The Gaze and The Media
From the lecture, 1950’s films driven plots by males,
relevant to disneys early films, driven by males with passive princess’.
Sexualisation of characters are acceptable if they are written well. Bayonetta. Lara Croft. There’s a lot of sexualised characters in animation particularly anime, is this because the industry is lead by men?
Games made for men by men so sexual female characters fulfilling fantasies.
Jessica Rabbit, Betty Boop.
Doesn’t negate the objectification of women.
Here a list of animations James selected for us to watch to challenge our view on The Gaze in animation.
Michele Cournoyer - The Hat 1999
The Hat from National Film Board of Canada on Vimeo.
I didn't enjoy this animation. I feel like it was made by an angry feminist, I don't think the message it conveys, the fact that little girls can grow up to be strippers and how the gaze could be empowering at times. I just found that it was really crude not intelligent, and technically not a brilliant animation. The line work is horrendous, it's not visually pleasing and to me it just seems like not much time or care has been put into the animation. I also think it's aged quite badly.
Ruth Lingford - What She Wants 1994
Ruth Lingford - Pleasures of War 1998
I also did not like Ruth Lingford's animation's although I'd say they were better than Michele Cournoyer's, as they do actually have a narrative. But again it's just a bit crude, I don't find it empowering to the women, it's not visually pleasing, the soundtrack is just ordinary if not amateur. I just found them a waste of my time.
Joanna Quinn - Girls Night Out 1987
I really really like Joanna Quinn's style. I think it's very similar to Sylvain Chomet's work. The animation has aged but in a way that makes it more charming. I also think it's quintessentially english as well. It's humourous and there's just so much attention to detail.
Alison De Vere - The Black Dog 1987
I think the colour palatte of this animation makes it quite dark, the pace adds tension as it's quite slow to get going. I think the quality of it is inbetween that of Quinn's and the previous although it has some charm there isn't the same amount of detail and I think that makes it less visually pleasing. I also think with the soundtrack choice and colouring it makes it look older than it actually is. I think a bigger issue other than the Gaze that is covered in this animation is the cruelty to animals. I think this animation is much longer than it needs to be. I'm ten minutes in and I don't even want to watch the rest. I just don't care what happens it hasn't grabbed me. There's no appeal for the female character my attention span has diminished.
My Own Findings:
But I'm A Nice Guy from Scott Benson on Vimeo.
I think this is interesting, it's short snappy, contemporary style. Most importantly it's made by a man about the feminist woman. An interesting viewpoint one that many men have but don't recognise.
I really struggled to find more animations with interesting viewpoints on the female in life. To be honest I don't actually care. This topic is not something I am passionate about, so I don't think I'm going to bother to keep looking. It's not that I don't believe in feminism I think yeah across the globe it is a major issue, especially when I was in South Africa I felt like whoa, I'm not being treated equal here. However at home in leeds I am so although it'd broaden my mind about the subject, I feel like on a day to day basis I am actually overwhelmed with woman who just take it far too far. They get angry about, in your face about it, especially on the news I think it's an overhyped topic. I think if these women didn't take it so far you wouldn't aggreivate the opposition so much and I think actually it requires you to passively suggest hints to the other countries that it's unfair so that they think it's their idea for it to be successful. I don't be an angry bitter woman about it. But I know where I stand.
I also appreciate that actually physically women are weaker and it's safe to say if you employ a woman in her early twenties, chances are she is probably going to want to have a baby in the next decade because theres so much pressure to have one from your parents, if your relationship from the other half. I think its a big issue for an employer to take that on if they're not actually great at there job. It's sexism its personalism. If someone is perfect for the job and they are ace at what they do you won't mind that they will need time off. I think discrimination against maternity leave is the biggest injustice in england for females of my age.
On that note I shall leave you with one of the most entertaining animations that came up on my search:
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