Artifacts for Objectification of Women (Neil Patel)
The first artifact is a movie poster that promotes Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The poster features Megan Fox's character Mikaela Barnes in low cut shorts bending over a motorcycle. The poster effectively shows off Megan Fox's body, and her promiscuous pose further proves her worth to this movie. This poster was created to bring in heterosexual male viewers by using the physical appearance of Megan Fox. Fox's role in this movie is degrading because she is only used as a tool for lust, and she plays a one-dimensional character that does not enhance the plot.
The second artifact is a scene from Transformers: Dark of the Moon. This scene epitomes the value of Rosie Hungtington-Whiteley's character in this film. She is introduced to the audience with a slow motion shot of her nearly naked butt and legs as she climbs a set of stairs. Carly, Huntington-Whiteley's character, then climbs on top of the protagonist and sleeps on his chest, and this shows that her main purpose is to serve as his girlfriend. Carly does not enhance the plot or contribute to the fight against the evil transformers, but rather she needs to be saved numerous times by the protagonist throughout the duration of the film. Carly's physical appearance is exploited in this film, and her main purpose is to serve as eye candy for the audience.
The third artifact is from Transformers (first film). This scene shows how Mikaela Barnes, Megan Fox's character, is hyper-sexualized and objectified throughout the first two films. When Sam's (protagonist) car breaks down, Mikaela opens the hood to take a look at the engine. Throughout the scene, Sam cannot focus on the car because he is distracted by Mikaela's body. The scene shows Sam staring at her body and even making snarky remarks about women working on his engine. The camera slowly pans over Mikaela's body, and it is clear that this scene was created to showcase Fox's body. It is degrading for women because this scene promotes the notion that women are only useful as objects of sexual desire.
Artifacts for Heroines in Film (Corey Walker)
The first artifact is a scene from Edge of Tomorrow. This scene demonstrates the coldness of Rita’s character as she shoots Maj. William Cage in order to speed up his training. This is one of the aspects of her character that makes it hard to relate to her character. It is also a testament to her willingness to do whatever is necessary to save the human race.
The second artifact is a scene from the movie Alien. In this clip, you can see Ripley’s visual signs of fear and fatigue. Humanity is something that is important in a heroine since it allows the viewer to relate to the character. Ripley has human emotions that anyone would feel in that situation but she has the courage to continue her struggle.
The third artifact is a scene from Mad Max: Fury Road.This clip shows the fight between Furiosa and Max. This scene is a great demonstration of the power Furiosa has. She is able to hold her own against Max in a fight, only ending when Max gets the gun. Also impressive is how unified the other woman are under Furiosa. She has been their rallying cry for freedom.
Artifacts for Progression of Female Roles in Film (Dimi Ivanov)
The first artifact is a stereotypical image of women as housewives. The media portrayed American women as queens of domesticity. Films of the 50s helped create stereotypes of women as bound to the house and as servants to their husbands, this medium perhaps made it easiest to transmit the housewife stereotype across the nation. Television was not merely entertainment, it was offering lessons in what was acceptable in society. When looking in retrospect social acceptance for living life as a housewife changes with the passage of time and from generation to generation. The housewife will continue to provoke memories of interest and gender objectification in the 1960s.
The second artifact is a image from King Kong. A damsel in distress refers to a young woman who is physically attractive; this is of course what sparks the interest of her savior. A damsel is always helpless and in need of rescuing, a representation that is seen by most as very sexist in nature. The story of King Kong sounds extremely familiar in the sense that Ann Darrow portrays the helpless victim previously described. She’s victimized and obviously very vulnerable and innocent. Today we have plenty of women who we would never be described as helpless, and yet the stereotype survives.
The third artifact is from the movie Terminator. In the movie, Sarah Connor is firstly represented as a stereotypical damsel in distress figure. When the Terminator finds Sarah she is scared and feeling hunted. As the story progresses, Sarah learns how to defend herself she become stronger which is represented through her upward battle to gain her independence. Women are often filmed to emphasize their attractiveness to the male audience, however Sarah Connor is never depicted as a sex object.