Final Draft

"The WWE Divas are the sexiest women on television."[1]

How and Why Have the Representations of Women Changed Over Time in World Wrestling Entertainment?

World Wrestling Entertainment is a worldwide corporation which “in 2007, had a revenue of roughly $486 million, with $52 million as its net profit”[2]. The WWE’s events are shown on the television, the internet and as live events. They have two “flagship” shows, ‘Raw’ and ‘Smackdown’ which air weekly, ‘Raw’ on a Monday night and ‘Smackdown’ on a Friday night .

Throughout these events, the audience expect to see a variety of common genre conventions take place which would then be seen as “typical”, according to Steve Neale. Neale believes that the word “typical” represents the “repertoire of elements”[3]. The phrase “repertoire of elements” refers to the repeated themes and conventions within a particular genre. In WWE, examples of these common conventions are the wrestlers “talking trash” to their rivals, matches ending with “finishing moves” and also seeing beautiful women objectify themselves by using their bodies to satisfy the male viewers. The fact that these women are represented in such a promiscuous way makes the “diva” matches in a WWE event appear somewhat similar to soft pornography. The fact that these same conventions keep getting repeated may seem predictable which would then lead to audiences getting bored, however Patrick Phillips argues that “the audience demand for predictability”[4].This therefore illustrates that for a text to be effective, it must follow the conventions of its genre as it is what the audience wants to see. Some of the WWE's current conventions were not always a frequent part of their shows as things have changed a great deal over the years. For example, the way in which women are represented in WWE has changed rapidly over the past 25 years and this is due to the major changes which have taken place in society such as the waves of feminism which occurred within the past century. Steve Neale believes that “genre is not fixed”[5] and he claims that “difference is absolutely essential to the economy of genre”[6]. This illustrates why professional wrestling has evolved over time as a genre.

Once women broke into the professional wrestling industry, they were in it solely to wrestle and to prove a point, that women can be tough, aggressive and powerful too, however this representation gradually evolved into the promiscuous sex object which we see in today’s WWE broadcasts. In the late 1990's, the WWE (then known as the WWF, World Wrestling Federation) went through the "Attitude Era"[7]. This is where WWE shows became a lot more "extreme "and "hardcore". The wrestling itself had become a lot more violent and brutal; the language had become rather foul and lewd while the representation of women had become a lot more sex appealing to male audiences. This sudden change occurred due to the fact that audiences became to some extent, more sadistic as they gain pleasure from seeing other people suffer. Audiences were bored of seeing technical mat wrestling and wanted more violence and blood in order to be shocked and excited. During the mid 1990’s, the WWE was in decline as pro wrestling was no longer as popular as it was in the 1980’s, however once the “Attitude Era” kicked off in the late 90’s, the WWE became more popular than perhaps ever before. The fact that more adult males began to watch WWE during this time supports Laura Mulvey's theory of the "male gaze"[8], which is a technique of using a sexy female to attract more men to watch a particular text. On the other hand, it is believed that children watch WWE most; therefore the way in which these women are objectifying themselves is surely inappropriate for them. Mulvey wrote an essay titled "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" which evaluates how women are viewed as ‘the bearer of meaning and not the maker of meaning’ [9] which seems to be the case in WWE shows.

The WWE (then known as WWF, World Wrestling Federation) introduced women to its audiences in 1983. In the same year, The WWE had also created the WWE Women’s championship, which illustrates that they were beginning to take women rather seriously. This is due to the fact that the second wave of feminism had taken place in the last decade; therefore women were no longer going to accept being sexually discriminated. This was the time period where professional wrestling began to gain popularity with the rise of stars such as Hulk Hogan. Hogan’s popularity grew so high; he even appeared in ‘Rocky III’ as the villain ‘Thunderlips’.

