INTRODUCTION:

Tamil Cinema teaches new desires and satisfaction, new morality and ethics, devotion and worship, new paths and means of attaining power. It portrays role models particularly for children and youth to imitate (David, 1983, p. 2). The truth is that the global community is aware of and accepts the influence and impact of cinema on the society (Subramanian, 1990, p. 6). What makes this art form so captivating is that it caters not only to the needs of people but also provides a visual space for them to live their dreams as it tells the story more effectively and creatively.

Therefore, especially in a visual medium, it is important how women look at their bodies, how men look at them, how they dress and behave, and the manner they are used by the director, by the narrative and by the women themselves. Media representations become a major front for both popular and academic feminist struggle, continuing up to the present time with contemporary concerns.

The women representation in the films has been a subject of study over the years. There is no doubt that the landscape for women has changed considerably over the periods. In other words, women’s representation in films today is certainly better than before. This has happened because of making women centric movies, women being the makers of the films and through working with men in the alternative and mainstream production. Today women characters come alive on screen. They are not one dimensional figure or fictional constructs who are distant from the ordinary, real life women.Feminist critique of cinema has helped to view the reality presented by cinema in a different way and thus has contributed significantly to the discipline of media studies as well as film studies. Certain underlying aspects of a popular medium can only be brought to surface by criticism, scrutiny and introspection and feminists have attempted to do it with cinema as well as with other fields of study and practice.

Feminist perspectives have always attempted to learn how construction of feminist was related to the status of women. The altered understandings of gender roles and identities have led to important social changes with far reaching impacts on women and men. Though the substance of feminism has had paradigm shifts in different periods i.e. from the first-wave to third –wave feminism, the analysis of construction of gender identities in films and television programmes remains to be unaltered.

Feminist film theory:

Feminist theory took up a distinct stance in relation to the objectification, exclusion and silence of women in cinematic narratives. It also evaluated the stereotyping of female characters in cinema. For eg: In „Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema‟ (Laura Mulvey, 1975), the male character was identified as the driver of the film‟s narrative, the character followed by the camera. The female character served as a spectacle to provide pleasure to the male spectator, for which Mulvey used the term „gaze‟.iv The theory of „Absences and Presences‟ was concerned with the absence of a certain type of female characters in films and the presence of the other type, which was seen to be influenced by patriarchal values.Feminist theories analyse and critique the constructed image of women within film by men for a male spectator. It attacks the aberration in the film theory of the work of the great male auteurs by reclaiming the lost history of women’s involvement in film production. Feminist theory, place woman into the cinema, both as a theoretical spectator and as a physical member of the audience. Feminist theory is focused on the function of women characters in particular film narratives or genres and the stereotypes of a society’s view of women. The feminist perspectives counter the classic cinema narrative constructed by men.

The counter cultural feminist film form:

1. Destroys the classic narrative

2. Changes the classic conventions

3. Female characterisation within the classic narrative

Thus feminist theory in its critique of films incorporated the valorisation of women‟s experiences thereby posing a challenge to gender hierarchy as well as opening up new realms for a post-gendered future.

Feminism:

Feminism should be understood in the context of long history of patriarchy and the oppression of women stretching back through the centuries. Where the earliest feminist movement had concentrated on gaining equity for women in the public sphere, the second wave of feminism acknowledged that the oppression of women in a patriachical system extends to the private sphere and personal relationships. The third wave of feminism is characterised by focus on youth movements and issues, and a critical resistance to earlier codes of feminist behaviour or appearance. The first wave feminist who were involved in the political action of women’s movement, was distinct from the theoretical work of feminist writers, with their writings on the issues of female subjectivity, the role of women and women’s cultural production.

Feminist analyses of media in the second wave critiqued the way women tend to be visually represented as sexual objects, developing a body of theory to analyse and understand this tendency. During third wave, women began to gain access to production, in order to critique and readdress the existing systems of representation of women and rewrite the controversial history. The feminist scholarship whose goal is to assess women’s relationship to both mainstream and other media forms has a deep connection to women’s status in the real world.

