English: Research Paper
Film and literature industries show the men as Superman, Spiderman, Xman and many other types of superhuman characters, however, same has not been the case with the women. The movies which depicted women as superhuman did not achieve much success at the box-office. In this research paper, an analysis of success of men as superhuman and failure of women as superhuman has been carried out to identify the reasons to make it even for both genders. Also, depiction of women as superhuman in the movies and comic books will critically be looked at, with some examples from some prominent movie and book from Hollywood and around the world.
Film and literature, especially science fiction industries and comic have been unfair with the women on account of producing movies and writing books depicting women as superhuman. Many movies and books depict men as superhuman, but same is not the case with women. There have been written books and scripts projecting women as superhuman, but, have not been filmed and presented at the box office. There is a concern shown by women gender about the unfair treatment of women in this multi-million dollar industry and if the entertainment industry is a female sensitive industry. Analysis reveal that female actors are not given leading role in science fiction and comic movies, and, even if the character of women in the books in dominating and strong, it is not depicted as such in the movies. There are numbers of movies and books that are famous in the world of entertainment for years for their characters of superheroes but women in such movies have not been depicted as strong and superhuman. Women in these movies have not performed the leading role but mostly the supporting roles (Alshahrani 2). An example of the movie is Xman that is the famous movie showing Huge Jackman as the superhero and all the female stars performing the supporting role. Similarly in the movies of Matrix series, Keanu Reeves is the superhuman and Carrie-Anne Moss is doing the supporting role.
In the movies where women has performed the leading role and acted superhuman are not well received by the audience. Although, the movie scripts have depicted women in the main characters, but their roles did not feature dominantly in the movies. Thus, the women characters have not adopted the competitiveness in this industry. Writers and movie directors have tried to use women in their works have not been a success. Film “Catwoman” is the one of the few movies that depicts female as superhuman, but the movie receive a lukewarm response as opposed to the movies where a male performed the superhuman. An analysis about the film “Catwoman” reads “movies with strong female characters are not the box-office bombs that conventional wisdom expects them to be.” (Rothman 1)
The low response is because of the fixated mindset of the public who do not expect a woman to take the lead roles in movies and books. An analysis on the subject reads, “To be recognized as a comic within the superhero genre, the text must enact particular features that clearly place it within the tradition.” (Keatting 1272). In this quote, Keating describes the difficulty for a female character to exactly match their male counterparts in this overfilled field of superhero and comic movies. Few comic and superhuman movies depict women as main characters, but they have not been able to match their male counterparts on account of performance, to attract the audience and fetching profit to the film producers. For example, “Catwoman” and “Electra” never reached the fame achieved by the movies having male counterparts as superhuman characters. The low response to the movies depicting women as superhuman has compelled the filmmakers to think on the lines of not investing their money on the projects depicting women as the superhuman. Instead, they prefer to invest in movies depicting men as superhuman in order to make appropriate profit on their investment.
Movie makers find it difficult to find the suitable female actors who could fit the female actors in the perceived superhuman characters to compete their male counterparts. Even though, scripts and books depict these characters strongly, filmmakers do not identify a female actor who can appropriately fit in the required characters. This perception is authenticated by Stevkey when he asserts, “At a time when every other comic book hero in the universe seems to be getting a green light, Hollywood still hasn't figured out a way to make a Wonder Woman movie.” (Stevkey 1). It is clear that directors have not found a potential female actor to match the perceived character in the comic books and other literatures depicting female characters as superheroes. (Alshahrani 3). Although women actresses want to play lead roles in science fiction movies, however, their acting expertise and their performance do not support their desire to perform a dominating and strong role in the movies. The main reason for the failure of movies with female performing the lead role of superhuman is the performance of the female actresses and their inability to attract an audience. There have been several attempts to make the women superhuman movie a success but to no avail. It never met the expectation of the filmmakers and they suffered heavy financial losses, and gradually moved away from making any more such movies with a female superhuman.