During the 1980’s, one female wrestler who became incredibly popular among wrestling audiences was ‘The Fabulous Moolah’. Moohlah was one of the most dominant female wrestlers in the history of professional wrestling. Before entering the WWE, she was a part of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) where she won the championship in 1956 and held on to it for a staggering “10,170 days”[10] which is almost 28 years. She would enter the ring do whatever she could in order to be victorious. She was not necessarily the best looking woman either, which illustrates that she had been employed for her hard work and high level of skill in the ring rather than just being “mere eye candy.”[11] This clearly goes against Gunter’s theory that “men were more likely to be adventurous, active and victorious, whereas women were more frequently shown as weak, ineffectual, victimized, supportive, and laughable or 'merely token females.”[12] Before the women’s division was introduced into the WWE that was the case however wrestlers such as Moohlah changed that. Moohlah never wore provocative clothing like the female wrestlers of today wear; Moohlah wore what appeared to be swimsuit spandex which would fully cover up her cleavage and buttocks, therefore not looking very promiscuous. During her ring entrances, she wore sparkling sunglasses which connoted her superiority, power and wealth. Moohlah appeared in the very first ‘WrestleMania’, which is the biggest annual event on the WWE’s calendar. It is also referred to as “the WWE’s version of the Super Bowl”[13]. It took place in the most famous arena in the world, Madison Square Garden, so for Moolah, this was an impressive achievement to perform “when the lights are on bright”[14]. Although Moohlah’s popularity sky-rocketed, Mulvey also argued that audiences are “encouraged to identify with the protagonist of a text who tended to be a man.”[15] The number 1, fan favorite during this time was Hulk Hogan and his merchandise sales were far higher than Moohlah’s which evidently supports Mulvey’s view. As the silver anniversary of ‘WrestleMania’ is approaching, it is clear that this was a while ago and things would have indeed changed within the space of 25 years.

In the year of WrestleMania 9 in 1993, “only 3 per cent of women were represented as housewives as their main occupation”[16]. In the past, women’s roles were the housewife whilst they depend on their husbands the breadwinners. This was because “under a patriarchal regime, women are, by definition, excluded from positions of power and authority”[17] However this all began to change during the Second World War where “men were called up to serve in the forces, women took over the jobs traditionally done by men.”[18] This indicates that the society we live in is no longer a patriarchal one. Shortly after WrestleMania 11 in 1995, ‘Alundra Blayze’ won the WWE Women’s championship, however did not reveal to officials that she had signed with the companies growing rival, World Championship Wrestling (WCW). As she went to WCW, the women’s championship had gone vacant which then led to a huge lack of female wrestling in WWE. The female role in WWE had a major change from this day, and female wrestling almost appeared to be dead in WWE. The role of a female in WWE has become a male wrestler’s manager. It could be argued that women were in WWE to be “looked at, objectified and sexualized by the male protagonist”[19], which is the male wrestlers they manage.

As women could no longer “kick ass” in the ring, what could possibly grab the audience’s attention? Mulvey would guess that it would be a “blonde with large breasts and long smooth legs”[20]. Evidently, she was correct as the two most remembered and successful managers of this time period were ‘Sunny’ and Terri Runnels. Sharon Smith believes “the role of women almost always revolves around her physical attraction and the mating games she plays with the male character”[21]. ‘Sunny’ and Terri are a stereotypical representation which the media defines as beautiful. The media categorises women in the media into two sections, the “Madonna who is pure, maternal, chaste, and modest and the Whore who is loose, sexual, amoral, and sinful”[22]. Sunny was the manager of a variety of tag teams in which she would escort to the ring and cheer them on. She would also do the talking for the teams during backstage interviews were she would seem a little bit aggressive yet seductive. She would often wear mini skirts which would appeal to male audiences. Sunny appeared on a variety of posters wearing bikini’s which represented her as nothing but a sex object. Terri was also a very promiscuous individual from her behaviour in WWE. She managed a “bizarre” wrestler called ‘Goldust’ who was a man obsessed with gold. She would often wear a tight gold dress and smoke cigars which would connote the fact that she is represented as wealthy. David Gauntlets theory that “the role of women in a text almost always revolves around her physical appearance”[23] is supported here as women would only be able to be in WWE if they were good looking. Although she was a “heel” which is the wrestling term for evil, the male audiences loved her and would always cheer for her, however would boo her man, ‘Goldust’. Propp’s theory of “Good Vs Evil” [24] has always been a part of professional wrestling. This is evident as the wrestlers are always represented as good respectable people (heroes) or rule breaking rebels (villains).

