Critical Investigation: Project Proposal

Working title

My text was Wonder Woman which was released in 2017. The working title for my project is "How do films such as Wonder Woman reflect the changing representation of women in Hollywood movies?". 


 Angle

My main topic is "The changing portrayal of females in movies" which I will be focusing on throughout my project.

Hypothesis

In my perspective, I do think that the portrayal of females in movies have changed because if you compare the portrayal of females in films in the 20th century with the portrayal of females in films in the 21st century, there has been a drastic change in the way females are portrayed in mainstream films nowadays. If you look the film "Planet of the apes" which was released in 1968, the film portrayed the female actor as a very weak and helpless character showing how the films back in the 20th century really objectified females. However, now you can see a huge change as mostly in the 21st century, a film like "Wonder Woman" produced in 2017 subverts the stereotype of females and has a female protagonist that overpowers men. It essentially shows how the portrayal of females have changed since 20th century. More females are getting the chance to become protagonists and have a bigger role in mainstream films. 

Linked production piece

What are you planning to make as your linked production piece? E.g.: Newsnight-style documentary video report looking at the impact of violent videogames on young people.

 For my linked production piece, I am planning to produce a short opening scene of a film. This is a better choice for my link production piece as I can elaborate on the portrayal of females through the opening film scene. 

MIGRAIN

Apply the Key Concepts to your text/topic by using the questions from the Summer Research Project to help you. (Include at least five bullet points per key concept). Include as many media keywords as you can. 

 Media Language 

  • The connotation's within the text was a very independant and strong heroine that fought alongside men to end all wars. 
  • The connotation's subverted the stereotype of females being weak and vulnerable as within the movie, it was a contrasting portrayal. 

 Institutions 

  • The distributor of the film Wonder Woman is a very successful film studio company which is Warner Bros. 
  • There were many companies that produced the film which are Atlas Entertainment, DC Entertainment, Cruel and Unusual Films, Wanda Media, Tencent Pictures and RatPac-Dune Entertainment. 
  • The Warner Bros are a successful film studio company that are known to be one of the top 6 film companies worldwide. They are known to produce high quality and high budgeted films that become very successful. 
  • Essentially, Warner Bros distributing Wonder Woman gave the film more coverage. Also, it essentially promoted the film wider and the film then became more of a success. 
  • DC entertainment is home to Wonder Woman and other superhero films like Batman, Green Lantern and Superman. 
Genre 

  • The Wonder Woman text belongs to a variety of genre which is Action, War, Adventure, Science Fiction, Fantasy and Superhero film. 
  • The codes and conventions of Action film genre are met within the movie as the iconography of guns, brutal conflict and the road to kill the villain are shown in the movie. 
  • In terms of the War film genre, the film perfectly fits into this genre as the iconography within the whole movie is mostly the war. The narrative of the film is to stop the conflict and the destruction that England and Germany are causing. 
  • The film belongs to the adventure film genre as the narrative is that the female protagonist goes on a journey alongside men in the outside world to find Ares the Villain. 
  • In terms of Science Fiction film, ending of the film, the fight between the villain and the female protagonist contains supernatural powers which they both use and they both exert blue lightning strikes which the colour blue, is main colour of Sci-Fi. 
  • The film belongs to the fantasy film genre as we see the iconography of costumes of both villain and the female protagonist. 
  • Lastly, the film especially belongs to the Superhero film genre as we see again, the superhero costume of Wonder-Woman and the costume of the Villain which is very typical in superhero films. Wonder-Woman is the super-heroine, she defeats the villain and saves the world which is also another convention of a superhero film. 

 Representation 
  • Within the movie "Wonder Woman", we have a female protagonist which is quite unusual. 
  • She leads the way in the sense that she overpowers mankind and shes the heroine that saves the world. 
  • The movie subverts the typical stereotype of females overall. 
  • Females in mainstream films are mainly objectified and smaller roles whereas in Wonder Woman, we focus on a female protagonist who goes on an adventure to save the world. 
  • She and her other female relatives in the hidden island are represented in a subversive way which makes this movie very unique and amazing. 
  • Men are essentially overpowered and taken authority by the female protagonist. 

 Audiences

  • The ideal target audience of Wonder Woman is mainly females in terms of gender. 
  • The percentage of gender viewing this film would be 55% of females and 45% of males perhaps. 
  • Females want to see a female protagonist in action, overpowering other characters, as this is very unusual. 
  • The age variance would be from the age 15 to perhaps 35 ideally. 
  • Between those ages, they tend to love movies that offer escapism. 
  • In terms of education, the target audience of this movie will tend to be in a good university studying perhaps history or law. 
  • In psychographic terms, the audience love superhero films, science fiction and adventure films. 

 Ideologies and Values 

  • The dominant ideology of females of the society would be that females aren't as strong as males and aren't that independant. 
  • This is impacted through media too as many films reinforce that typical stereotype of females being very vulnerable as they are mainly portrayed as sex objects or foolish. 
  • However, Wonder Woman is a new movie that subverts the stereotype in a whole different way. 
  • It portrays the female protagonist as very strong that goes on an adventure to stop the conflict. 
  • Even though the female does subvert the stereotype of females, it still reinforces in the fact that the female protagonist is wearing very short and tight clothings that reveal most of her skin which perhaps could be said that portrayal of females are changing but not to a complete extent. 
  • The text fits into the current political landscape in the sense that there is constant protests for feminism in the UK.
  • The protest for feminism is for females and males to have equal rights. 
  • The text essentially links with this as it shows that females are more than what the ideologies of the society is. 
  • They are strong and independant too. 

