Feminist film as "experimental"
It has been said that feminist films are experimental, since it was in avant-garde cinema that women were able to work, creating stories which disregarded the patriarchal narrative upheld in mainstream cinema (Mulvey, 1999:835). However, this was because it was difficult for women filmmakers to gain money and resources to make films, for example, in 1941 filmmaker Maya Deren made Meshes in the Afternoon using 16mm equipment and no sound, a technique which allowed other filmmakers outside of the industry to start also creating films themselves (Mulvey, 1979:6).
As Mulvey (1979:7) also points out, the main reason feminist films have been seen as part of avant-garde cinema is because they prove a "challenge to representation", attempting to change how women are seen on screen.
However, because of how gender politics in cinema have been debated since Laura Mulvey wrote Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema in 1975, "Hollywood films have created a new kind of female character that is able to hold the narrative and visual power that Mulvey said wasn’t possible" (Williams, 2012:43).
For example, in some romantic comedies, such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and 500 Days of Summer (2005), the female characters drive the story, while the male characters react to their actions (Williams, 2012:44) -- the men are the ones who lack "agency" (see below).
And these new kinds of characters are also becoming more widespread in blockbusters -- an example of this being Wonder Woman (2017), where although the female lead is the superhero, her male love interest is her equal, and they can be seen helping each other throughout the film, which is what furthers the story (Campochiaro, 2017).
Agency
It has been argued that in mainstream film there is a divide between men and women, the men being active -- able to drive and change their own story and that of the film -- and the women being passive -- objectified and/or pushed to the sidelines (Mulvey, 1999:839). Therefore, it can be said that many woman in film lack "agency", which is the idea of a character controlling their own story, and making their own decisions (Herson, 2018).
This was proven by a recent study from 2017, where it was discovered that even if some female characters were removed from films, the story was not hugely altered, showing they had no impact on the plot (Garrett, 2017).
Agency is seen as essential to changing this not only for how women are represented on screen, but also how they are treated behind the camera. It is believed that there will be more opportunities for female directors, producers, etc., if characters have more agency on screen, and that these characters will be created if more women are in these positions within the industry (Garrett, 2017).
An example of this is Wonder Woman (2017) directed by Patty Jenkins. The main character, Diana, is seen to have a lot of agency, especially since she leads the story, even telling a male character that she doesn't want protecting, saying to him, "what I do is not up to you" (Campochiaro, 2017).
Nonetheless, it can also be argued that if some women did not have a lack of agency on screen, then women may not realise that they don't have any agency in their lives, and 'representing something is not condoning it', but can help lead to change and awareness (Herson, 2018).
Therefore, despite there being a lack of agency now, if every single woman had agency in films, it has been said, that there wouldn't be real representation and female characters who a diverse range of women could relate to, whether they are considered weak and lacking agency, or strong and the hero (Chocano, 2011).
This was proven by a recent study from 2017, where it was discovered that even if some female characters were removed from films, the story was not hugely altered, showing they had no impact on the plot (Garrett, 2017).
Agency is seen as essential to changing this not only for how women are represented on screen, but also how they are treated behind the camera. It is believed that there will be more opportunities for female directors, producers, etc., if characters have more agency on screen, and that these characters will be created if more women are in these positions within the industry (Garrett, 2017).
An example of this is Wonder Woman (2017) directed by Patty Jenkins. The main character, Diana, is seen to have a lot of agency, especially since she leads the story, even telling a male character that she doesn't want protecting, saying to him, "what I do is not up to you" (Campochiaro, 2017).
Nonetheless, it can also be argued that if some women did not have a lack of agency on screen, then women may not realise that they don't have any agency in their lives, and 'representing something is not condoning it', but can help lead to change and awareness (Herson, 2018).
Therefore, despite there being a lack of agency now, if every single woman had agency in films, it has been said, that there wouldn't be real representation and female characters who a diverse range of women could relate to, whether they are considered weak and lacking agency, or strong and the hero (Chocano, 2011).
The 'damsel in distress' stereotype
The 'damsel in distress' is a character archetype which has been accused of "perpetuating the stereotype that women are the weaker of the sexes and are rendered useless without the assistance of a man" (Colangelo, 2016). Therefore, it can also be argued that this type of female character lacks agency and is not seen as particularly "feminist".However, this is not always the case. Viewers often care more about the wellbeing of the damsel in distress than the hero who saves her, and often she is the one who is inciting the action -- nothing would happen in the film if she wasn't there to be saved (Colangelo, 2016).
