1. The women have been represented as weak and defenseless (Like the women with James Bond from the previous century.) later they were tough and revengeful (Like Lara Croft.)
In the 1950s and 1960s, women were portrayed on television, in advertisements and in home magazines as happy homemakers, secretaries, teachers, and nurses.
Women being tough and not weak began back in the 1970s with Jack Hill’s Foxy Brown (1974) casting Pam Grier as the revenge-seeking hero of an unapologetic black epic character. The film’s portrayal of sex, drugs, crime and poverty also spoke to themes of the women’s and black power movements.
And then came Leia. Technically, she was a princess. But when the male heroes of Star Wars showed up to save the supposed damsel in distress in Star Wars episode IV: A New Hope (1977), Carrie Fisher rolled her eyes, grabbed a blaster and took over the escape mission. Leia walked the line in between sexy and powerful, and she was the first truly empowered princess.
As Ripley in Alien (1979), Sigourney Weaver's character's ferocity rejected tired the women's stereotypes.
In the 1980s, had action in women such as Ripley from Aliens (1986), Leia from Star Wars episodes V and VI (1980 and 1983 respectively), Nancy Thomson from Nightamre on Elm Street (1984, not 2010!!!) and Lynn Peltzer from Gremlins (1984), but most famously is Sarah Connar from the 1984 film Terminator (Played by Linda Hamilton) as she was a sidekick character A defenseless woman forced to become strong in the face of danger, a lioness protecting her cub and a study in fragility when pushed to the limit.
In the 1990s, directors like Luc Besson, Joss Whedon and Ridley Scott established themselves as boosters of strong female characters. Besson’s La Femme Nikita (1990), The Professional (1994) and The Fifth Element (1997) kicked off his long history of featuring women as the ultimate weapon.
By the turn of the millennium, movies like Charlie’s Angels (2000), Resident Evil (2002), Catwoman (2004), Aeon Flux (2005) and Elektra (2005) fused girl power with sex appeal to varying degrees of success.
The 2010s has every superhero ensemble that seems to have at least one woman: Black Widow in The Avengers (2012), Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman (2016)
2. Essentially, the male gaze theory sees the female body as something for the heterosexual male (or patriarchal society as a whole) to watch, conquer, and possess and use to further their goals.
3. Vladimir Propp was a folklorist researcher interested in the relationship between characters and narrative.
4. Levi Strauss' binary opposition theory identifies how within media texts, most commonly films, there is a binary opposite between two characters or forces. (Like Batman and the Joker)
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7. The male character I have researched is Jack Burton from the film "Big Trouble in Little China" He is the hero of the story as he goes to a Chinatown to fight supernatural people and rescue a friend's love interest from being married to an evil sorcerer, he is important to the film because he is dangerous, and he is serious.
8. The female character I have researched is Lara Croft from the film "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" She is the heroine of the story as she is on a mission to find an artifact that possesses the ability to control time. She is important to the film because she is fearless and powerful.
9. My drawing of a female action-adventure character.
This character is angry at a psycho killer after her friends were killed and will fight to the death, she is fearless, dangerous, angry, violent, defensive, fearless and wants revenge.
The jacket is red as the connotations of red are signs of danger as I want my character to be scary. (My character's surname is pronounced "luhst-rad" in case if you mispronounce it.)
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