Gender is a major theme in the British television show ‘Prime Suspect’, due to the strong female protagonist and her conflict with a variety of male characters in the male dominated environment of the law enforcement profession. In this extract, the use of camera movements, shots and mise-en-scene present this opposition in gender.
The camera movement and shots in the extract present Helen Mirren’s character’s struggle to be promoted in a male favoured occupation. It begins with an over the shoulder shot facing Mirren’s male superior colleague from a similar point of view as her character, displaying the authority the man has over her and the contrast between their professional roles. This leads into a series of close up shots, presenting her response to his refusal to promote her or listen to her ‘women’s rights issues’. These shots display the man as the leader of the dialogue and the more powerful figure, as they cause the audience to focus on her reaction to his rebuke. The following medium long shot displaying her empty seat at the man’s desk signifies her forced submission to the patriarchal structure of her career path, enforcing the close up shot’s display of the passive female role in contrast with the active male role.
The subsequent scene is in contrast as a whole with the previous, presenting two men at a desk in an office. The exchange is similar but the use of a static medium long shot rather than the unstable exchange of close ups implies a greater level of equality, most probably due to the lack of discrimination against males despite the different levels of professional authority. The shot is also slightly angled to the left, presenting the characters as more open and equal in comparison to the previous over the shoulder shots.
The mise-en-scene also gives the implication of the male controlled environment through the use of colours. The office is coloured with bleak browns and blues, which are colours associated with masculinity. Similarly, the positioning and posture of the characters are more relaxed and informal than when the female character was present, who is never mentioned by name. Their use of “her” implies that they prejudicially consider her representative of her gender in a form of discriminatory depersonalisation of her as an individual.
Camera shots are also used in another scene to display the gender imbalance toward men. A medium shot pans across a room of employees, the movement presenting a total lack of female presence, indicating that it is a prejudiced environment. This is in strong contrast with the previous scene, in which the camera tracks Mirren in a medium shot with the mise-en-scene displaying the word ‘Commander’ on the door she exits. The juxtaposition of this with her celebration implies her gain in power, while the movement of the camera is largely in contrast with previous scenes with static shots of males. This signifies her progress and success in subverting the gender binary roles displayed in her career.
A close up of Mirren’s face when reacting to a female murder victim shows her typically female-associated emotional response to an upsetting image. It implies that she, as a female, empathises with the murdered woman, a reaction that is not displayed by any male character, highlighting their differences. However, her show of emotion is quickly suppressed, implying that she feels she must display masculine traits to succeed in this field. The over the shoulder shots used when she interacts with another female employee parallels her exchange with her male colleagues. The mise-en-scene supports this masculine imitation; both female characters dress in a masculine manner and have short unfeminine, hair.
In conclusion, contrasting uses of camera movements and shots in accordance with opposing genders and the use of male associated features of the mise-en-scene all contribute to the representation of the repression of women in the character’s vocation.
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