Women Represented in Thriller
The "Damsel in distress" is a classic theme that is run through literature art and film for years, the damsel has become a stock character over the centuries and encompasses many variations. John Berger, author of seminal "ways of seeing", an introductory essay on art criticism, states that 'men act and woman appear'. Laura Mulvey essay on 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema' published in 1975, is one of the most influential texts on the role of women in film history. Mulveys theory, applied to classical Hollywood films at the time, centred on the objectifying male gaze, which saw women as 'passive' and not 'attractive' and not 'attractive' within film. For example young women are represented as being innocent and naïve. Whilst woman who are older are portrayed as having mass sex appeal. These older, sexy woman can also be portrayed as being sly and secretive. For example Glen Close in Fatal Attraction.
A stereotypical representation of woman can be seen in the films, Spiderman 2 with Kirsten Dunte starring in a very definition of a damsel in distress. Also another stereotype was the iconic Janet Leigh staring in the infamous shower scene in the film psycho.A film that subversives a female stereotype is the Girl with the dragon tattoo. As the protagonist takes on the role of the tough almost masculine lead.
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