Goddess: Power, Glamour, Rebellion learning resource

Hollywood was built on glamour, with many other film industries also engaging audiences through a fantasy of idealised on-screen characters and larger-than-life movie stars. In particular, female actors and roles have been subject to powerful perceptions of beauty and glamour.

While the female ideal has changed over time and according to taste and fashion, screen representations have been influential in deciding and reflecting social values relating to beauty and bodily perfection. Neverthless, not only do screen texts have a complex relationship to culture, they are also required to be interesting and to connect with a wide range of viewers. This leaves plenty of room for resistance and disruption, either through the creative process, the on-screen performance, or the audience's response.

Marilyn Monroe's roles as Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953) and Sugar Kane in Some Like it Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959) encapsulate the power of the image and attest to how Monroe's on-screen sexuality became a product to be marketed by the Hollywood film industry.

Yet, Monroe's role in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes subverts the idea of the 'dumb blonde' and, in Some Like it Hot, the star's figure-hugging costumes and unrestricted body pushed beyond 1950s norms.

The pink dress worn by Monroe in the 'Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend' number in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (see video above) has been referenced and reinterpreted in many contexts over the seventy years since the film's release.

This legendary sequence has been playfully reconsidered and repurposed in:

• Madonna's Material Girl video
• the short fantasy sequence in Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey (Cathy Yan, 2020)
• Megan Thee Stallion and Normani's Diamonds (2020) music video (for the Birds of Prey soundtrack)
• Winnie Harlow's Halloween photo shoot

A number of the earliest films made in the 1890s for Thomas Edison's kinetoscopes presented female dance and performance. The kinetoscope was a small projection device with a peep-hole for viewing. Viewers would put a coin in a slot and then watch a program of (very) short films covering a range of amusing topics.

The grid of white lines stamped onto the film of the Coochee Coochee Dance (1896) to obscure the dancer's body is a reminder of constraints around the public display of the female body during this period. That said, the grid doesn't appear until half-way through the performance and then doesn't obscure the offending naked 'belly'.

If the dance is considered too revealing, why do you think the dancer's body isn't covered from the very beginning? Could this have been a way to respond to complaints while still satisfying audience demand? Or could it have been a shared joke with the viewer? What do you think?

Motion Picture Production Code generally referred to as the Hays Code was a set of guidelines set up in 1930 by the movie industry in response to social concerns about the boundary-pushing content of many films made during the 1920s. You can read more about it here.

Meera Kumani's performance in Pakeezah (Kamal Amrohi, 1972) is notable for the fact that production took 15 years to be completed. Kumani, who was a superstar of Indian cinema, died soon after the film's release.

Dorothy Dandridge was the first African American actress to be nominated for an Academy Award for best leading actress. The multi-talented and very glamorous Dandridge was the Hollywood ideal in every way, but her opportunities were limited due to her ethnicity. She spoke up about the way she was treated in the Hollywood system and was a significant trailblazer for other women of colour working in the film industry. You can find out more here.

The Watermelon Woman (1996) is written, directed and edited by Cheryl Dunye who plays a fictionalised version of herself in this landmark New Queer Cinema film, which is also the first feature film to be directed by a self-identified Black lesbian. Dunye foregrounds the women of colour whose performances have been devalued within the racist structure of the Hollywood film industry.

The film and TV industries in Hollywood and beyond have played a significant role in defining and fixing gender roles according to a particular set of social values. We can see how these values influenced the crafting of the female ideal within a screen culture where a woman's appearance was valued above all else.

For many decades, the female ideal was matched by an active and strong male hero who was typically at the heart of the screen story being told. In "treating male and female bodies as opposites, and as the only two options", screen stories represented gender as binary. This begs the question of how much has changed and how much has stayed the same in present-day screen stories and representations.

While screen representations are powerful and can contribute to harmful attitudes and stereotypes, the screen can also be a space of creative play and resistance. In this section of the exhibition we celebrate roles and performances that question the boundaries of gender and open the way for more fluid and open identities.

In the early silent film The Consequences of Feminism (Alice Guy, 1906), the swapping of gender roles points to the absurdity of a rigid gender binary. The film also highlights the inequality faced by women within this gender binary. Made by legendary screen pioneer Alice Guy, the short film depicts male characters facing harassment and exploitation.

By inverting gender norms, Guy highlights the unfair and inappropriate treatment of women in her society. The ostensible joke is that the male characters are suffering the 'consequences of feminism' but the narrative actually justifies feminism, female protest and activism.

Marlene Dietrich began her career in German silent cinema and then was very successful in Hollywood talkies. In a number of her roles, she played a character that challenged gender conventions, most famously in the film Morocco (Josef von Sternberg, 1930). In this movie, Dietrich plays the role of nightclub singer Amy Jolly, who performs dressed in top-hat and tails with a cigarette in her hand, and bends to kiss a woman in the audience.

