To what extent
do V for Vendetta & Children of Men conform to film stereotypes and what
messages are behind these representations?
The two films that I am studying both do conform to
film stereotypes to an extent however they both have aspects that go against
these traditional stereotypes which I will be exploring throughout the essay.
However the film V for Vendetta appears to conform to these stereotypes to a
greater extent than that which Children of Men does.
Both films follow the typical ‘horror’ characteristic
of having a ‘final girl’ despite both being hybrid genre sci-fi thriller films.
In V for Vendetta the final girl is the character of Evie, although she does
fit many of the guidelines of a final girl she does differ in some ways. Evie
reaches the end of the film and achieves her goal due to being smart, and
through masculating herself. This is a common characteristic of how final girls
reach the end of films and how we know that they are the stereotype of a final
girl. Evie however achieves her objective through well planned out efforts and
a strategy which does not conform to the stereotype which is that final girls
normally defeat the final obstacle they face by accident or by some streak of
luck. This shows that much like the genre of the film Evie is a hybrid of the
final girl stereotype, she has lost her girlish characteristics and achieves
her goals through planning but does survive to the end as the last significant
female making her fit into the stereotype nonetheless. The film Children of Men
however does not have this stereotype of a final girl, despite Kee surviving to
the end of the film she does not do it through any of her own actions, the only
reason she reaches her destination and survives the problems she faces
throughout the film is through the actions of a male (Theo) and sacrifices
others have made for her. She survives through to the end but does not meet any
of the physical or mental stereotypes of a final girl so I do not feel that she
should be placed into this category showing that the film Children of Men does
not follow the common stereotype of genre of a final girl, and does so to
convey the message that although women are necessary to keep the world going
they need men to help them reach this goal and outcome.
The next stereotype i will focus on is that of a
hypermasculine protagonist. The film V for Vendetta immediately meets this
stereotype through the character of V. The character possesses super human
speed and strength which immediately shows him as a hypermasculine alpha male.
And scene which displays this to the greatest extent is in the conclusion of
the film where V fights multiple soldiers in the underground and kills them all
whilst being repeatedly shot at. This demonstration of his power shows his hypermasculine
characteristics and representation perfectly meeting the traditional stereotype
of a hypermasculine protagonist. You can also read into this in a psychosexual
way as V uses large knives to repeatedly penetrate his enemies to show his
dominance over them, this again supports the idea of him being hypermasculine
as i shows his superiority as an alpha male. V for vendetta also turns the
stereotypical female character of Evie into a hypermasculinised heroine who
completes Vs Vendetta. When she becomes masculinised Evie loses her fear and
also her hair, masculinising her personality and physical appearance. The way
that both protagonists fit the hypermasculine stereotype conveys the message
that only males can complete the important actions in the world, and gives the
idea that women almost need to change and become like males to make an impact
on the world. This message can be interpretated differently but that is how i
personally read into the film. Children of Men however has no predominant hypermasculinised
characters to fit into the stereotype, the only characters that i felt
portrayed these characteristics were the revolutionary group ‘The Fishes’
during the scene in which they chase Theo and Kee as they try to escape. The
fishes however are robbed of this hypermasculinity when they display feminine
traits during the scene in which Kee is wandering through the battle ground
with her baby and all fighting hold a ceasefire. This stop in fighting and
consideration is a feminine trait of weakness which would not be portrayed by a
hypermasculinised character. This leads me to the conclusion that V for
Vendetta conforms to the stereotypes of a Hypermasculine protagonist whilst
Children of Men does not conform to any extent.
The next main stereotype is that of a positive
British National Identity. As a Hollywood film it is to be expected that even
though it is dystopian V for Vendetta will still present Britain in a more
tourist appealing attractive way than the film Children of Men will. V for
Vendetta shows all the iconic locations of Britain such as the houses of
parliament and the old Bailey, despite being a dystopian film we see very
little evidence of this in the physicality’s of the buildings and locations in
which the film is set. The majority of characters in the film are very well
spoken in a typical British accent showing that the film follows these
stereotypes of the British national identity. However the film has a totalitarian
government with strong Nazi symbolism which goes against any stereotypes and
traditional representations of the British. This is put in the film to show the
dystopian theme of the film and means that the film cannot fully conform to the
typical Representation of the British national identity so only meets the
stereotype to a certain extent. The film Children of Men again goes against
stereotypes and does not follow any stereotypes of British National Identity
other than the accents which all of the English characters throughout the film
possess. These are none of Britain’s typical tourist attractions shown and the
country is presented in a negative light so would cause no desire for potential
tourists watching the film to visit. I feel that the film goes against these
stereotypes because it is a British made film rather than a Hollywood made film
so it has no influences or pressures from outside sources to include a positive
presentation of any aspects or buildings of the British.
In conclusion V for Vendetta conforms to the
stereotypes of Characters and British National Identity to a much higher extent
than children of men does. I feel that it does this because it is a Hollywood
film so follows more typical conventions to attract a wider audience unlike the
film children of men which was a British film and therefore aimed to give a
truer representation of Britain and what the future holds rather than to simply
create as much money as possible for those involved.