 Narrative 

  • In terms of the narrative, it is very well organised and isn't complex. 
  • It is organised in the sense that in the beginning, it describes why the females are in a hidden island. 
  • Then it shows how the male pilot ended up in the hidden island. 
  • Essentially, then it shows the adventure and journey of Wonder Woman to stop the war. 
  • The audience are positioned to understand why Wonder Woman is going on a journey to find Ares the villain. She understands that he is the cause of this war. 
  • Wonder Woman was born in the hidden island with powers. 
  • Ares is the villain that began a destructive war between mankind as he is referred to as "God of War". 
  • The iconography of a female protagonist being very strong and fearless would certainly attract female audiences and would boost their confidence. 
  • This could perhaps lead to more females having a bigger role in mainstream films. 
  • The sounds within the movie play a huge part in terms of making it dramatic for the audiences. 
  • Essentially, the main theme of the narrative is that we see a female protagonist go on a journey with men to stop the war which is very unusual to see in mainstream films. 


SHEP

Apply the Wider Contexts (Social, Historical, Economic, Political) to your text/topic, including at least three bullet points on each one.

 Social

  • Harvey Weinstein accused by 3 women of sexual assault. 
  • News of Harvey Weinstein being re-tweeted on Twitter. 
  • Male audiences are bound to have a more positive view on females in films now. 
  • Female audiences can gain confidence. 


Historical 
  • Media products in 20th century objectified females in films. 
  • Mice and Men film 1992. 
  • Sex Discrimination act 1975.


Economic 
  • Film has a female protagonist who has power over mankind. 
  • Unusual which would be a new experience for audiences meaning more revenue made. 


Political 


  • Step towards equality in males and females.
  • The feminism protests. 
  • The film is edging for that full equality act and sex discrimination act. 
Issues/Debates

Select at least five and say how each relates to your study, using the Media A-Z to help you think about this. Your research and essay plan will need to factor these issues and debates into your work:

 Representation and stereotyping: An unusual casting occurs within the Wonder Woman movie as we see a female protagonist being portrayed in a subversive way. The female protagonist "Wonder Woman" is deemed as powerful who overpowers mankind. Essentially, the film subverts the typical stereotype of females.

 Media effects: Wonder Woman represents females in a subversive way. With the female consumers of this film, they would perhaps gain confidence for the future. They can be more confident to be independant and go into the media industry. Also, in terms of males, it could change the way they view females in films. They might take females more seriously now. 

 Ownership and control:  The Wonder Woman film is going to impact the way females are portrayed in the media and especially in films in the future. I feel that females will have huge roles and will control the narrative perhaps. Wonder Woman was a very successful film that will perhaps change the casting of mainstream films in the future. I think that females will have a bigger role in mainstream films in the future and Wonder Woman is just a beginning of that. 

 The effect of globalisation on the media: The movie became a global hit which many audiences of both gender had access to consume this film. Essentially, the effect of this would be that many people perhaps will view females differently and would want more females to become a protagonist in films. 

 Media technology and the digital revolution: The development of media has allowed people to comment on stories and news such as the recent Harvey Weinstein sexual assault allegations. Female stars have come out on social media platforms like Twitter to expose which many people are able to see which then gets shared around. 

Theories

Select at least five and say how each relates to your study, using keywords/specific theorists' names from the Media A-Z:

 Gender and ethnicity: This relates to my media text as my film has a strong link with how both genders are being portrayed. Females are portrayed stronger than men which is unusual in films. 

 Colonialism and Post-colonialism: This relates to my research as females being portrayed lower than men in films is a constant on-going matter. 

 Audience theories: This relates to my text as the film will change the way audiences of both gender have views on females and males in the future. 

 Genre theories: This relates to my text as females aren't portrayed as strong and fearless in films with these type of genres.

 Semiotics: This relates to my text as within this DC comic film, the iconography of the costume of Wonder-Woman is what makes her Wonder-Woman to the audiences and the fan-base of DC Entertainment. They are able to recognise who the heroine is through her wearing the costume. 

You may need to further research these theoretical areas. 

Research plan (media texts, academic texts and websites)

Media texts
What your main focus will be:

The changing representation of females in mainstream films.
I will be looking at the film Wonder Woman (2017) to provide evidence for portrayal of females changing.

Other media texts
(at least five related examples)
  • Beauty and the Beast (1991) 
  • Columbiana (2011) 
  • Hunger Games (2012) 
  • Salt (2010)  
  • Moana (2017) 

TV documentaries
Research videos online, e.g.:
BBC One - Panorama, Addicted to Games? http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wlmj0

This video I found on YouTube explores the typical representation of female

In this clip, we see how the female protagonist of Hunger Games is talking about the pay gap between females and males within Hollywood film industry. 
Academic texts/books
(a minimum of five, including author/full title/year, e.g.:)


  • David Gauntlett: Media, Gender and identity in 2008.
  • Stuart Hall, Jessica Evans and Sean Nixon: Representation in 2013. 
  • Bell Hooks: Feminism is for EVERYBODY in 2000. 
  • Judith Butler: Gender Trouble in 1990. 
  • Liesbet Van Zoonen: Feminist Media Studies in 1994. 


Internet Links

 1. At least FIVE from Media Guardian or Guardian Culture or another newspaper website.



 2. At least FIVE from university websites/academic papers online. Use Google Scholar as a starting point.



 3. Any other relevant sites/articles - the more the better.

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