By 1998, with the rise of the “Attitude Era”, the fans of WWE began to favour the rebellious “bad guys” rather than the “good guys”. This was perhaps the most successful era the WWE has ever been through which led to the superstardom of wrestlers such as ‘Stone Cold Steve Austin’ and ‘The Rock’. This era also saw the formation of the most controversial group in professional wrestling’s history, D-Generation X, with the catchphrase “Suck it”[25], it is clear that they were obscene and rebellious. ‘The Attitude Era’ changed the face of professional wrestling forever. During match promos and backstage interviews, the wrestlers would swear at one and other and matches would no longer consist of “wrestling”, they appeared more like street fights with no rules. Some matches created during this era are the ‘Hell in a Cell’, ‘Last Man Standing’, ‘Hardcore’ and the ‘Inferno’ match. These have been some of the most barbaric matches in history of professional wrestling. It’s strange how women have never competed in any of these matches before, does the WWE feel as though the women are simply not tough enough or does the audience just want to see their bodies? These questions remain unanswered.

Germaine Greer states that “every woman knows that she is a failure if she is not beautiful”[26], which may be the case in WWE as they only tend to employ women who are good looking nowadays. According to Gauntlet, “men typically made the decisions which led the story, and were assertive, confident and dominant” [27] which may be the reason why women are treated like this and are being represented on television in a promiscuous way to satisfy men. If women were in charge and had the power and authority to make some decisions, their roles on television would likely be different. A few months after the “Attitude Era” had begun; the WWE Women’s championship was brought back after a three year absence. WWE began to employ more women again so that they could once again compete for the title, however it would not be technical mat wrestling in the way ‘Moohlah’ competed, the diva matches in the late 90’s almost appeared to be “cat fighting”. The women would wear wrestling attire, however would have special designers in order to show off their cleavage and body with unique designs to show their flesh. The women wouldn’t always “cat fight”; they would compete in other ways never seen before in professional wrestling such as bikini contests and ‘lingerie pillow fights’.

The WWE had begun this “Attitude Era” due to the fact that the fans wanted it and as their primary rival WCW were winning in the ratings war, Vince McMahon gave the WWE fans exactly what they wanted in order to try beat the rivals. The ratings war is known as “The Monday Night Wars” as WWE Raw would be competing against WCW Nitro at the same time. WCW won 52 weeks in a row, which led to McMahon doing anything possible to gain a larger audience. This then led to the WWE beginning to advertise with a new catchphrase, “Anything can happen in the WWE”[28]. Women in WWE objectified themselves so much throughout this era that even on some cases; they would remove their bras or bikinis on national television. This was done by ‘Sable’ who also happened to be a blonde and was the number one fan favourite female wrestler at the time as she was the “perfect provocateur.”[29] Mulvey states that female characters hold an “appearance coded for strong, visual and erotic impact."[30] This certainly was the case with ‘Sable’ as she became a fan favourite within a very short time. Although this has only happened a few times, it is extremely controversial due to the fact that millions of children watch these shows. The fact that WWE did this highlights a patriarchal society and that men have more power than women and that males are the target audience who need to be pleased. On videos and DVD’s which the WWE produced, the certificate had changed to either ‘15’ or 18’ which is a major change from the older videos being ‘PG’. The women of WWE were portrayed as “to-be-looked-at-ness”[31] which clearly means they were in the business to be looked at and nothing more.

In 2001, Vince McMahon purchased World Championship Wrestling from his rival Ted Turner for $7 million which meant that the WWE was the only mainstream professional wrestling company on television. A short while after, the WWE (then WWF) was sued by the World Wildlife Fund (also known as WWF) for the rights of the initials ‘WWF’. This then led to the World Wrestling Federation re naming themselves as World Wrestling Entertainment. Their shows then began to air adverts informing audiences on the new name WWE, which ended with the catchphrase “Get the ‘F’ out!”[32] which has the connotations of the saying “get the fuck out” however its initial meaning is the fact that the word ‘Federation’ is no longer a part of the companies name.

