The Graduate (Nichols, 1967) is an Oscar winning film about Benjamin Braddock, a recent college graduate trapped in an affair with a much older woman, Mrs. Robinson; the wife of his Fathers business partner and mother of Elaine, the daughter who Benjamin falls in love with. In this essay, I discuss Benjamin’s sense of confusion regarding his future; I will focus on two key sequences in particular to demonstrate this confusion cinematically, namely the conveyer belt sequence and the pool sequence. I will also explore how Benjamin changes over the course of the film, and how this change is connected to his relationship with Elaine.

As mentioned earlier, there are key sequences in The Graduate that dramatise the story of Benjamin Braddock. This is shown with one of the first scenes of the film, the conveyer belt sequence; there is a close up of Benjamin (or what appears to be a close up), which then zooms out to establish his environment (sitting on a plane), this is the audiences introduction to Benjamin. Furthermore a straight cut occurs and Benjamin walks onto a conveyer belt, with an off centered mid-shot of Benjamin just staring for a lengthy period whilst other commuters pass by. This signifies that Benjamin does not know what he is going to do with his life, seeing as he has gone through the education system of High School and College, with his only other educational option he has available left is applying to a post-graduate school, this shows he is not sure what to pursue and refers to Benjamin’s sense of confusion. The commuters passing by signify what Benjamin does not have, but what he wants. These commuters have a destination in their life; they have a purpose and know what to do next, whereas Benjamin is in an opposite situation. Using a long take, Nichols created an opposite meaning of what he wanted to express compared to the opinions of Bordwell and Thompson; “The long take can present, in a single chuck of time, a complex pattern of events moving toward a goal” (Bordwell, Thompson 2012: p216). As this sequence has little editing, the audience can only focus on Benjamin, allowing them to draw their own conclusions before he has even said a word.

Comparing The Graduate to another film that has a very similar sequence, Jackie Brown (Tarantino, 1997)has a similar yet an opposite meaning scene in terms of the conveyer belt sequence. Jackie Brown (the character) knows what she is doing/ going, something that Benjamin does not know. This can be expressed via her facial expressions which signifies she has determination to reach her destination; whereas The Graduate is different, as any still image shown in the sequence, Benjamin Braddock looks clueless and lost. Another film that can be associated with The Graduate is Fight Club (Fincher, 1999). As shown in Fight Club, the Freudian theory is exercised between Marla and Jack, this is sometime I believe is also exercised in The Graduate. It is arguable that in the case of Mrs. Robinson and Benjamin; Mrs. Robinson is seen as a mother figure in Benjamin life, something that he may have craved for in his life. He wishes to seek his parents’ approval, which could be the reason why he is intimate with Mrs. Robinson, something his Mother and possibly Father never gave him. This is referring back to the Fight Club characters of Marla and Jack (Tyler). Benjamin is quite rebellious because of this, which could refer back to his sense of confusion and dramatises the story for himself.

Furthermore, discussing Benjamin’s situation and the involvement his parents contributed to his sense of confusion, personally I believe Benjamin’s parents are part of the reason as to why he has this sense of confusion about his future; for example during the scene where Benjamin’s parents make him dress up in scuba gear and demonstrate it by diving to the bottom of the family pool as an act of entertainment for his parents and their family friends. They force him to do this despite the obvious objection from Benjamin, yet he doesn’t want to disappoint them. Benjamin is tired of being humiliated by his parents as a form of entertainment, which shows the gradual change in his attitude and this contributes to the change of future he wants, to do something in his life that has not been influenced by his parents. This is an example of why Benjamin has a sense of confusion of what to do with his life after college. 

When Benjamin is attempting to resurface from the family pool, an extreme close-up is shown of his father putting his hand over Benjamin’s scuba mask in order to keep him at bay. This image exemplifies how Benjamin is obligated to fulfill the expectations of his parents, whether he likes it or not. The black barrier of the diving mask symbolises how Benjamin is living a lifestyle controlled by his parents and also shows he is not allowed freedom until Elaine is introduced to the story, which changes everything for Benjamin. 

However on the contrary to what I am discussing, the introduction of Elaine changes the whole feel of the story and Benjamin’s sense of confusion towards his future. Elaine gives Benjamin a purpose to have a future; she gives him hope for a different life compared to the one he has led so far which aids Benjamin in being less confused. To a certain extent it makes Benjamin realise him he cannot live without her, as can be shown in later scenes; for example when he is stalking her around her post-graduate College and he rents a room to live nearby. Personally, the film felt slower at the start, when Elaine is introduced the scenes are shorter and in some sequences the editing is quicker and more ‘action’ occurs which makes the film more interesting, for example; Benjamin rushing around to find where Elaine is getting married.

An important shot to take note of during Benjamin’s and Elaine’s date is when Elaine asks if Benjamin is having an affair with anybody, the camera stays stationary throughout the duration of the shot with very little editing present; also Benjamin’s face is shaded and Elaine’s face lit up by an outside light, which allows the audience to see she is the prefect partner for Benjamin by having an angelic tone towards her. The camera having stayed stationary straight cuts to the mid-shot on the opposite side of the vehicle where the camera focuses on Benjamin whilst he is telling Elaine that the affair is over. Benjamin has finally realised he has been wasting his life away, now he is determined to change for the better which reinforces the point about how Elaine changes Benjamin’s sense of confusion. Refer to Thomson; “The daughter becomes Ben’s one true love, despite her being embodied in the famously pretty but empty Katharine Ross.” (Thomson 2008: p340).

In addition to how Elaine changes Benjamin’s sense of confusion, during the scene at the zoo Nichols uses another long take which again the camera frames a mid-shot (towards the end of the shot it changes into a long shot). This is the scene when Benjamin meets Elaine (future) husband Carl Smith which leads me to believe Nichols was using long takes in order tell the audience that these are key points in Benjamin’s life during the film.  I believe this scene symbolises a key point in The Graduate because Benjamin realises he could lose Elaine. 

