Gender Representation in thriller film

Gender representation in thriller films

Stereotypes for men:

·         Muscular

·         Fit

·         Protagonist, strong hero who saves the day

·         Mentally and physically strong

Stereotype for females:

·         Vulnerability

·         Longing for help

·         Damsel in distress

·         Victimised by the antagonist

In a thriller film the ways genders are represented is stereotypical, for example in most of the thriller films male are the protagonists and the females are always longing for help and are presented as victims. Additional females are usually shown as the hero’s sidekicks or furthermore they are shown as the sex symbol, a sexual attraction for the male protagonist.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1j4voz_seven-official-movie-trailer-1995-brad-pitt-morgan-freeman-gwyneth-paltrow-entertainment-hollywood-m_shortfilms

In this trailer, there are two male protagonists which show us that again the males are in power. We also see a glance of a female who is one of the protagonist’s lovers, her expressions are not very pleasing and she is scared. She is presented as the damsel in distress i.e. she always needs to be saved from something or someone as she can’t protect herself.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1mw6mp_the-bourne-identity-official-movie-trailer-2002-matt-damon-clive-owen-entertainment-movies-action_shortfilms

The Bourne identity is another good example that shows the stereotypical gender roles within a thriller film.  In this trailer we can see that the men are involved in all the actions and women are just used for pleasures. Bourne in the trailer is very aggressive whereas the female is very reluctant and quiet. There is one female who is on the computers and is dealing with the technical things which tells us that stereotypically females are better at technology than men and men are good at action and they are presented to be very strong and impulsive.

During the chasing scene in the trailer Bourne is in control for everything and he constantly assures the female that he knows what he is doing and won’t let anyone harm them. Even though he is being chased by the police he remains calm regardless whilst, the female characters emotions are in contrast to his. However, she remains confident in Bourne and trusts him which shows females dependency upon men.

In thriller films, female are presented as being beautiful and attractive with perfect body types.  They are idealised as to be fit and attractive whereas, men have to be attractive but there is no particular stereotype that tells them to look a certain way.

Overall, the movies I looked at there is not much appearances of females in the opening sequence which tells us that they don’t play a very important role in the films. They are just there to please the male protagonist and add a little tension to the storyline. Females are not as importance and always are presented as vulnerable and helpless, they always require a male to protect them and help them survive the break of the equilibrium.  There is a trend followed by all the trailers I looked at that is women have a very small role in the opening sequence suggesting that the storyline mainly revolves around the male protagonist.

Looking at all the trailers of the thriller movies gave me an idea about how genders are presented in the films. I saw that most of the thriller films consist of a male protagonist who is always in action and also protects the female from all the danger. However, for our thriller movie we are subverting all the stereotypes about gender, as in our opening sequence the protagonist is a female and she is the one in the spotlight as she gets tortured and played by. But the stereotype of female being damsel in distress is reinforced as the main character is still longing for help and is put off by the text messages she receives. In our film, we also reinforce the ideology of females being pretty, attractive and have fit bodies. The trailers I looked at influenced me for our movie because our movie focuses on a girl’s vulnerability and how she deals with all the torture and threats that she is been confronted too.