Women in Film

Women in Film

In her book , Bodies : Gender , Genre and Excess , Linda Williams (1991 discussed the concept of excesses in three genres of film . According to her , these three genres of film fall into the categories of film she regards as 'too gross , in the sense that these movies are quite sensational and tend to give the body an 'actual physical jolt . The three genres of films she isolated for discussion are pornography horror and melodramas . She posits that these genres of film are deemed excessive for seemingly different , but similar reasons

p Pornography deemed excessive for its display of violence and sex horror films are considered excessive in their displacement of sex onto violence while melodramas are deemed excessive for their gender and sex-linked pathos and the naked display of emotions . Obviously , these genres fall into the culturally considered 'too gross ' for the overdose of sex , violence and emotion exhibited or displayed that there can be no logic or reason for the existence of such excesses except for their power to excite the human body

However , the author chooses to discuss these three genres , because , she argues , that there may be "some value in thinking about the form function and system of these seemingly gratuitous excesses . For if as it seems , sex , violence and emotions are fundamental elements of the sensational effects of these three genres of films , then the designation 'gratuitous ' is itself gratuitous (Williams , 1991

.112 . She argues that by comparatively analyzing these genres of films , it might be possible to see beyond the sensations and to explore the structure system and perhaps the effect of these genres on the bodies of such films ' audiences

Building her argument for the exploration of the structure , function and bodily effects of these types of films , the author pointed out the primary features of bodily excess shared by the three genres of film This included the spectacle of a body caught in the grip of intense emotions or sensation , such as the pornography 's portrayal of orgasm horror 's portrayal of violence and terror , and melodrama 's exhibition of intense emotions such as crying . The exhibition of these three forms of bodily excess , she argues , if explored , could give birth to a new direction in genre criticism . She also argues that the visual narratives and pleasures found in these portrayals of bodily excesses could raise questions about gender construction , and gender address in relation to basic sexual fantasies

These genres of films raise questions about gender construction and gender address because , though pornography is aimed at the active men melodramas aimed at passive women , and horror aimed at adolescents that traverse the gap between the two 'masculine and feminine poles in all of the genres , the primary figure is the woman 's body . She started that the bodies of women figured on the screen in these movie types functions as the "embodiments of pleasure , fear and pain (p .114 . The main thrust of this argument , as she clearly sets out...