FROM FAIRY TALES TO ACTION ADVENTURE MOVIE: THE MAINTENANCE OF WOMEN AS VICTIM OF VIOLENCE IN THE MOVIE SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN (2012)

Restu Dedy Hendriyanto,Yusuf Kurniawan

doi:10.23917/humaniora.v21i1.7196

Abstract

Gender representation is one of the most prominent subjects of discussion in American society. Fairy tales as one of the first cultural products consumed by the American society are a medium with an influential presence in the issue. They provide gender representations and convey the idea of masculine and feminine- myths of how to be men and women. However, in 20th century, many movies are changing the perspective by presenting women and action and break the traditional myth. In the same year, a movie entitled Snow White and the Huntsman appears as the remake of the written fairy tale Snow White in the form of an action-adventure movie. To move the discussion further, this research examines how the idea of women as victims of violence in the movie is maintained. A number of disciplines in the forms of theory and approach are used to analyze the data. It also applies gender theories and Barthes's semiotic theory in answering the research question. As a result, it is found that the character Snow White and a number of other women characters still become victims of violence. The representations are also still associated with the traditional ideas of women.

Highlights

In the 20th century, the issue of gender equality becomes one of the big issues in the United States, including the issue of women as second class gender
The research purposively chooses the scenes and dialogues that required the criteria and it uses Barthes semiotic theory to understand better about signs. It put the main focus on the representation of women in the movie- whether it follows the same concept of women and action as the mainstream movies or maintains the concept of women as the victims of violence and the traditional myth of women. It examines the construction of the character Snow White in the movie, to explore whether the construction if Snow White embodies the 20th century of American women or still maintain the myth and the stereotype of women as narrated on the fairy tales, especially the Brothers Grimms’ fairy tales
AND DISCUSSION As mentioned before, there are some criteria of traditional myth of women in the brothers Grimms’ written fairy tales

Summary

Introduction

In the 20th century, the issue of gender equality becomes one of the big issues in the United States, including the issue of women as second class gender. The data shows that in 2003, the percentage of women in a number of job field is quite high; secretaries and administrative assistant (96.3%), elementary and middle school teacher (80.6%), registered nurses (90.2%), psychiatric and home health aides (89%), and arc cashiers (75.5%) (Davaki, 2012). As a matter of fact, American women in the 20th century already obtain their equality in American life, such as military, social and politics. It is a truth that women who are contributing to that field experience a number of discrimination. It shows that women are not totally free yet from the word ‘victim’

Methods

Results

Conclusion