Representation of Gender in Thrillers

Typical Male Representation

Males in Thrillers are often shown as either the Protagonists or the Antagonists. An example of a male protagonist is William Somerset (played by Morgan Freeman) from the movie Se7en. 

This character is a detective working on a crime investigation with his partner, Mills, which appear to represent the seven deadly sins. The clothes this character wears represent that of an old fashioned detective. He wears a trench coat and Trilby which represents a stereotypical representation from earlier thrillers of what a 'true' detective looks like. This male character is also fairly old which suggests to the audience that he is full of knowledge and wisdom so therefore he acts like the more experienced person who has seen crimes such as that in the movie before.  

Another typical male representation is that of the main antagonists 'sidekick'/ minor protagonist. In the case of the movie Se7en, Mills (played by Brad Pitt) is the 'sidekick' to William. Minor protagonists are often seen as 'Rookies' and are less experienced in that line of work this could lead to the minor protagonist straying from the "good" side to the "bad" side and either the main antagonist is able to put them back again or the antagonist "switches" them totally. Minor protagonists are usually represented as males as although they are less experienced then the main protagonist they are seen as being stronger/ able to cope better then females would be. This is especially shown through crime thrillers with violence and graphic scenes.

For example: At the start of the movie, Mills is an obvious male protagonist with less experience then William. He looks up to the older more experienced protagonist and copies what he does.






However, near the end of the movie, he has a moment of weakness when the antagonist challenges him to do an 'evil' deed (shoot the antagonist), and in this movie Mills gives into him. Unlike the main protagonist, the minor protagonist can be overcome with emotions and show a much weaker side to themselves.




The antagonist in thrillers are usually male as they are seen as the stronger sex who would normally be able to overpower the weak victims (usually females). The antagonist in thrillers are often shown as evil and have a troubled childhood. Others are shown as having mental health problems or have a distort idea of what the world should be like ( this type of antagonist is shown in psychological thrillers). While on scene the antagonist can be shown in a dark more mysterious setting with little lighting which usually shines on a certain feature of their face such as the eyes to add mystery and an eerie presence. Or the antagonist is in the centre of the shot and is in broad day light which shows the audience that this character is the most important person in the shot and is dominant in this scene but also that the antagonist can look like normal everyday people and are not always those who look evil, which in returns can make thriller antagonists more interesting as it shows that the bad guy is not always the ones you suspect. An example of a antagonist is the character John Doe (Kevin Spacey) in the thriller Se7en. 

 

Typical Female Representation

Females in Thrillers vary a lot when represented. They can be shown as the typical damsel in distress or in fact be one of the main protagonists or even the antagonist. Usually females are used in thrillers for what is called the 'male gaze'. 

The male gaze is when the camera puts the audience in the perspective of a heterosexual man and is aimed at the female. The camera may focus on certain aspects of the female body such as her curves. The female characters in return are often  dressed in scantily clad clothing and are there to interest the male audience due to the sexual nature being shown of that character. The female gaze is also referred to and has the same/similar aspects as the male gaze but in a heterosexual females perspective of a male.

Lisbeth Salander- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)  

 Lisbeth (Rooney Mara) is the female protagonist in the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Unlike other representations of females, this character is very different in the sense that her character dresses like a punk. She shows a mixture of emotions throughout the movie which also represents similar female characters- she is tough but also vulnerable, clever but also naive. Her character represents the modern female in movies as she is not a stereotypical female character shown in other thrillers.

Mrs Jane Smith- Mr and Mrs Smith (2005)

Mrs Smith ( Angelina Jolie) is an example of the fact that females aren't always the 'victim' of the antagonist or the ones who are mostly likely need saving by the protagonist. Although she is the love interest in this movie, her character is very emotionless towards her husband in the movie, due to the fact she is a trained assassin sent to kill her husband. The way she acts is not  how the audience would expect a female character to act- she uses weapons and guns and is quite violent ( which the audience would be expected to be used more by male characters). 

However although this character she plays is very strong and highly trained, due to the fact she is female, the character is over sexualised with the mise-en-scene (make-up and costumes). This is to acknowledge the 'male gaze' and keep the audience interested. This shows that even though females in thrillers can be the strong, dominant characters, the fact that they are dressed in a sexual way suggests that the main audience for thrillers are males seeing as it cooperates the male gaze theory. 

Sarah Jane Watson- Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Sarah Jane Watson ( Kirsten Dunst)  the female 'damsel in distress' character in Spider-Man 2. She relies on Spider-man to  save her when she is in trouble usually due to the actions of the antagonist. The damsel in distress character is normally also the love interest of the protagonist (if the protagonist is male). The idea that she is a weak female suggests that the protagonist is the  'hero' type person who she will fall in love with at the end due to their gallant efforts to save them. This is mostly because at the end of a thriller, a 'new' equilibrium is reached and due to the havoc created in the movie by the antagonist, the protagonist deserves a 'reward' and females are used as this 'reward' as they can show and give the protagonist love. 

Phyllis Dietrichson- Double Indemnity (1944) 


Phyllis ( Barbara Stanwyck) plays the classic representation of the Femme Fetale (Deadly Women), shown in Film Noir movies in the early 1940s and 1950s. They are often bold blonde women who are a suspected love interest to the protagonist ( a male) but it is unclear whether they are good or bad- usually they are a minor antagonist character to the main antagonist in the movie. Their appearance is that of a very sexual nature and when they are presented on scene for the first time they are usually half dressed ( but not too much skin showing as it would have not been acceptable to show a half naked woman on screen at that time in history). In the case of this movie, the femme fatal character leads to the death of 2 people ( her and her husband who she had planned to murder with the 'protagonist'). When her husband is murdered, the look on her face shows that she is very beautiful but that she had no love for her husband as she is emotionless and looks quite cold towards whats happened. 

This shows that the femme fetale shows no shock when death occurs. She (as her name suggests) is a deadly woman- surrounded by death and leading the protagonist away from his goal using her body sexually towards the male character. This character goes against the mainstream idea of a housewife with a 'nuclear' family and usually the marriage they are in is loveless or confining and so they use their sexual attractiveness to gain independence. Unlike the representation of female characters being victims and weak, femme fetales are the ones that seek independence away and use the protagonist to do so. 


Female Villains
Poison Ivy- Batman and Robin (1997)

Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman) is the female antagonist in Batman and Robin. Unlike male antagonists, she is beautiful and uses her attractiveness to seduce men. This can be linked to the idea of femme fetales. This again shows that females (even if they are the antagonist) are presented on scene as being beautiful and sexual. However female antagonists do show some elements of a male antagonist. The use of guns and henchmen ,for example, are normally used by the female characters to try and defeat the male (or female) protagonist, it varies between movies whether they are successful in doing so. 


Annie Wilkes- Misery (1990) 

Annie Wilkes ( Kathy Bates) is another example of a female antagonist. However unlike Poison Ivy, this representation suggests that female antagonists can look quite normal and don't have to be exaggerated in beauty and sexuality. This creates a more relatable character for the audience, in return this makes the thriller more mysterious as it shows that normal people (females) can have a deadly side. This once again relates back to the idea of femme fetale and shows that thrillers (Film Noirs) back in the 1940's have had  an impact on the type of character presented by females as although in this case, she is not necessarily beautiful but she is deadly. Therefore this suggests that females are stronger then they look and can represent both the innocent type characters and the stronger protagonist or antagonist.