It can also be argued that the very last shot at the end of The Graduate, a tracking mid-shot of Benjamin and Elaine is shown with the camera staying on them for a long take. By allowing this long take we can see the reaction of Benjamin and Elaine as to what has happened and we are left with not knowing what happens. With this being the last shot of The Graduate, Benjamin believes he has broken free from his parents but little does he know he is in the same complex situation of not knowing what to do next. To a degree I believe this quote from Thomson best puts Benjamin’s situation with Elaine; “Ben has no judge, no soul, nut he has a romantic horniness that falls for every women he meets.” (Thomson 2008: 340).

In conclusion, my aim for this essay was to argue Benjamin Braddock’s sense of confusion and discover how Mike Nichols has illustrated this through the use of framing, editing and other filmic styles shown in key areas of The Graduate, such as the conveyer belt sequence and Benjamin’s parents. The specific shots and framing of The Graduate convey Benjamin’s sense of confusion, with other types of shots to illustrate how Benjamin’s parents use him as a form of entertainment for their friends. My aim was also to argue how Elaine changes Benjamin’s sense of confusion for the better by giving him a purpose and a destination, or what is believed, this is shown from the change in filmic styles that presented during the introduction to Elaine and how she has an affect on his life.

“The Graduate seems to me a mess, a film that cries out for thorough reconstruction and critical debate.” (Thomson 2008: p340).

Bibliography:

• Bordwell, David, Thompson, Kristin, Film Art: An Introduction (Madison: University of Wisconsin, 2012)
• Thomson, David, Have You Seen? A Personal Introduction to 1,000 Films (London: Allen Lane, 2008)

Arguably one of the twentieth century’s greatest storytellers, Walt Disney founded the “The Walt Disney Company in the early 1920s, and its dedicated animation studio, the “Walt Disney Animation Studio”. They paved the way for hand drawn cel-animation with critically and commercially successful animated shorts and features. Their breakthrough character Mickey Mouse, in his debut short Steamboat Willie (1928), originally broke Disney onto the animation scene, but they found their voice during the 1930s with the Silly Symphonies series, and their debut feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Though it is arguably two of Walt Disney’s most-trusted animators, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston from his ‘Nine Old Men’ animator core group who have established this notion of success with the transformation of their animation from a ‘novelty, into a prestigious art form’ [Lasseter, 1987, p.35], with the use of the ’12 Principles of Animation,’ defined in their book, “The Illusion of Life” [Thomas and Johnston, 1981].

In examining these principles, I will be concentrating on “squash and stretch,” “follow through and overlapping action” and “exaggeration”, within two animation explored on this module; Disney’s Three Little Pigs (1933) and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Also, I will also be considering how Disney’s predominant style may have influenced how the animator could exploit these principles.

Following from the success of animated dance routines and comedy gags that were a dominated feature in early Micky Mouse (1928) shorts, the Walt Disney Studio began the production of the Silly Symphony series in the earlier 1930s. These short animations were an array of ‘original and progressive’ shorts which ‘caused a revolution in the animated cartoon industry’ [Merritt, 2005, p.4]. Based on nursery rhythms and fairytales, Walt Disney shuffled the Silly Symphony series into a new direction, concentrating on using it as a platform for experimenting with different colouring and animation techniques, characters and stories, and in doing so ‘laid the foundation for the narrative formulas’ that would make him the ‘country’s most influential fairytale entertainer’ [Merritt, 2005, p.4].



With each animation, audiences became excited by this new form, we were found wanting more, as Lasseter states, ‘It was apparent to Disney that no one could successfully animate a humid figure or life-like animal’ [Lasseter, 1987, p.35]; an improvement, and new approach was needed. What came to fruition was the use of the three-strip Technicolour, allowing Disney to use a full range of colours, rather than the red-green colouring previously, and the multiplane camera, creating a three-dimensional effect. This allowed the character actions to become more fluid and convincing, with each emerging personalities becoming distinct. The use of humour also aided, this was exemplified in their 1933 Silly Symphony, Three Little Pigs (1933).

Three Little Pigs, an animated adaptation of the classic children’s story had success for its ‘identifiable personalities that brought animation to new heights’ [Bryman,1995, p.8]. This was clearly defined through the differing personalities (of the pigs) through different coloured-clothing, instruments, and their voices. The contrasts of the pigs personality aided the audience in identifying who to cheer for, through Disney’s use of ‘folksy’ personalities. The singing, dancing and humour from ‘Fiddler Pig’ and ‘Fifer Pig’ emphasise this ‘folksy’ concept. With the identification of who is ‘good’/‘bad’ presented by the character of Big Bad Wolf and his actions of “blowing” down houses.

The personalities in the Three Little Pigs utilise the squash and stretch, exaggeration and follow through and overlapping action principles, aiding to the style of realism, as to Silly Symphonies ‘featured exaggerated […] physics and cartoonal metamorphosis’ [Pallant, 2010, p.345], which corresponded with the ‘design, context and action within live-action film’s representation of reality’ [Wells, 1998, p.25]. This is what Disney strived for, rather than the non-realistic animation Warner Bros used in their Looney Tunes (1930-1969) series, which emphasised on interaction with the audience, in order to ‘revitalise the traditional pleasure in the act of viewing’ [Lindvall & Melton, 1997, p.204], something Disney ignored, in-favour of realistic viewing.

An example of this realistic style within the Three Little Pigs is shown by the Big Bad Wolf’s character movement. During the wolf attempt trick the pigs, we see a shot of him utilising “running” movements; those of a wolf, with each of his limbs pushing off the ground and leaping up. In doing so, this movement demonstrates the follow through and overlapping action principle, as his body is following through naturally as anticipated, not immediately stopping, which would have deterred away from the realism element.