Feminism in Indian films:

Numerous Indian feminist film critics drew on Mulvey's analysis and have theorized the workings ofIndian cinema. Inher essay, 'The Avenging Women in Indian Cinema', Lalitha Gopalan on the lines of Mulvey's essay 'Visual Pleasures and Narrative Cinema' theorizes that the female body has always been the main object of focus. Furthermore, the concept of conventional heterosexual division of labor is employed to give pleasure to the audiences. Adding to this, the style of narration-- just to suit the sensibilities of male audiences-portrayed men as active and female as passive (Gopalan 1997) Both Judith Butler and Donna Haraway the post feminists examined bollywood movies and described in their own words the 'decentring of women' as unitary images, showing women as fractured and plural group. However, Bollywood still by and large clubs women together as a united group and remains what Butler describes as a 'ritualized repetition of conventions' (1990:140). Therefore very scant traces of post feminism can be found in today's Indian popular culture.According to Indian feminists, media honours the male dominance by portraying women as objects. Along with this, the Hindi films and various beauty contests devalue a woman's sense of individuality and intellectual prowess by emphasizing only on physical beauty (Gandhi and Shah 1992). They further discussed that the stereotypical portrayal of women in Hindi films enables men to expect women to always serve them (Gandhi and Shah 1992).

The new wave films in India portray the personality of the woman quite differently from the traditional caricature form (mild, calm, coy and chaste). There is a paradigm shift in the presentation of female debonair. Bangalore Days (2014) directed by Anjali Menon shows passion and commitment to their female characters. The female characters are shown as free, natural to their characters who do not show any signs of „girling‟ (othering).Dhwani Nambiar (Honey Rose) in Trivandrum Lodge (2012) shows aspects of sexual positivism and presents a challenging debonair against the female stereotypes. The movie brims with lewd dialogues with sexual overtones reflect the changing sexual mores even though it invited much criticism from the cultural and literary circles of Kerala. The recent movie, Dangal rebels against the patriarchal system by providing the women an equal status to men. The movie presents itself to be served as a feminist text because it champions the cause of women against the oppressive patriarchal system.

Feminism and Tamil films:

From the time we had Tamil cinema there was strong ladies on the screen. The era of Sivaji Ganesan was defined with prominent personalities like Saroja Devi, Padmini, Sowcar Janaki and Savitri, These ladies made no attempts to hide their tremendous potential. They challenged their male counterparts aggressively and gave us quality cinema. Revathy, Rohini, Suhasini and Radhika defined a generation of liberated women. Simran, challehged herself to act as Kovilpatti Veeralakshmi. The new wave directors like K. Balachander and Mani Rathnam has given equal importance to their gender characters and often break the stereotypical rules in the narrative.

The roles of contemporary heroines remain to be similar. The gust and determination that heroines showcase in achieving size zero is noticeably absent in their quest for character driven roles.Women are also striking successful in many spheres including direction in Kollywood. Tamil cinema boasts of world renowned musicians, mind blowing graphics, movies stripped free of songs and even multi-starrers. But female oriented scripts are very rare. Tamil cinemas depict feminism in all possible ways. But all of them are to gain money by creating sympathy in the minds of women viewers. They are mostly associated with love affairs to attract all sections of people. Above all instead of exposing the realities they are utilised in their own way by the directors who never bothers about either truth or right or wrong. This is the characteristic qualities of films. The stories, dialogues, songs reveal that feminism plays a predominant role in Tamil films

Ideology and Media:

In this context, an ideology is basically a system of meaning that helps define and explain the world and makes value judgements about the world. It refers not only to the beliefs held about the world, but also to the basic ways in which the world is defined. Researchers who study the ideology of media are interested in the underlying stories about the society that the media tell, the range of values that the media legitimize, and the kinds of behaviours that are deemed normal. Media images can and sometimes do challenge this mainstream , status quo- oriented ideology by providing a critique of contemporary social organization and norms, but commercialization makes it difficult for media to maintain a critical voice. The search for popularity, wider distribution, and profitability tends to dull the critical edges of media imagery, pushing media back toward more mainstream. There are to be sure, media that consistently promote alternative ideological perspectives

Narrative structure in Feminist films:

Narratives or stories are basic way of making sense of our experience. Narrative is sequence of events taking place over a given period of time which are linked, mainly through cause and effect. Narratives can be considered as means by which societies ‘talk to themselves’. They look at certain human issues and questions and by the end of the narrative, a solution, resolution or overall message about the problem has been presented. The way the characters are positioned in the narrative tells us something about how we are expected to understand. Similarly, male characters are often set at the centre of a film while women serve secondary functions as such as wife, mother or mistress.

Feminist film narratives will have women centric narratives. The analysis of the women centric narrative:

· How women power is narratively constructed in dominant cultures?