Dietrich wore top-hat and tails in subsequent films and in her celebrated stage performances. Throughout her career she combined glamour with gender fluidity to develop a signature style.

Blues singer Gladys Bentley was a trailblazer who dressed in the kind of elegant men's clothing that made such a name for Dietrich. However, Bentley was condemned for her queer identity and during the conservative period of the 1950s had to change her style in order to continue performing.

In the film Orlando (Sally Potter, 1992), Tilda Swinton shape-shifts across centuries as the character of Orlando. Described by Potter "as an ironic dance through history", Orlando is about fluid identities and experiences: "What does it mean to be born as a woman, or a man? To be born at one time instead of another? To be born into wealth, or into poverty, or into the traditions of a particular nation?" (Roger Ebert July 09, 1993)

The gender fluidity communicated through costume and clothing by Dietrich, Bentley and in the Orlando narrative has become, in recent times, interconnected with more inclusive social values relating to fluid and queer gender identities.

In many societies and at many times in history, powerful women have been represented as dangerous to the good order of a society. Societies that see female strength as dangerous are patriarchal societies designed to enshrine the status and power of men.

Yet, stories about disruptive women are not always critical. Instead, they often revel in the drama and strength of these legendary female figures.

This section of Goddess explores screen narratives that represent strong and independent women as both dangerous and desirable. The term femmes fatales (deadly women) has been coined to describe this character type.

While the femme fatale emerged out of patriarchal concerns about female power, many of these characters have become iconic because of the formidable performance of the actor who played the role.

With the arrival of film, many screen stories featured strong female characters, who challenged conventional social values and embodied a disruptive sense of danger. During the silent era actors such as Theda Bara, Louise Brooks and Anna May Wong took on these roles and lent them an enticing allure that audiences loved.

Anna May Wong was a trailblazer; she was the first Chinese American to become an international celebrity and appeared in over fifty films spanning both the silent and sound eras. She also starred in a TV show, appeared on stage and worked in radio.

Wong had to navigate racist attitudes during her career that, in the case of The Good Earth (1937), led to her being rejected for a role playing a Chinese character. Wong was nevertheless a star and was admired for her glamorous approach to fashion. However, her allure was rooted in orientalist attitudes related to her difference – the idea that she was exotic and unknowable. Her on-screen persona centred on this idea, and she typically portrayed mysterious and dangerous characters. Wong's career was limited by social attitudes, but she was proactive in her determination to move beyond stereotypes.

In the 1940s and 1950s, a narrative style emerged in Hollywood that became known as film noir (dark film). Film noir narratives highlight the duplicity and moral uncertainty of modern society and frequently feature the character type of the femme fatale (deadly woman). In film noir films, the cynicism of the anti-hero is matched by the danger of the predatory femme fatale, who ensnares him with her seductive wiles in such a way that he finds himself acting against his better judgement.

Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944 – see trailer above) is a classic version of this set up, with Barbara Stanwyck having the time of her life portraying the husband-killing Phyllis Dietrichson.

In mid-twentieth century Hollywood, many fabulous female stars were tipping over into middle age, and the horror of the ageing woman became the subject of two now iconic films Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950) and All About Eve (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1950). In each of these films, the female leads, played by Gloria Swanson and Bette Davis respectively, delivered bravura performances that met social attitudes to older women full on.

While Sunset Boulevard and All about Eve are daring in their treatment of ageing stars, they are celebrated, awards-worthy films. In contrast, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (Robert Aldrich, 1962) may have starred two former screen goddesses – Bette Davis and Joan Crawford – but it is a low-budget genre movie. It was, nevertheless, very popular at the box office and has become a bit of a legend.

In fact, as time moved on, the magnificent Bette Davis became the queen of hagsploitation, a subgenre of the horror movie that suggests there is nothing more monstrous than an ageing woman. Although this screen-based disgust may have been generated by misogynist attitudes in both the film industry and wider society, thanks to the extraordinary performances of actors such as Davis, these roles become a powerful celebration of female identity and presence.

While women appearing in front of the camera have long been held to account by idealised standards of beauty and glamour, there are many memorable examples of this ideal being met head on through an extravagant and flamboyant approach to glamour and fashion.

The sensuality and confidence exhibited by legendary screen identities such as Mae West in Hollywood and Josephine Baker in Paris were enhanced and exaggerated by hair, make-up and costume to lend a provocative power and individuality to their screen performances.

