Re-writing my title; The sexualised female body in contemporary US film

Focus film; Under the Skin (Jonathon Glazer 2013)


Secondary Films; Captain America The Winter Soldier (2014 Anthony Russo & Joe Russo)


Lost in Translation (2003 Sofia Coppola)




Secondary Research Websites;
(Carole Cadwalladr 2014 The Guardian) https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/mar/16/scarlett-johansson-interview-middle-ground-under-the-skin-sodastream This article from the Guardian interetes me because of how the writer portrays Johansson as an alien rather than a human. The Writer Carole Cadwalladr describes Johansson's eyelashes and hair as if they are not from any normal human life, seeming that Cadwalladr thinks Johansson is more of an alien than an actor.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-problem-with-female-superheroes/ Links to Johansson because of where it mentions revealing clothing in strong female heroines and their perfect voluptuous figures. This links to Johansson as Black Widow in Captain America The Winter Soldier, her main outfit in the movie is a tight fitting black cat suit fitted with gun holsters and a weapons belt. Making her as the article says a strong female heroine but also relies on her figure as a character.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/headless-women-of-hollywood-objectification-of-women-hollywood_uk_57233748e4b0a1e971cb592b   This is a Huffington post article about research that a women is doing into the ''headless women of Hollywood' as the researcher calls them. In the article it displays an image of a movie poster. The poster of which only shows the lips, breasts and bum of the actress with her face not included. This links to this image of Johansson from Captain America The Winter Soldier.




Books;




Magazines;  

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/11026415/Women-in-film-no-improvement-since-the-1950s.html No change since the 1950's, the number of women in Hollywood films. This article is about a study completed by the University of Southern California shows that the number of women in film since the 1950's is still a relatively small amount compared to men. The study also shows how the number of teenage girls in revealing clothing in movies has dropped in resent years but that there is still an age limit on female actors in Hollywood. Only a 24.9% of women in this study were middle aged which compared nearly 40% of men.

Women as Sexual Objects in Contemporary US film

Focus film - Under the Skin (Jonathon Glazer 2013)
The abstract movie starring Scarlett Johansson as an alien who seduces lonely men in Scotland.


Secondary films - Match Point (Woody Allen 2005)
A Film starring Jonathan Reece-Myers and Scarlett Johansson were a man tries to balance an affair with toppling the big city of London whilst being married to rich lady with a wealthy family.


Versus


Captain America The Winter Soldier (2014 Anthony Russo & Joe Russo)
Second instalment in the Captain America franchise starring Chris Evans, Anthony Mackie and Scarlett Johansson. The discovery of the Captains child friend Bucky still being alive causes Captain America and Black Widow to flee from S.H.I.E.L.D who have now been discovered to be Hydra. After Nick Fury's supposed death Black Widow and Captain America find help from Cap's running partner and fight back before Hydra has a missile targeting all of the worlds citizens.


I shall compare Match Point with The Winter Soldier because of the way that both movies use Scarlett Johansson's appearance as the driving force for her character. Also because both of these films are very different genres and the money that they have behind them is vastly different amounts.


Lost in Translation (2003 Sofia Coppola)
A film Directed by Sofia Coppola starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson where to lost people connect while in Tokyo. Lost in Translation because of the way Coppola portrays Johansson's character and how although she is sexualised it's not her main character arc.


Other Possible Films to use; The Other Boleyn Girl (2008 Justin Chadwick)
                                               Hail, Caesar! (2016 The Coen Brothers)
                                               The Black Dahlia (2006 Brian De Palma

SSRP; Review

Reviewing my initial original focus film and two other films I have come to the conclusion that I should attempt to be more concise about my topic of which is objectivity and over sexualisation. I shall be looking at either how Scarlett Johansson uses her appearance in film and how she is used, or at how women are being used in Superhero movies. I think by using these either of these two ideas I shall be able to be more focused on my research and still have a broad horizon of research.


 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nib7a7w8Yi0

This is the trailer for Match Point which is directed by Woody Allen and stars Scarlett Johansson. In the movie Johansson is portrayed as a young aspiring actor who when becomes involved with a business man balances hiding an affair and mothering his future child. In the movie Johansson uses her appearance in a number of ways and her appearance seems to be her characters main arc.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7wph6xrtXQ

This is the trailer for Under the Skin which is another movie starring Johansson where she plays an alien who captures men.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/mar/16/scarlett-johansson-interview-middle-ground-under-the-skin-sodastream 

I found this link to an article in the Guardian interesting because of the way she is portrayed by the writer, not in the film but as an alien because of the way Johansson seems as a person.
I found the article particularly interesting because it is written by woman and some of the ways the writer Carole Cadwalladr speaks of Johansson. Saying Johansson has ' been installed in a fancy suite' as if she is some sort of exhibit and how she 'is groomed and coiffed with eyelashes like a camel's and a river of shining blond hair that flows around her shoulders'  making Johansson all about her appearance and how she is controlled. In particular I found it unusual how Cadwalladr mentions how 'She looks neither ordinary nor normal' further implying that Johansson is distant from human and that the writer is either jealous or terrified of the actor.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-2521467/Scarlett-Johansson-Of-course-Ive-got-big-ego--I-actor-actors-think-theyre-one.html 

This article  intrigued  me because of the headline which is a quote from Johansson herself  'Of course I've got a big ego - I am an actor and all actors think they're The one', the ironic thing about this quote is that out of context it makes Johansson seem big headed and self absorbed. Although when reading the full article this is far from what she's saying, the full quote is 'Because I am an actor and all actors think that they are The One. It's part of our huge egos and makes us so successful in some areas of our live and not in others'. Firstly the way the title has slanted what Johansson actually said seems like a specific device to make her seem big headed but also when readers find the quote in the article they'll see how this article has purposely changed things about the quote to seem a specific way. This article is a perfect example of how the media shape performers. 

