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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Images of Female Characters in Films

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