Friday, April 18, 2014
A Feminist Farce?
Daisies is the first film we have screened by a female director that focuses on women protagonists. Yet this film is far from an easy film to interpret. Do you see a feminist "message" in the film? Or is this film lampooning such a message? Is this film highlighting and ridiculing sexist views of women? What about the fact that the women protagonists are hardly the paragons of virtue (They have, after all, "gone bad.")? Please enlighten us.
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This film does contain many themes regarding females and femininity in the 1960’s Czechoslovak. It criticizes the way men are allowed to act, but women are not. The two main characters defy feminine norms by using men, sleeping around, being emotionally detached from their lovers and by not acting “ladylike.” In many societies women are except to have a very limited amount of lovers, because if a woman sleeps with too many men she is seen as “bad,” but men are expected to sleep with many women and are valued more when they can obtain the love of many women. In Daisies the two women go on dates with many men. These men are under the impression that they will sleep with the women after dinner, but once they board the train the two women jump off because they were just using the man for entertainment and food. In one scene one of the main characters is with a man and we are lead to believe they have sex, but instead of the women being attached to the man the man calls her and is madly in love with her. She mocks him for expressing these feelings, which stereotypes have made an atypical behavior for women. This film also shows the two main characters being dainty like a stereotypical female, but also show them being slobs. When the women have dinner with men they use minimal table manners by bring up inappropriate topics and are very messy eaters. I would describe this as a feminist film because it shows the audience how ridiculous gender stereotypes are. Women going “bad” makes them less desirable to men, but why should it when men can get away with things women cannot get away with. This film advocates for women to be able to do what they please, instead of listening to social norms, which makes it a feminist film.
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ReplyDeleteDaisies directed by Věra Chytilová depicts the life of two women who enjoy fooling around with each other while at the same time sometimes making fools of themselves. In a way I can see a feminist message in this film but not a positive one. I personally could not stand this film because I believe that it contributed to many people looking down on women. When these women acted stupid and silly it would not give people reason to take them seriously. I think that the only feminist message in this film could be that women are silly and cannot be taken seriously. This film highlights on the sexist views of women in many ways. First off the women have very significant laughs and their laughs sound kind of like hyenas in The Lion King. Another way that this film highlights sexist views of women is how the two women fool around with food while they are at meals. Food is a very important part of the film and in one of the first few scenes the women are seen at a restaurant with a man. The way these women eat food makes me think of children under the age of five. These women do not deserve to be taken seriously and in a way are disgraces to all the women who have in any way tried to make something of them. These women are in no way the paragons of virtue, mainly because of the way they act. They are constantly fooling around with each other and with food and with clothing. I believe that these women did not go bad over the course of the film but were born bad. It was hard to see these women in a good way throughout the entire film.
While I agree with Annie to an extent that the film is almost mocking the two women protagonists, I believe the message is a little more complex as the film is simultaneously showing the women as independent and able to function without depending entirely on men. It is very interesting that a female director actually directed this movie, since there are many negative stereotypes in the movie because I would think that a woman would try to portray female protagonists as positively as possible. Chytilová includes many of the typical female stereotypes in the two protagonists such as the “ditsy blonde” and the continual pursuit of men. Throughout the film, the viewer sees the two women eating messily, having food fights, using older men to buy the women the lavish lifestyle they desire, and even toying with some of the men’s emotions. While these actions and stereotypes may seem like negative portrayals of the women, I do not believe this fact is the case. These examples all paint the picture of two independent women who make decisions on their own. While their actions may seem to the irrational, they still are able to do what they want without the approval of the men. They are able to manipulate and use men to dine at fancy restaurants, make men fall in love with them even though they do not even know their names, and even trick men so that they can escape after a “date.” Due to these examples, I truly believe Daisies is a feminist film as they show the women as strong willed and almost manipulative, rather than the opposite which would be the case in a film lampooning the feminist message. While the women are almost slobbish at times and seem fairly unintelligent during many parts of the film, I believe that as a whole, the film is not as negative as many people believe since there are many redeeming qualities in the two female protagonists.
