to be killed. Lin then manages to create a distraction that allows Bond to escape. This shows that Lin, as the sidekick, is an important character/part of the narrative because without her Bond would have been killed and failed his question.
However, even Wai Lin can be seen as helpless and as a “damsel in distress”. When Bond and Lin first enter the stealth boat, Carver’s henchman capture Lin. Bond then continues to sneak around the boat and plants a remote controlled grenade next to a set of explosives. He then sneaks into the control room and manages to take Henry Gupta (a technology terrorist) hostage. Bond then trades Gupta for Lin and then detonates the grenade and destroys part of the boat making it visible on radar. This scene shows that even though Lin is clever and is very important to the narrative, she still relies on males for help and to rescue her. This proves that she is not completely independent and does not totally break the gender role. This can also been seen later in the text when Lin is captured by Stamper (Carver’s General).
Lara Croft marks a step forward in representing females film because it shows a strong, intelligent, independent and dominant female character and this is unusual in modern film. She plays an important part in the narrative by reuniting the “triangle” and defeating the male villain in a one on one fight, showing that she breaks the character roles and is not a “passive” female character that are so common in the modern action genre. However, there are several scenes in the text where her body is subjected to the male gaze, which shows that she doesn’t totally break the stereotypical representation of woman. This may be present to gratify the male audiences consumption habits.“A high number of people often still promote the image of women as sex symbols today. Examples of these films are Lara croft and James Bond. “(17). The representation of woman in Lara Croft is sometimes similar to that in Tomorrow Never Dies. The character Wai Lin can be compared to Croft, as she too is a strong and independent woman that doesn’t always rely on male characters. However, she is also subjected to the male gaze and is sometimes objectified by Bond. Paris Carver contrasts to these two women because she is only used for her body and she totally relies on the other male character. She offers no advance to the narrative and only acts as a distraction away from the main plot. To summarise female representation is progressing, but still contains some traditional roles and expectations, which one could argue reflects progress but not reformed society gender roles.
