The Representation of Gender/Femininity inThe Piano
From its beginnings, the film industry generally excluded women from the film-making process.� It was traditional for women to work behind the scenes in non-technical areas such as make-up and production. Aside from Muriel Box, there're very few well known women film-makers from the 1940's and the 1950's, but nonetheless some women has key roles in the film-making process. From early days of film, there were women who attempted to make a name for themselves in the industry. Alma Reville was married to Alfred Hitchcock and assisted him in many of his films, such as "The 39 Steps" and "The Lady Vanishes".
She also assisted him in writing other scripts. The first British feature-length cartoon, "Animal Farm", was co-directed by a woman, Joy Batchelor, in 1954. Through the years, there have been many films that attempted and often succeeded in breaking the patriarchal structure of film. Generally, these films stayed out of the mainstream cinema, but a more than a few have hit the mainstream while retaining its integrity and its positive message to society (especially women). "The Piano", is one of the later-mentioned films. In this paper, through a textual analysis of "The Piano", I'd like to show how the film attempts to challenge and break the stereotypical ways of representing a woman on screen.
In the early history of film, and for many years following, the representation of women on screen generally resolved to passive / inactive roles on wives and mothers. The stereotypes of women in film were extremely limiting and encouraged certain expectations of them. For example, the idea that women are always based at home, that they're inferior to men and that women like violent men - are some of the myths that were perpetuated by the media. In her book "From Reverence to Rape", Molly Haskell explores the identities of women from the earliest day of cinema to the 1970's. In analyzing the progress of women on screen, Haskell wrote: "From a woman's point of view the ten years from 1963 to 1973 have been the most disheartening in screen history.
In the roles and prominence added to women, the decade began unpromisingly and grew steadily worse, and at present shows no signs of improvement. Directors, who in 1962 were guilty only of covert misogyny (Stanley Kubrick's Lolita') and kindly indifference (Sam Peckinpah's The High Country'), became overt in 1972 with violent abuse and brutalization of A Clockwork Orange' and Straw Dogs'" (Haskell, p. 103). Up until the early period of the feminist revolution, the cinema was full of stereotyped images of women presented by the hegemonized male-dominated media that never cared to attempt to raise women's awareness of their inferior position in a patriarchal society where women generally took a subservient role. Women in film were depicted as secondary characters; mostly supporters, and rarely decision makers.
Through the years, women's place in mainstream film has improved. Though much of mainstream cinema continues to present women as "objects rather then subjects", passive and relying on their attractiveness, there're now more and more exceptions to this narrowing stereotype. With the coming of films like "Alien" and "Thelma and Louise" came the representation of a woman as a strong an independent character. Female film makers, such as Sally Potter ("The Gold Diggers", "Orlando", "Tango Lessons") and Jane Campion ("The Piano", "Holy Smoke", "Angel At My Table", "Portrait of a Lady") have hit the mainstream and have received critical as well as financial success. More importantly, they have contributed to changing the stereotypes of women on screen (as well as behind the camera). Let us take a closer look at "The Piano" and see how its protagonist differs from the subservient / passive female so often seen in cinema.
Campion's "The Piano" is a beautifully complex and poetic film, taking place in 19th century. The film, through its unconventional structure, explores the myths of femininity, sexuality, and gender roles. It portrays the experiences in the life of a mute woman named Ada who leaveswith her illegitimate daughter to enter an arranged marriage with a colonialist named Stewart. The audience is never informed as to why Ada
allowed herself to marry a man she never met. Ada brings her beloved piano with her to place. The piano,Ada's most prized possession, is a symbol of her voice and that which she cannot express through verbal communication. Through her piano, Ada breaks the cultural restrains imposed on a woman in the 19th century setting, and expresses that which she would be forbidden to say in words (if she was able to speak).
From the beginning, Ada''s marriage gets off to a bad start. Stewart leaves the piano on the beach failing to recognize its importance to his wife-to-be. Ada in turn refuses him his conjugal rights. In Victorian New Zealand, where the white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant male was the leader, decision maker, and economic provider as well as the one who for the most part took control of sexuality - this was a very defiant move. Stewart expects to exercise his "right" offer his wife, Ada refuses him. As the film progresses, we're show more and more of the developing relationship between Ada and Baines. Baines, (a man working for Stewart) is the only one who shows any sympathy for Ada's predicament. Eventually, Ada ends up falling in love with Baines and they have a passionate affair.
The film's central discourse is the exploration of female sexuality. The film reverses many of the gender conventions of cinema.Ada is presented as a subject rather then an object in the film. She is the decision maker and refuses to be subservient to the men in the film. Though Ada is a strong female protagonist, the film is also full of contradictions when it comes to her character. Ada is at once a victim and a persecutor, a passionate woman and a sexually repressed one, a woman with a free will and an imprisoned will. These conflicting images of femininity give the character much of her depth.
At first glance, Ada's character seems to carry the weight of a seemingly typical representation of a woman in a patriarchy. Ada is desired by two men, both of whom try to control and contain her. She is given to Stewart by her father and is treated as a commodity by him. Initially,Ada is seen as only a sexual object by Baines. What is different about this film is Ada's reactions to these typical situations.
