Alfred Hitchcock's 'Vertigo' - 1958

After watching 'Vertigo' we can compare it to how women are perceived nowadays in films. Here are some notes we came up with:

• Male characters related to world of work and money
• Women are related to notion of success
• Madeline had money which her husband couldn't get unless she died so he killed her
• Men are producers of meaning and women the bearers - Scottie's actions make the film but the film is actually about Madeline
• Men provide the story and women provide the visual pleasure
• In Laura Mulvey's book 'Visual Pleasure' she write that:
  "the presence of woman in an indispensable element of spectacle in normal narrative film, yet her visual presence tends to work against the development of a story line, to freeze the flow of action in moments of erotic contemplation."
• Hitchcock is critised by many as being a 'misogynist' 
• Binary Opposition; Active/Male and Passive/Female. 
• Women in films are the erotic objects of the male gaze
• Men on the side of meaning, reserve
  Women on the side of mystery, excess and emotion.   
• Midge, Scottie's ex-wife, still is in love with him. However, towards the end, she is forgotten about and she is side-lined and her story is left unfinished due to Scottie's new, more attractive love interest. 
• Midge went against the typical 1950's women - she was independent, works as a clothes designer and lived alone in her own apartment. 
• Scottie went for a submissive woman rather than one who cares for him. 
• Madeline was one of Alfred Hitchcock's 'ice maidens'.  He had a tendancy to cast blonde attractive women whose look was unattainable naturally e.g Madeline's white blonde hair. This was Hitchcock's representation of how he thought women should have looked. 

Looking Magazines

Men's Health - November 2015

• Dark, dull colours on cover; black, blue and yellow. 
• Veiny arms, sweaty chest, gnarly facial expression all to show 'masculinity' 
• "#1 source for and about men"
• Instant result articles, quick and easy.
  'Pack on 33% more muscle'
  'How to burn 180kcal in less than 5 minutes'

Mission Statement:

"It's the brand for active, successful men who want greater control over their physical, mental and emotional lives."

Cosmopolitan - February 2016

• More stereotypical colours for females; pink, purple, yellow, etc.
• 'Fun, Fearless, Female'
• The world's largest young women's media brand

Mission Statement:

"To empower young women to own who they are and be who they want to be."

Women's Health - Jan/Feb 2016

• Bright, fresh colours
• Smiley, slim model - shorts and sports bra
• Perfectly curled hair, and perfectly applied make up. 
• Glamourising health and fitness, not accurate representation of post-work out. 

Mission Statement

"The must have action plan for today's modern women. Women's Health gives consumers the tools they need to make instant positive changes in their lives. Women's Health propels consumers into action."