Within my essay, I will discuss the representation of women through its narrative within my two chosen films Pretty Woman (1990) and Erin Brockovich (2000). I will not only look at how the main characters (both played by Julia Roberts), Vivian in Pretty Woman and Erin, are portrayed internally, but also supporting stars like Kit (Vivian's prostitute best friend) and Theresa Dallavale ( a lawyer). Additionally, I will explore the portrayal of women as the inferior sex in films. This representation often depends on culture, education, age and other aspects. However, taking all of that into account, this is my exploration of how Pretty Women and Erin Brockovich represent women in fiction. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The film Erin Brockovich (2000) is based on a true story. In the film, Erin is an unemployed, twice-divorced single mom looking for work after losing her personal injury lawsuit. She seeks the help of her lawyer Ed Masry to get her a job. However, no one takes her seriously in her job, with her provocative clothes and foul-mouthed behavior. Attitudes change when Erin begins investigating a suspicious real estate case with the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, where they hid pollution that caused illness among residents. The film follows the typical five-act narrative structure. Pretty Woman (1990) follows the story of prostitute Vivian and how she meets wealthy businessman Edward, with whom the unlikely pair falls in love. Edward hires Vivian to stay with him for the week and the two become close. They learn that there are many obstacles to overcome if they want to be together; they bridge the gap between the two different social hierarchies. She's a modern Cinderella. As in Erin Brockovich, Pretty Woman has the same basic narrative structure. Throughout the films both Erin and Vivian are portrayed as strong women. Both have powerful identities. However, many argue that Vivian is portrayed as a helpless woman, while Erin is shown as an independent, determined, hard-working, long-suffering heroine who saves the day. At the beginning of the film, Erin is portrayed as the underdog, a typical role. for women in traditional novels and melodramas." The audience is introduced to Brockovich as a struggling single mother who is courageous but has an unsuccessful job interview. Shortly thereafter, she is physically injured when her car is hit by another car. Therefore, in the first five minutes of the film, Brockovich is portrayed as a victim,' (Roth 2004: p54). This attitude changes as we get to know Erin and begin to empathize with her as the narrative unfolds. Her story is framed in a way that creates pity and we sympathize with her. Even though it seems offensive at times, the viewer still wants him to succeed in his quest. Erin's provocative clothing shocks many of her colleagues. They refuse to engage her, are hostile to her, and approach her in a cruel and disrespectful manner. They judge Erin by her short skirts and low-cut tops; they assume he is incapable of doing his job. She doesn't adopt the business attire stereotype but she looks like she could be a prostitute and in many ways dresses like Vivian in Pretty Woman. While reading I Just Want to Be a Decent Citizen by Elaine Roth says, "The film portrays Brockovich's female colleagues as busybodies who object to his unprofessional dress." (Roth 2004: p57) An implication of this is that perhaps women can be very critical of each other and unsupportive just because of the way theythey dress; if you don't conform to protocol then you are not in the clique. This narrative portrays his female business colleagues in a negative light due to their behavior towards him. This can be seen in the scene where Erin is left out of lunch as it is "None of the Girls". Not only do Erin's co-workers fire her, but so does Theresa Dallavale, the new lawyer helping with the Hinkley case. The film mocks Dallavalle for being an insensitive woman who is unable to empathize with the residents of Hinkley, in contrast to Erin who understands them culturally and economically. Dallavalle's clothing separates her from the citizens of Hinkley. His suit and tie represent the power that scares the residents. Not only does her clothing disconnect her, but her privileged class status makes her incapable of exemplifying the bond of oppressed sympathy; this contrasts with Erin's educational background (Forbes and Smith, 2007). In the scene where Theresa criticizes Erin's search for her holes, this could represent to people that Theresa is someone who has loyalty to the male working domain. "With her body and dress, she declares symbolic allegiance to the professional, white, masculine world along with her lack of intention to subvert that arena with alternative “female values.” Edge (2003: p208)Throughout the film, Erin refuses to proclaim such an alliance. Erin's clothing helps her sympathize with these people, many of whom trust her because they feel she is not a "real lawyer." Erin uses her status as a single mom to try to bond with these people, even carrying his son on his hip as he tries to gain the trust of the plaintiffs. Furthermore, he uses his body to its fullest strength, manipulating and charming the male gaze to obtain information relating to the case.'Brockovich's connection to the Hinkley's people are based on emotional bonds as well as social class, while Dallavale remains a well-educated, upper-middle-class outsider.' (Roth 2004: p57) The audience's perception is to hate the stereotypical businesswoman and take Erin's side; the film portrays these women as alienating and irritating. The narrative is biased against Erin and argues that we should reject these working class women. “The film encourages its viewers to reject and loathe this working woman, who is portrayed as unmaternal, asexual and humorless.” the men around (judges, lawyers and doctors) are dressed formally and respected. There is a clear difference in the way men are portrayed in the films. This class and dress judgment can also be observed in Pretty Woman Vivian a rude, dirty and easy slut However, she embodies traits that are not usually associated with a prostitute lifestyle while challenging the stereotypical prostitute, Anderson supports my proposition by stating that "Vivian has avoided most of the evils inherent in the her illness in business, to drugs, to pimps and to physical abuse' …does not elicit the pathos usually implied in such a seemingly unfortunate position' (Anderson, 2001: p65) Despite her beliefs, many judge her by her appearance. This can be seen in the scene where she is trying to buy new clothes to transform into a princess. In this scene, conversation and performance play a significant role in representing society's view of Vivian as a prostitute; women immediately judge what kind of person he is. They are very hostile towards him: “I don't think we have anything for you; you're obviously in the wrong place." The shop assistant makes it clear that Vivian is not wanted and asks her to leave.They judge