The Raphel Angel 12

BECHDEL TEST In the 21st century, women are running for president, gaining more spots in congress, and advancing in society; however, in film and television, women are still portrayed in stereotypical and discriminatory ways. The Bechdel Test critiques a movie or television series’ portrayal of women. Created by Alison Bechdel in 1985, The Bechdel Test is a measure of female representation in film and television that uses three criteria for evaluating the presence and visibility of strong female characterizations. a way of evaluating whether a film or other work of fiction portrays women in a way that is sexist or characterized by gender stereotyping. To pass the Bechdel test a work must feature at least two women, these women must talk to each other, and their conversation must concern something other than a man. There are variations of the Bechdel Test for other protected groups, such as the DuVernay Test, and the Vito Russo Test.  The Bechdel Test presents three questions: Are t...

  THE ANALYSIS OF FEW FILMS BASED ON THE ESSAY-VISUAL PLEASURE AND NARRATIVE CINEMA (LAURA MULVEY) Mulvey begins her article by reminding readers of the function of women in the patriarchal unconscious according to psychoanalysis: “she first symbolizes the castration threat by her real absence of a penis and, second, thereby raises her child into the symbolic”.  She goes on to explain that “in patriarchal culture [woman stands in] as signifier for the male other, bound by a symbolic order in which man can live out his phantasies and obsessions through linguistic command by imposing them on the silent image of woman still tied to her place as bearer of meaning, not maker of meaning”. She argues that since film is an advanced system of representation (like language and the unconscious), the structure of (mainstream) film reflects and reinforces the prevailing patriarchy which is structured by the desires of man.  The Male Gaze theory, in a nutshell, is where women in th...

ANUKUL- THE FILM REVIEW Anukul, is the story of a man who hires an android as his housekeeper directed by Sujoy Ghosh.  The film  is adapted from a short story that was originally written by Satyajit Ray with the same name.  Adapted from Satyajit Ray’s story of the same name, Anukul is the story of a man who hires a robot-human for his daily chores. The robot looks like a human, acts like one and at times even thinks like one but in the race between technology and ‘dil’ (Heart), the humans will always have an upper hand. The film begins with Nikunj trying to buy a technological product and inquiring about its functionality. The audience is slowly let into this universe and we’re told that the product he’s buying is actually a human-android who can be employed as a house-keeper.   Anukul, the android, is an innocent looking ‘man’, who loves to read and is fascinated by the collection of books at his employer’s house. His machine doesn’t sleep and so he spends al...