Women, Sport, and Film - Fall 2004

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When looking at these films, we were supposed to be looking at them in a certain light. What was the movie about? How does it relate to women's and sports? Does it question the 'traditional film narrative'? While trying to answer these questions I found that I was also looking at these movies as something else, as movies. I think that the actual cinematography and themes of these six films helped to give a better understanding of the message that the movie was trying to portray.
Pat and Mike, a story of an amazing woman athlete in a time of male dominance of sports, and her manager who realizes her worth as a person and not as a money machine. I think the theme of Pat and Mike was to begin to challenge the role of women in sports and present the idea that a woman can be great without having to belong to a man. I think one of the most useful images in this film was Pat standing up to her boyfriend and jumping off the back of a moving train to prove to him that she was going to be more then her little women. She didn't know how she was going to prove it but she knew that hearing him call her that made her feel uneasy. I think the image of doing anything to prove your self worth is a powerful image that challenged traditional Hollywood. While she does end up with Mike at the end, I think this film does a good job of trying to make it clear to women that they no longer have to stay in the home and in the kitchens but can be great, and can achieve great things in fields traditionally dominated by men.
A League of their Own also tries to question the same theme of women in a men's world, this one just using baseball and the absence of the male players. Each one of the characters in this film played a part in its theme, which was trying to do more then what was expected. I think that this movie was also trying to question the traditional gender roles of the time, with women playing baseball, and does doing so make them less feminine? I think there were girls in the film that definitely tried to prove that they could baseball and still remain feminine, like Ellen Sue (the former Ms. Georgia), and May who played baseball and retained a heighten sense of her won sexuality. Particular images that I remember from this movie are the girl modeling their baseball uniforms, the guy getting hit with the baseball for mocking the girls, and Dottie dropping the ball. I think these images were used to help forward the theme of the strength of women even when they aren't in the home. I think the model was portraying the leagues attempt to keep the girls looking like girls by making them wear skirts, adding a particularly feminine aspect to the sport. I think the guy getting hit with the baseball proved the strength of the girls and their resolve to get people to take them seriously. Finally I think dropping the ball was a cinematic choice that left us question whether she dropped it on purpose, and how much the game meant to Dottie (who had a husband and wanted a life at home) versus how much it meant to Kit (who only had greatness through baseball).
As far as greatness goes, I think Rocky displays the most greatness in this film. I may be slightly biased but I think this movie does a great job of showing true greatness of mind, body, and heart. I think that the theme of this movie was 'going the distance'. I don't think that that necessarily meant winning to Rocky, I think it meant proving to the world to Philadelphia, and to Adrienne that he wasn't just another bum from South Philly, but that he was a man who worked hard for what he wanted and that he was going to go the distance to get there. There were a lot of images that stuck in my mind in this movie, Rocky on the stairs, Adrienne running to Rocky as he called her name, and talking to closed doors. I think that Rocky on the stairs the first time was setting us up. He was trying so hard to get up those stairs, like getting up those stairs meant that he had gone that distance and he couldn't do it in the beginning. I think the famous scene of him finally getting all the way up the stairs showed to us that he thought of himself as being ready, as having gone that distance, of having achieved that goal. At the end of the fight, Adrienne running towards Rocky as he called her name was I think Rocky just wanting it to be over and wanting to hold Adrienne because her just proved to her that he wasn't a bum anymore but that he was somebody, and that he wanted to be somebody for her. I think the talking to closed doors were the only parts in the movie where people true feelings came out because while they were talking to someone through a door they were also admitting things to themselves. I think these very personal images gave the movie it's greatness, because it was more then just a movie about an underdog, it was about personal growth, and going that distance for yourself and proving self worth.
I think Girl Fight was a movie along the same lines. That is was more then a girl trying to box because she has a lot of anger but that she needed to prove to somebody that she was more then just a girl from the projects who wasn't going anywhere. I think that the images that stuck out in this movie are the ones in the beginning of Diane against the lockers, her beating the crap out of her dad, and her hugging her boyfriend at the end of the movie. I think that these images help also to out line the plot of the story, her against the lockers in the beginning showed Diana as she was, always on the defensive, always with her guard up. It showed a girl who didn't want to let anyone in. I think the first really change was when she was beating up her dad, it was the first time she showed her strength to the one person who didn't believe that she had any. She was on the offensive and making sure her dad knew that she was more then just a girl that he could push around like her used around her mother. I think the scene at the end is the culmination of these two scenes. Its was the one scene where Diana let her guard down and finally come to some sense of peace with herself. I think this movie let Diana prove her strength and then let it go too.
Pumping Iron II I think was also about proving strength, almost literally. I think the theme of this moving was to question the female form, and what was beautiful in women body builders. I think the images that stick in my mind were Bev acting girly and making fun of the more feminine candidates, Rachel always worried about her hair, and Laurie's dancing boyfriend. I think that Bev and Rachel were the completely opposites in terms of their bodies and attitudes towards that sport. Bev actually wanted to build her body to the best of her ability, while Rachel was more worried with not build too much in order to look at pretty as possible as evident by their attitudes in the competition. Laurie's boyfriend was I think in the movie for shock value, because I know I was not ready to see his naked butt, and it gave another level to Laurie's wanting to do well.
Bend it like Beckham had a lot of images that I think related to the theme. I think the use of Indian culture added another layer to the narrative of women, sport, and film. While there were many images that stuck in my head, like airplanes, soccer in the park, and their god's picture. However, I think the most useful image in this movie was at the end when Jess was trying to shoot the goal, and in order to get goal she had to shoot over the heads of her family and her culture. I think that this image directly tells that theme of the movie, striving for your goals even if it means having to go against family dictates and traditions etc.
As for images in all the movies, I found that one particularly stuck in my mind. In most of the movies there was a stereotypical role of a woman that was painted negatively. The opposing tennis star in pat and Mike is her designer whit silk tennis dress, the model in A League of their Own, the other girlfriend in Girl Fight, Rachel in Pumping Iron II, and the girlfriends in Bend it Like Beckham. I think this image is one that was used to paint the stark difference between girls who wanted more then the stereotype and those who were happy with the status quo. I think out of all the images that that one was the most useful in seeing the difference between the girls. I also think is meant the most, not necessarily that the girls who were happy with the status quo were bad but that wanting something different doesn't have to be bad either.


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