FratFiles

• Save Paper

Throughout motion picture history, women have experienced more transition in their roles, as a result of changing societal norms, than any other class. At first, both society and the movie industry preached that women should be dependent on men and remain in the home, in order to guarantee stability in the community and the family. As time passed and attitudes changed, women were beginning to be depicted as strong willed, independent minded characters, who were eager to break away from convention. The genre of the crime film represents such a change in the roles handed to women. Two films that can be contrasted, in order to support this view, are: The Public Enemy by William Wellman (1931) and Bonnie &Clyde by Arthur Penn (1967).

In The Public Enemy, women are portrayed as naive and/or objects of carnal pleasure by men. In this period, women were often categorized as mothers, mistresses, sisters, or ladies. Ma Powers (played by Beryl Mercer), the lead character Tom......

View the rest of this paper...

Approximate Word Count: 2067
Approximate Pages: 9 (250 words per double-spaced page)

Similar Essays

1. Feminism In The Crime Film Genre
   

   Feminism In The Crime Film Genre. Throughout motion picture history, women
   have experienced more transition in their roles, as a ...

2. Feminism In The Crime Film Genre
   

   Feminism In The Crime Film Genre. Throughout motion picture history, women
   have experienced more transition in their roles, as a ...

3. Cabaret Information
   

   ... in cabarets, open homosexuality, a new feminism, and other ... mixed-up world, it still
   is a crime for some ... on every level, Bob Fosse's 1972 film Cabaret redefines ...

4. Notes On American Literature
   

   ... works have inspired adaptations to the stage and film. ... A murderer carefully conceals
   his crime and believes ... an essay on American cultural feminism (Men against ...