The Journey of Hindi Cinema with gender perspective
In 1896, India was first exposed to motion pictures when the Lumiere Brothers ' Cinematograph showed six soundless short films on July 7th in Bombay. By 1899, Harishchandra Bhatvadekar shot two short films, which were exhibited with Edison‘s projecting kinescope. Throughout the first two decades, the trend continued with filmmakers such as Hiralal Sen and Thanawalla, Madan and Abdullah Esoofally, and others. Dada Sahib Phalke produced India 's first indigenous silent film, Raja Harishchandra, in May of 1913, which enabled the film industry to truly arise. By 1920, the Indian Cinema was becoming part of society. (Bagchi, 1996) Bollywood films emphasize tradition and family values as well
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In order to understand this representation of women, one must first know the history and general themes prevalent in the Bollywood film industry, as well as the role of women in traditional Indian culture, and how both the traditional and unconventional Indian women are portrayed in films. Talking specifically about movies that centred on women, most early Indian films in the pre-independence era explored traditional culture, folk culture and mythology. These would employ foreign actresses because Indian women were hesitant to expose themselves to the camera. Though women were ubiquitous in popular cinema, they were inevitably denied depth or dimension. This could be attributed to the fact that the audience was pre dominantly male and so were the filmmakers and technicians. In the fast changing scenario of the post-independence years, the portrayal of women showed some change. The position of women in society is an important index of the progressiveness of the society in general. Cinema is a mimesis of life and thus, movies are indispensable in studying this index. Film scholars and especially those with a feminist bent have read into the portrayal of women in cinema. (Ghose, 2006) In traditional Indian society, women have only three roles: the …show more content…
Traditionally women have been reduced to a mere spectacle in the movies, pretty faces objectified for their beauty. In Indian cinema, women have been relegated to the passive position in film after film, as "bearer, not the maker of meaning", merely an appendage to the man, the wielder of power! (Mulvey, 1999:834) The change is undoubtedly slow. Still the mainstream cinema shows women as glam-dolls whose sole ambition in life is to attract the attention of accomplished males. What Budd Boeticher says about the narrative cinema in the west also applies here: "What counts is what the heroine provokes, or rather what she represents. She is the one, or rather the love or fear she inspires in the hero, or else the concern he feels for her, who makes him act the way he does, in herself the woman has not the slightest importance". (Mulvey, 1999:837) The stories played out on the screen are the men are their conflicts, their, dreams, their aspirations, their tragedies, their revenge, their desires and their heroism. The women exist only in relation to the men, as their mothers, their wives, and especially their lovers. The examples are not difficult to find- Singham, Dabaang, Gajini, Agneepath etc. The male-centric movies fully exploit women’s physical beauty and sensuality. Most of the talented actresses have to work within tighter limits, in smaller and
The concentration is on comparing and finding the changes that history made to this movie genre, especially considering the gender roles. Results will clearly explain the psyche of society in two different periods, which confirms that people reflect the movies as movies have an impact on people. The Introduction It is often said that the element of surprise makes the movie more interesting and leads the plot. There are many masters of storytelling
Asian American Identities There are people all over the world who have come to America to seek a greater life. With America having the largest immigrant population compared to other countries, there are always people migrating into the country. People all over the world may be coming here to pursue their own dreams or to escape persecution. The immigrant population has increased so much, that about one-third of U.S. population are now people of color.
In the movie “A League of Their Own”, one can see how the more sexist views of the culture in the 1940s and 50s in America was present in the Girls Professional Baseball League. “A League of Their Own” is a movie about what was once the “All-American Girls Professional Baseball League” which was formed when the young men were sent over to serve in World War II. One of the most obvious cultural views that this movie shows is the feminizing of the baseball players to make them “more acceptable and women like”. Unlike men’s uniforms, that include a full shirt and pants, they were to wear skirts that were very short, too short to play baseball in comfortably. This alone shows how this league was just as much about show as it was about the women’s talent.
