25 October 2007 - 9:51pm
Resident Evil: Extinction
The primary female characters were Alice (Milla Jovovich), Claire Redfield (Ali Larter), Betty (Ashanti), and K-Mart (Spencer Locke). The first image one sees at the beginning of the film is Alice half naked on the bottom of a shower stall. This is an example of physical and sexual objectification. There is a pattern of horror, suspense, and action movies where at some point in the film a woman or several women are sexually vulnerable and / or physically objectified. It is as if these film makers are saying, "We can have a woman with a lead role as long as she looks sexy doing it. We need to make sure we see some skin somewhere."
Particularly disappointing was the racial stereotyping of Betty. As soon as L.J. (Mike Epps) is hurt by one of the infected, nurse Betty comes to the rescue. 99.9% of the healing was a lot of flirting between the two characters. After the flirting was over with, Betty takes her exit, but not without a 3 second camera shot of her butt as she waved it side to side for the camera. I wonder if the director said to Ashanti, "Move your ass from side to side like that ... oh no, like that ... yeah, that looks sexier." Of all the female characters, Betty was the most objectified character. This is a typical "Sapphire" black female stereotype that goes back to the slavery era in the U.S.:
Sapphire, the wise-cracking, balls-crushing, emasculating woman, is usually shown with her hands on her hips and her head thrown back as she lets everyone know she is in charge. [source]
Not only was Betty the most blatantly physically objectified character in the film, but she is also the martyr. Many people are familiar with how the black male usually dies first in the film. This time it occurs for the black female. This martyrdom is no surprise in the racial hierarchy of American film. It is not popular to have a lead female character, and it is certainly not popular to have a lead black female character outlast her fellow white female protagonists. In films, writers have the privilege of discriminating on which characters are to die first. More often than not, if there is a black character or anyone who is not white in the film, the person ironically gets killed. The opposite is the case for Alien vs. Predator, where Alexa Woods (Sanna Lathan) outlasts her male co-stars and ends up as the heroine of the film. There's one caveat to her survival: there were no white female characters that co-star with her. She outlasted all white male co-stars. A heroine, and a black one at that, is truly atypical in pop movies.
Claire Redfield was the only female character not continuously physically objectified in the film. She was the leader of the group.
How could this flim be feminist friendly and still maintain it’s pop appeal?
1. Heroines should not be required by film makers to be sexually objectified. No woman in a film should be required to be physically or sexually objectified.
2. Write films without black female stereotypes. Black female stereotypes are not necessary to impress an audience.
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Comments
Pretty sad, isn't it?
Have you seen Shooter? The only female character in that movie is more two dimensional than any other I can recall. She basically exists in the movie to add sexual tension and to get raped - giving the male lead an excuse to exact revenge on the person who did it in a gruesome way.
If you are dissatisfied with the current movie industries terrible portrayals of women then I have a great short story for you. I would love to be made into a movie. It really idealizes the feminist ideals set in the future where the pinnacle is reached. Though clumsy in some spots probably a good cult classic could be reached out of it. Have a read.
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"Are you male or female?" Jamie asked George. If he hadn't been at the Old Point Bar, he would never have dared to ask such a question.
Society had long decided that gender is only a social construct. Love should be based on compatibility and personality, not biology. Even showing curiosity about someone's gender could land you in jail, and the "sexual deviant" label would follow you for the rest of your life.
"I'm a female." George was wearing the form-hiding cover-alls most youths wore. Some of the females at the bar wore revealing, over-feminized clothes, and big wigs. Jamie figured George was new to the underground hetero scene.
"I'm a male." Said Jamie. "I haven't seen you around here before..."
"Sandy brought me. She, I mean he, is my peer counselor at school." Since the gender-revolution, all male pronouns had been eliminated. Everyone was a "she". It always took time for people to get used to differentiating between he and she.
"Sandy brought me here too. He has a good eye for heterosexuals. He's saved many souls from our genderless stereotypes." As Jamie said it, he could tell George was uncomfortable, even afraid. Being at a hetero bar was illegal, but raids were rare. Enough people in high places frequented such bars. "Have you ever been to a wedding? There is going to be one later tonight in the back room."
"A wedding? What's so unusual about that?"
"This is a wedding, wedding. Between a man and a woman, performed by a pastor. You know, the way they used to be." Most young people only knew modern weddings, where two or more people formalized their relationships by signing a co-habitation agreement. They were rare, but some people preferred to file joint tax returns, and share income and other resources. Most marriages lasted between one and five years, depending on the terms of the agreement.
"Actually, I have to go... my mom will be back from work at 9pm. " George was curious, but she still had some values. One thing to spend some time with heterosexuals, but another to see one of their sick ceremonies. George was way over her head. She got up and walked away.
The cool air hit her like a slap as she opened the door. Outside everything was normal. Once the door closed, she couldn't hear the music or the people. Everything was silent.
"What was I thinking?" She asked herself. She had always felt attracted to the stronger bigger kids. She had always had those nagging feelings since she was a girl. She knew these feelings were wrong, and she had always pretended they were not there.
How did she go from talking with Sandy about school problems, to actually going to a hetero bar??? Her mom would kill her if she found out.
Sandy walked to her car and drove home. Mom hadn't arrived yet. She was safe... for now.
My grandfather and I were watching Resident Evil: Extinction. Is it true that the movie was based on true story?
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