Get Carter - Representation of Women

How do the representations of Women in Get Carter reflect the time in which it was made?

Get Carter's representation of women challenges the view put forward of the Swinging 60's by depicting Women as objects throughout. The representation of the women in the film itself is very negative and clearly shows how Women were represented in society at that time, for example during the movement for Women's Liberation the contraceptive pill was introduced, however this was used to the men's advantage because this was they could use women without any consequences or risks. This is shown in Get Carter through the sexual attitude of the men towards the women. 

The sexual attitude towards women is reflected in the first scene where the men are sat around viewing pornographic videos of women. The first female character we see, Anna is played by Britt Ekland, a famous model and actress. Her role as an actress is not to display herself as an in-depth character but rather to display herself as an object, used to gain a male audience. Anna/Britt is a clear victim of the Male Gaze theory put forward by Laura Mulvey, who suggests that all audiences view films from the perspective of a heterosexual male, also known as the Male Gaze.

Anna is used as an erotic object for both the characters and the spectators in the audience. There is a tracking shot in the first scene that begins to travel down the man's arm, then we see his hand on Anna's leg, this then tracks up to her face which looks very uncomfortable showing that the contact is unwanted.  This suggests that she is afraid, however she does not have the authority to leave and the hand on her leg signifies the male dominance over her. We see Anna through the eyes of Carter in the first scene, she is tightly framed and focused on which further suggests that she feels uncomfortable. There is some focus on her body in this scene, which could be considered to be unnecessary, but Carter sees Anna as a challenge, if he could seduce her then this would make him more masculine which is a recurring theme throughout the film with the other women. 

The last scene involving Anna is the phone scene, where she becomes an erotic object for the audience rather than the character. This scene is made up with a series of close-ups of her body, rather than showing her as a whole. This singles out her most prominent, desired and fetishised features and creates a new and sexualised version of her, therefore Anna becomes her body and nothing more. This is dehumanising and degrading for an woman as we as an audience get to 'gaze' at her body, as she is there to fulfil male fantasies. The camera is placed between her legs which suggests sexual connotations, making her character seem very promiscuous and fetishised. Some of the angles make it seem like someone is watching her, giving the audience a sense of voyeurism whilst watching her without her character knowing whilst she is exposed. 

According to Mulvey, "the world is a patriarchy... men have the 'active' roles and women 'passive'." This is depicted through the character Edna, who has benefitted from the liberation of women. She is an independent business owner, however when Carter enters her home she is subdued to a domestic 'housewife' role and forced to see to his every need as he, the man, takes control. By positioning women like this we are encouraged to see women as Carter does and how many men at the time did. The idea of women as controlled and lower status was still held by many men in society which challenges the view of women's liberation in the 60's being fully beneficial to women due to the threat it posed for men. 

During the scene where Carter sleeps with Edna, there is a close up of her face. If this role had been reversed it would make the audience feel uncomfortable to see Carter's face, however to see a woman's face during this scene is not shocking as she is seen as the object therefore we view her, not Carter. When the men come in, Edna disappears from the scene as if she were not there at all. This shows how the women are seen as irrelevant to the narrative and she is just there to be seen doing her 'domestic duty'. 

Glenda's character is first introduced when Carter visits Kinnear and she is made to bring him a drink. Kinnear says "you don't offer a man a drink in one of those glasses", this line suggests that a man deserves better than what she has to offer or what she deserves. The male is of higher status than her therefore she should treat him with more respect, whereas the men treat the women with a huge lack of respect. Glenda is used as a device by Kinnear, therefore although she seems more of an active character she is only following male orders throughout the film. Even when she is giving significant information about what Carter wants to find out, he allows it to pass over him assuming that whatever a woman has to say is irrelevant and the other men talk over her as if whatever they have to say is more important. Women are seen to lack independence and this is highlighted in the cinematography of the scene, we see that she is never in shot on her own, there is always close ups of the men yet there are only shots with her next to Carter, we never see her as an individual in this scene.

She is represented as passive when Carter has to force information out of her through abuse, for example when he attempts to drown her in the bath. He picks her up in a childlike or animal way, rather than allowing her to stand on her own, this shows how she is dehumanised by him. She was a sexual object for him, and now he has had what he wants he thinks less of her because she is irrelevant to him.