ReplyDeleteIn “Daisies”, the women are quite unique, indescribable individuals to say the least. There is quite a feminist vibe in this film as a representation of the fact that women are often subject to stereotypes and held to certain standards and this film makes fun of that extreme. The 2 sisters are not dainty, proper women in the least. They are constantly shoving their faces full of food at their numerous restaurant excursions with various rich, older men. They are unmannered and break rules left and right. For example, they ride the dumbwaiter which clearly is marked that no people should ride it. The women want attention, at one point marching and chanting “I exist” and noticing when men riding bicycles past them just ride right past. They ‘don’t exist’ in the eyes of the government and are locked out of various buildings, as evidenced by the montage of locks on doors. One of the sisters is non-existent in the eyes of the government because she does not have a job or the proper ID papers. This hints at a political statement, but also represents the role of women in this society and how they are physically motivated to succeed sexually, not in a career or family. They are encouraged to beautify themselves and be attractive, rather than be smart or well-mannered. This is evidenced by the milk bath scene as well as multiple scenes in which the girls get prepared to go out by putting on makeup, dressing, and fixing their hair. These two have definitely “gone bad” and act like children or like machines. In the opening scene, they creakily move their limbs like a doll or a machine until they decide to go against the stereotype where they are reduced to such a low standard and be rebellious and “go bad”. They act greedy and overzealous and mock what a ‘good girl’ or a proper woman would do. The question remains: did the society make them bad? Does breaking rules in the communist society automatically make them bad? Whatever the cause, they go beyond a point of no return. When drowning, ‘logs’ reach out to help them, but when they admit that they have ‘gone bad’ the logs no longer come to their aid. Even when they try to reform themselves and fix what they have done, they ultimately cannot. This film challenges conventional female standards and makes quite a unique statement about feminism.
ReplyDeleteWhile it is possible to interpret the women in "Daisies" as mockeries of women and female roles, I agree with Henry in saying that the women in "Daisies", although strange and irrational, are consciously able to make decisions and survive without the aid of men. In fact, I believe that the director made the female protagonists look foolish or strange in certain scenes because she wants to demonstrate the independence of women and to criticize stereotypes regarding gender roles. For example, scenes where the director demonstrates the independence and empowerment regarding female roles is when the protagonists dine; the two characters gorge on lavish foods, not even bothering to look up. Normally, however, one would assume that males are the ones that gorge on food, while females would be more reserved. The fact that the director has the female protagonists blatantly shove down loads of food emphasizes a double-standard, and empowers the female image, while making fun of the male archetype. The female protagonists also scam older men. Although the female protagonists are portrayed as loose and promiscuous, one must recognize that the female protagonists are the ones taking advantage of older men, empowering the female role. In other words, the female protagonists independently come up with ways to scam and make fun of men much older and wealthier than they are, demonstrating the independence, power and the cunningness of the female protagonists. In summary, I think that it would be most appropriate if one looked at the role of the female protagonists in a deep manner; the director intentionally has scenes where the female role is emphasized as independent and empowering and also where gender stereotypes are criticized.
ReplyDelete"Daisies" is a film that has a element of parody with a feminist "message". The director (Věra Chytilová) of this film perfectly executes getting the main point and idea of women empowerment because she does not overly lampoon the message, but by her making fun of these stereotypes of women strengthens Věra's argument. For example, we see the two main characters often wearing clothes with a lot of sex appeal such as short skirts, short tops and short dresses while going on dates with random older gentlemen getting drunk and acting very un-lady like in public. By making the women in this film fall into some of the stereotypes of women highlights feminist views on them. I wouldn’t say that Věra necessarily ridicules these views. Even though all these traits might appear to be a sign of weakness, these two ladies are the ones who always prevail at the end. In one of the later scenes in the film, the two women are up to their same cynical schemes by going on a date with an older men, where the older gentlemen wine and dines them but ends up getting ditched at the end as the two women walks him to the train station but leaves him as he gets on. This is a sign of female dominance considering the fact that the man is the one who is made a fool of for once where in today's society, the women is the one who ends up getting emotionally hurt.
