In this blog i will be talking about representation and how stereotypes play a part in.
Rural setting of the main characters home - The main character is a farmer who lives in a farmer house surrounded by corn. the character is usually quite dirty, has a heavy southern accent. The house is made almost entirely of wood and is dirty, dusty and full of creaks. there is a dirt road that leads to the house. all of these things are very stereotypical of a farmers house and shows immediately what the main character might be like just from where he lives.
The female Gender - Anne Hathaway's character is viewed by the audience as a heroine and is a character that is essential for the completion of the journey through her intelligence and views. Coopers daughter Murph is also a very important character not for her appearance (which is also applicable for Anne Hathaway's character) but for her intelligence. Both the female characters in this film break the convention of women always being the princess role and the love interest.
A feminist female writer called Laura Mulvey had a theory called the Male Gaze. The Male Gaze is when, in film, the audience will always be looking at the female character from the perspective of a man. They will see the female characters as the love interest and their worth will be from the way they look. An example would be in the Expendables 1, there is only one female character and they would be seen by most people as attractive. She spends the majority of the film being saved by the men of the film thus she will be seen as weaker than the men and only valued for her looks.
There is also a test called The Bechdel Test that consists of these rules:
- Does the film Have 2+ female characters?
- Do those two female characters talk to each other at any point.
- Do they discuss anything other than men?
This film, even though the female characters counter the old stereotype of women in films, still doesn't pass the Bechtel test. The two female characters never speak to one another face to face.
Overall interstellar passes the Male Gaze test is passed due to the women having worth due to their intelligence not their looks but it fails the Bechtel test due to the two female characters never speaking to each other. i think that interstellar does a good job at showing that women should be respected not only for their looks but there is a long way to go until there is gender equality on screen.