In discussing the Big Bad Wolf as a character, he displays each of my chosen principles. His mannerisms are exaggerated; often the enhancement of his movements is used by the animator as a device to show the audience what is happening. An example of this is the Big Bad Wolf attempting to blow down each of the pig’s poorly/well-constructed homes. The first two houses the Big Bad Wolf encounters made from straw and wood, the animator exaggerates the size of his chest, whilst the rest of his body stretches in a squash-and-stretch motion. Once he’s ‘blowing’, the follow through and overlapping action principle is illustrated by his body fluctuating up-and-down, and hat swaying as a result of this wind. This exaggeration of the size of chest and dramatic height change implies nothing could withstand this force, as each house is destroyed dramatically, further accentuating exaggeration. However in his encounter with the brick house, his attempts are futile and he is unable to “blow” it down, with each attempt becomes less powerful. This is represented with the size of his chest and lack of increased height with each passing attempt, the unbuttoning of his clothes further represent this. His facial colour alternates between purple-and-blue to display his lack of breath and the hanging of his tongue, gasping for air aid the exaggeration, whilst his body becoming skinnier and longer, exhibiting the squash and stretch. These actions of the Big Bad Wolf, instead of ‘rendering him more dangerous’ they ‘diminish him’ [Mitts, 2010, p.82].

In further discussing the squash and stretch principle, it is described as ‘the most important discovery’ [Thomas and Johnston, 1981, p.48]. This principle allows animators to express emotions of characters through a believable motion without disorientation, in a way the audience accepts whatever shape the character transforms into, allowing them a ‘sense of flexibility and life’ [Roy, 2013, p.4]. As shown by the Big Bad Wolf, this technique is predominately used in the Three Little Pigs to give the characters body movement. An example of this is shown by Fifer and Fiddler Pig when they running into Practical Pig’s home, subsequently jumping under his bed, scared. As they leap under his bed, their bodies stretch out with the arms, hands and hoofs widening as far as possible, in-keeping with the realism element. Not only does this exhibit their fear, demonstrated through the exaggeration principle of their relentless shaking and trembling, with their tails fluctuating between straight and curly, it shows realism in-regards to the accessory on Fiddler hat as it flutters through the leaping motion. The squash and stretch principle is also shown through Practical Pig’s piano playing. Whenever he begins playing, the piano oscillates up-and- down in time with the sound, bending down on each note he plays and returning to its normal realistic shape when he stops playing, and occasionally bounces after he plays a variety of notes. Reinforcing the cartoonal metamorphosis Pallant discusses in Disney’s Silly Symphonies.

This pioneering technique is also shown by dwarfs in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, this principle aided in the popularity of the feature giving ‘them personality’ [Webster, 2005 p.24], in-doing so helps identify each different dwarf. An example of this principle in use is with the character ‘Sneezy’, and his attempt to withhold his eventual sneeze. Whilst he is comically stumbling away from the flowers shoved into his nose by Bashful, Sneezy’s nose and face/head expand and return to normal multiple times before he eventually leaps up in the air squashing and stretching. Though once he does eventually sneeze, the exaggeration principle is shown from the power of his sneeze, forces any furniture and dwarfs in the direction of his sneeze to be blown into the edge of the house and how the rest of the dwarfs attempt to stop it.

The squash and stretch technique is also displayed while the dwarfs are walking/singing towards the mine. The movements as they rise and fall are emphasised, and keep them in rhythm with the “Heigh-Ho” song, this action gives the illusion of volume and weight to the dwarfs as they walk. In the mine, ‘Doc’ hammers on the diamonds to see if they are real and proceeds to wince when it is not, his face squashing down unrealistically displaying his dismay at the sound, with his cheeks widening and beard scrunching toward his body, his face returns back to normal as he tosses it away. Additionally, Grumpy’s miserable expression with his ‘bulbous nose’ and Dopey’s big ears are aided by squash and stretch principle as it ‘give them the illusion of life’ [Prince, 2012, p.117], playing into Disney style of hyperrealism, as this method aids Disney into making their cartoons more believable.

The use of follow through and overlapping action is exhibited in Snow White during the musical number, “Whistle While You Work,” where Snow White and her animal companions are in the dwarfs home cleaning it. This principle generally is most notable during Disney’s signing/dancing sequences. In this one, we see Snow White start to dance with her dress swaying in the process; though the principle does not immediately begin as she moves, it waits for a few moments until it begins to catch up with her swaying movements, illustrating realism. The same motion can be said about the tails on the animals and Snow White’s hair as they are cleaning the house, they rotate and sway as the character moves. These actions terminate when the characters stop moving, once again contributing to the realism style.

During the dancing sequences Snow White has with the dwarfs in the house, a few of the dwarfs are realistically dancing with Snow White whilst the others are playing various instruments, alongside ‘Dopey’ playing the drums. When ‘Happy’ is dancing, his body sways and his feet move quickly as he alters between different styles of dancing, whilst Snow White claps several times. When she begins to dance, her clothing sways with the movements she creates, enhancing the realism device used by Disney.

The other dwarfs move their hands accordingly to play their instruments, we notice the strings vibrate as their hands move when his strum and the symbols vibrant when Dopey hits them, again illustrating realism. However in this sequence we also observe the exaggeration and squash and stretch principles being used by Dopey when a fly interrupts his playing. This causes Dopey’s exaggerated pupils to stop wondering in a speedy circular motion, and as he violently starts drumming, attempting to kill the fly, his body/neck bobble up-and-down due to his tiredness in a squash-and-stench motion. This is also shown with Sneezy’s cheeks expanding as his plays, then smashing a drumming symbol on his face in order to kill the fly, in doing-so causes his face to vibrate as-if it were a drumming symbol in an exaggerated manner. This reiterates the characters cartoonal figures, rather than showing a realistic outcome.

