In the two films I have studied, Children of Men and V for
Vendetta, there are messages behind the typical stereotypes they use. Although,
Children of Men doesn’t follow the typical stereotypes whereas V for Vendetta
does. V for Vendetta follows the typical stereotypes to a much higher extent
than Children of Men. There are many views and stereotypes, such as, the final
girl, hyper masculinity, objectification of women and phallic/yonic imagery.
Firstly, the final girl is conveyed as sexually pure,
independent and the last one to survive. In V for Vendetta, Evey is the final
girl and has to make wise decisions and actions on her own. The resolution to
the film is tragic, but she is the one who confronts the oppressive government
and blows up the parliament, helping V to achieve the freedom he has wanted all
along. Although, Evey isn’t seen as a sexually pure character as she visits
Dietrich to have sex, this shows that, even though the audience doesn’t see it,
she flaunts her body around men. Although, later on in the film her hair is
shaved off to show a more masculine side to her, which challenges the view of
the final girl. In Children of Men, the final girl is Kee but she is not alone
as she still has her baby. This is shown in the scene when Theo dies on the
boat, and there is no specific ending to whether Kee has survived or not. It is
typically stereotyped that the final girl has brown hair which is what colour
Kee’s hair is. Kee doesn’t confront the threat, which doesn’t make her look
like the typical strong, independent final girl. The message that is trying to
be put across by the director is that we can only survive as a human race, as
long as we have our child.
Secondly, another stereotype is hyper masculinity, which is
clearly presented in V for Vendetta and less in Children of Men. For instance,
in V for Vendetta, V is portrayed as a typical super hero, as the clothing her
wears looks like a costume. Throughout the film, he is shot many times which
gives him very unrealistic strength making him seem immortal. He uses his
physical strength to fight of his enemies. V also has a very feminine side, as
he cooks breakfast for Evey wearing a typical feminine apron. On the other
hand, in Children of Men there is no hyper masculinity because Theo is shown as
a quite a feminine character. This is because when his former lover is killed,
he shields himself behind a tree and cries for a few seconds. But he gets back
up and carries on trying to save Kee. The only very masculine characters are
the police forces that have guns and the rest of the society, apart from the
women.
Thirdly, the objectification of women is used more in V for
Vendetta than in Children of Men. For example, the opening scene in V for
Vendetta shows Evey pampering herself in her room. She also gets changed and
her bra is revealed, with close ups of intimate parts of her body such as her
stomach. This is known as the male gaze as the female character is being
invaded of her privacy by an anonymous viewer. The audience also sees her being
almost raped by the finger men. In contrast, Children of Men doesn’t have any
female characters that may be an appeal to the audience. Therefore, it
challenges the objectification as the only women in the film are the Kee; a
pregnant woman, Miriam; who doesn’t look the type of sex appeal, and Julian;
who is killed almost half way through the film. The director has done this to
try and keep focus on the child who is the only one that can save the human
race.
Finally, the use of phallic/yonic imagery is used in both
films to show the status of a man, but also represent the objects used as
sexual. In Children of Men, the character Luke and the other police officers
use guns which convey the idea that they are men with power and control. The
film also challenges phallic/yonic imagery as the main protagonist, Theo, doesn't use any guns or weapons. He uses his knowledge to guide Kee to her safety. This
suggests the message that you don’t need violence and weapons to win, which is
a more positive influence for the audience. Likewise, in V for Vendetta, we
clearly see that V uses a knife which is symbolic of sexual penetration. It
also conveys that he has power, but it gives us a strong idea that it’s a slow
painful death and mirrors the idea of physical torture which Evey receives in
the Lark hill concentration camp. V for Vendetta also challenges phallic
imagery as he uses he hands to strangle Creedy, which informs us that you don’t
need a weapon to kill someone as you can do it with your own physical strength.
Moreover, Evey sends the train which is yonic imagery as she is giving birth to
the revolution. There is also the rebirth of her when she goes out into the
rain, which symbolises that she is cleansing away her fear and turning into
someone new.
Overall, both Children of Men and V for Vendetta conform and
do not conform to the typical stereotypes. Although I feel that V for Vendetta
conforms to the stereotypes to a higher extent that Children of Men. This is
because the character Evey acts more like the final girl and is shown as a sex
object; V is more of a hyper masculine character with eternal strength; and
there is a lot of phallic/yonic imagery. Whereas, in Children of Men Kee doesn't act like the final girl as she doesn't do anything to help protect herself or
the baby. Theo doesn't have any special powers and acts feminine at one point
of the film; there are no sex objects and there is very little use of
phallic/yonic imagery.
