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

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

Men in Get Carter are represented as controlling and aggressive. The scene in which Margret is kidnapped and murdered perfectly shows this as it shows men using women for their own personal needs. Kinnear has many women in his house in order to symbolise his power, wealth and status. They are passive and are merely decoration to the party, simply objects to be gazed on. Jack uses Margret’s body as a literal object to be found by the police to arrest Kinnear, will still humiliating her and degrading her by not killing her straight away.   When you look at this out of context Carter becomes unlikeable and disgusting, however in context we can personally identify with him. We are encouraged to view women as he does and his views are that of men during the 1970’s

This reflects the view of men during the 1970’s, this is because men saw women as objects to be acted upon and they expected them to be domestic. Edna represents the idea of women being domestic while still acknowledging the liberation that women had apparently received during this time. This is because before Carter arrived she was a strong, independent woman but as soon as a man enters her life she becomes domestic and is immediately controlled by Carter. This shows as when she threatens to call the police Carter responds with a simple ‘no you won’t’.

The idea of ‘female liberation’ during this time is questioned as a whole, the women portrayed in Get Carter are not liberated, and any moments where they appear to be are merely superficial. The female characters are all victims, owned and used by men who see them as sex objects and little more. Even when there are moments when men appear to care about women, such as when Carter cries about his niece being in a porn film, in actuality it is due to the fact that his status has been affected negatively which quickly changes to anger. When he goes to confront Glenda about it by asking if she knew her last name he says ‘well its Carter, that’s MY name!’ He appears to be more enraged by the fact that his family name has been tarnished by the film, rather than the fact his niece was used by Kinnear. For carter, the attack on his family is personal, but more importantly it is an attack on his name.

·      Anna scene

·      Train sequence

·      Opening scene