In my essay, I will discuss the representation of women through its narrative in my two chosen films Pretty Woman (1990) and Erin Brockovich (2000). Not only will I examine how the main characters (both played by Julia Roberts) Vivian in Pretty Woman and Erin are portrayed in them, but also supporting stars such as Kit (Vivian's prostitute best friend) and Theresa Dallavale (a lawyer ). Additionally, I will explore the representation of women as the inferior sex in films. This representation often depends on culture, education, age and other aspects. Nonetheless, with all of this in mind, here is my exploration of how Pretty Women and Erin Brockovich represent women in the narrative. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayThe film Erin Brockovich (2000) is based on a true story. In the film, Erin is an unemployed, twice-divorced single mother looking for work after losing her personal injury lawsuit. She seeks help from her lawyer Ed Masry to find her a job. However, no one takes her seriously in her job, with her provocative clothes and rude behavior. Attitudes change when Erin begins investigating a suspicious real estate deal with the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, where they covered up pollution that caused overwhelming illness among residents. The film adopts a typical narrative of a five-act structure. Pretty Woman (1990) follows the story of prostitute Vivian and how she meets wealthy businessman Edward, the unlikely couple falling in love. Edward hires Vivian to stay with him for the week and the two become closer. They learn that there are many obstacles to overcome if they want to be together; they bridge the gap between the two different social hierarchies. She's a modern Cinderella. As in Erin Brockovich, Pretty Woman has the same basic narrative structure. Throughout the films, Erin and Vivian are portrayed as strong women. They both have powerful identities. Yet, many would argue that Vivian is portrayed as a helpless woman while Erin is presented as an independent, determined, hardworking, and long-suffering heroine who saves the day. At the beginning of the film, Erin is portrayed as the underdog, a typical role. for women in traditional novels and melodramas. » The audience is introduced to Brockovich as a struggling single mother, who courageously but unsuccessfully goes through a job interview. Shortly after, she was physically injured when her car was hit by another car. Thus, in the first five minutes of the film, Brockovich is portrayed as a victim” (Roth 2004: p54). This attitude changes as we get to know Erin and begin to empathize with her as the narrative unfolds. Her story is designed to arouse pity and we sympathize with her. Even though she seems offensive at times, the viewer still wants her to succeed in her quest. Erin's provocative clothing upsets many of her colleagues. They refuse to involve him, are hostile to him and approach him in a cruel and disrespectful manner. They judge Erin by her short skirts and low-cut tops; they assume she is incapable of doing her job. She doesn't wear the stereotypical work clothes, but looks like she could be a prostitute and, in many ways, dresses like Vivian from Pretty Woman. Watching a reading of Elaine Roth's I Just Want to Be a Decent Citizen, she says, "The film depicts the co-workers"Brockovich's women like busy people who object to his unprofessional clothing." (Roth 2004: p57) This implies that women can be very critical of each other and not support each other solely through the way they dress; if you don't follow protocol, you're not in the clique. This story portrays his co-workers in a negative light due to their behavior towards him. This can be seen in the scene where Erin is excluded from lunch because she is "Not one of the girls." Not only do Erin's co-workers fire her, but Theresa Dalvalale, the new lawyer who helped with the Hinkley case, fires her as well. The film mocks Dallavalle for being an insensitive woman who is incapable of sympathizing with the people of Hinkley, contrasting with Erin who understands them culturally and economically. Dallavalle's clothing separates her from the citizens of Hinkley. His suit and tie represent the power that frightens the residents. Not only do her clothes disconnect her, but so does her privileged class status, which leaves her unable to illustrate the bond of oppressed sympathy; this contrasts with Erin’s educational background (Forbes and Smith, 2007). In the scene where Theresa criticizes Erin's research for having holes in it, this could signal to people that Theresa is someone loyal to the male domain of work. 'With her body and dress, she symbolically declares her allegiance to the professional, white, male world as well as its lack of intention to subvert that arena with alternative “feminine values.” Bordo (2003: 208) Throughout the film, Erin refuses to proclaim such an alliance. Erin's clothes help her empathize with these people, many of them trust her because they feel that she is not a "real lawyer". Erin uses her status as a single mother to attempt to bond with these people, even carrying her child on her hip in an attempt to gain the plaintiffs' trust. Additionally, she uses her body to exploit her assets by manipulating and charming the male gaze to gain information related to the case. "Brockovich's connection to the people of Hinkley is based on emotional ties as well as social class, while Dalvalale remains a well-educated, upper-middle-class outsider. (Roth 2004: p57) The public perception is hating the stereotypical businesswoman and siding with Erin; the film portrays these women as alienating and irritating. The narrative is biased in favor of Erin and that we should reject these working class women. “The film encourages its viewers to reject and hate this working woman, who is portrayed as unmaternal, asexual and humorless (Roth 2004: p57) Contrary to this, all the men around (judges, lawyers and doctors) are dressed formally and respected There is a distinct difference in the way men are portrayed in films In Pretty Woman, this judgment of class and clothing can also be seen by many as a rude, dirty, slut. easy. However, she embodies traits not typically associated with a prostitute's lifestyle as she defies the prostitute stereotype. Anderson supports my proposition by stating: “Vivian avoided most of the evils inherent in her business: illness, drugs, pimps, and physical violence. …she does not elicit the pathos usually implied in such an apparently unfortunate position” (Anderson, 2001: p65) Despite her beliefs, many judge her by her appearance. This is seen in the scene where she tries to buy new clothes to transform into a princess. In this scene, the conversation andperformance play an important role