This archetype has also led to new types of characters as filmmakers rebel against and twist the type:
"In an attempt to create characters so opposite of the damsels audiences had become accustomed to, it forced storytellers and filmmakers to think outside the box and come up with different ways to explore the female character" (Colangelo, 2016).For this reason, as with agency, it is important for female characters to still be varied. Lacking agency or being the damsel in distress doesn't always make a character "unfeminst", since this can lead filmmakers to experiment with how they choose to represent female characters.
Influence on my film
I decided to research feminism and use it as the basis for my film since Maya Angelou, the poet who wrote the text I adapted "Life Doesn't Frighten Me", was "a champion of women's rights and gender equality" (Sommerlad, 2018). Therefore the narrator in the poem, who is a little girl, has lots of agency and doesn't act as the damsel in distress, which were conventions I wanted to experiment with in my film because of this.Agency
I tried to make my main character, Rose, have agency because the main theme of Angelou's poem is that anyone can overcome fears if they find ways to (Spacey, 2018). This is one of the reasons I decided to use montages, specifically when she is trying to write and can't, but also when she finally finds a way to overcome her fear of the deadline.For example, the montage where she is trying to write is able to illustrate the height of her fear and her frustration that it is holding her back. However, throughout this montage we see that she is always trying to do something. I thought that even if she was shown doing repetitive and mundane actions such as thinking and pacing, it still proves that she has agency, because she doesn't give up. These are the actions that drive the story, since they lead her to the other montage in the film, where she remembers what she has done.
Again, this shows she has agency since she chooses to think about her history, which prompts the montage to be shown to the audience. By showing her past, I also experimented with this giving her agency. I had originally thought that this montage could be included to show that Rose had been helped and inspired by someone else -- a parent, a teacher, or mentor of some kind. Yet, by thinking about this I realised that this takes away her agency, since she is reliant on another character to start her story, and to help her at this obstacle in the plot now.
By having the montage show Rose creating past science projects, she is in control of her story -- it is evident to the audience how far she has come, which further highlights the fact that physics is the gateway to her dream of being an astronaut.
Rose's dream is what she uses to overcome her fear, which also helped to keep her driving the story. Also, this allowed me to experiment with the ending of the film, and leave it somewhat open. I decided when I came up with the idea that I wanted the character to fail, since this shows even though they have conquered their fear, they might still need to have the courage to do so again.
This helped give Rose even more agency, since she doesn't give up. Even after her own mind lets the fear beat it, Rose doesn't, turning her nightmare with the labels into something positive.
Creating positivity out of fear, which is the basis of the poem (Spacey, 2018), was also the foundation for how I created agency for Rose. She doesn't give up and turns negatives into positives.
Damsel in distress
To experiment with the damsel in distress stereotype I took inspiration from the lines of the poem: "If I'm afraid at all; It's only in my dreams" (Angelou, 1993). This lead to the nightmare sequence with the labels where Rose has her hands tied so she can't write. However, although it doesn't seem like it, Rose is still in control, because it is her mind which is manifesting the fear in this way.
By having her somewhat lack agency in this sequence, it pushed me to work out how this could propel her to take a more proactive approach to her fear (highlighted by the sequence showing her history) which therefore leads her to finish the paper, and conquer her fear.
The visuals in this sequence also helped me twist the damsel in distress stereotype and break it, by having Rose stick the label on her head at the end and laugh, using it to show that she has saved herself from her fear by finding a way to overcome it.
It could be considered that her nightmare makes her seem weak, but by doing this at the ending it shows that it makes her stronger instead. Therefore, she changes as a character throughout the film, which could help make her struggle more relatable to the audience, since they are aware of the transition.
References
Angelou, M. (1993) Life Doesn't Frighten Me. New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang.
Campochiaro, M. (2017) '"What I do is not up to you": Respect and Agency in Wonder Woman.' In: Sequart. [online] At: http://sequart.org/magazine/67083/what-i-do-is-not-up-to-you-respect-and-agency-in-wonder-woman-2/ (Accessed on 4 December 2018).
Chocano, C. (2011) '‘Tough, Cold, Terse, Taciturn and Prone to Not Saying Goodbye When They Hang Up the Phone’.' In: The New York Times. [online] At: https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/magazine/a-plague-of-strong-female-characters.html (Accessed on 4 December 2018).