The follow through and overlapping action is also shown with ‘Fiddler Pig’ and ‘Fifer Pig’ in the Three Little Pigs, when they start singing and dancing after finishing building their houses. As they sing “Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?”, their hoofs fluctuate up-and- down as they dance, with their pig tails curling in-and-out, and heads bobbling as well, whilst their bodies swing back and forth in time with the music. Their hands move accordingly as they play their instruments, we notice the fiddle and flute move with their hands, keeping in-time with the music, thus illustrating this principle and the animator exploitation of realism.

A similar use of this principle is during the pigs building their individual houses. ‘Fifer Pig,’ the flute-playing pig who builds his house out of straw, throws the straw onto the roof of his house with each bit landed breaking out gradually awaiting the next. Whilst Fifer is skipping and throwing extra bits on top, it demonstrate the use of this principle as we see his arm movement move up-and-down as he throws each piece. The same can be said about ‘Fidder Pig,’ the fiddler-playing pig who builds his house out of wood. We see his hand movements gradually fluctuate back-and-forth as he hammers on a piece of infrastructure, whilst using ladder he is standing on as support, it squashes-and-stretches with his exaggerated squatting movement. Lastly, ‘Practical Pig,’ the piano-playing pig whose house is built from brick, slaps concrete on each brick, again in a back-and-forth motion, with each potion of concrete he throws onto the brick takes a moment to land on it, with some of the wet-concrete dripping off the brick, restating the realism stylistic device used by the animator.

Though this notion of realism, or ‘hyperrealism’ is most significant within Disney’s first animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. As Pallant stipulates, this mode of style has come to ‘define a mode of animation’ [Pallant, 2010, p.346], as this mode of animation defined Disney as a studio and in doing so set a benchmark of quality within the animation industry. This mode is evident in the character of Snow White, the size of her eyes and mouth are small in comparison to the other characters, and drawn in that way to emphasis her cuteness, which is exploited by the animator throughout. Though were it not for the principles, the ‘completely realistic human figure could not be depicted using traditional 2-D hand animation’ [Pallant, 2010, p.346], as the use of these principles further emphasised Disney’s style of realism. Snow White made significant strides in attaining realism, with the additional use of naturalistic drawing and cinematic framing, which aided in future use of verisimilitude in later features.

Yet, the most ‘significant element of Disney’s hyperrealism’ [Pallant, 2010, p.346] was the fluid lifelike movement and expressions Snow White and the animals create. Her movements and expression are based from an actual actress, as were the woodland animals, based off live action, in-keeping with the realism style Disney accentuate throughout. As Wells states, ‘the construction, movement and behavioural tendencies of ‘the body’ in the hyper-realist animated film will correspond to the orthodox physical aspects of human beings and creatures in the ‘real’ world’ [Wells, 1998, p.25]. However the Fleischer studio, known for their Betty Boop (1932–39) series, felt Disney’s use of ‘rotoscoped animation had a tendency to lose the illusion of life’ in the character of Snow White [Thomas and Johnston, 1981, p.323]. Though unlike Three Little Pigs, the use of ‘cartoonal metamorphosis’ [Wells, 1998, p69] is mostly unused White, with the omission of the Queen’s transformation into a witch.

The primary focus of these 12 principles was to depict realism into animation, through the use of using basic laws of physics, sequentially giving the character(s) a personality through squash and stretch to catch the attention of the audience. It also served as a guide for productive and creative. However, Thomas and Johnston definition of these principles came through the desire of Walt Disney in adding realism into animation, as discussion, for the foundations of cel-animation within the Walt Disney Studios’ work. As Wells states ’the characters, objects and environment within a hyperrealist animated film are subject to the conventional physical laws of the real world’, (Wells, 1998:25). Disney wanted to add this into his characters and their personalities to an engaging audience. The stylistic device of this is clearly exhibited throughout the Three Little Pigs and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs through these principles, which set a benchmark in the animation industry, combining realism in animation to create the Disney empire we see today.

Bibliography

• Chris Pallant, ‘Disney-Formalism: Rethinking ‘Classic Disney’, (Sage Publications: London, 2010), pp. 341-352. Print.
• Russell Merritt, ‘Lost on Pleasure Islands: Storytelling in Disney’s Silly Symphonies’, Film Quarterly, Vol. 59, (Berkeley, 2005), p. 4. Print.
• Frank Thomas, and Ollie Johnston. ‘The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation’, (New York: Hyperion, 1981), pp. 48-70. Print.
• Paul Wells, ‘Understanding Animation’, (London: Routledge, 1998), pp. 25-69. Print.
• Alan Bryman, ‘Disney and his Worlds’, (London: Routledge, 1995), p. 8. Print.
• John Lasseter, ‘Principles of Traditional Animation Applied to 3D Computer Animation’, (New York: 1987), pp. 35-44. Print.
• Debra Mitts-Smith, ’Picturing the Wolf in Children’s Literature’ (London: Routledge, 2010), p. 82. Print.

• Terrance R. Lindvall and J. Matthew Melton, ‘Towards a Post-Modern Animated Discourse: Bakhtin, Intertextuality and the Cartoon Carnival,’ in A Reader in Animation Studies, ed. Jayne Pilling (London: John Libbey, 1997), p. 204. Print.
• Chris Webster, ‘Animation: The Mechanics of Motion’, (Oxford: 2005), p. 24. Print.
• Roy, Kenny, ‘How to Cheat in Maya 2014: Tools and Techniques for Character Animation’, (Abingdon, Oxon: 2013), p. 4. Print.
• Stephen Prince, ‘Digital Visual Effects in Cinema: The Seduction of Reality’. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 2012. Print. References • Disney, Walt and Iwerks, Ub. Steamboat Willie, 1928. Walt Disney Productions. Film.
  • Gillett, Burt. Three Little Pigs, 1933. Walt Disney Productions. Film.
  • Hand, David. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1937. Walt Disney Productions. Film.