It’s a classic comparison. Ancient vs modern. Misogyny vs liberation through love. The Taming of The Shrew vs 10 Things I Hate About You. Are these films love stories about men liberating women, or are they exercises in misogyny?
CULTURE: Harlem renaissance: The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural, social, artistic, literary movement in the 1920’ by the African Americans. During that time it was known as the New Negro Movement. Many artists, writers, dancers, musicians were emerged during this time.
In contrast to the twentieth century we still see some of this in our current day and ages. Contrasting portrayals of men and women in films leave us with the fact that we haven’t changed. Men and women are sought to have different gender roles within
Women are depicted as “trophy” to men and nothing more. Throughout the epic a sense of bravado and machoism is played out, giving off a man’s world feeling which women and little or no real reason to be wanted. To understand the epic and the roles in which women played, one may not have to look further than how the book has been put together. First and foremost, the book is being told through the eyes of a man (good luck ladies).
These films attempt to reflect both change in society and differences between cultures, despite Spirited Away clearly being more successful in this aspect. This difference in subversion also reveals what is necessary to create a truly feminist work that can effectively influence the minds of people and cause effective change to society. With this insight, it can now be more easily discernible what constitutes a feminist film and how it can positively affect
In other words, females are expected to mannered, weak, and homemakers such as a Disney princess, at the same time the typical men are figured to be powerful, rude, governing and willing to rescue the princess in need anytime. What is more, these are not the only stereotypes which has been embedded into the young generation. Disney holding on a stable "women banking on men to achieve happy ending" theme. When we have a closer look at Disney movies such as "Cinderella", "Snow White" and "Aladdin", Disney 's princess portray is feeble and desperately in need of intelligent, strong savior. When young girls watch these movies, they are modelling Disney princesses on their
With an investigation of the likeness and dissimilarity of culture, film classifications, and showcasing media amongst Hollywood and Bollywood, it is simpler to appreciate the genuine thought behind the specific filmmaking procedures and way to deal with progress. Hollywood and Bollywood both have advanced over the previous century with one of a kind and particular qualities while being equivalent in a couple of viewpoints. As far as the narrative in script writing is concerned there can be no comparison between the two as both are completely opposite and equally competent in their own right. Hollywood and Bollywood are two words that depict the $80 billion world silver screen industry.
In most postfeminism films, the leading lady always has a
Feminist literary criticism’s primary argument is that female characters have always been presented from a male’s viewpoint. According to Connell, in most literary works, female characters often play minor roles which emphasize their domestic roles, subservience and physical beauty while males are always the protagonists who are strong, heroic and dominant (qtd. in Woloshyn et al.150). This means that the women are perceived as weak and are supposed to be under the control of men. Gill and Sellers say that feminist literary criticism’s approach involves identifying with female characters in order to challenge any male centred outlook.
The media has long been recognized as important source of gender related information, television and cinema specifically influences its audience in a considerable way. (Denmark and Paludi 2008). With regards to the concept of gender cinema can offer a space where ambiguities of identities are played out; understanding the play of the categories of femininity and masculinity is very important in evaluating our own understandings of gender and how we react to different representations of it (Tasker 2002).If a film can show different individuals and we can recognize how social forces shape and constrain the individual according to classifications of gender it narrates an experience where we experience the film as gendered viewers. Film reflects and generates out own experience of gender over and above out own recognition and observation of it. (Pomerance 2001).
The social stigma that women are housekeepers and should be confined to the four walls of the house is perhaps a viable cause of gender disparity. They should not raise their voice regarding their fortune for the sake of the prestige of the family. In patriarchal society a lot of weightage is given to men.” The root cause of gender inequality in Indian society lies in its patriarchy system.
Abstract: In most parts of the world, females have always been the victim of oppressive patriarchy and male chauvinism since ages. This problem has been represented by many people through various forms of creations be it art, literature or films. Films are the most popular visual mediums of entertainment through which a large segment of people can be approached. Like literature, a film is also a work of art which mirrors the society, it also depicts the reality of the society though it has some fictionality in it.