Media Essays

Text:Kick Ass 
Question:Representations of Women 

Essay: There are several theories that you could consider when thinking about the representation of women. One of these theories is the Bechdel Test. The Bechdel Test considers how many women star in the film, do they speak to other women? But the question is do they speak to other women about topics other than males. There are several female characters in Kick Ass. For example, Hit Girl, Dave’s girlfriend Katie, the English Teacher, Katie’s friend and D’Amico’s mum. Dave’s girlfriend is seen as a prize that Kick Ass (Dave) can win. She doesn’t do much in the and is mostly obsessing over Kick Ass. When she finds out about Dave and the fact that she has been lied to by him, all whilst he lied and didn’t correct her over his sexuality leading him to see her almost naked and vulnerable. She doesn’t shut him out of her life and immediately accepts a relationship with hum. She is mamillated by Dave’s character and nothing is done to stop him. She is conventionally petite and pretty. Katie’s friend hardly has any dialogue and simply follows Katie around like a lost dog. She latches herself onto Dave’s friend and isn’t really spoken to much in the film. He function is to emphasise how geeky Dave’s friends are. Dave’s mum is not featured in any of the film other than a flashback. In this scene, she is the stereotypical mother, defined by her situation which is making breakfast in the kitchen for her family. She is an intertextual reference to other superhero origin stories as she dies. However, her death serves to reinforce the point that Dave is not becoming a superhero to avenge his mother, he is doing it to see what it is like. The film ultimately fails the Bechdel Test because all the female characters do not speak to each other about anything other than Kick Ass and his friends.