The article by Seng.E wrote about how women and places where women worked and lived in films reflect different social statuses, eras, and the weak. One of the subtitles in the article ‘City as narrative, woman as method’ summarize the main idea appropriately, there are plenty of examples as well, providing reference value for discussion of movie development through city, architecture, and women screen images.
In the beginning, affected by the wave of left-wing sentiment, Chinese movies about nationalism usually turn the appraisal of women to class characters, including the people at the bottom of society. At that time, there is a clear boundary between femme fatale and moral models of women, serving for grandiose narration but not personal willingness. After that, women struggled with dumbness and confusion, with feminist consciousness gradually taking shape. I think women have always been a ‘present absentee’ until the 1980s, although there have been some films telling stories and dilemmas from women’s perspectives, such as ‘Little women’, and ‘Never rarely sometimes always’, which is considerable progress. However, no matter the body or the life of women nowadays cannot be answered by films since that women are more likely to be a carrier, not a leader in economic, social, and political aspects.
REN XUAN 3036098340
I appreciate your well-structured reading summary and personal reflection, especially your statement that “women are more likely to be a carrier, not a leader in economic, social, and political aspects.” I would suggest you elaborate on it with more cases and discussion. Besides, there are several questions worth more reflection on: 1) Why did women frequently appear in HK films as protagonists since the 1960s? 2) Black Rose and Elevator Girl respectively shaped 2 sorts of women — upper class & working class. Why did Hong Kong’s noir pay much attention to these two social classes at the early age (especially in the mid-1950s & mid-1960s)? 3) How did women serve as a tool/ method/ medium to narrate the city? Why? 4) How did woman-themed films capture and shot women differently compared with the male-centered ones?