Final draft of textual analysis

Compare and contrast the representation of gender in P.S. I love you and One Day.

Within this essay, I will be talking about the representation of gender within P.S. I Love You and One Day. It is questioned whether representing gender in these ways is sexist or not, some people feel that it is unfair to represent gender in these ways as it can be very untrue and biased. Whereas other people argue that people enjoy seeing things in this way and can relate to aspects. It is strongly argued that the way gender is represented within films affects the real life, with males being representing in this way, 

this has changed a lot in real life and males are very different now to how they used to be.

I will mostly be using the sound within these two films to back up what I am going to say. The representation within these two films is a contrast to one another, in P.S. I Love You Holly is shown having a change in behaviour throughout the film and in One Day, Emma is shown being a powerful and independent woman throughout. One Day challenges the stereotypes of females as they are usually shown as the weak, useless sex but as the film is not Hollywood it challenges this. Whereas P.S. I Love You conforms to the stereotypes of a woman going on a journey to find herself.

At the beginning of P.S. I Love You, we see the idea of women being represented as a predictable stereotype of a woman with having an argument with her partner without explaining the reason and also having a lot of shoes. Scene one introduces the characters, Holly and Gerry, they are arguing but Gerry doesn’t know what he has done to make her annoyed with him. She is shown as being argumentative through the sound, because even though they are walking down the street there is little background noise. This has been done to increase the tension of their argument and the only sounds we hear is Gerry’s dialogue. This also directs the audience to listen to what Gerry has to say and the audience realise that Gerry’s dialogue is important. Holly is being shown as a powerful character during this scene, she is shown having power of the situation and over Gerry, during their argument Gerry leaves their apartment and then asks to return a few minutes later. Because of the long take once Gerry has left, we see that Holly didn’t really want him to leave and that she is feeling sad without him. This has been done because the target audience for P.S. I Love You is females and they want to be portrayed as quite powerful at the beginning of a film to draw them in.

A comparison with this is in One Day in the second scene when again we have an introduction to the characters. However, in this scene Emma and Dexter have just properly met after their graduation, they then go back to her apartment. Differently from P.S. I love you, Emma is portrayed as quite a timid character who doesn’t want to get anything wrong. She wants to have a good time with Dexter and even when she leaves the room is get ready, she puts some music on to create an atmosphere. The music represents Emma as it is different and Dexter seems a little taken back at first. This has been done because without Emma and Dexter together, there is little other sound so this music sets the mood whilst she is gone. When Emma is lying in bed with Dexter, we now have soft music playing which creates a mood of intense and friendship, this lets the audience understand that Emma and Dexter are going to have a good and strong friendship. During this scene, Emma talks to herself mentioning that she has never been that good at this sort of thing which shows us that she wants a relationship which is a very feminine aspect and Dexter is seen as not caring for her much at the beginning but we see that once he can’t have her, he wants her which is seen as very masculine.

Once Gerry has passed away in P.S. I love you, we start to see how Holly is now being represented as a weak female without the guidance of a male around, she is being seen as very dependent on Gerry. This is scene five and we see that she is really missing him here and is depressed without her soul mate Gerry, she is staying in on her own and is rejecting any help from her friends and family. The sound is really important in showing Holly’s downfall in this scene as there is a lot more sound than in the previous scenes. There is music which is creating an atmosphere to how Holly is feeling without Gerry, this represents women as weak as it is showing Holly’s struggle without him around. We hear the telephone voicemails as a voice over, which lets the audience know that people are trying to help Holly through this difficult time but that she is rejecting this help. This represents women as trying to be independent but actually appearing quite fragile. We also hear the TV in the background, this is to create an atmosphere of a busy environment and Holly not being able to focus on one thing. We also hear memories of Holly and Gerry’s conversation, which gives the audience the impression that Holly cannot let go of her memories of Gerry and is mourning over him. She still sees him around and talks to him about her problems. Gerry plays the guitar softly at one point, which relaxes and comforts Holly as she feels like he is around with her. All of this sound portrays females as weak and incompetent without males. It also represents the male character as romantic, which is a characteristic that is not usually associated with males.

