Glenda

What role does Glenda play in the narrative of Get Carter?- What is her function the film ?

There are several scenes within Get Carter that Glenda plays a vital role, however the point that Glenda is vital could be overshadowed by the ways that she is treated throughout the film and how she is viewed in general.

For example, we are first introduced to Glenda when Carter breaks into Kinnear's house. At first she goes unnoticed and is quietly sitting at the back of the room watching the men as they play a card game. This is significant as women in the 60's-70's where described to be seen and not heard. She is then ordered to get Jack a drink, it is clear at this point that Kinnear uses Glenda for his own needs and that she is seen as somebody for his domestic uses. At first the audience don't receive a  full view of Glenda , not even her face, we are only given a view of her body and what she is wearing. the outfit itself is revealing showing that she is just an object to look at. After sometime she starts to interact with Carter asking him questions about various people. At this point the voices of the other men are drowning out her own, the suggests that the men in the room are much more dominant than she is and that she is not being taken seriously. It also signifies her lower status and importance. The information that she is discussing with Carter is vital and seems to be overshadowed by the men in the room, this solidifies the point that men think women should be seen and not heard. Glenda all together is not being listened to, especially by Kinnear, even though the information she is telling Carter is highly linked to him. Glenda uses her sexuality to try and seduce Carter, this in Glenda's and the men in the film eyes is the only power that she will have. However even this power is controlled by men. She is literally an object owned by men and used to sexually gratify men, in other words she is a tool to them.

The directer has used several techniques to objectify women. For example, in the scene when Glenda is driving Carter back to her house, there is a collection of close up shots of different parts of Glenda's body, legs, hands , breasts and also bum. This shows that the film is specifically made for heterosexual men.We (the spectators) are there simply to take pleasure in viewing her body. There are no body shots of carter in this scene which highlights that men are not sexualised in any way in this film and throughout the 1970's, this would also not appeal to a heterosexual male. The fact that there is no female sexual pleasure shows that Glenda is not considered a person with a sexual desire, she is only there to please men. The fact that there are no shots from the female view show that we never see this part of the world from a female perspective. This reflects and represents how men viewed women in the 1970's.