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.
