[Reading Response] NOIRS: The City, the Woman and Other Spaces

The transition of Hong Kong from a premature metropolis to a urbanized city was definitely a gradual yet stark one. During this period the representation of women on screen is mostly shown through two genres – melodrama and thriller, embodying the modernizing city by showing the construction of Hong Kong’s culture through the daily life of the women.

The female protagonists in these films are often portrayed by socialite vigilantes and working-class women typified figures of modernization. Their domestic areas and work spaces are shown on screen as they navigate through their daily lives, showcasing a wide range of fashion, lifestyles and leisure activities. This type of representation, when compared to western feminism, particularly highlights the ordinary and routine role and lifestyle of the woman protagonist, best illustrated by the film Black Rose: Even with a covert operative hidden identity, the daily life of the Black Rose surrounds the neighbourhood, her own domesticity, her social life, and feminine fashion; no different from other working class women. The depiction of urban life to be a juxtaposition of both exciting and mundane provided some sort of emotional support to the anxiety and uneasiness of citizens, in an attempt to provide temporary refuge from the realities of industrialization by morphing domesticity and publicity. This could also be reflected through the city’s image as the protagonist cruise through the city, with high-rise buildings, alleyways, streets and construction sites appearing to show the slowly emerging occurrence of urban spaces.

Thus, the femininity of women slowly became a lens for understanding the cultural and social experience of Hong Kong’s modernity, accompanying the social development of appearance of more women in workplaces. This depiction stood as a testament to the moment when women started representing modernity in a transitioning locale.