The onetime video clerk, lover of female protagonists and independent cinema redefiner. Quentin Tarantino is certainly a rarity in popular cinema. Over his 25 plus years in the industry, Tarantino has ushered in a new era of tough female characters into major motion pictures; they control the narrative, dominate the action and most importantly contribute to his ever-growing auteur status. His complex storytelling, wacky editing and renowned casting have contributed to a divide amongst filmgoers, this being the debate focused on the female characters in his films. His offerings to the medium have raised questions; are his films empowering to women, offering strong aspiration figures to spectators? Or are the graphic depictions of violence involving women fetishised, exhibiting an insight into Tarantino’s ideal women?

Tarantino’s oeuvre pays homage to a diverse range of styles and genres, (including westerns, film noir and Japanese cinema) with most of these influences treating women as an inferior character. Despite this, in his films both sets of genders are reasonably flawed characters who deal with relatable issues, whilst still, tough personalities. However, there is a constant underlying theme in his films which defines his work and heavily contributes to his almost-feminist stance, this being the motif of revenge present amongst his female characters.

The craving for revenge, which transforms his woman from a ‘passive’ (weak) character, into an ‘active’ (strong) character is his backbone of the progression of his characters. Much like Martin Scorsese, with his view on gender, sexual politics and general perception of female characters are too viewed as his backbone in his auteur making. Though in stating this, on the contrary with Tarantino, Scorsese’s underlying masculinity theme and the general male dominance are heavily portrayed in his films, which is very un-Tarantino. Scorsese’s men are violent towards women, as shown in the cases of Jake LaMotta’s wife, Vickie LaMotta in Raging Bull (Scorsese, 1980) and with Henry and Karen in GoodFellas (Scorsese, 1990). Tarantino portrays the opposite of this, whereas Scorsese’s perception of his women are depicted in less-significant, submissive state compared to those of his men. They are characterised as weak, inferior characters in comparison, whose only purpose in the narrative is to be told by their husbands what to do.

Tarantino prefers to illustrate his women in a strong light who control the narrative, and are arguably stronger than his men. It is this evolution amongst female characters frequently depicted in his films, which makes Tarantino unique and in doing-so makes him one of a few popular cinema writer-directors to-do this regularly and successfully. Much how Anne Billson observes, Tarantino’s roles for female characters ‘have been getting stronger,’ which as she states, makes Tarantino a ‘rare director’ (Billson, 2009). In this essay, I will be examining Tarantino’s female characters in some selected films from his oeuvre, in doing- so addressing whether he has been successful in developing and extending the range of ways in which females can be represented on screen in popular cinema.

The evolution of Tarantino’s women is a fascinating concept. Throughout his career, his female characters become actively more involved with the narrative in each passing film. In examining Tarantino’s filmography, female characters are ever-present as one of the main protagonists in the majority of his films and are continuously evolving. The only stipulation amongst his oeuvre is his debut film, Reservoir Dogs (Tarantino, 1992) a heist- gone-wrong film which predominately focuses on the male characters. It features one woman in the entire narrative, who shoots Mr. Orange before being shot-and-killed herself, a few seconds afterwards. The film discusses women at length, defined within the first few minutes of the opening scene, as the recently formed gang discuss Madonna’s ‘Like a Virgin’ and Mr. Pink’s tirade on the tipping of waitresses. However, as Hooks observes, in Tarantino’s oeuvre she believe women liberations is ‘just another scam,’ (Hooks, 2008) as women in this film are mostly ghostly figures and have no stance in the film. Whilst I do mostly agree with this statement in reference to Reservoir Dogs, arguably the one woman’s actions change the narrative and instigate a homoerotic relationship between Mr. Orange and Mr. White over Orange’s potential death.

It is not until Tarantino’s second feature, his academy award winning script Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, 1994), that spectators are properly introduced to a female character; the mysterious Mia Wallace, played by Uma Thurman, is who came to fruition. Though compared to his later films, Mia’s defining presence in the narrative is somewhat insubstantial, as she is known as ‘Marcellus Wallace’s wife’ and is only seen in conduction with Vincent Vega. Her intellect and mysterious personality atone for this, intriguing the spectator and Vincent.

The use of her sexuality furthers emphasises this mysterious element, but rather than in a characteristic one-dimension sense like in Tarantino’s influences, Mia utilises her sexuality as a facade to silently control Vincent. A close-up of Mia’s bright red lips displays this and draws in the attention of the spectator, as the shot focuses on this for a few seconds, establishing Mia’s sexuality. With the connotations associated with the colour of red; power, lust and danger, these words describe Mia’s character within the first few seconds of her introduction. 


Yet in Tarantino portrayal of Mia he exhibits a flawed character, in-keeping with relate-ability for the spectator. This is shown through her cocaine addiction; by inducing a drug overdose and nearly killing her, only for then Mia needing to be rescued by Vincent. As a result of this, Mia is denied a voice in the narrative after her near-death experience, whereas in-comparison, Beatrix Kiddo refuses to be held back or easily characterised in Tarantino’s Kill Bill: Vol.1 and Vol.2 (2003 and 2004, Tarantino). This is demonstrated in the opening scene where she is lying down on the floor, badly beaten up and bloody, only to be shot by Bill. Another example is when she is awoken from her coma, discovering the creature that is Buck who is renting her body, or after being buried alive by Budd, digging her way out.