ReplyDeleteI really like what Daises has to say about gender roles and female stereotypes. I think that the film is mostly making fun of the female stereotypes that were prominent back then and in a way, still are today. One stereotype about women that is easily broken is that women are very dainty and don’t eat a lot. The women are constantly eating which is not something generally associated with women. The film is making fun of this ridiculous stereotype in making it very clear that there is an exaggeration in the opposite direction. This movie also shows that the women are not dependent on the men but rather the men are dependent on the women. The women show several times that they don’t need men. They leave them driving off on the train and basically ignore them on the phone and clearly don’t give them what they what as seen in the butterfly scene. The girls also show that they are not trying to impress the men by their rudeness to the men in the restaurant. They basically ignore the men they take there and have a meal for themselves, showing a clear disregard for any table manners. It is nice to see that the women are not taken advantage of in this film. It is the reverse in this film with the women having the clear advantage over the men. All of these role reversals are trying to show how ridiculous these stereotypes are by forcing them on the men. Everyone can see how much more noticeable they are when they seem out of place. The stereotypes now seem silly because we are not used to them, highlighting the director’s main point about ridiculous stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteWhile I think that “Daisies” makes great strides to promote female equality, I don’t at all believe it to be a serious take on feminism. If anything, I think it’s actually having a lot of fun at the expense of those so devoted to such a cause, or at least the way in which they approach the matter. The two leads’ plot to “go bad” is very similar in nature to that of the film itself: amorphous, without any sort of apparent structure. They flail their arms about, take advantage of random men and generally act rebellious against society, all with a vague purpose (again, “going bad”), but without any real concept of what to do or even what is being accomplished. We’re ultimately left confused as to what “going bad” even means to them in the first place. Does it mean forsaking men and laughing at their lustful whimsies? Does it mean giving into sin and becoming lustful themselves? Does it mean literally being “bad” and partaking in destructive activities? I think the commentary being made here is that advocates of feminism, while they certainly have ambition and perhaps even a noble goal, aren’t necessarily sure of how to go about achieving female equality themselves. There are all these ideas being thrown around, but in the end they amount to nothing but some rallying cries and ineffectual acts of rebellion. Ironically, I think the film provides a very simple, yet highly effective means of treating female members of society as equal to their male counterparts, which is essentially throwing them into roles that would usually be played by men. Here, women get to be slobs and klutzes and goofballs, and the expectation is that the audience is thoroughly shocked by it. We’re so accustomed to seeing women depicted as elegant possessions who sit around while the men take center stage, and yet here are two of them making fools of themselves just as well as any man could. Would our response to the final few scenes of the film be exactly the same if, say, Larry, Curly and Moe were bathing themselves in deserts? It would be equally disgusting, but I don’t think we would be nearly as surprised. It’s a strong testament to our gender-related expectations, and I think the film definitely succeeds in making us see the faults of said expectations.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Henry on this one, I too am extremely surprised that this film was directed by a woman. Although throughout most of the film the two girls seemed to have each guy by the “handle” and get whatever they want whenever they want it, all they have to do is talk to the guys and flirt with them a little. These poor guys end up paying for these two girls who act like complete baboons at the fancy restaurants and eat as much as they can, which seems like every night. These guys think that after they pay for these girls that they will all go back to his place and have a “fun time” and do what he wants to do, sexual favors. Unfortunately, the guy always ends up home alone with a dent in his wallet, after the girls jump off the train while it is taking off. The girls end up using each guy they meet to get free meals and to use their money. Although the director makes it seem like they are living the golden life, they actually need the men to survive, without men they would never eat a free meal in their lives, forcing them to work like everyone else. Towards the end it is more recognizable on how much these women actually need men, when they are walking down the street and all of the men on bicycles pass by them without even acknowledging the two girls, making them upset and depressed. This causes the girls to break into what should be a very expensive and important banquet for the wealth where they completely trash everything and eat until their stomachs are over satisfied. Their actions represent the opposite of being lady like, simply embarrassing women in the Czech culture. Although I enjoyed this film tremendously, it left me hanging with many questions on why a woman director would show other women acting with such abrupt behavior and how much these girls depended on men.
ReplyDeleteThe reason that I enjoyed Daisies so thoroughly was the in depth analysis of women in society. The entire movie is one big cultural commentary statement. This really begins in the film when we see the Maries out to dinner with what looks like an older, well to do gentlemen. Throughout the entire dinner, the two women are in the position of power. They are getting a free meal, with the unspoken promise of sex afterwards, and have the man hanging on their every word. However, the Maries break that unbroken promise by ditching the man post-dinner. While very comical, the scenes also show that the expectation of women is that they cannot be in power without being sexually manipulative. The Maries are viewed as “bad” because they do not follow the concrete rules for women in society. They are loud, opinionated and uninhibited. This is best shown during the scene at the club, where they are disturbing the other patrons completely. This scene is an incredible metaphor for the (at the time) current society’s reaction to women who don’t act as they “should”. What Daisies is attempting to do, and succeeding at doing, is calling out the elephant in the room of the culture and address the generalizations and stereotypes aimed at women. Through the big metaphors and blatantly comical images (such as the phallic mutilation image, and the death of the rebellious Maries by chandelier), Daisies is showing the world how ridiculous their expectations of women are.
ReplyDeleteDaisies is a feminist movie for many different reasons. Throughout the movie, the two girls say they are bad and run around town playing all the men that are coming in and out of their lives. When they go out to dinner with older rich men, they take advantage of them and get hop off the train without them. They use these men for free meals and at the end of the night go home together instead of with their date. Instead of the man using the woman for sex, in a way the roles are reversed in this situation where the woman is using the man. In the scene with the man with the butterflies, the blond girl covers herself up with different framed butterflies. She teases him that night and it perceived as an object like the butterflies. But after that scene she will not call him back or contact him in any way although he is infatuated with her. Instead of putting the man in charge, the director makes the blond girl in charge of this situation and her whole life. Whenever they are saying they are bad, the two girls are going against the social norms for women, but at the end something changes. They decide that they want to be good and for them to be good they start cleaning up their mess. This shows that for them being good is doing the domestic work that was expected from women.
