American Independent Cinema: Representational Analysis of Women

â€Å"The Hollywood film industry itself has been (and continues to be to a large extent) male-dominated. Hence, male directors, producers, writers, and cinematographers all use the camera as an instrument to look at women. † (Benshoff, pg. 235) Gender also plays a large responsibility in the film industry when pertaining to what females can and can not do in films. Male characters are usually main characters and â€Å"in charge† within films, whereas the female characters are usually limited to just looking pretty while still remaining passive and somewhat outside of all the action within the story. Women today feel a large amount of pressure to look and behave like these female actresses portrayed on the big screen. With the preparation of these films women usually take a very long time in hair and make-up for the sole purpose of looking attractive and gaining more male attention in the films. Many females fail to realize how much time and preparation really goes into the looks and costume designs of the characters that are being portrayed within the film industry. In today’s society female’s feel as though they have to be beautiful and live up to a certain stereotype and â€Å"look† that is extremely unrealistic. Related essay: Pestle Analysis for Odeon Cinema Real Women Have Curves (2002)† was a film directed by Patricia Cardoso that challenges the representation of all women in society. Although the film is about a first generation Mexican-American female struggling with her family’s beliefs, her future, culture, and body, it reaches all female viewers with the same powerful message. The message is that all females can be empowered and should be proud of who they are and where they come from. Most importantly females should be proud of their bodies and not try to live up to the unlikely images that our American culture has welded for us today. Another film and director that challenged the male dominated movie industry was Susan Seidelman with her 1985 low-budget ($5million) film â€Å"Desperately Seeking Susan. † â€Å"†¦Seidelman doesn’t glamorize women at the expense of men. In fact, her strongest affinity is with desperate, aggressive women who never stop hustling. † (Levy, pg. 356) Her film â€Å"Desperately Seeking Susan† looks at contemporary issues of fame, self fulfillment, and social relationships, as well as personal identity. The film is about a petite New Jersey housewife named Roberta, who is bored, unsatisfied, and tired of her marriage routine life at home. She then begins to read the personals section of the New York newspaper for vicarious thrills and entertainment. Her favorite classified to read is one that features the romance of Jim who is a struggling musician and Susan who is a free-spirited single woman living her life in Soho New York. Susan had just recently escaped her ex boyfriend who was a mobster and stole a pair of very expensive Egyptian earrings. One bored day when Roberta reads the classified section she sees the ad â€Å"Desperately Seeking Susan† and decides to follow Susan and Jim. The reasoning as to why Roberta decided to take this extreme measure is because this was a way for her to escape her daily average life and become someone else for a day. The film then takes an unexpected turn and becomes all about reinvention as the housewife Roberta unknowingly with amnesia transforms herself into the wild and care-free character of Susan. There were a number of different codes within the film â€Å"Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)† that made it easier to understand its viewpoint. Some of the cultural codes recognized within the film include cultural, narrative, artistic, cinematic, and intertexual. The film took place during the 1980’s in a small suburban town in New Jersey as well as New York City. The characters of Roberta and Gary Glass are individuals being represented as members of an upper middle class society living in New Jersey. We know that they are upper middle class because of the context clues and dialogue that we see within the movie. We hear Mr. Glass tell his wife â€Å"what are we poor? † when he tells her that she bought a used jacket that used to belong to Jimi Hendrix. Roberta is a bored, full-time housewife and he is a hardworking husband. As the film continues we meet the other main character who is a fun loving, care-free, gold digging, woman named Susan from New York. The film is told through the eyes of the main character, which is a repressed and bored housewife named Roberta. The story is also partially told through the eyes of Susan the carefree and stylish woman from New York. The story is also told through the eyes of Roberta’s worried husband Gary and her love interest Dez. The film â€Å"Desperately Seeking Susan† was very creative and original. Some of the artistic codes within the film include the music in which is exceedingly upbeat and perfect for the time period of the 80’s. The clothing design within the film is extremely important and relevant to the development of Robert’s character. â€Å"Susan’s individualized pyramid jacket signifies her unconventional personal style and her fluency in innovating her own look. The jacket binds the two women together. Susan’s trading of looks shows her competence in putting together an always evolving and eccentric look, while Roberta’s purchase of the (second hand) jacket is part of her adventure and escape. † (Street, pg. 1) The costumes in the film stated the socio-economic status of the main characters and the time period. At the beginning of the film we acknowledge Roberta well dressed with a suburban flare and we also noticed Susan dressed as a stylish, upbeat, rocker. (Complete Opposites! ) The genre of the film â€Å"Desperately Seeking Susan† was comedy, drama, and romance because of its portrayal. The film portrays comedic humor with the mistaken identity of two polar opposites Roberta and Susan. Their journey is a comedic mystery and we never know what will happen next as Roberta searches for adventure and Susan hunts for the stolen Egyptian earring. The film also depicts drama with all of the confusion and an intense romance between Roberta and Jim. In conclusion, the film industry is particularly male dominated. However, there are more female directors, producers, etc. like Susan Seidelman and Patricia Cardoso who are making a remarkable change. These females are making films with predominately female casts, and with messages of strength, personal identity, social relationships and self- fulfillment. They’re challenging the film business and changing perceptions of women everywhere.