her to be lower class and believe they are better than her. The narrative represents the woman very poorly in this scene; For both Vivian and the shop assistant, the film portrays working women in a negative way. Shop assistants are framed as cruel upper-class women who exert their social influence. While some possibility of empathetic cooperation is allowed between women of the less favored classes, the women are depicted as all too willing to trample each other as they claw their way out. higher on the social ladder." (Greenberg, 1991) In support of Greenberg's statement in the shopping scene the narrative represents women against women. Instead of supporting each other, they decide to humiliate each other to better themselves. Again once, we see this woman against women when she returns to the store to mock the clerk No matter how triumphant and emotional this moment is in seeing Vivian get revenge on the snobbish clerk, the narrative means that it's okay for women to clash with each other. and break that bond of sisterhood that we have. Through the film, it glamorizes prostitutes and represents Vivian as an intelligent and courageous woman who knows her self-worth. We see the film portray other prostitutes in a negative way, for example her best friend Kit. The narrative represents Kit as a bad person as she is the one who leads Vivian down this dark path. She is unaware of the effects of prostitution. She is portrayed as a less attractive, hardened and unwise slut, thus showing Vivian in a better light. Kit is shown as a tough woman who has no self-esteem. There are many symbols in the film that show Kit's reluctance to fully accept the status and life of a prostitute. Anderson confirms my opinion by mentioning Winne the Pooh. A symbol of the fact that Kit is a little girl at heart.'Clear incompatibility found in the image of the "bad" prostitute Kit de Luca, not only is she satisfied with her career, but indulges in drug use, sleeping with a Pooh bear , indicating that her "little" girl persona is still battling with her hardened prostitute side. Contrasting images like this run throughout the film.' (Anderson, 2001: p69) Vivian and Kit have a sisterhood, they care for each other. This can be seen in the dialogue often said “Take care of yourself”. This is a sign of protection between them. These simple words characterize Kit as a caring person otherwise represented as a carefree woman who spends her rent money on drugs. However, in reading A Modern Cinderella, Kelly does not agree with this act of kindness and still sees Kit as a heartless person. «Kit doesn't seem to be a good friend yet. She drives Vivian into prostitution, pushes her to deny her feelings, ... Vivian is loving, but Kit is irresponsible and indifferent in his behavior.' (Kelly, 1994: p92) I would agree with Kit not being the best friend as she leads Vivian into prostitution as Kelly stated, but I don't agree with the accusation of not caring or the idea of ​​sisterhood. As we see Kit worry when Vivian is in trouble and that she helps Vivian run away with Edward as she will finally be able to leave her prostitute lifestyle behind. Besides this, we get to see genuine affection between the two characters as they go their separate ways. The film represents the sisterhood between the two characters. We see signs of care and love and that they both care for each other. The narrative changes for Kit and she is portrayed in a better light at the end of the film. Vivian's approach towards Kit is always to support her self-esteem and inspire her to follow her dreams, this samerespect invades the viewer. Kit finally gets this respect from the viewer when he makes a positive decision at the end of the film and decides to trade a life on the streets for beauty school. Although both films attempt to show the power of women, this is always overshadowed by men. In both films men have superior positions to women, says Karol Kelly in A Modern Cinderella "In Pretty Woman the male sex is ranked higher in wealth, employment and status than the female sex" (Kelly, 1994: p89) . I agree with Kelly and you can also see the patriarchal dominations within the film. The plot portrays Vivian as a vulnerable and weak individual in contrast to her counterpart, the macho men. In the narrative, it is very often the place where men are seen coming to her rescue. There are numerous times we see this; for example, we see it in the scene where Vivian has difficulty buying elegant clothes, as I said before. Barney, the hotel manager, comes to Vivian's rescue by transforming her into a princess, he helps her buy an appropriate dress and teaches table etiquette for an exclusive dinner. Many would say it symbolizes the characteristics of her fairy godmother, as in the film Cinderella, as seen in many traditional melodramas, the women receive help from a male character. 'She must be saved by Barney Thompson, the hotel manager, or from Edward and his credit card. Additionally, Edward saves Vivian from being raped by Phil, her lawyer. She is also helped by Mr Morse, the lift attendant and the hotel driver.' (Kelly, 1994: p90) Kelly presented many of the situations where Vivian needed saving and how she also feels that Vivian is a victim. Throughout the narrative, she is portrayed as a helpless damsel in distress and this can be clearly seen in the narration of the scenes listed above. Another aspect of how women are portrayed as weaker than the male is through their position in the narrative; no woman in the film is in a position of authority.'Edward is a businessman who works with male executives, lawyers, bankers and senators. Of course his telephone operator is a woman. Vivian provides feminine services for men… The hotel and shop managers are men; the shop assistants are women.' (Kelly, 1994: p89) This embodies what women should work for men who are superior and more valued. Even today, women typically have lower-paid jobs than the dominant male (Iftkhar, 2011). Looking at the portrayal of women in Erin Brockovich, there are many points within the film that are stereotypical and show the woman as an underdog and dominated in a patriarchal society, the lawyer, doctor and judge are all played by men in this movie. Women are the underdogs, yet it is one woman's strength, courage and determination to help another weak and vulnerable woman in Donna Jenson (a plaintiff). From the beginning, the narrative frames men better than women; higher and more powerful positions. This is represented by Erin's car accident. The audience knows that the white male doctor is wrong, but because of his position, authority, and gender the judge rules with him. Therefore, it is clearly demonstrated that women are portrayed as weaker, regardless of their social class level. This rapid sequence also reveals the class divide central to the film's narrative, as well as the film's goal of aligning itself with disenfranchised people. The car crash in the film's second scene quickly establishes the film's position that the rich harm the bodies of the poor. (Roth,?