The Images of Female Characters in Films: A Case Study of Two Male-Authord Amharic Films- Kezkaza Wolafen and Semayawl Feres
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Date
2006-07
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Film is a visual medium which a ppeals to the senses of viewers . Through films ,
m essages a r e easily conveyed through pictures; values are constructed, a nd
already existing ones implanted deeper. T a king this dis tinct feature of film into
con s ide r ation , feninist film criti c ism is concerned with how m a instrea m film s
a r e structured in a way w h erein stereotypical images are attributed t o female
characters . The fe mini s t film theory I se lected for the analysis of the selected
film s is primaril y developed by Laura Mulvey.This theory basica lly uses the
mirror stage o f Jacques Lacan and Sigmund F reud's Fetishism to explain how
narrative film s are structured a nd represent fema le characters as m ere objects
of male's gaze and how a spectator is compelled to ide ntify himself/herself with
the masculine subject on the screen.
Making use of t hi s theory, an attempt I S made to analyze the way female
characters are made to appear in two m a le -authore d Amharic film s. Whether
the female char acter s are represented simply as objects of fetish or as s ubjects
capable of independent action is one of the points touched upon in the
analysis. This thesis a lso looks into the issue of wheth er male characters a r e
g iven special privileges in the sele c ted film s in contrast t o female c h aracters,
whether the male characters are positively portrayed so that spectators can
d erive a narcissistic visual ple asure .
The close fem inist analysis of two films s ho ws the presence of stereotypical
portrayal of fe m a le characters wherein they appear as mere objects of male's
gaze. They are controlle d a nd guided by the male c h aracter s , who a r e a lways
found a round them. In contrast, honorable values a nd the pote ntial to win
whatever they n eed to h ave a re attributed to male ch a r acters. This in turn
m a k es the male characters get the attention of spectators, who place
themselves in t h e p osition of male characters.
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Keywords
Images of Female Characters in Films