The idea of depicting women as main characters in science fiction movies depicting women as superhuman has not been successful. The unpredictable nature of the industry has caused movie directors and players in the industry fear investing heavily on the female movies science fiction movies. As Svetkey highlights, “It is just much easier to sell a male action hero to the studios than a female one” (Svetkey 45). All the science fiction movies that have hit the box office have never featured any prominent female characters and this makes many directors shy from investing in such movies. Most science fiction comic movies including Superman, Spiderman, and any other movies that have dominated theaters are male movies. According to Rothman, “As a new summer-movie preview from Reuters makes clear, the female-friendly movies that have been shown to bring in big bucks are still largely excluded from that line-up.” (Rothman 1). Rothman tries to explain the notion engrained in the movies industry that science fiction heavy movies with female characters have not featured well. Many female actors have performed in these movies, but they have not been able to dominate any such science fiction movies. It is, therefore, very clear that much of work still need to be done by the female actresses to break this notion of failure of movie in case of female performing the leading role of a superhuman. There has been no any initiative to bring any change into the industry as most directors prefer male science fiction movies, and most of them fear their investing might run into a loss in case of a female science fiction. (Alshahrani 4)
The amount of energy found in the male character in science fiction and superhuman movies is lacking in female characters. One of the major undoing in trying to include women in these heavy energy movies is their lack of proper initiative and remarkable energy in the movies. The enthusiasm found in men while acting these science fiction movies is lacking in female, and this is one of the reasons the movie directors have not invested on women playing leading roles in these movies. The energy has not allowed female actors to comfortably fit into what script writers have used in many of their works. As directors try to put together the pieces that are going make a successful science fiction movie, female actors’ energy has been the major undoing.
There is a requirement of changing the mindset of the public about the movies where main role is performed by a female as a superhuman. It will take a considerable amount of effort to change the norm and the prevailing culture of male dominant in the science fiction movies. Movie industry has the obligation of giving an equal share to both the genders and should not tolerate any discrimination to this effect. The filmmakers must stop the engineered letting down of women gender, and new trends should be introduced in the film industry whereby equal representation to both the genders is ensured in all types of movies, especially in the movies where there is a character of superhuman. It will take time, by the time audience will become used to off watching women as a superhuman. It is the mindset of the audience who do not expect and do not want to see a female dominating the male gender, and that is a hidden truth known to all. There is a requirement to change the mindset and incorporate more women in the science fiction movies. Film makers must ensure that female role is not limited to a supporting role only, but they should frequently cast them for superhuman roles too. It will change the trend and the mindset of the people in the years down the line.
Work Cited
Rothman, Lily. Sure, Movies with Women Make More Money-But Movies with Men Dominate This Summer. Color Photo. Times.com, 4/4/2014;1. Retrieved on 10th May, 2014 from http://libproxy.spokanefalls.edu:2201/ehost/detail?sid=3759a057-9322-4954-8c21-b2a2ef71f1e7%40sessionmgr4002&vid=1&hid=4209&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=95496695
Rothman, Lily. Superheroes and Sexism: Can Two Women Be in Batman vs. Suprman Without a Love Triangle. Color Photo, Times.com, 12/13/2013;1. Retrieved on 10th May, 2014 from http://libproxy.spokanefalls.edu:2201/ehost/detail?sid=9dbf5c56-4e26-4dee-a287-0ceb0e4a847c%40sessionmgr4005&vid=1&hid=4209&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=93323893
Svetkey, Benjamin. What About Wonder Woman. Entertainment Weekly, 11/26/2010; 1130, 42- 46. Retrieved on 11th May, 2014 from http://libproxy.spokanefalls.edu:2201/ehost/detail?sid=323131e4-51dc-4281-9db9-c863c186ee01%40sessionmgr4005&vid=1&hid=4209&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=55446006
Keating, Erin. The Female Link: Citation and Continuity in Watchmen. Journal of Popular, Dec. Alshahrani 7. 2012; 45:6, 1266-1288. Retrieved on 11th May, 2014 from http://libproxy.spokanefalls.edu:2201/ehost/detail?sid=75152d22-a91c-4b1c-bde3-1c4be095df1e%40sessionmgr4001&vid=1&hid=4209&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=84484432