Once the WWF was re named to WWE, they went for a whole new approach to its audience and began to tone things down when it came to extreme violence and obscenity. Women do still compete in bikini contests, lingerie pillow fights and even water fights in the summer, however they are not as explicit as they were in the late 90’s. The matches which the males compete in can also still be quite violent and brutal, however they occur less often and tend to only happen on ‘pay per view’ events. The swearing in WWE has also been toned down to some extent, however not completely.

In aim to promote the WWE’s leading event WrestleMania, since 2003 a WWE Diva has posed for the April (same time as WrestleMania) issue of ‘Playboy’ magazine every year. The WWE has become a hybrid genre now as it features so many elements from other genres such as soap operas/dramas from the wild storylines WWE now has and also soft pornography from the women’s representation. Once again this supports Neales belief that “genre is not fixed” as professional wrestling has evolved and begun to borrow conventions from other genres. The WWE will never be the way it once was 25 years ago as so much has changed in the company and in society.

WWE’s representation of women has evolved a lot over the past 25 years. The women were once represented as tough and physically fit competitors, and then all of a sudden they were shown as “Barbie dolls” that could not even fight their way out of a paper bag. This representation then shortly changed into women who are gorgeous and can fight in the ring too. In 2008, the WWE even introduced a new championship for women to compete for, the Divas championship. This illustrates how women are now being treated almost as equally as men are. “Post-feminists believe that women have achieved their second wave goals while being critical of third wave feminist goals. The term was first used in the 1980s to describe a backlash against second-wave feminism”[33]. The male representation today in WWE is almost like “the new man”[34]. Apart from being anti violent, the “new man” is a man who cares a lot about their appearance, similar to a metro sexual. They are men who look after themselves, have a tidy hair cut, are clean shaven and may have ear rings. An example of this is Randy Orton in WWE, who happens to have many female fans. This is due to the “female gaze”[35] which is exactly the same as the “male gaze” but with the genders reversed. Orton’s representation is a lot different to the way in which male wrestlers were represented 25 years ago; for example, Hulk Hogan had long golden locks with a large moustache. One thing which certainly has not changed is the fact that whether the wrestler is large or small, they must have a good physique. Kenneth MacKinnon claims that “The male body takes a crucial role in masculinity. Because the body is so obviously there, and it is yet so obviously physical, the suggestion that if it is a male, its masculinity is natural.”[36]

WCW represented women in a very similar way to the WWE, the only difference being that they would never go as far as WWE did by revealing women’s breasts on national television. WCW had ‘The Nitro Girls’ who danced in provocative clothing for the live audience in attendance during commercial breaks on their show ‘Nitro’. They would also occasionally appear on television. WCW is also a prime example of what Laura Mulvey talks about and how men are drawn into watching something which objectifies women in a promiscuous way. Although WCW never had a women’s championship, they did have women’s matches and rivalries. When WCW began in 1988, there were not any female wresters at all. Women’s roles were solely to manage some of the male wrestlers and cheer them on and motivate them during matches. Their roles then changed in 1998 just like in WWE. The women in WCW were beginning to be represented as sex objects as they wore provocative clothing and acted in a seductive way for the male audiences.

Just as Vince McMahon thought he had the only mainstream professional wrestling company after buying WCW, in came Total Non-stop Action. WWE commentator, Jim Ross claims that “TNA is the new WCW”[37] as it is the WWE’s current primary rival. As TNA is a contemporary text, the representation of women has always been the same ever since it was launched in 2002. When TNA first began, on either side of the entrance ramp would be a female dancer locked inside a cage who would dance as the wrestlers entrance music would play. The fact that they were locked in a cage objectifies them in an extremely negative way, almost treating them as though they are animals in a zoo. These dancers would wear very short skirts along with a sports bra which would gain the male audiences attention. Also when TNA began, the female wrestlers also wore provocative clothing and wrestled on a regular basis similarly to WWE; however they did not have a championship to compete for until 2007, were the women’s division was taken a little more seriously.

