Engagement - Case Study

COMM-145I Sec 80

Engagement - Case Study

December 6, 2018
Engagement - Case Study

Abstract

This case study will look into the characteristics of female protagonists. The protagonists all

have significant roles in the story and deviate from being a defenseless character. I will first

review previous studies done that delve into the traits of Trinity, Clarice Sterling and Ellen

Ripley. There will also be a review on how the audience perceives certain aspects of heroines

when they engage in unrealistic feats. These studies will describe what makes the heroines

different from previous female protagonists. The project will then examine the female

protagonists in The Terminator (1984), Silence of the Lambs (1991), Kick-Ass 2 (2013) and

Wonder Woman (2017) using the neo-Marxists perspective and feminist perspective. These two

perspectives will reveal the characteristics of the heroines involved from the patterns that emerge

to changes evolving as the movies are released in different decades.

Introduction:

Throughout the past few decades there have been limited female protagonists that played

significant roles in the story. In films, the majority of them had little screen time and were either

a villain or helpless character. I will first review four studies done before on female protagonists

then conduct a study on my own. To study these heroines, I will be applying two perspectives on

four texts from different decades to analyze how they have changed and what is still cemented in

the hegemonic beliefs of society. The answer I am looking for is to discover, “How have the

characteristics of female protagonists in action films changed over the past few decades?” To

find this, first I am applying the neo-Marxist perspective. The neo-Marxist perspective will

reveal how texts are sending messages to reinforce hegemony and create beliefs the audience

assumes should be the way things are as a common standard. It will also investigate how

characters on screen can follow or challenge the relation between wealth and power. A second

perspective will also be applied, the feminist perspective. This will allow me look into how

females are portrayed in texts from multiple factors such as their job, ethics, relations and

mentality. I will conduct this study to find out how the traits of heroines have changed from

different decades through messages and traits the women possess.

Context:

The Terminator (1984)

The reason I chose The Terminator is because it came out in 1984 and I wanted this to be the

starting base of my research. The majority of movies in this era did not have strong female

protagonist. The movies intent was to show a strong female character, Sarah Connor, yet she still

needed help from a male hero. This is important as Sarah is meant to give birth to the true hero,
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so would she be seen as a strong mother or a strong female in general? These are the main

messages I am concerned with in this movie.

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

I chose The Silence of the Lambs for two factors, first it was from a different decade the 90’s and

female protagonists are still not portrayed as strong physical characters. The heroine needed to

use her wits to achieve her goal. This provides a contracting character to compare against the

other heroines. Second, the movie came out in a period where strong stereotypical perspectives

on how a woman should be and act were still demeaning. Following this, what is the message? I

am looking for an underlying message; are female protagonists only strength their wits?

Kick-Ass 2 (2013)

Kick-Ass 2 has Hit-Girl which shows a different dominant style than the other female

protagonist. She serves as a mentor teaching Kick-Ass offensive and defensive martial arts at a

strict level. Unlike other typical female characters, she is rude, self-reliant and strives to

accomplish her goals even if that means being disobedient. Although as a protagonist she seems

almost like a rule-breaking rogue, diverging from former female protagonists. This movie was

for the general late teen and adult male audience, yet the person giving orders in the movie was a

teenage girl which does not fit the common ideology. This is a huge jump from the other movies,

with Hit Girl I can examine how a more modern female protagonist attracts and appeals to the

audience.

Wonder Woman (2017)

My last artifact is Wonder Woman, it is the latest action movie starring a female heroine that was

seen as successful not just in terms of the revenue it drew, but by many movie reviewers. The

Wonder Woman comic came out in 1941 and many readers viewed her as the female version of

Superman. Yet her success level has never been as high as the male counterpart. With the release

of the movie, it has shown that a strong female character can succeed without following the long

general view that a strong female action star would not create such success. The main surprising

factor was the audience was meant to be mainly people who followed the comic, yet it attracted

much more than expected. I would like to analyze Wonder Woman’s character traits in relation

to the movie. Was the movie successful because of how strong she is? Is she being accepted

because society is changing their views on how a “woman should be”?