Ada goes against her assigned gender role; shefoes not function for anyone who thinks he can buy her, especially not her husband. Thought masculine authority, often seen in mainstream cinema, is suggested by the film as a norm, the suggestion is broken by a number of things. One of most unconventional presentations of this reversal is the "power of the gaze". According to Laura Mulvey - cinema emphasized the importance of the patriarchal viewpoint in the camera; the pleasure if gained from looking is male pleasure and that "look" is directed at the male (Mulvey, p 11)."The Piano" often breaks the "male gaze". On many occasions,Adahas the power of the gaze, making men into objects for her visual control. In a memorable scene it isAdawho removes the curtain which reveals Baines unclothed, thus challenging the typical "male gaze" of the camera. As she's is standing before his naked body,
Ada's eye-line in the scene casts a downward look; hence, the gaze in not male but female. In another scene, the traditional "male gaze" is reversed again; when
Adais in bed with Stewart she explores his body, touching and stroking down his back and his buttocks. It is an unusual occurrence in film to see the male body explored and eroticized in such a way. The patriarchal cinema often fragments the female body, but this is not the case with this film. In yet another scene, Stewart is unable to rape
Adawhen she stares him down judgmentally.Baines, who has the possession of
Ada's piano, makes her a deal in which she will get the piano back, key by key, in exchange for sexual favors. Through Baines, Ada begins her sexual awakening and Baines, despite his coarse sexual overtures is somehow worshipful ofAda, and in the course of his exploitation has fallen in love with her. Sickened by his coercive and degrading bargain, he wantsAdaonly if she wants him, and is prepared to let her go. He returns her piano and tells her that he will only be with her is she will give herself to him out of her own free will.
To film-viewers, ways of dressing have come to represent many different aspects of the characters. Gender, sexuality, and cultural / time settings are some of the factors that are often emphasized by clothing. The clothing used in the film represents more than the historical Victorian times and its ways of dressing; it is also a metaphor for the characters identity.Gender rolesin this film are strongly defined through the use of clothing.
Ada's clear-cut shape echoes her emotional self-containment, repressed yet passionate. Her tight fitting tops and dresses that clinch at the wait emphasize her delicacy as well as her sexuality. Her voluminous Victorian clothing seems impractical and restraining in environment, yetAdaseems to be comfortable in her dress. Stewart's severe clothing seems out of place in the forest, and a little too small for him. He seems stiff and uptight in his clothing. He is obviously someone who cares too much about his appearance and his authority is abraded by his pretentiousness. Towering overAda, he is a tyrant. Baines's dressing is loose fitting and very casual; he looks at home in his environment. Baines's casual clothing also shows a shift from his European values. The Maoris in the film are shown as ambivalent to their clothing and thus their gender roles. In an interesting scene,Adais dressed up in a white dress and posing with Stewart for wedding photos. As soon as the pictures are taken, in a sign of defiance to her restrains,Adatears off her dress.
There're various numerous references in the film to the story of Bluebeard. Bluebeard murdered his wives using the ax as a tool of rage. The intertexuality contributes to the meaning that we derive towards the end of the movie, where Stewart uses an axe to chop offAda's finger in a gesture symbolic of castration. Seemingly, Stewart prevails as a male-tyrant by chopping off Ada's finger, yet Stewart recognizes himself as a broken man and in this realization he givesAdaaway to Baines.Flora,Adaand Baines leave for a life in another town.Adamakes a suicide attempt but decided to "choose to live".
Ada's will has chosen life, and she is shown living with George (Baines) and her daughter Flora. She gives piano lessons in town and is considered "somewhat of a freak". This is almost a dissatisfying ending for such a strong female character.
¿½ Of interest to an analysis of this film, is the representation of the natives (Maori) on screen. For a film that breaks many conventions when it comes to gender, the film does a rather poor job of race / ethnic representations. The Maoris are repeatedly depicted as loud, lewd, free-natured people. Both the men and women walk around dressed in rags and the women make obscene remarks to Baines. Campion's portrayal of the Maori is superficial. It is as if she wants us to compare and contrast the western civilized characters with the "uncivilized" Maoris. There is a happy-go-lucky vibe given off by the Maoris. Yet to automatically assume that a whole culture revolves around running through the bushes and happily obliging to every demand of the colonizer as well as fully accepting the colonialist ideology - is a huge stereotype. Nonetheless, "The Piano" breaks many gender stereotypes usually seen in film. It has a strong female lead, and it centers itself on the exploration of female sexuality. It is a terrific cinematic artwork. On a daily basis, women are presented as minorities in all forms of media - from household commercials that plaster women into a typical mold, to ads that use women to advertise products such as cars, beer and watches, to mainstream rubbish films such as "The Fast and The Furious" and "Bring it On". "The Piano" is an outstanding example of a break in the depiction of women associated with the film industry. Although most mainstream films are still dominated by hegemonized patriarchal views, we can at least be thankful for films such as "The Piano" - films that question the typical portrayal of women in screen as well as in our society.