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Final draft of Textual analysis

Compare and contrast the representation of gender in P.S. I love you and One Day.

Within this essay, I will be talking about the representation of gender within P.S. I Love You and One Day. It is questioned whether representing gender in these ways is sexist or not, some people feel that it is unfair to represent gender in these ways as it can be very untrue and biased. Whereas other people argue that people enjoy seeing things in this way and can relate to aspects. It is strongly argued that the way gender is represented within films affects the real life, with males being representing in this way, 

this has changed a lot in real life and males are very different now to how they used to be.

I will mostly be using the sound within these two films to back up what I am going to say. The representation within these two films is a contrast to one another, in P.S. I Love You Holly is shown having a change in behaviour throughout the film and in One Day, Emma is shown being a powerful and independent woman throughout. One Day challenges the stereotypes of females as they are usually shown as the weak, useless sex but as the film is not Hollywood it challenges this. Whereas P.S. I Love You conforms to the stereotypes of a woman going on a journey to find herself.

At the beginning of P.S. I Love You, we see the idea of women being represented as a predictable stereotype of a woman with having an argument with her partner without explaining the reason and also having a lot of shoes. Scene one introduces the characters, Holly and Gerry, they are arguing but Gerry doesn’t know what he has done to make her annoyed with him. She is shown as being argumentative through the sound, because even though they are walking down the street there is little background noise. This has been done to increase the tension of their argument and the only sounds we hear is Gerry’s dialogue. This also directs the audience to listen to what Gerry has to say and the audience realise that Gerry’s dialogue is important. Holly is being shown as a powerful character during this scene, she is shown having power of the situation and over Gerry, during their argument Gerry leaves their apartment and then asks to return a few minutes later. Because of the long take once Gerry has left, we see that Holly didn’t really want him to leave and that she is feeling sad without him. This has been done because the target audience for P.S. I Love You is females and they want to be portrayed as quite powerful at the beginning of a film to draw them in.

A comparison with this is in One Day in the second scene when again we have an introduction to the characters. However, in this scene Emma and Dexter have just properly met after their graduation, they then go back to her apartment. Differently from P.S. I love you, Emma is portrayed as quite a timid character who doesn’t want to get anything wrong. She wants to have a good time with Dexter and even when she leaves the room is get ready, she puts some music on to create an atmosphere. The music represents Emma as it is different and Dexter seems a little taken back at first. This has been done because without Emma and Dexter together, there is little other sound so this music sets the mood whilst she is gone. When Emma is lying in bed with Dexter, we now have soft music playing which creates a mood of intense and friendship, this lets the audience understand that Emma and Dexter are going to have a good and strong friendship. During this scene, Emma talks to herself mentioning that she has never been that good at this sort of thing which shows us that she wants a relationship which is a very feminine aspect and Dexter is seen as not caring for her much at the beginning but we see that once he can’t have her, he wants her which is seen as very masculine.

Once Gerry has passed away in P.S. I love you, we start to see how Holly is now being represented as a weak female without the guidance of a male around, she is being seen as very dependent on Gerry. This is scene five and we see that she is really missing him here and is depressed without her soul mate Gerry, she is staying in on her own and is rejecting any help from her friends and family. The sound is really important in showing Holly’s downfall in this scene as there is a lot more sound than in the previous scenes. There is music which is creating an atmosphere to how Holly is feeling without Gerry, this represents women as weak as it is showing Holly’s struggle without him around. We hear the telephone voicemails as a voice over, which lets the audience know that people are trying to help Holly through this difficult time but that she is rejecting this help. This represents women as trying to be independent but actually appearing quite fragile. We also hear the TV in the background, this is to create an atmosphere of a busy environment and Holly not being able to focus on one thing. We also hear memories of Holly and Gerry’s conversation, which gives the audience the impression that Holly cannot let go of her memories of Gerry and is mourning over him. She still sees him around and talks to him about her problems. Gerry plays the guitar softly at one point, which relaxes and comforts Holly as she feels like he is around with her. All of this sound portrays females as weak and incompetent without males. It also represents the male character as romantic, which is a characteristic that is not usually associated with males.

