The “damsel in distress” and the “knight in shining armor” are both examples of gender roles that are perpetuated by the media. There is no masculine counterpart for the word damsel, which suggests that men are strong, capable, and are in no need of saving. Women are rarely ever thought of as the knight in shining armor, where the armor symbolizes strength, and the knight is a symbol of heroism or bravery. I don’t think that these labels should be restricted to either gender because both men and women are capable of being brave or in distress. Rosa Parks was an African American woman most known for her refusal to move to the back of the bus, and she demonstrated that women can be equally as brave as men can.
-Spider-Man (In every part of the trilogy, Mary Jane has always played the damsel in distress role)
-Superman (
-The Hulk (He has tremendous strength while his love interest is vulnerable in comparison)
-Fantastic Four (the character that Jessica Alba plays still falls under the ‘damsel in distress’ role even though she has her own superpowers)
-Thor (Natalie Portman appears to be his love interest who will undoubtedly need saving)
-Iron Man (In Iron Man 2 he does have to protect and rescue his love interest at a certain point in the film)
-Prince of
1) Why do you think that men are commonly portrayed as the heroes rather than women?
2) Are these stereotypical roles an accurate representation of reality, in the sense that perhaps men prefer to feel in control and women desire that sense of security?
3) Would you rather watch a movie that has a male or a woman portrayed as the hero, and why?
I think that the majority of the people who watch superhero movies, or read comic books are male, so the author/director chooses to make the protagonist a man, so that he is more relatable to the viewers. What makes a superhero great is that he makes you want to be like him, have his powers, live his life, etc. If the hero was female, many of the male viewers would be unable to relate to her, and the hero would be less popular. I don't think that the creators are being sexist when they choose to make the hero a man. I do however think that it is insulting to women, that the female lead in superhero films appears weak and very dependent on the superhero to save her.
ReplyDeleteI think women desire a sense of security, as does everyone, but not all women's idea of a sense of security is a man who is always present to save them. Many women takes courses, or carry accessories which help them combat against any threats. I completely agree with the stereotype that men prefer to feel in control, because in reality, the majority of men would like to defend themselves, rather then have another defend them.
I never liked Superman, because I never had the desire to be like him, he just didn't so great to me. So, I think if I watched a film with a female hero, I would get the same reaction. That is why I would rather watch a movie where a male is portrayed as the hero.
First of all, i agree with what Amipreet said regarding directors of movies. Most of them are undoubtedly males and it seems logical that they would choose to portray males as opposed to females as the heroes. Also, it has to do with the history of film-making in the sense that this trend of portraying males as the heroes has been around for such a long time that no director, unless she/he is bold, would choose to produce a movie depicting a female as the hero. There would be a big risk of the movie not becoming popular among the general public and since there's usually a lot of money at stakes, i don't think they'll change the usual depiction very often. Also, i think it has to do with physical strength, generally speaking, men are more muscular and it therefore seems logical to see them as the life savers.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to disagree as to how women need that sense of security. It depends on your personality but i think that everyone in general needs that feeling of security. I am tempted to say that men like to be in control due to their male egos but that as well is not realistic. I'm sure there are many women out there who are more in control of their households and families than their male counterpart.
Whether it is a male or a female being portrayed as the hero doesn't really matter to me as long as the movie has an interesting plot and some good acting. If i had to choose, I'll probably go for a movie with a female protagonist since it is still a bit uncommon and i think that would help into making a movie more appealing and unique than others.
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ReplyDeleteMen are portrayed as heroes because they are viewed as the stronger sex and are obliged to protect and save women from their troubles while women are in need of men's security.
ReplyDeleteThese stereotypical roles is seen as a norm in our society and is a common representative of reality but accurate.
I would rather watch a movie with a male super hereo because it's common, more heroic, and more bravery is shown in men rather than woman and that is my opinion.
I think that people have become accustomed to the protagonist of a story being male. For instance, Hercules and Achilles are two heroic characters in Greek mythology. In addition, films that have featured women in the lead role have performed poorly at the box office. Cat Woman and Electra are two fairly recent box office disasters. It seems that people have less interest in female superheroes. I would not mind watching a well constructed film with a female superhero. However, Hollywood has failed to satisfy the demand of myself and other film fans.
ReplyDelete1) Why do you think that men are commonly portrayed as the heroes rather than women?
ReplyDeleteI think men are commonly portrayed as the heroes rather than women because, comic books adapted into movies such as Spiderman or Superman were both written in times where the views of feminism were not as liberal and free as they are today. Also, men are commonly portrayed as heroes because since the beginning of time, man has been seen as the "superior." Superior meaning, their strength, intelligence and abilities are not visible in women because women are weak, sensitive and fragile. All of these adjectives, merely stereotypes portrayed by the media and ourselves since we have not learned to showcase our abilities in fear of being portrayed as "masculine" if you're a girl or "feminine" if you're a boy.
2) Are these stereotypical roles an accurate representation of reality, in the sense that perhaps men prefer to feel in control and women desire that sense of security?
Well, it all depends on the person. If a certain male individual feels that he is more comfortable following the lead of a female than taking control, he can do that.
3) Would you rather watch a movie that has a male or a woman portrayed as the hero, and why?
To be honest, if the storyline was enduring enough for me to watch it, it really would not matter to me what gender is playing the role. The gender of the lead actor in a movie is not something I necessarily base my choice on, but it is something that's valued sometimes. Like you stated, it's evident that males are usually the heroic figures in a movie/book/story. But, when a female is portrayed as a hero it usually catches my attention (Catwoman) because it's not something that's released to the public everyday.
1) Men are commonly portrayed as the heroes rather than women for many reasons. One probably because there seen to be the physically stronger ones while females are seen to be the ones in need. By adding a romance scene between the guy hero and the girl who needs to be saved, it makes it more “entertaining” because he’s the star hunk. (Usually to attract female viewers). Women are not usually portrayed as being the heroes because many people may find it to be awkward by picturing a girl saving a guy in a fire for example. I don’t see anything wrong with that at all, in fact it actually sounds really cool and I’m sure it’s seen somewhat in the media, but in most cases especially superhero movies, it’s the males that dominate. It’s seem that most people enjoy watching males as being the superhero because there cooler. Honestly what bothers me is that even when they show a female superhero she has and I mean HAS TO BE “super hot” with really tight clothes, and than right away no one really cares what she can do because she’s got curves! I guess that’s the problem. There is nothing wrong with showing a beautiful woman saving the day but if someone is to make a movie with a superhero movie, than please calm down with the sexuality, sheesh woman are so much more capable than that!
ReplyDelete2) Sadly they are somewhat of a close representation of reality. In many cases girls are would want nothing more than to be saved by someone. Although in many cases there are independent woman out there who like to be the hero and get there own stuff done. So I guess it depends, because every woman again is different and every man is different. Most men do like to be seen as the “tough hero guy”, but than again it’s extremely likely to meet males who are need of a hero. Maybe not in a physical point of view, but maybe mental. What if a woman saves a guy from depression? She could be his hero!
3) Honestly speaking, if the movie looks good I will watch it. I loved all the movies that you listed and I also enjoyed movies likes Cat woman, tomb raider, The Incredibles, and Scream. These movies all had females as the main character. Not all of them are necessarily heroes or had that kind of image, but they did save themselves along with others and defiantly were not the villains. I enjoy watching many movies so if it looks good or appealing I’ll watch it. And when I mean appealing I mean the story line, the acting, the action part of it, etc. Although it would be awesome to see a really good movie of a superhero woman, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for that one!
We grow up watching a lot of male superheroes but there are also female superheroes. I personally would rather watch a male hero because they have more exciting films and stories and there are much more male heroes than female.
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