In the way WWE calls its female employees ‘Divas’; TNA refers to theirs as the ‘TNA Knockouts’. A dominating ‘Knockout’ called Awesome Kong debuted in 2007. She is the largest woman on the roster and has destroyed everyone who has crossed her path. She is represented as “evil” as she always wears a black demon like costume and during her ring entrance low key lighting is used. This is the first time in a long time wrestling audiences have seen a female wrestler who is not represented as a sex object. This may be due to the fact that she does not fit into the stereotypical definition of “beautiful” as she is black, does not have blonde hair and is over weight. Her opponents are always represented as “good” and often wear colours which make them look good, pure or innocent such as white, pink or yellow. According to Levi-Strauss, the way in which Kong and her opponents would be represented, are as “binary oppositions”[38]. Kong is represented a lot like the “big and bad” male wrestlers which are viewed as monstrous, for example in WWE, ‘The Undertaker’ and ‘Kane’ are represented in very similar ways. However whether ‘The Undertaker’ and ‘Kane’ are represented as “good” or “evil”, fans always cheer them. “Within certain limits, aggressive male behaviour is accepted as a normal part of everyday life”[39], which may be why Kong is often disliked by the audience as she is being represented in a masculine way which the audience does not want. She is even physically stronger than some of the male wrestlers and “feminist critics have been particularly attracted to iconic images of strong women.”[40]

Other texts such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Gladiators represent their women in similar ways to professional wrestling. Provocative clothing is worn by all women featured in both of these texts; however that is also the case for the men within these to texts.

World Wrestling Entertainment represents its women in an objectifying and promiscuous way yet in a tough, skilled and athletic way. Changes in society also played a large part in the evolution of WWE and how its wrestlers are represented. The representations of women in WWE today are a combination of the way they were represented 25 years ago with the way they were represented 10 years ago. “Almost every girl has someone whom she admires and idolizes, whether it’s a family member, a fictional character, or a celebrity” [41]and the WWE Divas of today would not be a bad choice. The promiscuity has been toned down from the way it was during the “Attitude Era” therefore that would not be an issue and there is nothing wrong with wanting to be beautiful, tough and athletic all in one. Although the current representation of women in WWE is to some extent positive, it is still negative from the provocative clothing which is worn by the women. The representation of both men and women can change again at anytime as “gender is like fluid and can change within different contexts over time”[42]
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Bibliography

Works cited:

Books:
Anne Cranny-Francis, Wendy Waring, Pam Stavropolous, and Joan Kirby (2003) ‘Gender Studies: Terms and Debates’

Cortese, Anthony (1999) ‘Images of Women and Minorities in Advertising’

Gauntlett, David (2002) ‘Media Gender & Identity: An introduction’

Foucault, Michael (1981) ‘The History of Sexuality’

Greer Germaine, (1999) ‘The Whole Woman’, London: Doubleday

Gunter, Barrie (1995) ‘Television and Gender Representation’

Ziauddin Sardar and Barin Van Loon, (2002) ’Introducing Media Studies’.

Levi-Strauss, Claude (1969) ‘The Raw and the Cooked’

MacKinnon, Kenneth (2003) ‘Representing Men’

Mulvey Laura, (1975), ‘Visual pleasure and Narrative Cinema’

Phillips, Patrick, (1996) ‘Understanding Film Texts’

Propp, Vladimir, (1928), ‘The Morphology of a Fairytale’

Neale, Steve, (2002), ‘Genre and Contemporary Hollywood’

Smith, Sharon, (1972), ‘Women and film’

Tasker, Yvonne (2004) ‘Action and Adventure cinema’

Tuchman Gaye, (1978), ‘The Symbolic Annihilation of Women in the Mass Media’

Internet:
http://cid.nada.kth.se/pdf/cid_51.pdf
This website outlines and explains the theory of the “female gaze”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bond_girl
This website gives an outline on how women are represented in the media paying particular attention to the ‘Bond girl’.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_feminism#Post-feminism
This website gives a brief outline on post feminism and the waves of feminism which occurred.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabulous_Moolah
This website gives an outline on both the career and personal life of WWE Hall of Famer, The Fabulous Moolah.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Mulvey
This website is about the life of Laura Mulvey and her theory of the “male gaze” which is spoken about in her book, Visual pleasure and Narrative Cinema’.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_feminism#Post-feminism
This website gives a brief outline on post feminism. It also highlights the waves of feminism which occurred.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wrestling_Entertainment
This website gives a brief history of the WWF/E.

http://feministreview.blogspot.com/2008/06/sex-and-city-movie.html
This website focuses on how the women in the film, Sex and the City are represented, however also contains information on how women are represented in the media overall.

http://personallifemedia.com/podcasts/238-the-new-man
This website explains the theory of the “new man”.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/6611/madonnas_impact_on_society.html
This website highlights the impact which “Madonna’s” have on society. It also has information on the “whore”.

http://www.historyonthenet.com/WW2/home_front.htm#Women
This website gives a brief outline on the history of women’s roles.

http://www.jrsbarbq.com/blog/
This is the blog of WWE commentator, Jim Ross. It is updated regularly as he responds to fans emails.

Moving Image Texts:
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment

Works Consulted:

Books:
AS Media Studies, John Price and Joe Nicholas

Magazines:
WWE Divas 2005
WWE Divas 2006

Internet:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladiators_(2008_UK_TV_series)
This website is about the new Gladiators show which airs on Sky One.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladiators_(UK_TV_series)
This is about the Gladiators show during the 90’s on ITV.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wrestler_(2008_film)
This website is about the film “The Wrestler” featuring Mickey Rourke.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_Nonstop_Action_Wrestling
This website gives a brief history of TNA.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ufc
This website gives a brief history of UFC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Championship_Wrestling
This website explains the rise and fall of WCW.

http://www.gladiatorszone.co.uk/
This is the official Gladiators website

http://www.tnawrestling.com/
This is the official website for TNA.

http://uk.ufc.com/
This is the official UFC website

http://www.wwe.com/
This is the official WWE website.

Moving Image Texts:
Gladiators
National Wrestling Alliance
Rocky III (1982) directed by Sylvester Stallone.
Total Non-stop Action
Ultimate Fighting Championship
World Championship Wrestling


[1] World Wrestling Entertainment (quote has been used on more than one occasion by a variety of WWE announcers)
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wrestling_Entertainment
[3] Neale, Steve (2002), ‘Genre and Contemporary Hollywood’ page.72
[4] Phillips, Patrick (1996), ‘Understanding Film Texts’ page.21
[5] Neale, Steve (2002), ‘Genre and Contemporary Hollywood’ page.72
[6] Neale, Steve (2002), ‘Genre and Contemporary Hollywood’, page.73
[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wrestling_Entertainment
[8] Mulvey Laura, (1975), ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ page.23
[9] Mulvey Laura, (1975), ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ page.23
[10] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fabulous_Moolah
[11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bond_girl
[12] Gunter, Barrie (1995) ‘Television and Gender Representation’ page.86
[13] World Wrestling Entertainment (quote by WWE announcer, Jim Ross)
[14] World Wrestling Entertainment (quote by WWE wrestler/former announcer John Bradshaw Layfield)
[15] Mulvey, Laura, (1975) ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ page.23
[16] Gauntlett, David (2002) ‘Media Gender & Identity: An introduction’ page. 58
[17] Francis, Cranny (2003) ‘Gender Studies: Terms and Debates’ page. 81
[18] http://www.historyonthenet.com/WW2/home_front.htm#Women
[19] Mulvey, Laura, (1975) ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ page.24
[20] Mulvey, Laura, (1975) ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ page.23
[21] Smith, Sharon, (1972), ‘Women and film’ page78
[22] Ziauddin Sardar and Barin Van Loon, (2002) ’Introducing Media Studies’ page 84
[23] Gauntlett, David (2002) ‘Media, Gender and Identity’ page48
[24] Propp, Vladimir, (1928) ‘The Morphology of a Fairytale’ page.6
[25] D-Generation X, (A group of WWE wrestlers which united together in September 1997)
[26] Greer, Germaine (1999) ‘The Whole Woman’, London: Doubleday page.63
[27] Gauntlett, David (2002) ‘Media Gender & Identity: An introduction’ page.46
[28] World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (quote has been used on more than one occasion by a variety of WWE announcers)
[29] Cortese, Anthony (1999) ‘Images of Women and Minorities in Advertising’ page.54
[30] Mulvey Laura, (1975) ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ page.34
[31] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Mulvey
[32] World Wrestling Entertainment (said during WWE shows during commercial breaks and written on WWE merchandise)
[33] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_feminism#Post-feminism
[34] http://personallifemedia.com/podcasts/238-the-new-man
[35] http://cid.nada.kth.se/pdf/cid_51.pdf
[36] MacKinnon, Kenneth (2003) ‘Representing Men’ page.5
[37] Ross, Jim (2008) World Wrestling Entertainment http://www.jrsbarbq.com/blog/
[38] Levi-Strauss, Claude (1969) ‘The Raw and the Cooked’ page.43
[39] http://feministreview.blogspot.com/2008/06/sex-and-city-movie.html
[40] Tasker, Yvonne (2004) ‘Action and Adventure cinema’ page.9
[41] http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/6611/madonnas_impact_on_society.html
[42] Foucault, Michael (1981) ‘The History of Sexuality’ page.79

Comparison of the two Texas Chainsaw Massacre films

The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre was released in 1974 and was perhaps one of the greatest slasher films of its time as it was the first film which began to reveal the horrific traits and repertoire of elements which are now so commonly viewed in slasher films today. Due to the fact that it was so successful, the film was remade in 2003 and as technology has advanced so rapidly since the 1970's, it was able to capture the horror and the graphic detail to its full extent making it just as successful. This essay will compare and contrast both versions and attempt to make a judgement as to which one is more successful in achieving its purpose.

The mask is an important symbol in which both films have. The fact that the villian cuts his victims faces off and wears them as a mask adds to the plot and resulted in the villian earning the nickname "Leatherface". The mask was first introduced as a tool to establish suspense and horror within in the film which was successful, therefore, newer films made then borrowed the idea of a masked villian, for example Halloween and Scream. Although the mask is a symbol within the film, the film is recognised by the chainsaw. This extreme tool is used as a weapon throughout both films in order for it to be gory enough to appeal to their target audience which consists predominantly of C1 C2 and perhaps even D teenage males who experience voyeuristic pleasures in watching the characters within the film suffer, particularly the final girl.

The original film is a lot less graphic and gory due to the technology used back in 74, therefore it does not create the same impact that the newer version does. The 2003 version allows the audience to understand each character easier so that we can establish a relationship with them so that once they are murdered, the audience is able to empathise with the final girl and are therefore left satisfied at the end when she finally escapes. Propps theory is challenged as the “princess” in need to be saved actually takes on the role of “the hero” which can be considered to challenge patriarchal ideology despite her being the subject of voyeuristic pleasure from a male audience.

To conclude, both films are overall very similar as they portray the same ideologies yet their content and the use of editing and direction is completely different in order to appeal to its newly developed younger target audience. When viewing the 1974 version today, some may view it as perhaps a classic however younger audiences may see it as as almost comedic. Male ideologies are challenged when “Leatherface” is shown to be wearing a kitchen apron which in turn also affiliates with the film “Psycho” and the idea that a “woman” is the cause of such mayhem to occur.

Similarites and Differences of Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Iconography
1974- the main iconography from this version of the film is that of the famous mask which is used by the character leatherface.
2003- the same mask is used however with the use of make up more detail was put into the mask and also the same chain saw is used, but it is used more often in the newer film compared to the older film

Setting
1974 - the setting of the film is in America, Texas the film is based in the desert with other scenes featuring the house of leatherface and different shots of the outdoors in that area.
2003 - the film features in the same area of texas, the film shows all other bits of the old film but inside the house it is quite different, in the older film they didnt go into leatherfaces headquaters as much but in the new film characters are acctually shown moving about.

Narrative
1974 - narrative of this movie follows the narrative of a classic slasher movie/ kids get stuck in the middle of nowhere looking for shelter and get killed one by one
2003 -The narrative in this movie is the same/ kids in a van get trapped in the middle of nowhere where they look for shelter and go into the wrong place and get killed

Characters
1974 -
final girl
main male character
other members of their group
leatherface
leatherface family

2003 -
final girl
main male character
other members of their group
leatherface
leatherface family
Girl who kills herself and her brother
People who lived in the caravan

Themes
villain vs. hero ( both)
final girl/ good vs. Evil (both)

Targets

-Write the essay in more of an academic way rather than a fan based way.

-Include more media language points.

-More book research.

-Sort footnotes out.

Scary Movie Franchise

The Scary Movie franchise are a number of spoof films which parodie the horror, slasher and mystery genre. Scary Movie films have made a number of references to a number of other films. These films include:

Scream
I Know What You Did Last Summer
The Exorcist
The Blair Witch Project
The Usual Suspects
The Shining
Titanic
Thinner
The Matrix
Drop Dead Gorjeous

The Franchise:

Scary movie 1 -8th September 2000 (UK)

Scary movie 2 -7th September 2001 (UK)

Scary movie 3 - 23rd January 2004 (UK)

Scary movie 4 -13rd April 2006 (UK)

Post-modern-

Pastiche-A media text made up from other media text pieces or of imitations of other styles.

Irony- Irony is when humour is based on using words to suggest the opposite of their literal meaning.

Intertextuality- The practice of purposely including a reference of one text in the narrative of another, it can generate levels of meaning for the viewer.

Parody-A parody is in contemporary usage, is a work created to mock, comment on, or poke fun at an original work, its subject, or author, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation

Spoof- a composition that imitates or misrepresents some body's style, usually in a humorous way

Scream Franchise

Throughout Scream 1, a variety of references to other horror films are made. These films include:

A Nightmare on Elm Street
Halloween
Carrie
The Thing With Two Heads
Dementia 13
Night of the Living Dead
Candyman
The Howling
Frankinstein
The Texas Chainsaw Massicre
Firday the 13th
The Exorcist
Psycho

The Scream films were very popular amongst lovers of the slasher genre as it revealed a different aspect to the killings and the slasher genre as a whole. It also had a number of references to the majority of the most popular horror films ever made.

The props and all of the weaponery used in the Scream movies are similar to the props and the weaponery that were used in other slasher movies, for example the knife that the killer uses is the same weapon used by Michael Myers, Jason and even Freddy, as the knife being a phallic symbol but it is also chosen as the slasher weapon as it recieves a more visceral effect from the audience. This movie revitalized the slasher genre since the 1970's to the 1980's as it used a similar concept to Halloween, which was the concept of the 'tongue in cheek' approach that combined straightforward scares with dialogue that satirized slasher film conventions.

Scream became a major commercial success upon its release, and was one of the highest grossing films of 1996. It was also highly acclaimed by many critics worldwide, who appreciated the film's tongue-in-cheek approach. It received an 84% "fresh" rating on rottentomatoes.com. As a result it spawned two sequels, Scream 2 and Scream 3. A fourth film was announced by The Weinstein Company in July 2008.

Pastiche: a work of art that imitates the style of some previous work.

Irony: a literary or rhetorical device, in which there is an or discordance between what one says or does, and what one means or what is ...

Intertextuality: the shaping of texts' meanings by other texts. It can refer to an author’s borrowing and transformation of a prior text or to ...

Nightmare on Elm Street Franchise

The Nightmare on Elm Street films have been said to be perhaps the most successful within the genre of slasher and yet they introduced a new sub genre, being the supernatural sub genre.

Wes Craven set out to make a deliberately more cerebral film than the previous entries to the franchise - which he regarded as cartoonish and not faithful to his original themes. This was the main reason for changing some of the themes involved in the film and modifying the mask slightly to make it look more scary. More of the props of the original movie have been changed or modified to fit in with the more sinister theme of the movie, for instance the glove which was made to be more sinister.

Wes Cravens New Nightmare was preceeded by Freddy's dead and it was followed by Freddy Vs Jason which was the merge of the two most popular characters within the slasher genre and both have made a name of themselves through killing people and contrasting in their killings.



This film was a forerunner to Wes Cravens Scream which was made just two years later.