This scene can be linked to scene eight in One Day, in this scene we again have a lot more sound and background noise than before. Emma has gone out with another male in this scene and Dexter keeps ringing her and is shown as really needing and relying on her although she cannot help him. Females are being represented as independent and not needing males around to survive. This is opposite to P.S. I love you, as now Dexter needs Emma and is being shown as incompetent without her. This shows a role reversal as Emma is the character in power here and males are being represented as the weaker sex. This was done because it shows the audience that she is as strong and powerful as a male which challenges the stereotypes of a female.

In scene twenty-seven in P.S. I love you, the audience again see the change in Holly’s behaviour as she is now being shown as an independent female again as she is doing things on her own. She is shown moving on with her life and going back to Ireland to take her Mother there for one final visit. The audience hear a voice-over of Holly’s final message to Gerry throughout the clips. Females are being represented more positively and having more power and independence at this stage.

This can be linked to scene 19 in One Day, as this is too a closing scene to the film. At this stage in the film, Emma has passed away. Dexter is talking to his daughter at the same place that he and Emma visited a few years back, he misses Emma a lot but is trying to stay strong and powerful although the audience can see that this is not easy for him. His daughter is being shown as a young female who has strong views so this too makes women still seem powerful at the end of the film. There is similarities seen between Emma and his daughter which shows that Dexter feels stronger and happier once his daughter is around him which shows his reliance on a female being around.

Both of the two films are targeted at women as they have the typical story lines that statistics show that women enjoy, this could affect the way that gender is being represented. It could make women seem powerful and men seen as powerless and crying as this is what they may think that women want to see. It shows the journey of a woman as this is what attracts women as they can relate to the journey that they have experienced in their lives too.

The two films show things slightly differently because of the fact that P.S. I Love You is a big-budget Hollywood film and One Day is the opposite. Hollywood films have certain messages that are always put across such as that women are weak, women need men’s love and a family and men are pathetic. P.S. I Love You, does put these messages across which affects the representation of gender within the film. As One Day is not a Hollywood film, these messages are not portrayed and the women are shown being the more powerful ones and the male character is shown as weak and pathetic and the woman is shown being in charge. In this film, the male character is shown as being incompetent when the female dies and he only seems stronger once he has his daughter back who reminds him of the female.

These two films condone women in a variety of ways, from powerful to weak. One Day represents women as powerful throughout the whole film as Emma is always shown having power even when she is timid. P.S. I love you shows a journey within a woman, she changes from weak and depressed to powerful and moving on with her life, this emphasises the idea of women travelling in their journey that they have to make.     

Script 3

I cannot seem to print screen so have published my script, heres the link

http://www.scriptbuddy.com/published/?p=4291535515

You will need a password to see it, and the password is asfilm

Second Attempt of script

Location report

My location should be in a restaurant, I took these photos in a harvester.

Script run-through

Relationship between characters:
Mine shows relationship quite well but I need a lot more dialogue between them to emphasise.

Moves the plot along:
Half way- I need a lot more detail with characters dialogue - esp to say why she doesn't want him.

Matches macro:
Yes because she shown being independent and strong and he is being reliant on her and is soppy.

Script believeable?
Yes - I think they would talk like this - feminine males

Improvement:
Need more dialogue and detail

Pitch for Script

Mock exam

“How do the films you have studied (V for Vendetta and Children of Men) relate to the concept of genre and narrative?”

Children of Men relates to the concept of narrative as it follows most of the rules to be a Classic Hollywood Narrative, whereas V for Vendetta conforms to a few of the Classic Hollywood Narrative rules but it doesn’t conform to them all, meaning that it is also partly a post modernism narrative.

