Explore the representation of women in Memento
This may not seem like the most obvious element to study when it comes to this film, however any film which challenges our expectations and understanding of film as fundamentally as this one deserves close analysis on every level! Added to which the genre this film can be considered part of, Film Noir, is infamous for its femme fatales, an ambiguous representation of women to say the least. We might also make the assumption that in a film that provides us with an anti-hero, should we also expect an 'anti-princess'?
Before we can analyse the film we need to understand a bit about Feminist Film Theory.
To write this essay you will complete the following tasks...
1. Read and makes notes on an essay about feminist film theory.
2. Watch the film and make notes using your research as a guide
3. Apply the research from your essay to the film by selecting a sequence of clips from the film
4. Use an additional piece of research to add to your findings.
5. Write several paragraphs (totalling no more than 1000 words) answering the question above.
Task 1.
The essay below will be your main piece of Secondary research. It is by Anneke Smelik, from The Cinema Book.Task 1.
- Read through the chapter
- Whilst reading, highlight key points
- Annotate the pages to put points into your own words
- Write out a dozen key quotations from throughout the chapter - each one should go on a separate Research Log sheet - found below the chapter.
- Summarise what the chapter has been about in your own words
Task 2.
Watch Memento - but you must keep notes, these should be based on the things that you have read about from the chapter on narrative.- Keep your summary of the chapter in front of you, as well as the quotations you've copied out. (have these written out separately from your research logs).
- Write very (very) brief summary of each scene as it appears in the movie
- Whenever something happens that either reinforces or challenges the points you've written down, make a note of it
- Throughout the movie write down anything that happens that you feel answers the question in any small way
- As soon as the film is finished, write down your immediate response to the film in relation to the question you are trying to answer
Task 3.
From your notes on the film AND the notes you've made from the chapter - think about any key sequences that would be worth analysis in answering the question. Find clips from the film on YouTube that you can look at again. Here are some that might help...This is the first scene with Natalie in it. This means two important things firstly that it's the representation of her that establishes how we are positioned to look at her; as a character and as a woman. It also means that it is the last thing she does in the narrative - knowing what we know having seen the entire film, how does this change her representation? Added to all of this you must remember that Natalie is not the only woman represented in this scene...
Natalie as victim?
Natalie as villain? Femme Fatale? Puppet master? Or still a victim of other people's deceptions and violent acts? How does this scene relate to the idea of a 'feminist film' and how can it also relate to Mulvey's idea of The Male Gaze? Particularly the male protagonist's fear of castration - she uses quite a few violent allusions to sex before Leonard loses it! This should really help stirring up the Positive/Negative debate surrounding representations of women...
Natalie's last scenes in the film (and therefore her first, chronologically speaking). Not only is there a number of visual aspects that make her representation significant (don't forget to consider how we are positioned), but we can also now trace her character arc. Does she grow? Does her character have depth? Is she Active or Passive? Think of her last line of dialogue in the narrative (not in the plot), did we know this already about her?
Task 4.
Search for another piece of research relating your topic area - it can even be specifically about the film itself, a review of the film, an interview with Nolan, an essay or an article - write down some quotations that are interesting, even if you disagree with them.
You don't have to search too far to find Secondary research specifically written about Memento - however this isn't always useful for every research project.
Without a new angle or a new perspective the question will always remain:
Why write something if it's already been written?
For our purposes this is just a practice so it's fine, but the point made is important for you to remember - don't worry if you can't find the exact academic writing that answers your question, find the writings on the subject you are investigating and use it - that's where you get the marks in this essay.
Once you have read some different sources you can write them up on a research log like the one you have in your coursework booklet.
Task 5.
This is the hardest part but the most essential. Putting everything together. In no more than 1000 words you are going to write the essay at the top of this page. Using all of the elements that you've collected together in Tasks 1-4.
This should be as simple as fitting together the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle - follow these steps and you should be able to answer the question:
Explore the representation of women in Memento.
- Choose one of the sequences you thought would be interesting to discuss and provide a short textual analysis.
- Find a quotation from your academic research that either proves or is at odds with the point your textual analysis makes.
- Explain the quotation and why it either proves or challenges your textual analysis.
- Give your own opinions
...alternatively...
- Find a quotation from your academics research that makes a statement about the representation of women in film or the media, or summarises a theory
- Write a textual analysis from a section of the film which either proves or disproves your point
- Explain what your own thoughts are on this area.You MUST include quotations from your research - whichever way you do this!
Either of these two options are useful and may be combined when writing the paragraphs of your own essay. The second option might require you to do additional textual analysis. The first option might require you to do extra reading. However, if both your Textual Analyses and Academic research is thorough then you should be fine.
Sample paragraph
Through the many arguments that develop Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze theory, an agreement is that in narrative cinema female characters represent the fear of castration but also symbolise a 'lack' of manhood. This can be why women are represented as fragmented and displaced. Whilst analysis of women is often concerned with how we look at women, some believe this displacement extends to their voices:
"Contrary to the more frequent disembodiment of the male voice in cinema, the female voice is restricted to the realm of the body. This amounts to keeping it outside discourse. The female voice can hardly reach a signifying position in language, meaning or power and is hence all too easily reduced to screams, babble or silence in dominant cinema."
(Anneke Smelik, The Cinema Book, p496)
Natalie's two defining scenes in Memento come in quick succession. Both are part of her ploy to manipulate Leonard. In the first, beaten and anxious, she raises her voice and the tempo of her speech increases so that words run into one another becoming barely audible, later in the scene her voice becomes nothing more than a croaky whisper. In the second scene Natalie screams again as she taunts Leonard. Seemingly without power the only way a woman can exert authority is through raising or changing her voice. In addition to this it is interesting to note that, as Smelik asserts, she is: restricted to the realm of the body; in the first scene discussion revolves around her being beaten physically, in the second scene Natalie uses violent language which connotes sexual intercourse, calling Leonard's wife a cunt and a whore. These elements reinforce the Smelik's assertion that the voice can be used to displace women in film. Furthermore it highlights the irony that men are often more disembodied from their own voices - in Memento this literally happens through Leonard's constant voice overs!
If you want to see some examples of how essays have been written well then click here.
