Abstract
This study analyses the emergence of female portrayal in latest Hollywood superhero movies, after the #MeToo global movement about awareness of sexual harassment. This research adopts a qualitative approach in analysing the constructs of doing and undoing gender in blockbuster movies by Marvel and DC comics. This study seeks to explore the shift towards discursive and screen empowerment of female lead and supporting characters. Such movies serve as a barometer of the cultural and social milieu and hence project how women can display range of capabilities, independence and emotional strength on screen, so to pave the way for viewers. The premise of this paper is rooted in events following 9/11 and how blockbuster films helped in social uplifting by showing solutions till date. All such attempts of social restorations were led by all-male teams of superheroes, the events in recent couple of years are looking quite different. The discussion is rooted in transition from Zimmerman’s idea of ‘doing gender’ (1997), for social conformity, to Deutsch’s proposal of ‘undoing gender’ (2007), where females adopt a powerful position and voice. This approach resonates with latest, or fourth wave, of feminism. The emergence of able-minded stronger women is taking over and shaping new Man, a flexible, emotional and imperfect male. The paper also glimpses into other genres and studios’ movies of the recent times to find signs of change.
Highlights
Most movies are basically visual stories and construct social identities of national groups
To uncover deeper meanings in such MCU superheroes movies, this paper aims at finding the patterns of dialogical decisions that lead towards built-up of hyper feminism as a direct reaction to masculinity in films
This paper has attempted to capture the essence of change in female portrayal in biggest contemporary popular cinema, Hollywood, in recent times
Summary
Most movies are basically visual stories and construct social identities of national groups. According to some visual semioticians (e.g., Metz, 1974) they can be seen as having the same structural aspects of language (Dansei, 2018). It can be precisely stated that the filmic text enlarges language categories by blending scenes, sounds and said words in a subtle manner. It is for this sole reason that it should be regarded as a sign synthetically produced and comprising of both verbal and non-verbal depictions. This composition renders this medium strength and authenticity in capturing the imagination of audience across cultures. According to Paik (2010) cinema is befitting for implementation of post-modern technique, which the directors of films utilize to achieve two goals, i.e., for depicting imagery to foster present-day cultural milieu, and for using language to work in close symmetry, for better meaning-making experience by the viewer (2010)
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