Mock question: For 10 marks – Explore how gender is represented in one chosen sequence in Under the Skin.
Gender is presented in Under the Skin as a feminist critique of beauty and sexuality. For example, in the opening montage sequence of Under the Skin the spectator is presented with a subjective view of women, showing Laura’s need for perfection putting on makeup and clothes in order to obtain a particular look and appear desirable. By doing this, it takes away her identity and replaces it with an idealised fake generic beauty that is expected of women within society’s standards. In terms of how gender is explored through characters, Laura is presented as the female protagonist that uses her sexuality for gain, implying that those men are the victims. This however could be interpreted differently as Laura is ultimately the one being exploited based on her gender in order to seduce men, linking to the political contexts of Marxism and how the company controls the individual worker, like Laura, to carry out their work. Similarly, in Under the Skin, women are shown to be treated like objects, for example in the opening as the paralysed woman is slung over the motorbike man’s shoulder and placed in a ditch on the side of the road without care or empathy. This could wrongly suggest how women are submissive and weak unable to fight back. As well as this, Laura is dehumanized to the status of something inhuman, like an alien, suggesting that she doesn’t have human emotions or moral empathy to relate to anyone else around her, thus appearing as an outsider. In terms of how the representation of men is explored in Under the Skin, at the start of the film they are portrayed as Laura’s victims. For example, in the scene where Laura drives around the city, this uses a handheld camera point of view shot to show her spying upon and stalking the men like prey. Because of this at the start the spectator is more inclined to feel sympathy for these men being taken advantage of by Laura. Similarly, when Laura is in the small village in Scotland, we see a man trying to help her, giving her somewhere to stay and, portraying the men as the heroes. Within the scene we see Laura begin to trust men, this being completely opposed by the ending sequence. In terms of gender representation in the ending scene, Laura opposes her sexuality and rebel against the system, however this undermines her and is ultimately her downfall. This suggests how the spectator is revealed to the harsh truth as Laura is sexually assaulted based on her appearance and the way she looks. This appears ironic as Laura rejects her physicality and accepts her own fate only to get punished for this, showing how our current society is obsessed with looks and appearance and how between men and women looks can be used against one another. Therefore, the audience’s sympathy changes towards Laura demonstrating the shift between men and women, contrasting the start with the ending sequence.
Emma Coe Film Studies 