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Angel Robles

12th of November 2017

Writing 2

Recognition & Representation in Film: The Two Things Women Dont Have

When it comes to cinema and its industry, the influence and proper portrayal of women is

often overlooked. In Janet Walkers, Trauma Cinema: False Memories and True Experience

and Richard Nowells, 'There's More Than One Way to Lose Your Heart': The American Film

Industry, Early Teen Slasher Films, and Female Youth, both scholars use their articles to

address some different aspects of women within film. In Walkers article, she looks at the

science behind womens memory of traumatic experiences and explains that inaccuracies, or

made up facts, are a result of the mind trying to process trauma. She then discusses the genre

of trauma cinema and argues that films should be all encompassing of a woman's traumatic

experience, because everything, whether actual fact or an imaginary, is valid (Walker 216). On

the other hand, Nowells article examines the teen slasher genre and the previous notion that they

were male oriented. He goes on to argue that the different logistical and creative strategies

implemented made the films marketable to female youth (Nowell 117). By utilizing structure and

an array of evidence, including texts, quotes, and films, the authors effectively support their

analysis and arguments within the discipline of film and its respective discourse communities.

The first type of evidence that authors use in this discipline are textual ones. The texts

they reference are typically prior studies or other published works on their subject. For example,

in Walkers article she cites other journals about women and trauma such as, Trauma and

Survival Post-Traumatic and Dissociative Disorders In Women by Elizabeth Waties and The

Recovered Memory/False Memory Debate by Lenore Terr (Walker 212). Nowell also looks at
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past articles and studies, like Her Body, Himself by Carol Clover and "Audience

Demographics. Film Future" by D. Murphy (Nowell 115). Both Walker and Nowell do this to

provide the reader with some background information. In Walkers article, she wants the reader

to be familiar with some basic science and concepts behind the psychology of womens trauma.

Then when it comes to Nowells, he cites Carol Clover to help readers see the previous notion

that teen slasher films were male-oriented. He also cites Murphy to show the standards and

expectations of the film industry at the time. By looking at other texts and studies, it allows their

audience to have a full understanding of their topic and gives credibility to their later analysis

and arguments.

Another type of evidence utilized in this discipline are quotes and citations from other

scholars or texts. From the articles on trauma, Walker mostly paraphrases information from other

textual sources more than taking direct quotes. Like Walker, Nowell also borrows his quotes

from textual sources, but he also includes some directly from actual people in the film industry.

For example, he cites the Wheat Bros, writers for the teen slasher Silent Scream. He quotes

them as saying that they chose a female lead because Women like to see strong women

characters...Women decide who goes to the movies more than men (Nowell 121). Although

this quote may be an incorrect generalization, it still provides the effective evidence to show that

film makers in the teen slasher genre were trying to pander to a female audience. When the

authors use credible quotes like these, they are able to strengthen and add validity to their points.

The final type of evidence in this discipline is the reference to actual films and the

analysis of their genres. In her article, Walker looks at the genre of trauma cinema and discusses

its conventions, listing various movies she finds to be notable examples. When trying to tie both

the feminist view on trauma and cinema, she examines a specific film about the Japanese
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internment camps in the United States called History and Memory (Walker 216). Using this

film as her evidence, she explains how the filmmakers combined, official documents, unofficial

documents..., and invented elements, which in turn created a true traumatized representation

(Walker 216). By giving readers this real-word example, Walkers argument becomes more

credible, allowing her points and genre analysis to be seen more clearly. In his article, Richard

Nowell argues that young women played a large role in the rise of teen slasher films and that

production companies intentionally tried to market these movies to women in an effort to find

their footing within the female audience. To prove this, Nowell looks at different aspects of

movies in this genre, including movie posters, promotional campaigns, and even creative

choices. For example, in his article one of the films he discusses is, Lipstick. By using a poster

with a Vogue-like photo and a caption that reads, The story of a woman's outrage and a

woman's revenge.", he explains that the movie studio was able to draw in their desired female

audience (Nowell 126). By examining and referencing actual films, both Nowell and Walker

effectively let readers see a precedent or standard in the film industry, which helps provide the

strong basis for their argument.

Another convention that can be seen within this academic discipline is the way authors

research for and organize their articles. Nowell and Walker present their points in a typical

claim, evidence, and analysis format. This is the optimal way of writing for their articles as it

allows the paper to be concise and easy to understand or read. Another staple within academic

articles is general is the way the authors cite their sources. As seen in both Nowell and Walkers

pieces, they use footnotes with corresponding numbers that could be found at the bottom and

side of the page. This makes their work seem more feasible, all the while making it easier for

readers to locate their research if desired. Because their articles deal with film and its industry,
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their research was noticeably broad. They both looked at psychological and scientific aspects like

audience reception and memory, and tied it into physical evidence like films and promotional

tactics. To illustrate, in Nowells article he goes over the theory of cross-gender identification.

This, he explains, is where male viewers can relate to a boyish heroine, while female audiences

can identify with strong female leads (Nowell 116). This type of analysis and research is heavily

seen within the film field, because creativity and the audiences perception of it go hand in hand.

These two articles, while in the overall area of film, can also find themselves in smaller,

more specific discourse communities. Both articles find themselves in the community that deals

with women in film. In their community, both authors are concerned with different genres and

how women are portrayed or represented within them. This community intends to inform actual

working people within the film industry and not just those who study it. They want to get the

people of the film field to change their way of thinking. Changing their thought process can

positively affect their creative output. There is a level of assumed knowledge and values of the

community. In both pieces, the authors are assuming that their audience has a certain mindset

that needs to be changed. In Walkers article, she points out the stigma around womens memory

by saying, Perhaps the most furious and prolific of all the retrospective debates has been the one

concerning the legitimacy of repressed and recovered memories of childhood (Walker 211).

This displays how she assumes that her audience is either aware of this or actually attributes to

the culture she describes. And in Nowells article, he assumes that people are already aware of

the lack of credit young women receive as an audience and market grower. The articles of this

community also take on a tone of discussion and build off of each others findings and theories,

which can be seen in the past studies and articles Walker and Nowell constantly reference.
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People who typically participate in this community are feminists, or people who advocate and

study women and their involvement in cinema.

Both Janet Walker and Richard Nowell use specific evidence like texts, quotes, and

reference to film to help strengthen their arguments and analysis in the academic discipline of

film. They both take on a scientific, theoretical, and psychological approach to their topics, while

participating in their specific discourse communities that deal with women and their portrayal

and representation in cinema. Looking at the University of California Santa Barbaras webpage

for Film and Media studies, we can see that the departments focus is to, cultivate critical and

analytical skills through the study of media objects and practices. Through the work of Nowell

and Walker, we can see that they use their own critical and analytical skills to help reshape and

change the film field.

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Works Cited

Walker, Janet. Trauma Cinema: False Memories and True Experience. Screen, vol. 42, no. 2,
2001, pp. 2111

Nowell, Richard. 'There's More Than One Way to Lose Your Heart': The American Film
Industry, Early Teen Slasher Films, and Female Youth. Cinema Journal, vol. 51, no. 1,
2011, pp. 115140.

University of California Santa Barbara Film & Media Studies, 2017,

http://www.filmandmedia.ucsb.edu/index.html