Laura Mulvey "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema"
pg.62 III Women as Image, Man as Bearer of the Look
"What counts is what the heroine provokes, or rater 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."
——Budd Boetticher
Even today, many movies and dramas are still using "love" story as the main topic, or more precisely, "love" is an indispensable element in every film. Although the forms of love might alter, women's status is undoubtedly stable. The feminist movement and criticisms were active for so many years, but women's stereotype image is still constant. In many Chinese movies, no matter the protagonist is which sex, women are always passive. Recently, much Chinese drama would like to use historical background, where men are the dominant characters during the time. Women are explicitly serving as an item or an element to emphasize man's greatness, just like what Mulvey stated in the "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema." Women's bodies' desire is always a topic in the film when encountering these "love stories." Sometimes we don't know these are outstanding aspects, but when we return to analyze the film or watch it again and pay specific attention to female characters; we notice we've accepted the women image in our unconscious because it is becoming a habit that women always play an oppressed role in films. This is probably the reason why ''women protagonist'' genre films standout and popular. However, these films aren't pervasive because they challenge scriptwriters and directors to explore an uncommon theme to write. The conversion of gender roles still takes time. At least in my perspective, the stereotypical understanding of women adapted from classical films is currently acceptable to the majority—even women themselves.
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