Since the topic was discussed in class I've been wondering how socially acceptable The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo would be if it was instead The Boy with the Dragon Tatto. There are several ways this could play out. First, all of the character roles could be reversed. I won't reveal the ending of the movie, but will talk about some of the more controversial scenes.
The first scene that comes to mind is the scene where Lisbeth has to beg for her own money from the social worker who only gives her money when he feels that she has been socially acceptable. When he feels that she hasn't been, but she still needs money, he is willing to give it to her if she gives him a blow job. The most horrifying scene occurs when she needs more money and she heads to his house. It is here that he takes advantage of her, hand cuffs her to the bed and rapes her. Now, what I have to question is if the roles were reversed here. If Lisbeth was played by a man and the social worker was female. Would this have as much of a social impact?
In the film Lisbeth gets her revenge by setting up a similar scenario of going to the social worker's house for money. However, this time she has a plan. She has set up a camera, overpowers and constrains the social worker, removes his clothes and makes him watch the rape he committed. At the end of her conversation with him she then castrates him as leverage to gain access to her money. Would this situation have as much impact and poetic justice if the roles were reversed? I don't believe so. I believe that both the scenes for the American audience would be more controversial and terrifying. Often times when rape occurs its though of as a man raping a woman. It's very rarely thought of of a woman raping a man. The way American society views sex, plays a huge role in this. It seems that American society sees men as having to be macho, there are even stereotypes as to how often men think about sex. Women on the other hand are often thought of as innocent, and not enjoying or having sex ever.
Another thing to think about would be if only the Lisbeth character was reversed. While it is known and shown in the movie that she is bi-sexual, I think having the rape scene be between two men would have shown different social undertones as well. It was mentioned in class that gay men in movies are often cast as comedic roles, and this would be a huge character shift. Looking at the reversal of roles brings out the major stereotypes found in society. It makes me wonder what other stereotypes are in other societies and how they are portrayed in film. Having only seen the American version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo I cannot make the analysis at this time.
Props for bringing up this movie, it's one of my favorites in recent times. I was trying to relate it to our philosophical discussions for quite some time... I know there's a lot of stuff to be analyzed, but can't quite pinpoint all of them yet. The film just has that "feel" to it you know? I guess in light of the recent ethics discussions, there's a load of things to talk about here. I mean, what would we be able to say about the ethos of Lisbeth taking revenge via castration?
ReplyDeleteI've seen the Swedish version of GDT, and to me the rape scene in that movie was not nearly as shocking as the one shown in the American version. I'm not saying it was easy on the eyes or anything, but in the American version it seems the director reaaaaallly went out of his way to make the audience uncomfortable watching it. It felt very real, and very brutal to watch. So that's kind of an interesting difference, based on your comments on the extent to which film entrenched in social stereotypes. I think that there is certainly a higher sensitivity to raw sexual content in American audiences, for whatever reason. And so in this case, you see the director putting extra effort towards making sure that the scene rattles our cages. There were, for instance, a few people that walked out of the theater during our showing of GDT.
As for gender reversal, that's a really weird situation for me to think about. Most of the movie deals with Lisbeth's strange quirks and her growth despite constant victimization. Most of these things are strongly related to her female attributes - it seems weird to think of a male Hollywood hero that would undergo the same character development. I think that's basically because of the stereotypes associated with male protagonists in films... We expect to see them beaten up so that they will eventually rise again with more strength to overcome their challenges/enemies. This is exactly what happens to Lisbeth as well, but HOW it happens has a completely different "feel" to it, and it is definitely because she is a female character. For some reason you expect the male characters to go through a higher threshold of physical anguish, while Lisbeth's troubles definitely had more of a psychological edge. In the end I think we would emphathize with her in the same way regardless of her gender, but our "path" in doing so seems to change a bit due to societal perceptions and such. Interesting stuff.
@ Lizzy and Vin--also glad that Girl with the Dragon Tatoo came up. The gender role reversal approach that Lizzy mentions / and the cultural reversal that Vin uses to approach the rape scene give a lot of insight into socially and culturally constructed "truths" or norms
ReplyDeleteI have read the trilogy (It is great), and it's interesting to see Lisbeth's progression, how her past experiences shaped her character, and her ethical choices.
I think it is interesting to see a female character break some of the boundaries.