Queer Theory in Mean Girls

Queer theory in Mean girls
Throughout this post I will discussing Queer's theory in the first 20 minutes of Mean Girls and what issues can arise from the use stereotyping.

Throughout the opening of Mean Girls there are a few homosexual stereotypes that are obvious for the audience, they are the gay best friend,butch and queen. These are present in the characters of Damien and Janice. These are noticeable by the tone of voice that the characters use, the clothing that is worn and the body language that they use. For the character of Damien the first time the audiene are introduced to him he asks about the colour of Cady's hair, this is unusual for a male character to comment on and this would make Damien look like a homosexual stereotype, and this stereotype is proven more in the film as the audience get to know the character even more. The other homosexual stereotype that is also present in this film is the butch lesbian , the character of Janice is this stereotype. Janice fits this stereotype as of the clothes she wears and how she acts around other people, the clothes she wears covers herself up compared to the other female characters clothing, the way she speaks to other characters is not what some people would consider ladylike and is the complete opposite of the way the other female characters talk to others.

The way these homosexual stereotypes are shown are through their clothing, their looks and their body language, as mentioned before Janice wears unfeminine clothes, with Damien he owns a prink top when Cady needs to wear a pink top she asks Janice for a pink top she doesn't have one but Damien does this is showing the stereotypes that they fit into and shows the difference between the stereotypes. Also Damien has a feminine tone of voice that fits in with his homosexual stereotype of being camp, whereas Janice has a deep voice that fits in with her being a butch lesbian stereotype. The body language is also helps to clarify what behaviour makes people which stereotype, for example Damien continually flicks his wrist which most people associate with homosexual men. Damien can be classified as the gay best friend as he is best friends with Janice and the queen as he is flamboyant in his actions. By having these two stereotypes as friends audiences can see the difference between the two.

There could be some issues with the representation of these stereotypes in films, as for some people it could be unrealistic as they are not like that. For example, some homosexual men are not overly camp and some lesbians are not butch. Some people could take offence how they are represented in films, but others could agree with the representation as they are like the stereotypes.

Feminism Film Theory in Alien.

Feminism Film theory in the ending scene of Alien.
When the ending scene begins the main character of Ellen Ripley, believing that she is safe from the alien, is readying herself to go home. The first shot is of her undressing and getting into different clothes for hyper sleep, As she takes her jacket off she is in the centre of the frame and is the main focus of the scene, this could be seen as the male gaze as she is the image that is being presented and we as the audience are positioned as if we are watching her undress. This continues as when she begins to take more clothes off the camera follows her, she takes her trousers off and the camera goes down as she bends down. There is a long time spent on Ripley when she undresses , the camera stays on her as she is the only character left and that she is undressing. The camera also never moves away from her she is the primary focus, but as this is the ending scene the fact that it is lingering on her for so long rather than cutting to the credits are hinting at the idea that something else is going to happen, as her escape from the Nostromo, spaceship, was to easy. When the alien appears the male gaze disappears as the tranquillity of the scene changes as she is in danger once again. When the alien appears it is meant to make people jump as the scene was set up perfectly so that the attention of the audience is focssed on Ripley that when the alien appears it is a shock as its unexpected as it is meant to be dead. 

Throughout the film and this scene Ripley is not seen in a typical stereoype way as she is not the damzel in distress as is usual for a woman to be, as she is the one character who has survived, in this scene she manages to kill the creature by getting it out of the ship, this is primarily a male stereotype's job, but this film is averting the usual stereotypes for women ny making her the hero of the film rather than something pretty to look at and eventaully watch die.

Scream Opening Sequence

Scream Opening Sequence

To begin with the screen starts off blank with music playing in the background, until the title comes onto the screen with a bang and a phone ringing, which could be a signifier that a phone call will be significant in this film, as well as a woman screaming when the title turns blood red connoting that someone is dying, as well as the sound of slashing knives, and what the film will be about. Once there is something visible on screen the screaming cuts out and there are no hints that something bad is happening when the character comes on screen to answer the phone. The character is revealed and she is a stereotypical horror character, as she is a wearing tight clothes and is acting dumb as is stereotypical for female characters to be. The conversation is pleasant even with the hint that a phone call is dangerous, the man on the end of the phone is not menacing to begin with. However the scream and the phone call audio at the beginning could arguably be signifying what is going to happen to the character. When the camera shows the house it is cut off from anywhere who could help if the character needed it, when that happens there is a tree with a swing that is swinging which is indexical as it is representing that someone has been there and that the woman is not completly alone.
When the man continually calls back they begin to converse about their favourite horror movies that involve knives to kill people, this is quite ironic that they are as that is how she will eventually die. The atmosphere and music alters when the man on the phone says 'I want to know who I'm looking at' as this is the point where everything changes, as something is not quite right. When the man on the phone begins to become angry that she keeps hanging the phone up on him, his tone of voice changes and his heavy breathing gives off an atmosphere that she is not safe as is usual for a horror film. The continual phone calls become iconic as that is the way that this killer taunts his victims throughout the rest of the film. When the girl attempts to lock herself in the house she looks out of a window and the window frame symbolically looks like prison bars and suggest that she is locked in the house and will not get out. Towards the end of the opening scene the more distressed the woman gets the more tense the music becomes and the popcorn that she is making is getting bigger and bigger symbolising her building fear.