king of gondor Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 (edited) Hey i was wondering if as many of you guys would give your views on the subject as it would help me out alot for my media coursework. All opinions welcome on the subject It is said that Ridley Scott is a feminist, having done Alien, Thelma and Louise, GI Jane, Gladiator and Hannibal..... Do you agree with this statement? and why do you agree or disagree? Thank you loads and loads King of Gondor Edited March 16, 2005 by king of gondor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 Nope I disagree, I think by looking at the sort of films he has done, doesnt actually seem to me that he is a feminist! Plenty more twisted directors out there Look at Basic Instinct! Not really femanist director but he never told Sharon that he was gunna get her you know what in the shot. He just said that she had to wear no underwear so that he could get the illusion of no underwear without seeing her mooey Not really a good answer! Maybe it will help davey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators DavidB Posted March 16, 2005 Moderators Share Posted March 16, 2005 Strangely enough, in my Media Studies class I remember doing the complete opposite ... Is Ridley Scott a misogynist? (woman hater) ... So, straight away I would have to say that he is neither a feminist nor a misogynist. My main studies were of Blade Runner, and the representation of women in that. There are quite elaborate female death sequences which some people interpret as misogynistic because of their stylistic presentation. But then you go and compare his other works, such as those you have mentioned ... Alien and G I Jane for example .. they have very strong female roles. They are shown to be on a level with men, and perhaps even "better" depending on how you view it. But does that make Scott a feminist? Not in my opinion. Take something like Hannibal, a sequel to Silence Of The Lambs ... it uses the same strong MALE character from Red Dragon/Manhunter - Hannibal Lector, and so even though Ridley directed Hannibal, he did not actually create the strong female character to oppose Lector as such, he was just directing it! Arguably, the female FBI agent is strong BUT not strong enough to get one up on Hannibal. So in that case, you could say that women are shown to be strong but men are better. It all depends on interpretation. It could be seen as the female role always coming up short against the male role ... Same with Alien, no matter how strongly presented Ripley is .. she never QUITE succeeds. Sure, she does in the majority, but there's always SOMETHING else .. so arguably, like Clarice in Hannibal, she's good but not good enough. And G I Jane .. well, sorry but that was just a crap film so regardless of whatever feminist ideas there may have been behind it, the fact that it wasn't a very good movie means that the ideas are lost on the audience. It did not succeed in any way at the box office, so sadly it won't be remembered. Movies like Alien and Blade Runner WILL be remembered for different reasons, whether artistically or in a cult fashion, but I don't think they'll ever be remembered for anything associated with feminism. I think there are plenty of strong MALE roles in Ridley's movies, as there are female ones, so I see nothing but a balance between the two. So yeah, like I originally said, he's neither a feminist nor a misogynist. That's my opinion anyway. No doubt u'll get some different ones which will help ya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gandalfia Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 I love Ridley. He has given us some of cinema's strongest female characters. But I can't be bothered to answer that question, but I'm sure he is! Gladiator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porkfat Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 He smokes Premiero Gold 70's... for that he has my respect, and is therefore incapable of doing any wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elijahs_ladie Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 He smokes Premiero Gold 70's... for that he has my respect, and is therefore incapable of doing any wrong. you scare me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porkfat Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 He smokes Premiero Gold 70's... for that he has my respect, and is therefore incapable of doing any wrong. you scare me (fine) translation: I find his work to be nothing more than cold exercises in style over substance. An overrated eye. ...but he smokes amazing cigars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elijahs_ladie Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 He smokes Premiero Gold 70's... for that he has my respect, and is therefore incapable of doing any wrong. you scare me (fine) translation: I find his work to be nothing more than cold exercises in style over substance. An overrated eye. ...but he smokes amazing cigars. i just meant you in general, mr proks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porkfat Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 i just meant you in general, mr proks *eats Kit-Kat* mmm... biscuity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicky Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 He has been known to acknowledge that many of his films are feminist but I'd say he just finds the idea of a female lead more interesting. When it was suggessted that Ripley in Alien be a woman he thought why not and that it was a good new fresh idea...I guess he still thinks that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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