Literature Review:

There have not been many movies with strong female heroines which enhances their

significance when they do play these roles. Most of their roles have fluctuated between a weak

character that needs to be saved or a powerful villain; concerning the plot, the only time a female

character is powerful is when they are the antagonist. This project will provide various characters

that oppose this role and show they are not there for screen time only but are a necessity. The

following will recap reviews done on female protagonist in films that investigate the various

characteristics of Trinity, Clarice Starling and Ellen Ripley.

An analysis by G. Christopher Williams (2003) was done looking into the traits of

Trinity, a female protagonist that he reviews in The Matrix (1999) and The Matrix Revolutions

(2003). Williams arguably considers Trinity to be the actual heroine or prominent savior of the

movies, because of her ability to understand and decipher what is needed in order to reach the

goal. Before acknowledging Trinity’s strength, it is important that Williams (2003) does imply
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that initially Trinity does appear to be playing a simple lover’s role. Now, looking into mental

superiority on what makes her different; “The self-assurance evident in Trinity's character is

decidedly lacking in Neo, who acts as a hapless and wide-eyed innocent…” (Williams, 2003, p.

7). My own studies will also revolve around multiple traits including mental dominance in

contrast to other characters. This will also correlate to gender roles and reversals as Williams did

stating, “In essence, Trinity's ascendancy to the status of the hero of the film marks not simply an

inversion of traditional gender roles but an inversion of the way in which we value the real and

the simulated” (2003, p. 15). This is also key as Williams describes the ending scene where

Trinity leans down to kiss Neo, a role reversal where the prince kisses the sleeping princes. One

of my main investigations will look into this aspect as well considering roles and character

utilization.

Another analysis by Diane Dubois (2001) was on Clarice Starling from Silence of the

Lambs (1991). Dubois (2001) describes how females are negatively perceived when they do not

fit the roles submitted by society. A main point she goes over is Clarice’s trait, ambition, that

does not involve parental aspects. Ambition creates a mysterious intrigue from males that leads

to various reasons Dubois (2001) states. According to Dubois (2001) these characteristics are

uncommon and force the heroine to appear as an abnormality. Whether these are considered

abnormalities or not I will be surveying uncommon traits and see how they are taken from an

audience’s view. In a similar analysis from Williams earlier, Dubois (2001) goes into the roles

created, that they are not a formal balance from earlier genres in that category in contrast to

earlier psycho films and may be sexist. In fact, Dubois (2001) puts in a statement that Silence of

the Lambs is a feminist movie. This is a strong view as one of my analysis perspectives will be

done with the feminist perspective.

George Faithful (2016) did a study on various female protagonist that also played major

roles in contributing to the plot. Faithful (2016) states, “In Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979), Ellen

Ripley showed herself to be of value exclusively because of her intellect and mettle” (p. 352).

This is another clear mental strength character like the earlier ones reviewed. A common pattern

is emerging as mental capacity is the most adopted ability so far for heroines. Beyond this

Faithful (2016) says the female heroine’s sexual aspect is no longer the main feature. With her

poise and intellect, Ripley is able to overcome her obstacles and survive throughout the movie.

She was however, as reviewed by George Faithful (2016) not a distinct heroine in the beginning;

this includes her initial role. Faithful (2016) goes on that other crew members in the movie had

more skills related to survival being soldiers. The trait that is important for Ripley’s survival was

mental. Faithful (2016) goes on explaining an important part of mental prowess is knowing when

to break the rule book which is what Ripley did; “She opposed the breach of safety protocol that

permitted the crew to come into contact with a xenomorph egg.” (2016, p. 353). The final

confrontation is also a crucial factor in Ripley’s strength since “she was the first to defeat the

killer alone” (Faithful, 2016, p. 353). Faithful concludes that the person willing to look through

the surface survives, rather than being an obedient unquestioning soldier facing death. There was

another character analyzed who was Sarah Connor from The Terminator, where “a woman had

the strength and courage to preserve the human race, although she needed more help than Ripley

did to realize her potential.” It is a key character for this project as the foundation of my own

research will begin with Sarah.