· How stories told about women’s representations in top level leadership may impact individual identities , possibilities ans ambitions

· Paternal or maternal narrative

Reading a Feminist film:

A feminist movie should showcase woman as champion against the oppressive patriarchal system. The narratives should have women roles that are capable of crossing the boundaries demarcated by some preconceived notions for the male and the female in some way or the other. The movie should make the audience think beyond the biased state of minds. The narrative should have women role reversal. Feminist film critics look for the reflection of feminine identity from the society, through ideological and social construction of woman who is either to be revered or reviled. The feminist study on movies need to study the content for not only the representations of male and female characters , but also the way the female characters are written , presented and performed in the media. The feminist scholars have always applied the western theories in analysing the Indian movies. Bechdel Test, Sexy lamp test and Mako Mori test were the western made methods to read the mainstream movies in a female perspective. Though the methods could be applied to study the popular Indian films, the female reading of popular movies was indigenised with the Female Integrity, Male Utility Sensitivity test (FItMuS Test ) devised by Uma Vangal (feminist scholar). This method along with other feminist requirements devised by the western methods, we need films to have ‘female character integrity’ (meaning character consistency) and that they should not be there for mere ‘male utility’ (on and off the screen) and finally, that such female characters be handled with cultural sensitivity.

Context of the present research study:

Being the largest producers of features, the Indian Film industry has also undergone a paradigm shift in coming up with women centric movies. The recent steady wave definitely started with the surprise success of Vidya Balan’s The Dirty Picture in 2011 and Kahaani in 2012. In Tamil Cinema, women centric movies or representing the heroines with women centric plots were done by the legends like K Balachander, Balu Mahendra and Mahendran. Recently we have come across many women centric movies like Dora, maya Makalir mattum II and other few in the list. While heroines take centre stage, heroes don’t seem to mind going to the sidelines and gender roles are getting redefined, slowly but surely. But still there is a concern in the way the genders are constructed in the films and the ideology propagated through this vibrant medium.In this context the present study explores the content of the unusual feminist film “iraivi “, directed by karthick subburaj (New wave director) . The movie was criticised and appreciated for the bold representations of male and female characters and also for the feminine title: Iraivi meaning ‘goddess’. The major objectives of the study will be

1. To Analyse the presence of strong women in the film using FiTMuS Test

2. To study Ideology represented through the genders

3. Does it reflect the feminist perspective of the society

4. To study whether the narratives are women centric

Study Design and Sample Selection:

Multi-disciplinary method is applied to study the intended objectives. It is done in two steps. The first step is qualitative content analysis and the second one is the focus group discussion with publics to study the audience perception of feminism. Unstructured questions will used for the discussion.Sample for content analysis is the feminist labelled movie ‘Iraivi’. Qualitative content analysis is done using the Female Integrity, Male Utility Sensitivity test (FiTMuS test) devised by Uma Vangal to understand the women characters in the narrative. Samples for Focus group Discussion will be selected by convenient sampling method form Chennai.

Data analysis and interpretation:

Step 1:

I will be attempting FItMuS Test to study the presence of strong women in the feminist labelled movie “Iraivi”:

The parameters set to read the movie are:

1. to have at least two named female characters that actually converse in a scene, but not about men or romance (feminist requirement of Bechdel Test)

2. static women characters could be replaced by a lamp that could titillate ‘the male gaze’, (Sexy lamp test)

3. well-developed female character arcs and clear female orientation to the happenings on screen

4. (feminist requirements of Mako Mori test and Furiosa test)

5. female character integrity and male utility

The film begins with the scene where the women characters discussing about the character and qualities of their partners with other women in the screen. Ponni, the female character from a village set up will be seen as discussing about her dream husband and love life with her friends. Yazhini, who is in a bridal costume, is seen discussing about her future husband with her friend. And finally the Mother character is seen as complaining about husband for harassing her in the presence of family members to the female companion on the screen. Throughout the narrative, when two women appear in the screen they are found to be either praising or complaining about the male characters. Thus I can say that the film completely fails to meet the requirements of Bechdel Test.According to the Sexy Lamp test – the main female characters are more conservative in their appearance and seen always as worrying about their husbands and family. Though the gaze is not emphasized through any of the gendered characters, spectator gaze is induced the way Malar (lead) is projected on the screen. Malar is depicted as who lost her husband and keep up a sexual relationship with one of the lead male character, Michael. She appears to be erotic on the screen.

Mako mori test:

The three men Arul, Michael and Jegan lead the narration of the story. Dramatic need of the story is set through men. The men act to be the cause of the plot and women as the bearers of the effect of the plot

Applying FiTMuS Test:

The strong women leads are Ponni and Malar.

