Gender In the British Film Industry

The representation of gender in the British film industry throughout the 1960s can be seen in a variety of examples and can be seen as indicative of a general shift in cultural attitudes. In this assignment, we shall be concerning ourselves with the film Goldfinger in particular. Goldfinger was made in 1964 by the British film company (SPHP, 1964). What is of particular interest in this film is the iconic portrayal of the female character that spawned something of a tradition for depictions of idealised femininity.

We will pay particular interest to the significance of her role in relation to the rest of the characters in the film. However, we shall first outline a number of industrial and cultural changes that were occurring throughout the 60s in the British film industry. The British film industry of the 1960s saw a degree of significant changes that reflected the cultural mood of this period throughout greater western culture (Coates & Topham 1968).

For example, the notion of popular culture was becoming highly marketable at this time and the subsequent move away from WWII was becoming something of an artistic focus (Laing, 1986). Essentially, Hollywood was promoting a new liberalisation that incorporated sexual imagery as a counter to traditional gender roles based upon social utility (Ewen & Ewen, 1982, p. 37). Although this was embraced throughout the film world, it affected the British film industry in two notable ways. This is given by Curtis who states that,

‘’What was striking to us – an audience of artists, writers, journalists and filmmakers – was the assumption evident in all these films, that making cinema could be a first-person-singular affair, and that film language could be as complex and highly individual. In contrast, The films supported by the one source of public funding at the time, the British Film Institute’s Experimental Film Fund, were very definitely cinema shorts, stepping-stones to cinema features. ’’ (Laing, 1992, p. 258)

This use of short film techniques in which quick iconic symbolism was used in relation to characters made for a mutual embrace of the film techniques being produced by Hollywood. This incorporated sexual and iconic symbolism at its fore (Nuttal, 1968). This was a distinct detraction from the emerging realist depictions found in the dickens-like portrayals common to the kitchen sink drama or the playfulness of slap stick that had gone before (Hebdige, 1988). However, it is perhaps unwise to think of the industry as becoming entirely divorced of its British artistic tradition.

Rather, Thompson states that, “We must remember the ‘underground’ of the ballad singer and the fairground which handed on traditions to the nineteenth century; for in these ways the ‘inarticulate’ conserve certain values – a spontaneity and capacity for enjoyment and mutual loyalties – despite the inhibiting pressures of magistrates, mill-owners, and Methodists. ” (Thompson, 1963, p. 63) It is with this notion of Hollywood driven sexual symbolism and the British tradition of mutual loyalties that we will now turn to the example of Goldfinger and the depiction of gender.

Goldfinger was cast in the genre of the international spy film indicative of the archetypical male hero James Bond (Cohan & Hark, 1993). It features Bond as the main protagonist and Goldfinger as the main antagonist. However, it also involves the depiction of strong and sexualised female characters in crucial roles. In this, we see that although the females are highly sexualised objects and in many ways used by the two main protagonists, they are not subordinate or peripheral to the plot (Hebdige, 1988).

This sexualised empowerment is articulated by their being made indicative to the overall consequence of the film. The leading lady is an intelligent and very beautiful woman caught between the loyalties of the two opposing characters. She is modelled on the former depictions of beauty founded in the 40s and 50s as seen in Marlin Monroe (Nixon, 2003). However, unlike Marilyn Monroe who was portrayed as a sexually exploitative and superficially unintelligent female figure, she is given as an intelligent woman caught in an ethical dilemma.

This clearly highlights the implementation of the depiction of the female in line with Hollywood at this time (Murphy, 2004). However, with the character traits of intelligence and up front honesty and naivety, this is perhaps indicative of the British tradition and the mutual loyalties that drive the spontaneity of the plot. Unintentionally playing upon Bond’s sympathies, she is taken away from Goldfinger and given the approval of the Bond character. However, in her death scene we see the significance of her betrayal.

Essentially, she is cast in Gold, which is indicative of the title, and left to die. However, this form of martyrdom is not a moral consequence of her flirtation between characters, but rather an idealisation of the power of iconic female sexuality (Mort, 2004). Furthermore, it evokes a cosmopolitan reference by symbolising the Egyptian sexual princess Cleopatra. In doing so, this reflects a strong use iconic sexuality to superficially relate to the international, cosmopolitan domain (Green, 1998).

In summary, it would appear from the depiction of gender of the film Goldfinger, that British film was moving to incorporate a cosmopolitan portrayal in relation to the changes in culture of the time. It would appear that in the depiction of gender, sexuality was an explicit ingredient as was the case in Hollywood films. However, rather abandoning all sense of British tradition, the use of sexual symbolism was employed through a plot involving mixed loyalties and unseen conditional forces. Bibliography

Coates K Topham A (1968) Industrial Democracy in Great Britain: a book of readings and witnesses for workers control London: MacGibbon and Kee (ed. ) Cohan, S. , & Hark, I, R. , (1993) Screening the Male New York: Routledge Ewen, S. , & Ewen, E. , (1982) Channels of Desire Minnesota: University of Minnesota Goldfinger, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, (1964) Green, P. , (1998) Cracks in the Pedestal Massachusetts: University of Massachusetts Press Hebdige, D. , (1988) Hiding in the Light London: Comedia Laing, S.

, (1986) Representations of Working Class Life 1951-1964 London: Macmillan Mort, F. , (1996) Cultures of Consumption: Masculinities and Social Space in late twentieth-century Britain. London: Routledge. Murphy, P. F. (2004) “Introduction”, in Murphy, P. F. (ed. ) Feminism and Masculinities, pp. 1-21. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Nixon, S. , (2003) Advertising Cultures: Gender, Commerce, Creativity. London: SAGE. Nuttal, J. , (1968) Bomb Culture London: MacGibbon and Kee Thompson, E, P. , (1968) The Making of the English Working Class Harmondsworth: Penguin