After going over the reports on female protagonists that do not follow general traits, we

can see they are able to stand up equally to males concerning the plotline. In terms of

comparison, Clarice Starling is a valid character in how she stands out yet at the same time
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considered a monster to society. This is a strong relation to reality for my research in terms of the

societal view, on how a woman should be less ambitious and remain quiet. When comparing to

another analysis done by Jennifer McClearen (2015), she says that when females do overcome

challenges in movies, whether physical or mental, it was a metaphor on how women are

achieving their goals in reality. In contrast to bulking males, the female physique would not be

able to complete the actual tasks in the movie; therefore, it was deciphered as success in reality

not a legitimate action. Along with this McClearen claims that the female “bodies remain

regulated by culturally imposed, sexed and gendered limits” (2015, p. 843). This is the reason

why women in action films are able to compete with males when it comes to mental comparisons

since it is not limited to body figures. It is still hard to believe that fictional films that are fantasy

would allow a male to preform unbelievable acts yet restrain a female from doing so.

Findings:

The following four female protagonists from four films will expose certain patterns and

differences exposed through blatant scenes, references and hidden messages. These films are

from different decades which will also provide different characteristics of the heroine, yet

specific patterns remain, starting with Sarah Connor in The Terminator (1984). Sarah starts the

entire pattern of female protagonist which is exposed when examined with a neo-Marxists

perspective. She is Caucasian, an ethnicity that has played the majority of positive roles in texts;

which falls in line to “taken-for-granted assumptions about who ‘ought to be’ and ‘ought not to

be’ empowered” (Sellsnow, 2018, p. 135). She is also visually desirable and has a slim figure

which Sellsnow (2018) states makes her fall into a “model” category. Even though The

Terminator was released in 1984, the other three films released in later decades would follow a
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similar pattern. Sarah does have one trait that opposes dominant ideology which is found in neo-

Marxist materialism. She lacks any admirable belongs, works as a waitress and lives in a shared

apartment. This breaks the common belief that only those with wealth hold power, as Sarah is

able to achieve her goals with lack of wealth.

When examined with the neo-Marxist perspective, Sarah is seen as a character that falls

into the dominant ideology of a female that works as a servant, being a waitress, and a poor one

at that in the movie; a message that says women are not fit to work. When applying a radical

feminist perspective, Sarah would appear to be breaking patriarchy as she is not a stay-at-home

wife and does not wear fancy or revealing clothes. This would be true up until the point where

she has a heterosexual sex scene with her protector. The message is a blatant preferred reading of

hegemony. Sarah has been escaping the antagonist for the majority of the movie yet had time to

engage in sexual intercourse without considering any consequences. The next morning, she feels

rejuvenated and joyful. A message being sent here is females, even in a life-threatening crisis has

time to engage in heterosexual engagements which will, even if only for a slight time frame,

make one feel better.

The only other heroine that held a relative job was Clarice Sterling in The Silence of the

Lambs (1991). She was initially a trainee for the Federal Bureau of Investigation but tasked with

a major case in finding a murderer. Again, Clarice is a female Caucasian “model”, however she

was given the case in strong reference to her mental capacity. There were some contradictory

messages sent when examining her with materialism to evaluate wealth and power; she drove a

decrepit vehicle yet displayed multiple types of jewelry. Aside from that, the difference from

Clarice and the other females is Clarice refuses to be objectified. Throughout the movie many

males attempt or show sexual interests which she ignores. From a radical feminist’s perspective,
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she obliges unlike Sarah. Clarice was also able to save the captive and defend herself against the

antagonist independently. Another element is at the end she gets acknowledged by Dr. Lecter of

her mental superiority and becomes a full-fledged F.B.I agent. A change from the previous

decade that follows the second feminist wave. These two aspects also break hegemony as Dr.

Lecter is a Caucasian male showing his respects even as an antagonist and the head F.B.I.

director, another male Caucasian, gives his respects to Clarice as well. This is clearly step up

from Sarah Connor in the previous movie.

The third movie, Kick-Ass 2, provides a mix between falling into neo-Marxist preferred

and both reinforces and opposes hegemonic beliefs through feminist perspectives. The movie

brings in new components as a movie released in not just a different decade but different

millennium. From a neo-Marxist’s view, the heroine, Mindy Macready, follows the path of what

the audience seeks, “living in a ‘nice home’ with ‘nice things,’ wearing ‘nice clothes’ and

driving ‘nice vehicles’ while living in a nice neighborhood” (Sellsnow, 2018, p. 139). She is not

employed in the movie being a high school student, however her father is a law enforcement

officer and they both have their own motor-vehicle. Not only does Mindy have her own vehicle,

she has a secret location to practice martial arts and instead of owning nice jewelry, uses fancy

weapons. These are materials related to wealth that empower her when examined with the neo-

Marxist perspective.

