Using films and movies as a platform to ventilate social messages is identified as a common measure that directors and producers use extensively. In the case of reviewing ‘Thelma and Louise’ and ‘Amelie’ as clearly feminist films, it is important to understand the background of the movies and the perception that those two movies possess in order to analyze the feminist approach at a popular glance. It is obvious that both films follow different perspectives in the feminist context and try to deliver a unique though relevant social perception of feminism. Therefore, this discussion is going to review both the films and critically analyse them so that the paradigm of feminism portrayed in those movies can be evaluated properly.
As far as Amelie is concerned, this French film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet in 2001 was a milestone in international film history due to its cinematography and the acting of protagonist Audrey Tautou. From an apparent perspective, it can be argued that Amelie is basically a romantic comedy on a sepia-tone screen. The story of the film is quite romantic and based on the life of Amelie played by Audrey Tautou (filminquiry.com., 2018). However, there is definitely some correlation between the story of Amelie and the feminist approach in present times. There are some layers in the life of young Amelie that were portrayed clearly in the film. First of all, the childhood of Amelie was messed up because of the illness of her parents. The story went in a way that due to unstable childhood, Amelie became a restricted and secluded woman in her adulthood. However, she had a pleasant life with happiness and simplicity on her face. In this point, it can be argued that the director tried to create a stereotype of women in society where despite having enormous problems in life, a woman should look pretty and happy (Gordon, 2016). The director splendidly utilized the gender stereotypes that society possesses in order to portray an image of so-called women in society.
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Based on the research of Marecek (2016) gender is considered to be a binary system and a biological identification that became a stereotype in society. The typecast notion of women is to have a pretty face and a humble nature. However, in the course of the movie Amelie, there is a rapid transformation in the notion of women in society where the movie tries to project the power and control of a woman as Amelie decides to make others happy around her. In this regard, the post-modernist theory of women in society is reflected clearly in the second phase of the movie where Amelie tries to appease the people around her. In this perspective, there is a sharp distinction between the feminist theory in France and the Anglo-American perspective. The American perspective is more of a women-centric approach but the French notion strictly corroborates with the fact of gender equality (Turner & Maschi, 2015). This equality was clearly reflected in the film Amelie where she acted like a human being rather than identified with her gender specific features. From that point of view, Amelie was a clear example of the Post-modern feminist approach and the director was able to portray the image of Amelie as well-controlled and humane enough.
On the other hand, in the movie Thelma and Louise, an Anglo-American perception of feminism can be found in terms of using a women-centric film from its casting to the scriptwriter. The notion of Sexual Politics propounded by Kate Millett was clearly reflected in the film where the heroic nature and patriarchal chivalry popped up several times (Shanthini, 2016). The vivid scene where Thelma played by Geena Davis was raped by Timothy Carhart in the parking lot. The murder of Timothy Carhart by Susan Sarandon as Louise clearly projected the gruesome picture of male male-dominated society where it is very common for women to get assaulted. Moreover, the rigid feminist approach can also be seen in the case of Thelma and Louise where the authorship of the film was made by a woman (Denney, 2016). Screenwriter Callie Khouri wrote the script of Thelma and Louise and maintained strict guidelines of a strong feminist approach from the start of the film. Smith (2016) also identified another core identification of feminism in film in terms of using female friendship and heteronormative romance. In the case of Thelma and Louise, the friendship between Thelma and Louise was clearly addressed and succeeded in emphasizing the heteronormative romances by giving up their lives at the end.
The last scene of the film was quite interesting where the death of Thelma and Louise projected as an emancipation of women from the bondage of patriarchal social dominance. The film followed the hard line of the feminist approach where the imposition of male-dominated practices made Thelma and Louise agitate and act as a protest against gender biases (exploringyourmind.com, 2018). Therefore, a semi-lesbian interpretation was also related to the discussion where same-sex friendship outplayed the heterosexual relationship. From that point of view, it can be stated that there are some unique and radical feminist approaches that Thelma and Louise portrayed that went against patriarchal chauvinism and tried to establish themselves distinctively.
Based on the above discussion, it can be concluded that Amelie was very different from Thelma and Louise in terms of the portrayal of feminism in a wider aspect and the use of different theories and concepts of feminism within the paradigm of French Feminism. Gender equality is of paramount importance in French feminism as a part of post-modernist notions. In comparison to this, Anglo-American feminism is more radical in the sense it is more women-centric. In Thelma and Louise, the strong message of Anglo-American feminism made it more core of the radical feminist approach. Therefore, it can be argued that Amelie portrays a better picture of feminism whereas Thelma and Louise were limited itself to the stereotypes of feminism from the very first.
Reference
- Denney, A. (2016). Dissecting the feminist legacy of Thelma & Louise. Retrieved 26 July 2019, from https://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/31284/1/dissecting-the-feminist-legacy-of-thelma-louise
- exploringyourmind.com. (2018). Thelma and Louise, A Feminist Shout in a Man's World — Exploring your mind. Retrieved 26 July 2019, from https://exploringyourmind.com/thelma-and-louise-a-feminist-shout-in-a-mans-world/
- filminquiry.com. (2019). AMÉLIE: Manic Pixie Dream Girl Or Feminist? | Film Inquiry. Retrieved 26 July 2019, from https://www.filminquiry.com/amelie-manic-pixie/
- Gordon, L. (2016). ‘Intersectionality’, Socialist Feminism and Contemporary Activism: Musings by a Second‐Wave Socialist Feminist. Gender & History, 28(2), 340-357.
- Marecek, J. (2016). Invited reflection: Intersectionality theory and feminist psychology. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 40(2), 177-181.
- Shanthini, R. (2016). A critical review of popular technological solutions for climate change as evident in the movie industry. Sri Lanka Journal of Social Sciences, 39(1).
- Smith, K. (2016). As a feminist film, ‘Thelma & Louise’ fails miserably. Retrieved 26 July 2019, from https://nypost.com/2016/04/07/as-a-feminist-film-thelma-louise-fails-miserably/
- Turner, S. G., & Maschi, T. M. (2015). Feminist and empowerment theory and social work practice. Journal of Social Work Practice, 29(2), 151-162.
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