Megan O’Brien — Supplemental Post #2

When watching this weeks film, I couldn’t help but think about the topics we have talked about in class. How is this film different then Now, Voyager and other earlier films? To start, there is a layer of women empowerment in the character of Eve. She is a spy for the CIA and entrusted in a high stakes operation. On the surface, she is an inspirational character. However, when looking at it through an analytical lens, she is still subject to objectification and belittlement by her male peers. Her only perceived asset is her appearance and relationship with the antagonist. She didn’t obtain her position from skill, but more so because she happened to be in the right place at the right time. Furthermore, her character can’t even be a hero because Roger Thornhill saves the day. Initially, she is admirable for going back to this dangerous environment, however, this is overlooked as Thornhill is the one who saves her when the antagonists expose her real identity. Both Eve and Charlotte from Now Voyager, share in the controlled idea of female independence, that’s success is ultimately defined by their appearance and relationship with men. So to answer my initial question, there really isn’t a difference in these female leads storylines that were told twenty years apart.

This realization inspired me to look for female character in today’s films that still succumb to this stereotype of female characters having a false sense of independence. Here are a few examples in films that I have watched recently:

  • “The Grand Budapest Hotel(2014)” Agatha is only perceived as free when she marries Zero… who furthermore is only allowed to marry her because she is perceived as beautiful to Mr. Gustave. 
  • “He’s All That” The protagonist is literally only given worth or independence when she experiences a complete physical transformation for a guy.
  • “Little Women(2019)” The whole plot is revolved around four sisters. While they have individual interests, the success of Amy and Jo’s life revolves around having Laurie. Jo doesn’t seek after Laurie and even rejects him multiple times, however, the audience’s heart breaks for her when she says “I care more to be loved” exemplifying that women need a man to be happy. “Little Women” is thought to be a feminist film because there are so many female protagonists, however, even this film fall victim to the idea that a woman’s successes mean nothing if they don’t have a man beside them. I would love to hear anyone’s counter argument to this point!

I also would be interested to hear what films you guys think of as truly feminist, in that their protagonists don’t succumb to this stereotype/ troupe… OR examples where men are perceived to have independence that is really controlled or monitored by a woman or their appearance.

  

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