Children of Men has a three act structure, going from the equilibrium to the disruption and ending with a resolution. The equilibrium is when Theo is conforming to the way of life around him and is settling in with the lifestyle of England. This is shown by Theo going into the coffee shop, getting a drink whilst everybody else in there is frozen, crying and is watching the news about the youngest child (aged 18) dying. Theo walks out of the coffee shop when a bomb goes off, jumps a little but carries on with his life. Some people may say that Theo is metaphorically dead at this stage as he doesn’t even feel anything around him. The disruption to the film is when Theo’s wife is killed and Kee reveals to Theo that she is pregnant, Theo feels the pressure upon him that he has to help Kee and the baby get to safety. The resolution to the end of the film is when Theo takes his life to let this baby and new life be born; we see the last shot being the boat at the end. V for Vendetta partly conforms to a three-act structure as we see an equilibrium at the beginning of the film where similarly to Children of Men, Evey and the public have conformed to the way of life of England where there is a totalitarian government. The disruption of the film is when V takes Evey and tortures her to take away her fear, Evey then joins V and agrees to help him. At the end of the film, Evey sends off the train to blow up the government but we only see a sense of resolution within this as we don’t know what actually happens and there is no real closure to the film as it is left on a cliffhanger.

Children of Men shows cause and effect as the death of the youngest boy, the death of Theo’s wife and Theo finding out about the pregnancy are what makes he agree to help them out, if these factors were not revealed then Theo may not have chose to agree to help out. V for Vendetta also shows cause and effect in a way as by V torturing Evey and taking away her fear, she understands how she can help and similarly to children of men, agrees to help V. Children of Men follows opposition and conflict, we see this by Theo’s wife being killed. The audience also sees opposition and conflict within V for Vendetta between the government and their people.

Both of the films that I have studied are character driven, in Children of Men this character is Theo and in V for Vendetta, this character is both Evey and V. Theo drives the narrative forward in Children of Men as he takes on the role of the ‘protector’ when his wife dies and the narrative focus’ on how he is handling the situation and is driving it forwards. In V for Vendetta, V creates events to be able to drive the story forward and creates the narrative. Evey is the character we follow throughout the narrative from the beginning when we see her getting ready in her bedroom.

V for Vendetta and Children of Men are hybrid genres as they both mix two genres together, these are both thriller and sci-fi. Although some people feel that both of these films have many other aspects of genres in them, Children of men showing adventure, drama, sci-fi and thriller and V for Vendetta showing action, fantasy, sci-fi and thriller.

V for Vendetta follows thriller conventions as when we see outside shots, it is usually night time and the shots are very dark, the audience are never too sure what is to happen within the film as there is a lot of suspense and tension. Evey has a lot of fear at the beginning of the film, however, she befriends V and goes out at night so this shows the audience that she is also a risk-taker. V for Vendetta also follows the death convention from thriller films, as V takes his life near the end of the film and many other characters die within the film. Children of Men also follows thriller conventions as in this, we too have dark shots for the outside footage and also indoors at many points too. There is some suspense and tension within the film as the audience does not know what is to happen all throughout the film and are always waiting for something to happen. Although, some people feel that the suspense and tension is vague within the film as they feel that it can be quite predictable as they know that there would be a resolution to the end of the film and that Kee and the baby would get saved, this is because the film follows the aspects of a classic Hollywood narrative. However, there is still fear, adrenaline, danger and excitement within Children of Men so the audience still sees that this film is a thriller.

Both films also follow to the conventions of sci-fi films but not to all of the conventions. They are both set in the future and both have science and technology taking over, this can be seen more in Children of Men with the advertising all around England but we still do see this within V for Vendetta with the voice of London coming across everybodys Tvs and the Tvs always being on in the background of a shot, this is seen when Evey is getting ready at the beginning of the film.

Children of Men conforms to all of the points of Classic Hollywood Narrative, this has been done because there is a deep story line so that it needs to be kept simple to understand the narrative. V for Vendetta conforms to most of the classic Hollywood narrative aspects because this gets a big audience from the classic Hollywood narrative but changes it slightly to make it interesting and not follow all of the points. Both of these films can be seen as slightly confusing the first time that they are seen, although are both still successful. V for Vendetta has a easy enough story line to understand although the flash backs can be seen as a bit confusing to some people the first time that they see the film. Children of Men is still understood clearly as many of the audience are familiar with this structure so know what is to happen, although some people feel that because of this predictable storyline it is not as successful as V for Vendetta as they know what is to happen and can tell the end of the story before the film has finished.

Both V for Vendetta and Children of Men follow thriller conventions more than sci-fi conventions but the directors still chose to make the films sci-fi to make them seem realistic and near the future to scare the audience into realizing that their surroundings are similar to what is happening on these films.