Get Carter representation of men

How does the way men are represented in Get Carter reflect the time in which it was made?

In Get Carter, women are not represented as strong and independent like the 'Swinging Sixties' mythology promotes, instead they are portrayed as object that men use and control. For example, how Carter uses almost all of the women he meets for sex and/or information. The representation of men is that they are the dominant sex, this is because the patriarchy held the most power. 

Get Carter presents a Britain where 'free love' has been replaced by pornography and exploitation, as we have no scenes in the film that are reflective of the 60's myth. It is a reflection of how female liberation, a result of the swinging sixties, eventually benefitted men just as much. This is shown in scenes such as the one with Kinnear in the bar, where he is shown being followed by women. Kinnear sees women as a decoration, he is superficial in this way as they show his status as a man in the criminal environment. The extent of female liberation is questioned by this film due to the lack of independence and the subservient nature of women in the film and many critics have argued that director Mike Hodges was commenting on the transition from the swinging sixties to a more economically bleak 1970's. The 'free love' of the 60's is contrasted in this scene as the singer in the bar refers to love in her music, however there is no theme of love in this film, Kinnear does not love any of the women who he claims are his property. 

Jack Carter and the other men in the film represent a 'masculine crisis' that men faced in the aftermath of the swinging sixties. This is shown in the scene with him and Glenda, before he sleeps with her they are in the car and there are many visual metaphors used by the director such as the use of the gear stick and the engine. These connote very sexually driven and phallic thoughts from the male perspective. As this scene is in Carter's point of view, there are many close up shots of Glenda's body which shows how he doesn't care for her as a person and simply wants her for her body to serve her true purpose as a woman. When she is in bed with Carter we see parts of her body exposed and there is a close up of her face making her seem dead, as if she feels violated. She takes no pleasure from having sex with Carter, but feels that it is her purpose to serve him as he is a man. 

This contrasts with when she leaves the room and Carter watches the pornographic video made by Kinnear. At the start he enjoys it and takes pleasure from seeing Glenda in the video, however when he sees his niece Doreen in the video, the background sound increasingly becomes louder as Carter's emotions are changing rapidly. He reacts angrily to the video as he feels that his reputation is being mocked by Kinnear, he does not care for his niece as much as he does his family name. The fact that it is suggested that Kinnear is mocking Carter in this scene shows how men can use women for petty things such as mockery, and the extremes that Kinnear went to shows how men see women as animals, as if they are nothing.

Men in the 70's were very misogynistic, this is reflected in Get Carter when he kills Margaret. Margaret's character is significant because of her portrayal as a prostitute. Rather than writing her character as an average woman, they gave her the prostitute title. This is ironic as the other women are already forced to have sex with men like Carter in order to follow their expectations, but she uses this to earn money. Carter is used to getting women for free, such as Glenda and Edna, therefore Margaret is challenging his status as he sees her as lower class however he has to pay her for sex which many men would feel should be free. Margaret serves no real function within the narrative as an individual, however her death is the most horrific. This shows that any woman who is not willing to follow this patriarchal society will be seen as very lower status and unworthy of respect.