This scene can be linked to scene eight in One Day, in this scene we again have a lot more sound and background noise than before. Emma has gone out with another male in this scene and Dexter keeps ringing her and is shown as really needing and relying on her although she cannot help him. Females are being represented as independent and not needing males around to survive. This is opposite to P.S. I love you, as now Dexter needs Emma and is being shown as incompetent without her. This shows a role reversal as Emma is the character in power here and males are being represented as the weaker sex. This was done because it shows the audience that she is as strong and powerful as a male which challenges the stereotypes of a female.

In scene twenty-seven in P.S. I love you, the audience again see the change in Holly’s behaviour as she is now being shown as an independent female again as she is doing things on her own. She is shown moving on with her life and going back to Ireland to take her Mother there for one final visit. The audience hear a voice-over of Holly’s final message to Gerry throughout the clips. Females are being represented more positively and having more power and independence at this stage.

This can be linked to scene 19 in One Day, as this is too a closing scene to the film. At this stage in the film, Emma has passed away. Dexter is talking to his daughter at the same place that he and Emma visited a few years back, he misses Emma a lot but is trying to stay strong and powerful although the audience can see that this is not easy for him. His daughter is being shown as a young female who has strong views so this too makes women still seem powerful at the end of the film. There is similarities seen between Emma and his daughter which shows that Dexter feels stronger and happier once his daughter is around him which shows his reliance on a female being around.

Both of the two films are targeted at women as they have the typical story lines that statistics show that women enjoy, this could affect the way that gender is being represented. It could make women seem powerful and men seen as powerless and crying as this is what they may think that women want to see. It shows the journey of a woman as this is what attracts women as they can relate to the journey that they have experienced in their lives too.

The two films show things slightly differently because of the fact that P.S. I Love You is a big-budget Hollywood film and One Day is the opposite. Hollywood films have certain messages that are always put across such as that women are weak, women need men’s love and a family and men are pathetic. P.S. I Love You, does put these messages across which affects the representation of gender within the film. As One Day is not a Hollywood film, these messages are not portrayed and the women are shown being the more powerful ones and the male character is shown as weak and pathetic and the woman is shown being in charge. In this film, the male character is shown as being incompetent when the female dies and he only seems stronger once he has his daughter back who reminds him of the female.

These two films condone women in a variety of ways, from powerful to weak. One Day represents women as powerful throughout the whole film as Emma is always shown having power even when she is timid. P.S. I love you shows a journey within a woman, she changes from weak and depressed to powerful and moving on with her life, this emphasises the idea of women travelling in their journey that they have to make.        

Script annotated with shot types

1. Mid shot of both characters - I am using this shot because it establishes the characters and introduces them to the audience. 

2. Over the shoulder shot seeing Jasmine's glass - I am using this shot because it shows Jasmine's femininity with how she is holding the glass and it brings in the idea of the drinking alcohol like in the previous One Day. 

3. Medium close up of Jasmine - I am using this shot as this is when Jasmine has just chose what she would like to eat and her facial expressions show a lot about her character.  

Location Report

My script is set in a restaurant, so I took these location photos in a Harvester. I wish to dress my scene up to look like this setting.

I like the look of this restaurant, I wish to copy the small wooden table idea with the two chairs either side and I think it looks good with the cutlery on the table so I think that I will use this on my table. I want to make sure that I have a lot of different angles and shots when taking the photos of the actors sitting at the table for me as I have done in these location photos, as it looks effective seeing the setting from different angles.
I am not sure on the fact that this table has the light shining from behind it as this is too bright for my setting and I wanted the lighting quite low. I also think that I won't include the menu on the table and I don't want any salt, vinegar, sauces etc on the table as this makes the restaurant not look very posh and this was the idea that I was going for.

I chose this location for the shots of the restaurant. 

Script

My script can be seen by going on the following link: 

www.scriptbuddy.com/published/?p=4291535515

The password is 'asfilm'