This section of the exhibition also looks at Anna Tsuchiya's performance as the feisty and untameable Kiyoha in Sakuran (2007), a narrative that celebrates female sexuality and agency. Like Mae West and Josephine Baker, Anna Tsuchiya has an individuality that lends power to her on-screen performance.

American-born Josephine Baker travelled to France in her late teens to escape the racism endemic to her home country. Rather than her African-American identity being a limitation to her acceptance in France, Baker was able to capitalise on her ethnicity and culture, by activating and parodying stereotypes. Her most famous costume comprised a skirt made out of bananas and a beaded necklace (in the filmed version of this dance, she was required to add a bikini top). Baker became the first African American to lead a feature film, when she starred in Sirens of the Tropics (1927).

"... Baker brilliantly manipulated the white male imagination. Crossing her eyes, waving her arms, swaying her hips, poking out her backside, she clowned and seduced and subverted stereotypes. By reclaiming her image, she advanced her career in ways unprecedented for a woman of that time." (90 Years Later, the Radical Power of Josephine Baker’s Banana Skirt)

Baker combined her glamorous image with activism, which included working undercover during the war and her ongoing commitment to the civil rights movement in the US. She refused to perform for segregated audiences and spoke alongside Martin Luther King Jr in the 1963 March on Washington.

Baker's legend and legacy continue into the 21st century with stars such as Beyoncé, Rihanna and Zendaya channeling and paying homage to Baker's signature style.

Mae West was a multi-talented creative who began as a performer and then moved on to writing her own content. She crafted a risqué stage persona through cheeky dialogue and racy one-liners.

West arrived in Hollywood at a time when there was lee-way for her sexually charged dialogue and performance style. Her early films were a great success, and the public flocked to see them. The characters she played were tough, independent, funny and never at a loss for words. However, once the Motion Picture Production Code began to be enforced, her cheeky dialogue suffered at the hands of the censor.

Mae West was different from every other performer appearing on the screen during the 1930s. She developed her own style and had control over her on-screen representation.

This section showcases screen representations of women who fight back, along with the powerful and dynamic performances and exploits of the actors who took on these roles.

Our focus is on films and performances that challenge perceptions around female fragility, and bring to light the forgotten history of female action roles, along with the women who did their own daredevil stunts from the silent era onwards.

In many of these film narratives, women protagonists are activated to fight back in response to social dysfunction and injustice, while finding strength in female friendship.

Blaxploitation is a term coined to describe a subgenre of independent, low-budget films that emerged in the 1970s. These films were created for African-American audiences by (primarily) African-American filmmakers and featured African-American actors. The term was originally coined as a critique relating to the perpetuating of stereotypes, but in fact the films were a form of resistance and often dealt with serious issues, particularly in terms of race and police brutality.

As the protagonist of the action film Coffy (Jack Hill, 1973), Pam Grier became Hollywood's first modern female action hero. In the role of a nurse avenging her sister's drug addiction, Grier performed her own risky stunts, brandished a range of weapons and sported an Afro full of raiser blades.

When Thelma and Louise (Ridley Scott) was released in 1991, it stood out for its celebration of female friendship, portrayal of gendered violence and bold depiction of what might happen if and when women decide to fight back.

"No man comes to their rescue. Instead, Louise picks up a gun, and throws away her lipstick. And put-upon, girlish Thelma grows in courage, to take on Louise’s role as protector when it’s really needed." (Thelma & Louise: The film that gave women firepower, desire and complex inner lives)

Thirty years later, Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennell, 2020) emerged out of the #MeToo movement to take up the ongoing issue of violence faced by women and the failure of society in the face of toxic masculinity.

In Promising Young Woman, the protagonist Cassie is driven by her determination to avenge the sexual assault of her friend and to expose individual hypocrisy, group conformity and institutional complicity – no matter the cost.

Born Mary Evans in Perth, Fearless Nadia became the very popular star of dozens of Hindi films was famous for her incredible stunt work. Her break-out role was in Hunterwali (Homi Wadia, 1935) where she played a masked, whip-cracking avenger.

Mabel Normand was one of the earliest Hollywood movie stars and on-screen comedians. She co-wrote and co-directed a number of her films and did many of her own stunts.

Michelle Yeoh began her acting career in Hong Kong martial arts movies, performing most of her own stunts. Her performance as woman warrior Yu Shu Lien in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon exemplifies the energy and precision underpinning the fight scenes for which she is so well known.

Laverne Cox Paper Magazine (Yellow Background). Photo: Joshua Kissi, Courtesy Atrbute

Marilyn Monroe. Photo: Milton H. Greene © 2022 Joshua Greene. Marilyn Monroe™; Rights of Publicity and Persona Rights: The Estate of Marilyn Monroe LLC. marilynmonroe.com

Anna May Wong, Image courtesy of CPA Media Pte Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo