Sex,_Violence_and_Hollywood

Tiffany Perez August 6, 2012 Sex, Violence & Hollywood Summer 2012 In a society driven by labels and stereotypes it has become increasingly difficult to pinpoint the difference between who and what is good and bad. For example, who is to determine the definition of what a good or bad girl is' Are there no exceptions to these defined roles' Or can they be challenged to prove that character assassination is taking place' This can be seen primarily in Hollywood films with females in lead roles such as, Pretty Woman, directed by Marshall in 1990 and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, directed by Oplev in 2009. At first glance it would seem as if both films would be rather similar in the portrayal of their lead female characters in that both roles involve troubled women, a prostitute and a gothic computer hacker. By solely describing the roles these characters play it would be safe to say the initial reaction or judgment of these lead female roles would be negative. Not by any means the type of role models you would want for future generations. Yet, it is very clear after watching both films that it is fairly easy to reverse, bend or contort these stereotypical roles of what “good” and “bad” girls should be. Due to issues concerning sexuality, gender and violence depicted by characters in Hollywood films, viewers create what is known as emotional investments that determine their fascination or repulsion to such characters. It is all too easy to fall in love with any character played by the beautiful Julia Roberts. Not only is she pleasing to the eye but she is also witty, playful and what anyone would refer to as America’s sweetheart. Perhaps this is one of the leading factors in the actuality that her role as a prostitute is almost entirely overlooked as she is still seen as a “good girl”. In any other circumstance any woman who sold her body for a living would be looked at in a negative light. For some reason though, Julia Roberts is depicted as a good girl who is simply “down on her luck”. It is very clear in the beginning of the film Pretty Woman that Julia Roberts’s character Vivian is working on the streets as a prostitute, a role that in general is frowned upon, but still as viewers we become emotionally invested with her character because we give her the benefit of doubt that she is simply down on her luck. Her beauty and charm make it hard for the audience to believe she should be associated or labeled the same as other prostitutes. We tend to make excuses for her like: she really can’t be this awful person like most other hookers. Vivian, in the eyes of the viewers, deserves more than any average prostitute, she deserves to be saved by a knight in shining armor. There are, in Vivian’s case, no signs of a troubled past or hardships that she has encountered to come to this point in her life. There is almost zero negativity aimed at or rendered by her character. It seems that every event that takes place in this film aims to aide Vivian in any possible way, whether is rewarding her with shopping trips on Rodeo Drive, being waited on hand and foot or when the hotel manager offers to teach her proper dinner etiquette only after he seems to dismiss the fact that she is an escort staying in his building. Everything and anyone Vivian encounters appears to discharge anything negative about her and give her every benefit of the doubt possible. While Vivian catches a break left and right for the wrongs of her life Lisbeth Salander’s character in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo doesn’t ever seem to get so lucky. Immediately from the introduction of her character she is referred to as “odd” because she is dressed in all black with a gothic look. Lisbeth’s guardian, and soon after rapist, questions if she is infected because of her multiple facial piercings. Clearly, Lisbeth’s character was never intended to be seen in a sweet, innocent manner. Throughout the film you learn that she was abused as a child, forced to perform sexual acts on her guardian and raped by him during their second meeting. Although all of these acts were completely out of her control, the fact that she engaged in any other type of willing sexual activity determined the lack of emotional investment from the audience and she became viewed as loose, repulsive and promiscuous. Even while she is scrutinized as this filthy, used being she never sheds a tear, she plays the part of a strong female incredibly well. “Salander does not go to a crisis centre after the rape: "crisis centres existed in her eyes for victims and she had never regarded herself as a victim". Instead she takes violent revenge on her rapist in the first book and turns into a kind of international super-hero-crime-fighter-cum-maths genius in the second, beating up bikers twice her size. She is, of course, totally unrealistic, as Joan Smith acknowledges, describing her as ‘not so much a character as a revenge fantasy come to life, powering her way through the novel like the heroine of a computer game’.” (Melanie Newman, Feminist or misogynist' 2009, PG 4) Salander time and time again in the film overcomes unbelievably traumatic situations as if she had no feelings or emotions what so ever. She walks away from being raped, bloody and bruised, only to go home a smoke a cigarette. She visits her ill mother only to tell her it was her mother who was the victim of abuse, not her. By no means was Lisbeth’s life easy, it’s hard to believe she even wanted it to be with the way she brushed off disturbing and painful events throughout her life. Yet, Lisbeth is still seen as the unclean, undeserving, unworthy character in comparison to Vivian’s character. There seemed to be little adversity in Vivian’s life as everyone always offered a helping hand. She is even inadvertently insulted by Edward’s attorney Phillip when he asks to hire her after she is done with Edward as if she isn’t in fact a prostitute that engages in such activity. When Vivian initially engages in sexual activity with Edward it is depicted as the two were “making love” and of course when Lisbeth did the same with Blomkvist it was seen as cheap, easy sex. As described in the PowerPoint presentation related to the film Pretty Woman, metacriticism allows us to be drawn into the movie’s world while simultaneously masking and misrepresenting our identities, traditions and experiences within the film. In the real world any prostitute on the street would be shamed and any victim of sexual or physical violence would be aided and offered help. These two films are a representation of the exact opposite. Unfortunately our society deems a life of double standards when it comes to sex. Women, such as Lisbeth, who engage in sexual activity after having been victimized are seen as filthy, dirty and referred to as whores. In reality both Vivian and Lisbeth are engaging in unconventional sexual acts with people they do not know very well. “Women who refuse to fit into this double standard and demand sexual freedom and autonomy outside of patriarchal control (including women who use birth control or have abortions) can be are maligned as “sluts,” (as Rush Limbaugh did to Sandra Fluke) and then open to being scapegoated or punished. Men can rape and abuse “sluts” with relative impunity” (Pretty Woman, PP, Slide 40). For Vivian this means that if she were to become sexually active with anyone other than Edward, who in the film has “control” over her, that would be reason to label her as a slut, then she would not have our emotional investment in her “good” girl act. But for Lisbeth this means that she is open to being punished by men, sexually, physically, however and as an audience we would feel no remorse as this is what she has “set herself up” for or in other words what she deserves. Everyone in real life has a past. Whether it is filled with trauma or great memories will always vary from person to person. It’s a sick idea to think that because of the way society views the life choices you make you then become predestined to endure pain and suffering or pleasure and triumph in the eyes of people who in reality know nothing about your true character. While the reality of it isn’t exactly pleasant it still remains as reality, we tend to judge before we truly know, forget and become repulsed by those who we see as unfit or “have nots”, while we praise and grow to be fascinated by those who are aesthetically pleasing to the eye and seem to have it all. We encounter the classic story of the “Damsel in Distress” countless times in the Hollywood world of films but what still remains is gray area and question of who counts as a damsel worth saving'