1. The Media Guardian 100 is a list which is released annually, stating the most powerful people of the Media Industry and focuses on the economic, political and cultural influence the media texts have on the people of the U.K. Panellists include:
· Peter Barron (News night editor)
· Peter Bennett Jones (chairman of Tiger Aspect Group and talent agency PBJ Management)
· Brent Hoberman (founder and executive chairman of online interiors website mydeco)
· Tessa Jowell (minister for the Olympics and London with direct responsibility for the delivery of the government's programme for the 2012 games)
· Siobhan Kenny (director of communications at publisher Harper Collins UK)
· Andrew Neil (publisher of the Barclay brothers' Press Holdings Group, owners of the Spectator, Spectator Business and Apollo magazines)
· Trevor Phillips (chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the independent statutory body created to eliminate discrimination and reduce equality)
· Chris Powell (chairman of Nesta, the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, a publicly and privately funded body to encourage innovation in the UK)
· Janine Gibson (executive editor of guardian.co.uk and editor-in-chief of Media Guardian)
· Jane Martinson (editor of Media Guardian)
2. Only 18 women in the whole of the list.
3. Top ten women job list and name:
· Jay Hunt: Controller for BBC1
· Rebekah Brooks: Chief executive for news international
· Elisabeth Murdoch: Chairman and chief executive for shine group
· Helen Boaden: director at BBC1
· Dame Majorie Scardino: Chief executive for Pearson
· Tessa Ross: Controller of film and Drama at Channel 4
· Dame Gail Rebuck: Chairman and chief executive of Random house
· Roisin Donnelly: corporate marketing director and head of marketing, Procter & Gamble UK and Ireland
· Jana Bennett: director of vision for the BBC
· Cilla Snowball: chairman and chief executive, AMV Group; chairman, AMV BBDO
4. 18% of the 100 are Women.
5. Clearly the status quo is stuck to, the men who are supposed to be dominant are, with a mammoth 82% of the 100 being men. There are no truthful answers to why women are not so politically influential, however the only thing that could justify this is that women are of the subordinate group, and therefore, though only 18% are female, the little percentage is now a norm. Or the other reason can be that the guys have come up with better ideas to become influential.
Tuesday 28 September 2010
Saturday 25 September 2010
Angelina Jolie
Though the character of femme fatale is no longer as prominent as it used to be, we still see some very successful and powerful female characters who we can label as femme fatales. Angelina Jolie for instance plays a very seductive and dangerous character in movies such as Mr. And Mrs. Smith and salt. In Mr. and Mrs. Smith we mostly see a relationship where both the male and female are equal. Botch Jolie and Pitt play the characters of undercover spies, and well, spies are mostly associated with the male gender ever since the introduction of detectives (Sherlock Holmes). With Jolie being a spy, shows that she is challenging the stereotypes. Throughout the movie, she wears a lot of black, which we can also see in the clip. In the beginning of the clip, we see her crying, which presents her as a vulnerable individual, but by the end of it she triumphs by causing chaos. She’s also portrayed in a sexual way, when he drops down, and we see Brad Pitt smirking, implying something that is not even happening. When she takes out her gun, we she a shot of her full leg, again reinforcing her sexuality and charm of being a woman.
Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner is well known for her part in The Killers, The Bribe and Whistle Stop. Like Bennett, Gardner also had a very interesting personal life, especially when she married Frank Sinatra. However unlike Joan’s witty personality in movies, Gardner, had more of a sexy and mysterious look which kept the boys running after her. In the clip below we can see this look being portrayed to the viewers. Before we see Gardner, she is in darkness, which connotes mystery and danger, and then when she lights her cigarette (which makes her seem sexual as she holds the phallic symbol), we are exposed to her revealing costume. She slowly walks across the room as she softly sings, and we see that the dominant male character is very interested in her. She seems untouchable when a guy tries to touch her hand and she walks away, she has no contact with anyone in the room and as the song ends, she disappears from the room, leaving not only the viewers but also the male character in mystery.
One of the fatale phenomena’s is Joan Bennett, best known for her seductive and manipulative character in films such as Scarlet Street, Woman in The Window and The Woman on The Beach. What made Joan such a significant femme fatale was not only her acting career but also her personal life. She got married twice and was also a part of a shooting scandal, with so much drama in her life, viewers couldn’t help but watch her glamorous Hollywood movies. In the clip below, you can see classic acting of a femme fatale. Joan sits back like a guy, with her arms over the chair, presenting herself in a more masculine light, however she intends to seduce him by speaking in a soft voice at points, and lighting her cigarette which of course is a key iconography of the femme fatale as it is a phallic symbol. Towards the end of the clip, you see the male character chasing after Joan’s character, as he asks her when he’ll see her next and broadly smiles as he watches her walk in. Shots like these show a reversal of power, as Joan walks in very casually as she bluntly speaks to him with her back towards him. There are shots were we prominently see her open her eyes wider, and somewhat flutter her eyelashes, which has always been known a way in which women get what they want.
Femme Fatale.
The rise of the femme fatale broke through around the time of the Second World War, mostly after the end of the war because of the rise of feminism. This is because around this time, the women’s right movement was starting, due to the war, many husband/fathers had to be sent abroad to fight, leaving the women to become the breadwinners, and when the men came back, the women began to demand more rights and become equal to men. This is why the Femme Fatale was welcomed so positively, because she was this controversial character that had the power which previously the male heroes possessed, which in reality is exactly what the women were asking for. The femme fatale however, still had to use her charm, sexuality and damsel in distress look to lure the males in to a trap, so she was still shown as an inferior character, however it was a step up from how women were previously portrayed as.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)