Welcome back! Just as a reminder, Gangsters Paradise is the place to find an in depth analytical view of everyone’s favorite gangster films. Within this section, we are deliberating about gender in the gangster film genre. Let’s begin!
Gender, and more specifically the differing perceptions of men and women in society and the media, has become a topic of interest for scholars in past years as well as the present. To begin, the embodiment of power in the social presence of men is translated into, and exemplified in the gangster film genre (Berger, 1977). Films in the genre are particularly focused on the interests of men. Power is one of, and the most prominent, interest that the genre continually reiterates. An example includes the film American Gangster (2007) where our protagonist, Frank Lucas, continually defends his top position in the heroin market by slaying rival kingpins, which begins as a business tactic, but habitually turns personal. Films in this genre constantly focus on men’s position in a power hierarchy, and rarely portray women in positions of power.
Women are rarely shown in positions of power in the genre because historically within society, they were perceived to be ill equipped to perform in positions generally dominated by males. Although times have changed, there are still areas in society that women struggle to gain equality. John Berger explains the social injustice of women in an article titled Ways of Seeing (1977) by saying, “To be born a woman has been to be born, within an allotted and confined space, into the keeping of men.” (p. 46) Which is not to be taken in the sense of slavery of course, but this identifies how, generally speaking, women are objectified within society. This objectification of women is transmitted through society into the gangster film genre, which only reinforces it as the status quo.
The objectification of women in society is best described by using the examples of magazines, commercials, advertisements, and films where women and their bodies are used as objects to sell. However, within this film genre, we can pull an example from a film to further illustrate the point. In the film Scarface (1983), Tony Montana, is an ambitious Cuban immigrant dedicated to becoming the largest cocaine distributor in the context of the film. When he first starts out and hooks up with a large distributor named Frank, he envies Frank for everything he has, his cars, his money, and also his wife. By the end of the film, Tony kills Frank and marries his wife. To Tony, Frank’s wife was the last object he could acquire before he could solidify his position on top.
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| Tony Montana with wife Elvira, ex-wife of Tony's late boss |
Times are changing, and women are becoming involved in every aspect of society more than ever. This post is meant to shed light on the topic of gender within society and also the gangster film genre.
When Gangster’s Paradise returns for another discussion within the gangster film genre, the topic will be the narrative function of mise-en-sense.
Berger, J. (1977) Ways of Seeing. British Broadcasting Corporation: London. 45-64.
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