ความสัมพันธ์เชิงอำนาจระหว่างเพศที่ไม่เท่าเทียมในภาพยนตร์ฮอลลีวู้ด (Imbalanced Power Relations between Genders in Hollywood films)

Abstract

This article demonstrates that a certain amount of popular female lead films
are created under patriarchal values. Several academic sources, which criticize about
gender inequality in Hollywood films, are reviewed to support this point. The notion
of power relations can be examined through the film’s structure, dialogues and visual images. Since a film is created basically on visual representations and has a
wide circulation, it has a powerful impact on society. In order to promote media
literacy among film watchers, it is necessary to analyze a film as a discourse. This
article is divided into five parts. The first one focuses on how a film is regarded
as a reproduction of imbalanced sexual power relation. For the second part, as a
means to raise audiences’ awareness, it is essential to consider a film as a medium
and analyze it as a discourse. Regarding the third part, the concept of signs or
semiotics is introduced as a tool to analyze the film’s verbal and pictorial systems.
The fourth part highlights the significance of the notion of “male gaze” from Laura
Mulvey’s classic feminist film theory. The final part presents academic studies which
criticize Hollywood’s female lead films as pseudo-feminist films. It is notable that
many Hollywood film productions have been created under patriarchal dominance.
Although the principal females in the films are likely to fulfill their power, they
are portrayed as subordinate to men at a deeper interpretative level. Thus, it is
important for film watchers to be aware that the film is a kind of social fabrication
based on the filmmakers’ beliefs, attitudes and values.