To be able to talk about heroes, gender, and Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey, there needs to be a separation between the journey to become a hero and the plot of the story. Although an entire story can be solely based on “The Hero’s Journey,” it’s not limited to the journey. How events play out and character development among other things are apart from what Campbell describes. The journey he describes stays the same regardless of the gender of the protagonist. Gender can only affect the plot itself depending on type of world that is built.
Many of the women in these stories are portrayed as strong, independent women who, in many cases, are the hero themselves. Women in Chrétien and La Motte-Fouqué’s stories are given strong roles in order to highlight and emphasize the important virtues of peace, bravery, and power which ultimately transfers the role of the hero from men to women. In order to understand why the women in Yvain and The Magic Ring are considered to be the true heroes, the definition of a true hero must first be fully defined. Many will describe a hero as a character who performs deeds to remove people from danger.
Extended essay response Jonathan Scriva Hollywood films have influenced our values and beliefs of socio-cultural groups within a film. In the context of race and gender the films Cowboys and Aliens (2011) and the searchers (1956) both share similarities. These two successful films are 55 years apart the both convey the perspectives of race and gender through the reflection of American Indians in these films. The films The Searchers and Cowboys and Aliens show that Hollywood has changed the way we see the status of Indians. In the earlier film the Indians are represented as killers and mongrels as in this current day and age we have grown to accept them and appreciate their culture.
In the movie “Conan the Destroyer”, two of the main female stereotypes of Howard’s fantasy stories appear: the strong warrior woman and the female victim. Zula is portrayed as an independent, strong- willed warrior, which already makes her a capable woman. In contrast, Zhenna is presented as a beautiful, young maiden who is stereotypically weak. Zula and Zehnna’s stereotypes are altered by the director and writers to fit in modern society. However, they makes them stay true to the genre Zhenna as a weak and princess-like figure has a unique gift, which allows her to lead the group of strong and mighty adventurers on their quest.
In 1995, American journalist and political activist Gloria Steinem wrote the essay “Wonder Woman” and published it as the introduction to her book Wonder Woman: Featuring over Five Decades of Great Covers. Steinem wrote this essay to discuss the promotion of feminism in popular media, especially in comic books. She begins the essay with a tribute to William Moulton Marston’s superheroine Wonder Woman, recounting with a nostalgic tone the hundreds of languid afternoons hiding in a tree and restless nights swaddled in blankets during which her childhood self would eagerly pore over the pages of comic books she had bought herself. Then, she switches to a more earnest tone as she compares the adventures of Wonder Woman with the societal burdens
We have all lived in the world of fairy tales and imagination but have we ever really focused on what intrigues us about these stories? The hero’s sacrifices and the villain’s decisive plots intrigue us the most in stories but these characteristics are what makes a character known for as a hero, villain and this is known as archetypes. This analyzation revolves around, The Princess Bride and archetypes that some of its character’s qualify of. According to my analysis, Westley portrays the hero, Prince Humperdinck portrays the villain/shadow and Dread Pirate Roberts portrays the Threshold Guardian. The first archetype that I have analyzed is a hero and I have identified Westley as the hero because he sacrifices many things in order to achieve his goal, a hero’s trademark.
Throughout the decades men have dominated the comic-book industry. They played a very important role in perpetuating stereotypes. The male writers, publishers, editors, and creators wrote for the their target audience, which was primarily young boys. The 90s was a period of time where society obsessed over male strength, which in turn led the idea of how fragile a woman is compared to a man. Batman and Batgirl are both human superheroes; they do not have any special healing factor or any other kind of superpowers.
In this article, “Why We Love TV’s Anti-heroes,” the author Stephen Garrett argues that in today’s society our whole perspective of heroes has changed since the mid-twentieth century. Garrett is appealing to all American’s who love watching their favorite TV heroes and heroines. In addition, Garrett’s main focus is the fact today’s heroes entirely different from what the idea of a “hero” was two or three decades ago. The author relies on generally accepted ideas from the American public to base his main idea; he uses sources from popular TV shows and movies which have anti-heroes that draw the attention of their audience.
My experience of writing this paper was relatively pleasant. I really enjoyed that the entire assignment was broken up into small pieces like the topics and references, media source and research section, and the annotated bibliography. Sometimes I can tend to procrastinate so it was nice being forced to submit small pieces bit by bit so the workload didn’t pile up and get me stressed out right before it was due. I feel like I really did well learning about my topic. Teen dating violence has been something that I haven’t really known a whole lot about.
In most fighting video games, strong heroic characters are frequently made to satisfy gamers’ taste. I used to remember during my childhood. When I played Mortal Kombat, I would choose a male character than a female character in Tekken, because the guy looks more intimidating and bigger compared to the female fighters. Games like Mortal Kombat, Street fighter, Injustice have a male stigma and correlation to the same traditional male stereotypes. (intersections pg 85-98)In the popular video game, Overwatch, there’s a tank hero character named Zarya, who is a female character with masculine qualities.
Amanda Putnam’s essay, “Mean Ladies: Transgendered Villains in Disney Films”, is a compelling piece on gender portrayal and views in Disney films. Putnam opened the essay with a personal anecdote about her daughter. Her daughter wanted a Disney movie without a “mean lady”, as in most Disney films the villains are scary, evil women. The real life evidence strengthened her claim that children are noticing the characterization of female villains in Disney films. The antidote was brought fill circle when she referred back to her daughter in the final paragraphs of her essay.
This essay will critically examine on how the female figure is represented throughout a very “selective” media outlet (the film industry), and how society is depicted in the film medium. The chosen media text for analysis is The Hunger Games, a theatrical adaptation of the novel written by Suzanne Collins and directed by Gary Ross. The film is centred on Katniss Everdeen - a teenage girl who volunteers on behalf of her sister, to fight in the annual Hunger Games- and the male District 12 tribute, Peeta Mellark, with whom she shares quite an intense past. Both characters embark on a journey that will test their physical and emotional boundaries, while being hunted by the other 22 competitors who all fight for the same objective: survival.
There is definitely a problem when we talk about gender equality and sexism. It's everywhere: in movies, commercials on television, in music videos, at the workplace and even at school. The gender biases are blatant. One of the sources of the problem lies in the media and the way the media portrays women. For example, the function of an assistant can be fulfilled by both a man and a woman, but when we look at movies and commercials, we often think that it is weird when the assistant of a powerful man is not a woman but a man.
Lady Macbeth and Medea are therefore considered tragic heros because they put their loyalty above their own self-worth. Ultimately, this ideal encompasses how femininity is controlled by men, because the actions of the Macbeth and Jason were the cause for Lady Macbeth and Medea’s
When we think about the villains Disney cinema produces, the first image that comes to mind is the powerful women who use their magic to cast spells, summon forces greater than life, and enhance their agency. Often, identifying the villain in Disney films is easy, since they differ considerably from gender conforming characters due to their physical features, abilities, and style of dress. When examining the villain, one of the characteristics that stand out, is the villains’ dehumanization and non-heteronormativity. As a result, the villains’ stories may not adhere to idealistic social norms, but it’s their own just the same.