ReplyDeleteI feel that Dasies is a film that allows women to have freedom from the generic everyday stereotypes that they encounter every day. In the movie the girls are in control and have the power to do whatever they want. They lead guys on and live a care free lifestyle without worrying about the thoughts of others. Normally during this era women are expected to cook, clean and take care of normal domestic household responsibilities; however, in this movie we sense the power and freedom that the girls have to live the life they choose. With a female director I believe she took it upon herself to create a film that allows women to have the opportunity to show their independence. A key example of women's dominance is when the girls would be taken out by men and they would use them to eat food but would not give them the opportunity for anything more. I feel that this example is the director showing that although the girls are free willed they are smart enough to not get taken advantage of. The ultimate goal of the film I am still unsure of, it could possibly be the growth of the two girls and their realization that life isn’t always a party and the understanding of their personal value. Daises is a film that promotes women’s independence and allows others to have a different perspective of women's role in society. Women can become whatever they choose to be and they have the knowledge to not fall into the stereotypical expectations.
ReplyDeleteI certainly think that film has feminist sympathies, and in fact I believe that the use of the term "gone bad," and the way the film depicted the two main women behaving poorly is a testament to the femininity in the film. Through the film the women seem to be completely in control of their lives, and their signs of bad behavior only solidify that fact. When they encounter men, whether having old men pay for their dinners and then abandoning him at the last minute, or letting men beg for their affection to no avail, the two women constantly have the upper hand. In fact, sometimes their actions almost seem to be a critique on the stereotypical 1960s man. Instead of women swooning over a powerful made lead, we have droves of men leaving their phone numbers for the two girls.
ReplyDeleteI think the idea of, "being bad," promotes the theme of feminism in the movie. Traditionally, even more so in the 1960s, women are seen as naturally good. Women are soft, they follow the rules society has dictated for them, they act as prime examples of good behavior. In a place like Czechoslovakia, teeming with resentment over the limitations of living in a Soviet satellite state, going "bad" or against the grain allows the director to make both commentary on Communism and also on gender norms. The fact that these women are behaving badly, breaking the rules, going against the expectations of their gender are all aspects, in my opinion, of feminism.
I think the point is hammered home at the very ending of the movie. When the women decide to try to be good, and go back to the dining room to clean up the enormous mess they've made. While they're doing, the chandelier hanging above them falls, killing them both. It's interesting because when the women decide to stop being bad, and try to undo the chaos they've created, the director decides to have them killed. It seems like that when they attempt to go back into their gender norms, and play the typical female role of cleaning and playing by the rules, they're punished with the falling of the chandelier.
Although this film acknowledges sexist stereotypes, it ultimately has a feminist message attached to it. The two female protagonists don't really want to work for money, so they simply end up dating wealthier men for food and money. When these women go out to dinner with their usually older, male counterparts, they don't give anything in return for dinner, which is what their dates expect. Instead of having sex with their dates however, they send them away on a train and never see them again. With this example, even though the women are using others for money rather than earning it themselves, they are outsmarting these rich, powerful men.
ReplyDeleteAnother example of a mix of sexist stereotypes and feminism is when one of the women is essentially mocking a lover of hers by stripping and asking for bread. Although she uses her body in this scene to get what she wants, she never succumbs to actually doing anything with the man to get her food. Once again, she is simply outsmarting him. For that reason, this film is in fact ridiculing sexist views of women.
The fact that the characters have "gone bad" at the end of the film is their acknowledgement that their actions are immoral and deceitful. That is not saying that they should return the favor to their dinner dates, but rather they should not be in that situation in the first place. They should have gotten jobs and worked for their own money rather than outsmarting the rich and powerful. However, the fact that they've gone bad doesn't take away from the feminist message where they trick others into getting what they want.
The 1966 Czechoslovak film Daisies, ultimately shows the two main female characters as independent women, who are able to function without having to depend on men. Vera Chytilova who is the director of Daisies, portrays typical female stereotypes through the two main female characters, such as the dumb blonde and the continual pursuit of men. During the film, the viewer can see how both women eat very messily (like animals) and have food fights, using older men to their advantage to take themselves out to a nice dinner, and even playing around with some of the men’s emotions. Although the actions and stereotypes seem to be negative representations of the women, this is definitely not the case. Ultimately, these examples explicitly show how the two main female characters are independent and can make decisions on their own. Even though their actions seem to be illogical, these women still have the ability to do what they desire without the approval of men. The women are able to basically control the men from having the men take them out to nice dinners to the women tricking the older men by boarding the train with them after dinner, only to jump off and for the men to finally realize the women are gone. While the women are seen to be very grotesque and unintelligent at times, Daisies is ultimately a feminist film which portrays the women to be strong and independent, rather than a film which ridicules the feminist message.
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