Instead of exiting the narrative, she embarks on a revenge quest to kill the five people involved in destroying her life, as well as anybody in her way. As Barlow observes, from Pulp Fiction onwards Tarantino’s goal has been to change the perception of his female protagonists from stereotypical characters, ‘into a kind of goddess, who could bring themselves back to life’ (Barlow, 2010). Significantly, Beatrix’s themes encompass Tarantino visual of strong women, as she deal with abandonment and motherhood. This is shown through the emotional journey Beatrix undertakes in order to kill Bill and the remaining members of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. As a result of this, Tarantino illustrates these films as his ‘feminist statement,’ and ‘film(s) about girl power’ (Johnston, 2003).

As mentioned earlier, Tarantino’s female characters have a craving for revenge, which ultimately transforms them from a ‘passive’ (weak) character, into an ‘active’ (strong) character. Aside from Beatrix, this transformation is also shown by the female antagonist in Vol.1, O-Ren Ishii. Although in the present-time, the depiction of O-Ren is of her serious and cold-blooded personality, but we are shown how in the past she was a victim too. In the animated sequence of her backstory, the animation illustrates the tale of (then) nine- year-old O-Ren witnessing the murder of her parents. Her father murdered by Matsumoto’s right hand henchman, Riki, and the murder of her mother personally executed by Matsumoto himself.

O-Ren transformation into becoming ‘active’ is shown by her seeking revenge for the death of her parents, by murdering Matsumoto as she depicts him through sexual advances. Years later, she had become a top female assassin, as well as undertaking the leadership of Tokyo’s underworld, granting her the title of the ‘Queen of Tokyo’s underworld’ by Beatrix. Ultimately, Beatrix kills O-Ren in a blood-filled fight, but this scene is a testimony to Tarantino’s vision of displaying two equally mentally and physical powerful women in this final battle, who both have transformed from a ‘passive’ (weak) character, into an ‘active’ (strong) character.

Vernita Green, another character who is an equally strong women and her four year old daughter Nikki, who unknowingly interrupts Beatrix’s and Vernita’s fight scene, reintroduce the themes of motherhood to Beatrix since she (thought she) lost her own child in Vol.1. Perhaps Beatrix’s jealously plays a part, as her daughter would have been a similar age. Typically, the spectator expects some form of mercy for Vernita when Beatrix is fight her, as she is a mother, tending the needs of her child. However, we understand from Beatrix’s actions of killing Vernita as Nikki accidentally watches, that Tarantino’s motive of revenge knows no boundaries. Subsequently, Vernita as well as Beatrix both ‘embody both killer and maternal instincts’; highlighting how a women can be both mothers and killers. With this, and Beatrix’s lack of empathy for Vernita and Nikki, Tarantino succeeds in developing the range of ways in which females can be represented on the screen in popular cinema in this film, regardless of how gruesome it is.

Fight scene between female characters dominate the narrative, compared to those involving men. Each ‘battle’ is more physical and challenging than the last, however this could be identified as a result of gender association. When the spectator sees women involved in fighting, it is represented as more violent compared to a fight involving men. As Tarantino explained, ’when you see two beautiful women, and they’re hurting each other […] that hurts, more than with two guys’ (Schubart, 2007). Yet it is Bill’s death which highlights this unprecedented notion of Tarantino’s heroines. Beatrix’s method in killing him, by utilising Pai Mei’s ‘five-point-palm exploding-heart-technique,’ rather than the use of her sexuality. This further highlights how Tarantino has succeeded in his goal of representing women in popular cinema in a different way. Beatrix is shown in a strong and powerful light, by killing the man that ruined her life and took her child away. Because of this Beatrix not only ‘controls the action,’ she defines it (Coulthard, 2007).

Perhaps Beatrix not being identified with one defining name is related to Tarantino’s success in extending the range in-which female characters are represented on the screen. ‘Beatrix’/’Black Mamba’/’The Bride’ which were co-created by Quentin Tarantino and Uma Thurman, or ‘Q’ and ‘U’. Their character is associated with multiple roles in the films. Within Kill Bill, we see a conflict of motherhood and individualism in the character of Beatrix, as she transforms between an assassin travelling all over the world, employed to kill people. At this point she is known as ‘Black Mamba’. Then her priorities shift when becomes pregnant and her motherly instinct taking over, becoming ‘The Bride’. This leaves an unanswered question; does motherhood change her?

Tarantino uses the ‘mother archetype, not as a psychological figure, but as a dramatic device’ (Schubart, 2007) with Beatrix, as the spectator notices her transformation when she discovers her daughter is still alive in Vol.2. In my opinion, she becomes Vernita; caring for her child whilst still using her abilities to protect herself and Nikki. However Beatrix’s circumstances are slightly different. Much like Vernita, she embodies a dual expectation which modern women are placed under, a combination of independence and parenthood. As Davis reiterates, ‘while Beatrix does not meet her daughter until the end of the film, she makes sacrifices for her child through the movie’ (Davis, 2007). In saying this, Beatrix is not married, nor has a life outside her assassin’s ways, unlike Vernita. So when she is introduced to her child, Beatrix epitomises both of these roles and demonstrates them in an un-sexualised way, which is uncommon for female heroines in cinema. Thus, Tarantino succeeds in extending the range of ways in which females can be represented on screen in popular cinema by making Beatrix an inspirational figure.

In playing devil’s advocate, Kill Bill has also been criticised for its sexualisation of women. In a discussion with Ian Hislop on the so-called sexualised nature of the film, he criticises Tarantino for making a film which forces the spectator to watch ‘women suffer’ in ‘rather pervy’ way, in doing-so he ‘get the girls to fight a lot’. Because of this, Hislop states Tarantino gets ‘called a genius because of it’ when he believes he is not, just another Hollywood director (Hislop, I. 2008, YouTube) [Online]. It is Barlow who discusses in his book, how Beatrix does have to ‘flash her feminine attributes through scan outfit, or seductive behaviour’ (Barlow, 2010) to counter her personality. But as referenced earlier, Tarantino illustrates these films as his ‘feminist statement’. Beatrix is fundamentally a strong character, who whether male or female would be considered powerful. Because of this, I cannot help but disagree with Hislop’s comments and agree with Barlow, as female empowerment is at the centre of these films.