Kick-Ass 2 also diverges from the previous two movies as Mindy is the mentor or

superior to the male hero, this creates a role reversal providing a different perspective. Mindy is

again a Caucasian female “model” with one big difference, unlike the previous movies, she is

much more head strong, aggressive and violent. The movie has two sequences that revolve

around her personality. Due to her mental assertiveness, her foster father seeks to bring forth
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more feminine aspects in her. These signs would send signals to the audience that females should

follow the dominant American hegemony of how a female should act. Her personality has

brought up constant lesbian references in the movie, showing clear negative labels as stated by

Sellsnow (2018). The first sequence is about trying to change the heroine then later provides a

sequence at the end that a person should not feel the need to change themselves to fit society.

The text at the end challenges hegemonic beliefs and allows Mindy to remain who she is

naturally. In the final fight scene, it is Mindy that is able to defeat the most physically dominant

antagonist, by being herself and utilizing her abilities. The message sent from this is Mindy and

others should not feel the need to follow hegemonic beliefs, they should stay true to themselves

and will triumph if they remain true in a positive manner.

The final character analyzed is Diana in Wonder Woman (2017), who incorporated

super-natural strength, much different from all the other characters. Before going over her

strength, her background provides a format that allows her belongings to be simple and crude to

a degree. This then subdues the quality and quantity of her wealth when measured with a neo-

Marxist perspective. Diana does wear fancy apparel ranging from exclusive armor to clothes

from the 1900’s that are considered attractive. The clothes from the era may be outdated

however, there is a clear sign sent for the viewers to approve and be appealing. Aside from that

there is also a change in ethnicity as the heroine is Middle- Eastern rather than Caucasian. Her

physique remains slim and athletic portraying the “model” body type, but her ethnicity provides

a difference as a marginalized group is playing the protagonist compared to all the previous

films. This changing trait breaks the dominant ideology of who the audience expects to be

empowered or who a default heroine should be.

The movie provides many messages to the audience regarding Diana’s skills and ethic.

To begin, she was initially restricted from training as a warrior by her mother who would later

concede. It is not shown that Diana engages in typical employment but rather seeks a standard

warrior-soldier type that her culture practices. The process originally looked like it was following

the gender stereotype of not allowing women to practice in certain areas in society. However, it

later changes, sending a message of equality. Her physical strength would later elevate from this

and shows its level throughout the movie. This quality also does not provoke offensive labeling

like Mindy had. It shows her traits are fully accepted in the movie without negative

consequences. When going over her characteristics with a feminist perspective, Diana is

breaking masculine-hegemony; she holds the power in the movie. Although she does follow

heteronormativity, engaging in a heterosexual relationship, there are no scenes or lines that

provide messages that women must be heterosexual to be considered normal or if not, are

abnormal. What makes Diana truly unique is she also possess high mental qualities. She spoke a

variety of languages and was able to decipher multiple texts that was significant to the plot. This

showed her superiority in multiple levels instead of just on a physical level. The movie provided

a message that women are capable of multiple heroic feats without the need to integrate

derogatory comments aimed at belittling them because they display different levels of masculine

and feminine qualities.

Conclusion:

Female protagonists in movies have been portrayed as defenseless the majority of the

time but are slowly evolving. From the earlier decades they have been elevated initially through

only their mental aspects. As films grow and change, it has seen to comply with the current

decade in parallel with different perspectives. It is shown that heroines are initially restricted to
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mental capacity but had gradually gained physical prowess. The neo-Marxist perspective does

show a common relation to heroines and their traits when measuring who should be empowered

in the 1980’s and 1990’s. However, the feminist perspective has proven to be the ideal method to

analyze the messages being sent with how it correlates with the characters strength and the

current decade. It can be seen that the traits of female protagonists are expanding from not only

the mental aspect but to physical ones as well; as movies continue to evolve so do the heroines.
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