Ponni the lead seems to be so strong at any situations of her life. She never looks for dependency and takes personal responsibilities in case of her husband and child. Though the identity created by her does not question the existing societal norms, she remains to be a strong role model. She is the woman who is shown to transform from being an innocent woman to a liberated woman in the end. At another instance, when her husband’s friend Boby Simha proposes Anjali, she takes it so positively and reacts in much matured way saying “we see tomorrow and I will think about it”. She never complains about him to anybody. Finally when she realises that her husband is killed by S.J. Surya, she turns to be so matured and understands the reality that she has to lead her life alone. Malar another lead is very strong in her choice of living. She accepts the consequences of her decision, though it questions the patriarchy values. She is the modern girl, does not bother even a tad bit about what the society might think of her. She simply does what she feel she has to do and goes on with her life. Yazhini, another lead character was bold enough to take decisions in getting married to Arul, a film director. As a consequence of her choice, she was ready to adjust and support with Arul who becomes a regular drunkard being stuck with a problem. Gradually when the narration moves on she is found to be losing her identity, when she gets confused in getting remarried. She is found to be blaming Arul for her confusions in decisions and finally gets convinced with him. Mother character that is compared to be goddess whose value is not realised by her husband. Her mother traits are highlighted by Arul, first son and was always complained about herbeing ill-treated by her husband. The men in this movie are involved in women’s world. They are not found to be enhancing or empowering the women in any situations. They take decisions without knowing that it creates an impact with their women. For example when Michael goes furious seeing his boss Arul being tortured by a film producer, he decides to kill him without considering Ponni waiting for him. Jegan, brother of Arul is depicted as a character who raise voice against the women being tortured or being neglected. Jegan is seen to be chauvinistic when he proposes Ponni in the absence of Michael. Arul who is found to be more affectionate and caring with his wife and daughter, sounds so abusive and degrading in the comments given in the climax of the movie. Though his comments are meant to be acting, the male prejudice is reflected.

Step 2:

Reflections on Perspectives on feminism

The understanding of feminism from the samples selected from Chennai:

· no discrimination on gender

· freedom of choice

· decision making role in the family and society

· suppressing the sexuality of women

· breaking the stereo types in the society

· women to be role models

· being a feminist within the traditional values

· no gender is superior or inferior

· not to bend the rules in the name of gender

· freedom to live women’s terms and sensibilities

· all genders receiving the rightful opportunities

· female domination over men

· women liberation within herself

· realising the strength of women

· women movement which motivates the power of women

· elevating the status of women

Iraivi, the movie chosen for the analysis depicts feminism in a different way. It highlights how women and men in the society are unconsciously made to follow the dominant norms in the society. It shows women being strong at any circumstances and deal things patiently. Women remain to be following the existing family values. The film reinforces the status of majority women in Indian society. The film tries to give deeper understanding of the root causes of the pain for women in our society. It’s not because of the men being rude with women, but he trying to be more selfish about himself creates the havoc.

Looking for women centric narratives:

The story represents women from a male perspective like any other movie but the kind of representation makes the movie a feminist subject. The story revolves around the men and their women. All the plots are carried by the actions of the male leads in the film. All the men leads are strong protagonist, who needs the support of the female leads to make their existence complete. Normally in Tamil movies the female leads are brought up in the narrative as a Male gaze. Laura Mulvey argues that in many mainstream films audiences are invited to identify with men’s role and to objectify women regardless of whether they are male or female. None of the female leads are objectified here, but they are given the opportunity to introduce themselves and talk about their needs and position in the family and society. The narrative highlights the strength and power of women at many circumstances. Women play empowered characters who are not punished persecuted, or endangerd within the narrative world. It gives an identity to them.

The gender ideology propagated in the film:

All the female leads play as wives, mother and daughter of the male leads who are the embodiment of typical patriarchal values. Ponni, who is a strong woman in the narration, characterised as a loyal and responsible wife of Michael. When Michael reveals that he married her due to compulsion and he cannot live up to her expectations, Ponni takes it with tranquillity, which gives a clear picture that she has to live with him. When she is advised by the elderly ladies at home that it is the duty of the wife to make the husbands realise themselves, she accepts that with a smile. This shows that a woman has to be submissive in the men’s world. She remains passive about her husband’s extra marital relationships. She was ready to forgive Michaels furious decisions and live with him if he does not repeat the mistakes. She is seen as innocent school girl with dreams like any other women in the country and is transformed in to a strong decision maker towards the end of the movie. Like any other movie women are found to be naive in the beginning and realise the world by the end.

Yazhini, wife of Arul is seen as strong decision maker in the beginning of the narration and gradually being the wife of Arul, tries to support him and convinces him to comply her advices. Though she was stubborn in divorcing Arul because of his aggressiveness, she was not convinced completely in taking another man in his life. At times she obeys her father and husband. She is shown as a responsible mother. She is seen talking about her ambitions; most of the time end up with emotional setbacks.