Yet it is Tarantino’s Jackie Brown, (1997, Tarantino) in-which he succeeds in firstly creating a female-led protagonist, and extends the range of representation of women in popular cinema. Unlike Tarantino’s other female characters, Jackie primary motive is not revenge or vengeance, she is unique in this sense. Neither is she victimised because of this which too is rare in popular cinema. Her goal is leading a life of luxury by stealing money from drug traffickers, far from a personal vendetta. Contrary to Shosanna Dreyfus, Beatrix Kiddo and the second set of characters in Death Proof (2007, Tarantino) who are all out of for vengeance because of the trauma suffered by these antagonists.

Unique is a word often associated with Jackie Brown, in comparisons to the rest of Tarantino’s oeuvre. Jackie is not a deadly assassin who has the ability to kill hundreds of other assassins, or a stuntwomen who has the confidence in risking her life on-a-daily basis to earn a pay check. In contrast, Jackie is a regularly person, with a regular job; instead she uses her intelligence to navigate her escape. Succeeding as she escapes with the money and her pride. Additionally, Jackie’s sexuality is not exploited in the film as it has no effect in her escape, which too is rare in popular cinema. As film theorist Laura Mulvey observes in her 1975 essay, ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,’ she argues Popular cinema directors often force spectators to watch their film from a male perspective. Leading spectators to believe women are an object of desire. This is not evident in Jackie Brown, nor in most Tarantino flicks, as Jackie proves to the spectator as a regular women, she can control the narrative and succeed in her objective without using her sexuality. As a result of this, Tarantino reinvents what sexiness can be.

Though in Tarantino’s Death Proof (2007, Tarantino), it could be argued that he is not adhering to own reinvention of the female sexuality, by utilising the male gaze. In his tribute to slasher films, Death Proof the second part of Grindhouse (2007, Tarantino and Rodriguez) series, a twisted action film full of female characters. The film recounts the story of two sets of girls and their encounters with psychopathic killer, ‘Stuntman Mike’ and his death proof car. Critically, this film is torn. The divide, much like marmite, Death Proof is either loved or hated; but then again this sums up Quentin Tarantino oeuvre. There is an ongoing discussion on whether the female characters in this film extend the range in which females can be represented on screen in popular cinema.

Traditionally, slasher films terrorise female characters far more than males; though this is somewhat depicted within Tarantino’s version, it is not entirely true. In ‘Part 1,’ the first set of female characters are, according to Barlow, ‘rather frivolous, dope smoking and drinking’ women, who are somewhat ‘sexually naive’ (Barlow, 2010). This is exemplified when Stuntman Mike talks to Julia, Butterfly, Shanna, and Pam on an objective level in his misogynistic way, attempting to seduce them. Tarantino shoots these women through the ‘male gaze,’ and makes them weaker in comparison to his other female characters. This not only limits the range of ways in which females can be represented on screen in popular cinema, but conforms to female character stereotypes.

For instance, Butterfly’s lap dance in-front of the crowded bar reiterates this notion of her character only being used as a ‘sexual object’ (Mulvery 1989). Though initially she refuses, Mike constant persistence (with the help from Julia) pushes her into unwillingly performing it for him, telling her ‘there’s nothing more beautiful than an angel with a bruised ego’. Simultaneously, Butterfly performing this lap dance could be a considered as a form of female empowerment. Reverting back to an earlier comment, Tarantino is influenced by film noir, and the femme fatale aspect;

Butterfly’s use of her sexuality is an acknowledgement to this, because in film-noir codes and conventions a women use of her sexuality is deemed as powerful. Though Tarantino shoots this scene in an extreme sexualised way, shown through the amount of low angles of Butterfly, sexualisation of her legs and bottom. This too can be viewed as a Tarantino’s celebration to the female gender. Though in saying this, this sexual appeal does not materialise, instead the lap dance signifies Mike’s masculinity and power complex. The use of this scene is to make the spectator uncomfortable, and exhibit the type of character Mike really is. It can also be argued that rather than choosing to perform, she can retain her dignity and the stubbornness she is introduced as having.

As a result of the first set of characters depiction, feminist-led protests were instigated when Tarantino promoted Death Proof in Glasgow and Liverpool. His response, ‘the protests blew my mind, because everywhere else on planet Earth people have been talking about how I made a movie that empowered women’ (Vijay, 2007). Perhaps Tarantino’s comments are somewhat understandable because of his depiction of women in the second segment. Conclusively, the first segment of characters, aside from Julia, does not present of having responsibilities (i.e., jobs) in their life, or have sisterly bond compared to the second set of characters. Though these are a common convention of the genre, the first segment of women certainly have moved Tarantino away from his trope of tough female character in scenes associated with of mayhem.

Comparatively, the women within the second segment are the polar-opposites to those in the first. Again, aside from Julia; Lee, Abernathy, Kim and Zoë are working women (two stuntwomen, makeup artist, and actress), whilst even Abernathy is a mother. Certainly the main difference is their responses to Stuntman Mike’s provocation. As the first set concedes to Mike and are killed multiple times in a dramatic and gruesome fashion, the second set are not and instead retaliate, which is unconventional of the genre. Because of this, Mike is irritated by their confidence as it emasculates him, which results in him attempting to kill them and remove them from the narrative, as he did with the first set.

Mike meets his match with these women. Uncharacteristically, he does not expect them to have a similar skill set to his. Moreover, these girls illustrate the idea of a female character ‘who outsmarts [and] outguesses her assailant’ (Barlow, 2010). Not only does this emasculate Mike, it proves Tarantino is developing and extending the way female characters are presented on scene, as badasses like Beatrix Kiddo.

