Women in Film
The early 20th century was a very difficult time for woman. Various things were occurring in the world that either made women very important to society, or made women realize that they had close to no rights during this time. Despite all these hardships, there is one thing that many people failed to realize, and this would be the rise of women in film and cinema.
Women were slowly paving their way into cinema, yet the very first woman director is hardly recognizable, unknown, and almost forgotten to many people today. This woman would be called by the name of Alice Guy-Blache. She was the very first female director/filmmaker to make a movie with a narrative. Guy-Blache began her career in France and would come to the United States to show off her impressive skills
in the year of 1910.[1] This single woman would pave the way to various short films across the years. This demonstrates she didn’t reach the fame she should have because she was a female.
A few years passed by and a famous actress would arise in Hollywood in the year of 1943. This woman was James Russell. She would become one of the most famous actresses in the world of cinema.[2]. Despite Russell’s strong bold character in the movie, “The Outlaw” she would
still end up with the man at the end of the film, because women were still not considered to be lead actors. This would seem to be a common reoccurrence for all women actors during this time. Woman would struggle to be strong and independent in the world of cinema.
History was usually told by the men in the society and the position of a director wasn’t as important as it is in today’s society. So it was common for a ground breaking cinematic genius director like Alice Guy-Blache, to be easily overlooked and forgotten as time passed by. During this time women didn’t seem to gain much credit for what their contributions were, and in most cases, specifically in film, the woman would always end up falling back into the man’s arms.[3]
A woman could play a brave hearted, strong, and bold character, but in the end, her character would rely on a man to take care of her. Even though it was rare to watch a strong female role. Usually, women would be given minor stereo typical gender roles. These roles would fall under the housewife and typical mother, who would be taking care of the home and children. The mother taking them to and from school, was the ideal life within a family, which in reality was rarely the case. [4]Regardless, sometimes women would even be given the role to play the house maid in these films. In reality the role of the woman was very important to the movie as a whole, but would never be given as much
importance as it should have been.
[1]Vogt, A., The Daily Beast., (2013) The First Woman Behind a Camera, Now Forgotten.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/witw/articles/2013/08/20/alice-guy-blach-hollywood-s-female-pioneer.html
[2]Gates, A. New York Times(2011) Jane Russell, Sultry Star of 1940s and ’50s, Dies at 89
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/01/movies/01russell.html?_r=0
[3]Human, J., The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society , Vol. 98, No. 4 , pp. 405-428 (2000) A Woman Rebels? Gender Roles in 1930s Motion Pictures. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23384870
[4]Leff. L. Journal of American Studies, Vol. 31, No. 3, Part 1: Looking at America: The USA and Film pp. 385-405 (1997), What in the World interests Women? Hollywood, Postwar America, and "Johnny Belinda"
http://www.jstor.org/stable/27556286
The early 20th century was a very difficult time for woman. Various things were occurring in the world that either made women very important to society, or made women realize that they had close to no rights during this time. Despite all these hardships, there is one thing that many people failed to realize, and this would be the rise of women in film and cinema.
Women were slowly paving their way into cinema, yet the very first woman director is hardly recognizable, unknown, and almost forgotten to many people today. This woman would be called by the name of Alice Guy-Blache. She was the very first female director/filmmaker to make a movie with a narrative. Guy-Blache began her career in France and would come to the United States to show off her impressive skills
in the year of 1910.[1] This single woman would pave the way to various short films across the years. This demonstrates she didn’t reach the fame she should have because she was a female.
A few years passed by and a famous actress would arise in Hollywood in the year of 1943. This woman was James Russell. She would become one of the most famous actresses in the world of cinema.[2]. Despite Russell’s strong bold character in the movie, “The Outlaw” she would
still end up with the man at the end of the film, because women were still not considered to be lead actors. This would seem to be a common reoccurrence for all women actors during this time. Woman would struggle to be strong and independent in the world of cinema.
History was usually told by the men in the society and the position of a director wasn’t as important as it is in today’s society. So it was common for a ground breaking cinematic genius director like Alice Guy-Blache, to be easily overlooked and forgotten as time passed by. During this time women didn’t seem to gain much credit for what their contributions were, and in most cases, specifically in film, the woman would always end up falling back into the man’s arms.[3]
A woman could play a brave hearted, strong, and bold character, but in the end, her character would rely on a man to take care of her. Even though it was rare to watch a strong female role. Usually, women would be given minor stereo typical gender roles. These roles would fall under the housewife and typical mother, who would be taking care of the home and children. The mother taking them to and from school, was the ideal life within a family, which in reality was rarely the case. [4]Regardless, sometimes women would even be given the role to play the house maid in these films. In reality the role of the woman was very important to the movie as a whole, but would never be given as much
importance as it should have been.
[1]Vogt, A., The Daily Beast., (2013) The First Woman Behind a Camera, Now Forgotten.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/witw/articles/2013/08/20/alice-guy-blach-hollywood-s-female-pioneer.html
[2]Gates, A. New York Times(2011) Jane Russell, Sultry Star of 1940s and ’50s, Dies at 89
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/01/movies/01russell.html?_r=0
[3]Human, J., The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society , Vol. 98, No. 4 , pp. 405-428 (2000) A Woman Rebels? Gender Roles in 1930s Motion Pictures. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23384870
[4]Leff. L. Journal of American Studies, Vol. 31, No. 3, Part 1: Looking at America: The USA and Film pp. 385-405 (1997), What in the World interests Women? Hollywood, Postwar America, and "Johnny Belinda"
http://www.jstor.org/stable/27556286