in representing society's view of Vivian as a prostitute; women instantly judge what kind of person she is. They are very hostile towards him: “I don’t think we have anything for you; You’re obviously not in the right place.” The saleswoman clarifies that Vivian is not wanted and asks her to leave. They judge her as lower class and believe they are better than her. The story represents the woman very poorly in this scene; For both Vivian and the saleswoman, the film represents working women in a negative way. The saleswomen are presented as cruel upper-class women who exert their social influence. Although some possibility of emphatic cooperation is allowed between women of less advantaged classes, women are depicted as being only too willing to trample on each other when making their way. higher on the social ladder. (Greenberg, 1991) Supporting Greenberg's statement about the shopping scene, the narrative depicts women against women. Instead of supporting each other, they decide to put each other down to better themselves. Once again, we see this woman against women when she returns to the store to make fun of the salesman. No matter how triumphant and thrilling this moment is of seeing Vivian get revenge on the snobbish saleswoman, the narrative means that it is normal for women to oppose each other and break the bond of sisterhood that binds us. Throughout the film, he glamorizes prostitutes. and portrays Vivian as a courageous and intelligent woman who knows her worth. We see the film depicting other prostitutes in a negative way, for example, her best friend Kit. The narrative represents Kit as a bad person because she is the one who leads Vivian down this dark path. She ignores the effects of prostitution. She is portrayed as a less attractive, hardened and reckless slut, thus showing Vivian in a better light. Kit is presented as a tough woman who has no self-esteem. There are many symbols in the film that show Kit's reluctance to fully accept the status and life of a prostitute. Anderson confirms my point of view by mentioning Winne the Pooh. A symbol of Kit being a little girl at heart. "Blatant incompatibility found in the image of the "bad" prostitute Kit de Luca, not only satisfied with her career, but also indulges in drug use, sleeping with a bear cub, which indicates that her "little" character girl still struggles with her hardened streetwalker side Contrary images like this run through the entire film (Anderson, 2001: p69) Vivian and Kit have a brotherhood, they look out for each other. in the oft-referred to dialogue "Take care of yourself". These simple words characterize Kit as a caring person, otherwise depicted as a carefree woman who spends her rent money on drugs. , in reading A Modern Cinderella, Kelly disagrees with this act of kindness and still considers Kit a heartless person "Kit still doesn't seem like a very good friend. She's tricking Vivian into prostitution. , asks her to deny her feelings... Vivian is loving, but Kit is irresponsible and indifferent in her behavior. (Kelly, 1994: p92) I would agree that Kit is not the best friend because she is driving Vivian into prostitution as Kelly stated, but I disagree with the accusation that she doesn't care or with the idea of ​​brotherhood. As we see, Kit becomes concerned when Vivian is in trouble and supports Vivian in running away with Edward because shewill finally be able to leave her whore lifestyle behind her. In addition to this, we can see a real affection between the two characters when they separate. The film represents the brotherhood between the two characters. We see signs of care and love and that they both look out for each other. The narrative changes for Kit and she is portrayed in a better light at the end of the film. Vivian's approach to Kit is always to support his self-esteem and inspire him to pursue his dreams, this same respect rubs off on the viewer. Kit ultimately earns this respect from the viewer when she makes a positive decision at the end of the film and decides to trade her life on the streets for beauty school. Although both films attempt to show the power of women, it is always overshadowed by that of men. In both films, men occupy superior positions to women, argues Karol Kelly in A Modern Cinderella: "In Pretty Woman, the male gender occupies a higher rank in wealth, occupation, and status than the female gender feminine” (Kelly, 1994: p89). Kelly and can also see the patriarchal dominations within the film. The plot depicts Vivian as a vulnerable and weak individual unlike her macho male counterparts. In the story, this is very often where we see men coming to his aid. We see this time and time again; for example, we see this in the scene where Vivian is having trouble buying fancy clothes, as I mentioned earlier. Barney, the hotel manager, comes to Vivian's rescue by turning her into a princess, he helps her buy a suitable dress and teaches her table etiquette for an exclusive dinner. Many would say that he symbolizes the characteristics of his fairy godmother like in the movie Cinderella, as seen in many traditional melodramas. The women have the help of a male character. "She must be saved by Barney Thompson, the hotel manager, or by Edward and his credit card. Additionally, Edward saves Vivian from being raped by Phil, her lawyer. She is also helped by Mr. Morse, the elevator and the hotel driver (Kelly, 1994: p90) Kelly presented many situations in which Vivian needed to be saved and how she too feels that Vivian is a victim Throughout the story, she. is depicted as a helpless damsel in distress and this is clearly seen in the narrative of the scenes listed above Another aspect of how women are depicted as weaker than men is in their position in the narrative; the film does not occupy a position of authority. “Edward is a businessman who works with male executives, lawyers, bankers and senators. Of course, his telephone operator Vivian offers female services. for men… The hotel and store managers are men; the sellers are women. (Kelly, 1994: p89) This embodies what women are expected to do for men who are superior and more valued. Even to this day, women normally have lower paying jobs than the dominant man (Iftkhar, 2011). Looking at the portrayal of women in Erin Brockovich, there are many points in the film that are stereotypical, showing the woman as oppressed and dominated in the film. In a patriarchal society, the lawyer, the doctor and the judge are all played by men in this film. Women are the oppressed, but it is the strength, courage and determination of one woman to help another weak and vulnerable woman in Donna Jenson (a plaintiff). From the beginning, the story frames men better than women; higher and more powerful positions. This is represented by the accident?