As Billson discusses, ‘only a director who really likes women could film them like this’ (Billson, 2009), and because of Mike’s arrogance, he is killed by these women. Therefore, does a bigger question need to be answered? As sexual violence is a major trope within slasher/horror films, and a large amount of this sexual violence is aimed at women, does being a strong independent woman in these films mean someone who kills their oppressor? In Tarantino’s mind it does, with his version of the genre differing for the conventional stereotype. Though often female characters are fetishised more than males in popular cinema, in Tarantino’s films the male characters equally fetishised. The gimp scene in Pulp Fiction springs to mind.

As a film, Death Proof exhibits female empowerment in both sets of characters, but more- so in the second set. In this set, the films demonstrates a camaraderie between female characters, which is rare in popular cinema, instead of displaying stereotypical characters which actresses are known for playing for in this genre and in popular cinema in general. Similarly to Beatrix Kiddo and Jackie Brown; Lee, Abernathy, Kim and Zoë display an embodiment of expectation modern women are placed under, a combination of independence, parenthood, intelligence and brawn. As they not only contradict stereotypes ‘women are frail victims’ (Innes, 1998), but do-so in a way which does not devalue them. With this film, Tarantino is attempting to show mainstream spectators how he views female characters, compared to those of traditional slasher stereotypes, as Barlow examines; ‘To see what Tarantino is trying to do, one need only to look at the contrast between the two sets of girls’ (Barlow, 2010).

Tarantino’s writing and directing instigates contrasting opinions through his scenes of constant mayhem, whether through action or dialogue sense. However it is his endings which provoke an emotional stance in his spectators, and preserve this association his female characters have with them. For every film where a female character is dominant in, these characters offers spectators a role model. In his essay, ‘The Auteur Theory,’ Peter Wollen observed how ‘only the lesser auteurs’ are defined by their constant use of ‘basic motifs, which remain […] without variation’ (Wollen, 1972). Only the great directors are defined by the evolution in their work. Tarantino’s female characters define his progression in cinema, and establish his auteur status. Not only are his female characters confident and capable, they control the narrative, which sadly is rare in his influences and popular cinema in general.

Jackie Brown, Beatrix Kiddo and the second set of girls in Death Proof are strong, independent women who each extend the range of ways in which females can be represented on screen in popular cinema. Whether this is through an intellectual sense as seen in Jackie Brown, a strong sense as seen in Kill Bill, or a confident sense as seen in Death Proof. As Tarantino succeeds in this, his female characters do not identify with ‘figures relegated [to] silence’ (Kaplan, 2008), instead they fight back, no matter how in- perfect they are. Tarantino’s women are human, as Billson states, ‘Tarantino […] films actresses so they appeal like real people’ (Billson, 2009), and this makes his women inspirational to the spectator.

List of Reference

Academic:

• –  Barlow, A, 2010, ‘Quentin Tarantino: life at the extremes’, Praeger, New York
• –  Hooks, B, ‘Cool Cynicism: Pulp Fiction’, Reel to Reel: Race, Class and Sex at the Movies (London: Routledge, 1996), p.60.
• –  Davis, A, 2007, ‘Beatrix Kiddo: Popular Culture’s Deadlist Super-mom’, in Dialogues@RU, Vol.6, pp. 14-23
• –  Schubart, R (2007) ‘Super Bitches and Action Babes’ (McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers).
• –  Inness, Sherrie A. ‘Tough Girls: Women Warriors and Wonder Women in Popular Culture’. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999.
• –  Mulvey, L 1989, ‘Visual Pleasure and the Narrative Cinema’, in Film and Theory (eds. Miller, T and Stam, R), Blackwell Publishers, Melbourne, Macmillan, United Kingdom
• –  Coulthard, L 2007, ‘Killing Bill: Rethinking Feminism and Film Violence’, in Interrogatin Post-Feminism (eds. Tasker, Y and Negra, D), Duke University Press, United States of America.
• –  Kaplan, E 2008, ‘The History of Gender Studies in Cinema’, in Screening Genders (eds. Gabbard, K and Luhr, W), Rutgers University Press, United States of America
• –  Wollen, P. (1972). ‘Signs and Meaning in the Cinema’. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Journals/Online:

• –  Johnston, A. (2003). Kill Bill [online] Thefword.org.uk. Available at: <http:// www.thefword.org.uk/reviews/2003/11/kill_bill> [Accessed 29 Apr. 2015].
• –  Hislop, I. (2008). Mark Kermode & Ian Hislop trash KILL BILL VOL 1. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itwMCEJZRCA> [Accessed 28 Apr. 2015].
• –  Vijay, A. (2007). Tarantino Takes Liverpool. [online] empireonline.com. Available at: <http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=21054> [Accessed 30 Apr. 2015].

– Billson, A. (2009). Anne Billson: Why Quentin Tarantino should be celebrated by women.

[online]

The Guardian. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/may/29/ tarantino-female-roles [Accessed 26 April 2015].

Filmography

• –  Kill Bill Vol.1, Dir. Tarantino, Quentin. 2003. Miramax Films.
• –  Kill Bill Vol.2, Dir. Tarantino, Quentin. 2004. Miramax Films.
• –  Jackie Brown, Dir. Tarantino, Quentin. 1997. Miramax Films.
• –  Pulp Fiction, Dir. Tarantino, Quentin. 1994. Miramax Films.
• –  Reservoir Dogs, Dir. Tarantino, Quentin. 1992. Miramax Films.
• –  Grindhouse, Dir. Tarantino, Quentin & Rodriguez, Robert. 2007. Troublemaker Studios.
• –  Death Proof, Dir. Tarantino, Quentin. 2007. Troublemaker Studios.
• –  Raging Bull, Dir. Scorsese, Martin. 1980. United Artists.
• –  GoodFellas, Dir. Scorsese, Martin. 1990. Warner Bros. Entertainment