Mother character of the male leads is shown as a typical and responsible mother who takes care of the sons and family. Malar is characterized as a widow who wants to have an independent life and expects sexual freedom. She is found to be caring and loyal in her sexual relationship with Michael. Michael and Arul are depicted as the height of male chauvinism. They do not hurt or harass the female partners directly but their behaviours affect the life of women in the story. Like any other male lead in the commercial films they are seen to be self- centred, tough and more focused with the public world. Jegan, brother of Arul is seen as only man with feminist ideas. He raises voice for the women in the stories. He questions the existing system and norms for the male and female in the society. He exposes masculinity when he decides to steal the Sculptures of Godess and also when he says that only he can give happiness to ponni, whom he loves. On the whole women are shown to be innocent, strong, dependent patient, caring , emotional, family oriented, and men are shown to be aggressive , consuming alcohols ( which is a masculine trait ), instant decision makers , career oriented and emotionally week .

Key findings:

1. The film is not a women centric movie but it is story with women centric narrations

2. Female characters are stereotyped as wives, mother and daughter

3. Females are bonded in the institution of family

4. Male characters are devised to be realising their mistakes towards the end of the movie

5. Men are the problem seekers and women are the problem solvers

6. Women are family centric and men are public centric

7. Women are made to realise their strength and accept the existing male values

8. Women are found to be loyal to their partners

9. Women are found to be sexually motivated

10. Women are seen to be rational

11. The film has a man who questions the patriarchal values of the society and talks about women oppression by their partners

12. The narration stresses on the point that if women are devalued in a relationship , they can liberate themselves

13. The film also stresses that man who do not respect his woman should be punished

14. Ponni Character is found to be strong and stubborn in maintaining the social norms. She is a women with substance

15. Malar , negative feminine in the movie , who acts as a symbol of women empowerment

16. The film does not follow the binary positioning of male and female characters. All the female characters have their solid identity

17. Characters perform the constructed gender roles in the society

18. Strong role model who breaks the existing typical patriarchal values is not available in the film

19. Woman are not seen as leaders

20. Woman is always seen as accompanied by male companions in the form of father, husband, son

21. The movie has failed the feministic reading of Bechdel Test and partially deviates the SexLamp Theory and Mako Mori Test. The film did miss the western elements of feminist readings

22. Women are seen as peace-loving, soft-headed and irrational pacifists by nature

23. Women is given the space to represent herself

CONCLUSION:

Iraivi- is rightly called as an unusual feminist movie, because it creates awareness about the unconscious oppression and exploitation by men over women in family and work. The film stresses on the primary concern of feminism in the third world countries.In this film women are seen to be strong and confident even they are destroyed by the male superiority. The gender differences show the real cause of the problems. The film stresses that however strong and liberated the women in thinking, she will be carry and feed her child for ever. Gilligan (1982) argues that gender role socialization leads girls to develop a stronger moral sense of caring others. In India chief good of women is believed to lie in adapting to any sort of circumstances, without rendering any conflict or criticism, in her family or procreation. This mantra is seen to be questioned by the narration. The politics of feminism is scripted in the characters of women in the film. The film does partially reflect the perspectives of feminism from society. Though the film does not orient away from sex-determined roles and oppressive restrictions, the woman are partially seen to express herb thought and covert them freely into action.

In cultural terms, “feminity has been examined in India primarily in terms of socialisation of the girl child into different roles to be performed by her in her multi-faceted but mainly home- bound life. This term has been involved in the narration. Semone de Beauvoir, a famous feminist writer states that: “One is not born a woman rather she becomes one,” in that under the aegis of femininity she is in fact following the dictates of an ideal, largely created by men, to ensure that man keeps his place as top dog in a patriarchal society. Though the film follows the values of society and depicts gendered characters, the questioning of position of women in the society and avoiding clichéfemale characters have given the label of feminist movie.Narrative is the enactment of desire. Narrative posits women as different in order to reassure men that they are the same as those other men who produce the narrative, define its moral order, and shape the destiny of characters accordingly (Raymond Bellour)

REFERENCE:

1. Jain Jasbir, Rai Sudha: Films and feminism – Essays in Indian Cinema, Rawat Publications, 2002.

2. Croteau David, Hoynes William : Media/Society- Industries, Images And Audiences , Pine Forge press, 2000

3. Shaughnessy Michael , Stadler jane : Media and Society – an introduction , Third edition , oxford university press, 2005

4. Women and media

5. http://www.essaywriter.co.uk/how-women-are-represented-in-bollywood-movies.aspx?id=VVJvdroMijQXp

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Received on 24.10.2017 Modified on 30.11.2017

Res. J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 2018; 9(1): 151-157.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5828.2018.00027.X