Colangelo, B. (2016) 'In Defense Of The Damsel In Distress'. In: The 13th Floor. [online] At: http://www.the13thfloor.tv/2016/08/04/in-defense-of-the-damsel-in-distress/ (Accessed on 5 December 2018).
Colangelo, B. (2016) 'In Defense Of The Damsel In Distress'. In: The 13th Floor. [online] At: http://www.the13thfloor.tv/2016/08/04/in-defense-of-the-damsel-in-distress/ (Accessed on 5 December 2018).
Garrett, C. (2017) 'Female characters still lack agency in films.' In: Women's Media Center. [online] At: http://www.womensmediacenter.com/fbomb/female-characters-still-lack-agency-in-films (Accessed on 4 December 2018).
Herson, K. (2018) 'Measuring female "agency" is a dumb way to talk about art.' In: The Outline. [online] At: https://theoutline.com/post/6583/female-agency-in-movies-feminist?zi=gokynagc&zd=4 (Accessed on 4 December 2018).
Mulvey, L. (1979) 'Feminism, Film and the Avant Garde' In: Framework. Spring 79 [online] At: https://search-proquest-com.ucreative.idm.oclc.org/docview/1311773003/fulltext/1BA87987BBCE4637PQ/1?accountid=14178 (Accessed on 5 December 2018).
Mulvey, L. (1979) 'Feminism, Film and the Avant Garde' In: Framework. Spring 79 [online] At: https://search-proquest-com.ucreative.idm.oclc.org/docview/1311773003/fulltext/1BA87987BBCE4637PQ/1?accountid=14178 (Accessed on 5 December 2018).
Mulvey, L. (1999) 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema' In: Braudy, L. & Cohen, M. (ed.) Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings. New York: Oxford University Publishing. pp. 833-844.
Sommerlad, J. (2018) 'Maya Angelou: The extraordinary life of the American writer and civil rights activist, and her poem 'Still I Rise'' In: The Independent. [online] At: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/maya-angelou-remembered-poet-writer-civil-rights-activist-caged-bird-google-doodle-a8287691.html (Accessed on 5 December 2018).
Spacey, A. (2018) 'Analysis of Poem "Life Doesn't Frighten Me" by Maya Angelou' In: Owlcation [online] At: https://owlcation.com/humanities/Analysis-of-Poem-Life-Doesnt-Frighten-Me-by-Maya-Angelou (Accessed on 5 December 2018).
Williams, B. (2012) 'Mainstream Mulvey: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and (500) Days of Summer as Alternatives to the Feminist Avant Garde' In: Film Matters. 1.12.12 [online] At: https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/fm/2012/00000003/00000004/art00009?relayState=/content/intellect/fm/2012/00000003/00000004/art00009&entityID=https://idp.ucreative.ac.uk/shibboleth?relayState=/content/intellect/fm/2012/00000003/00000004/art00009?relayState=/content/intellect/fm/2012/00000003/00000004/art00009&entityID=https://idp.ucreative.ac.uk/shibboleth# (Accessed on 5 December 2018).
Sommerlad, J. (2018) 'Maya Angelou: The extraordinary life of the American writer and civil rights activist, and her poem 'Still I Rise'' In: The Independent. [online] At: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/maya-angelou-remembered-poet-writer-civil-rights-activist-caged-bird-google-doodle-a8287691.html (Accessed on 5 December 2018).
Spacey, A. (2018) 'Analysis of Poem "Life Doesn't Frighten Me" by Maya Angelou' In: Owlcation [online] At: https://owlcation.com/humanities/Analysis-of-Poem-Life-Doesnt-Frighten-Me-by-Maya-Angelou (Accessed on 5 December 2018).
Williams, B. (2012) 'Mainstream Mulvey: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and (500) Days of Summer as Alternatives to the Feminist Avant Garde' In: Film Matters. 1.12.12 [online] At: https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/fm/2012/00000003/00000004/art00009?relayState=/content/intellect/fm/2012/00000003/00000004/art00009&entityID=https://idp.ucreative.ac.uk/shibboleth?relayState=/content/intellect/fm/2012/00000003/00000004/art00009?relayState=/content/intellect/fm/2012/00000003/00000004/art00009&entityID=https://idp.ucreative.ac.uk/shibboleth# (Accessed on 5 December 2018).
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