Both of the articles are good examples my point with the first highlighting over sexualisation and making Johansson seem more lavish and alienated to the rest of us and the second making the actor seem big headed and self-absorbed. 

Context of my SSRP

The context of my SSRP is Star/Performer, because I shall be looking at how they are used by the industry.

Work in progress

I have chosen over sexualisation and objectivity for my SSRP as I find it interesting and in some ways frustrating how the role as a performer has changed from someone whom simply performs to someone who needs to let themselves be a billboard and an object of which companies can sell from. Specifically in high concept movies I believe that the auteur as a concept is now used as a person whom can be rinsed dry by companies to make the most money.

My main film that I shall be analysing is 'Transformers; Dark of the Moon' (2011 Michael Bay), realistically I could have used any Transformers movie as the basis of my main film but I have chosen the 'Dark of the Moon' because of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. Her influence in the movie is minimal as an actress, 'Dark of the Moon' was her first movie and she has had minimal work as an actress after. Her appearance in the movie is simply as a sexual object.

This is blatantly obvious in her opening shot in the movie. Which is simply a close up of her bum as she walks upstairs. I think that this scene best shows how Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is only in this movie for her appearance. Her other job as a Victoria Secret's model is obviously the reason for her role in the movie, the opening shot is simply of her bottom and she rarely says lines throughout the film because obviously Michael Bay realised after her cast her that she cannot act. Her main involvement in the movie is so that Shia LaBeouf and Patrick Dempsey can have a macho dispute in the classic who gets the girl.

When looking at the Jessica Chastain article that I have noted as secondary material in my SSRP, it became clearer to me that specifically in the recent rise of the big budget high concept movies that 'kick ass females' as Chastain calls them have had to come sexualised and in either the least clothing or the most tight fitting cat suit. Chastain then mentions how Ripley in Alien isn't sexualised and that she is still 'kick ass'.  

500 rational

500 Word rationale

My SSRP will focus on the topic of over sexualisation of characters in high concept movies and how the star as an auteur is now about appearance rather than performance. 

First draft title  

In my SSRP I will be looking at how in high concept movies actors both male and female are being objectified and over sexualised in their roles. Also I shall be looking at how far these conventions are challenged in terms of censorship. The possible title for my SSRP is ‘Why are actors over sexualised and objectified in high concept movies’ because I shall be looking at how their appearance is used (to generate audience etc.) I shall explore both men and women when researching this subject discussing difference and similarities between how the two sexes are shown.

Primary Research

Focus film; My focus film in my SSRP is ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’(2011 Michael Bay), I have chosen to use this film as my focus film because of specifically the over sexualisation and reliance of Rosie Huntington Whiteley’s appearance in the movie. I believe that her presence in the movie is the most obvious portrayal of how high concept movies are now relying on something else from an auteur. The movie is a blatant use of over sexualisation and objectification to make a profit, also being certified as a PG is another reason why I chose this movie as my focus film. Furthermore, the fact that this movie is directed by Hollywood giant Michael Bay represents the direction auteurs are willing to take their work.

 Related Films

Avengers: Age of Ultron (Joss Whedon 2015). I chose this film because of the contrast between the two lead females Avengers and Transformers. The difference between Rosie Huntington Whitelely and Scarlett Johansson is vast in terms of performance repertoire. I also chose this film because the lead males are also objectified in the movie and all of the actors and characters in this movie will be reused again which further translates the way that they must appear. The key reason why I am using this film is because Scarlett Johansson was heavily pregnant when filming so all over shots to do with the film were edited to hide her pregnant stomach.

Jurassic World (Colin Trevorrow 2015). I decided to look at Jurassic World because of the way the man is more sexualised than the woman in this movie. I also chose this film because of Chris Pratt being in the movie, I believe he is the best example of how important appearance is to make it Hollywood.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwkL53bH0PI 

-        Mark Kermode’s review of Transformers 3

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-09-28/jessica-chastain-movie-studios-over-sexualise-kickass-women  

-        Jessica Chastain’s interview on over sexualisation of women in Hollywood high concept films. 

Notes; I am trying to find a specific interview with Sarah Parish where she mentions her opinion on how Hollywood is equally relying on mens appearance as well as women but am still looking for it. 

Topics

Over sexualisation powering big movies

   
Sexual pose, accentuated hips and breasts, camera angle and weapons suggest power and red lipstick commonly connected with passion and lust. Scarlett Johansson has been sculpted in this poster so that she is more enticing to an audience.

 

This shot! Simply designed as a sexual image. The stance the bulging arm muscles huge pecs and abs, are the most specific things that you can see in this shot. Although topless men in movies is common, this shot shows off Chris Pratt in a blatantly obvious attempt to show him in a sexual light.