Scream, Shout, and Let It All Out: The Portrayal of Female Rage in Films
“I have a thing about feminine rage… I get a lot of men doing really terrible things and women sitting silently while one tear slowly falls. And, I’m like, ‘Oh, no, no no.
We get mad and angry.” – Anya Taylor Joy
In the book Ang Pagsusulatan ng Dalawang Binibini na si Urbana at si Feliza (1864) written by the secular priest Modesto de Castro during the Spanish occupation in the Philippines, women are taught the manners they need to possess to be civilized or urbanized [5]. The fictional letters in the book state that for a woman to be deemed proper and an ideal wife, she should be quiet, all-suffering, ready to accept her husband’s hurtful words and beatings, and not curse or talk roughly. Women are expected to be all smiles, soft voices, pretty faces, and gentle gestures — otherwise, they are no longer worthy to be called a woman because they are exhibiting male characteristics.
For so long, women have been portrayed as damsels in distress, unable to fight back and waiting in agony for prince charming to save them. But women can get angry, and when they do, it’s more than just tears rolling down their cheeks — it can involve violence and brutality that can make society stare in disbelief and quiver in fear.
According to Kring’s study [3] of the relationship between gender and emotion, anger is identified as a male emotion albeit being experienced by women as well. When women are angry, they often hide it or feel uneasy after they let it out. It is deemed unbecoming when a woman expresses a strong negative emotion like anger. Thus, the representation of female rage in media is usually badly written if not veiled. While male characters are free to be aggressive and barbaric onscreen, women are written as passive receivers of maltreatment [1].
After all, what are women if not side characters who need men to be safe and survive life’s trials? It’s as if women cannot govern their emotions, think for themselves, and react accordingly!
As times change and more gender inclusivity campaigns proliferate, the media has realized the need for women to be written properly in stories and films. Now, women no longer sit on the bed crying and relishing the pain — they let their anger show not only through their faces but also by their actions.
Since the latter half of the 19th century, cinema has now allowed angry women to occupy the silver screen and raise their voices to express their suppressed rage throughout the years [4]).
Films now boldly show the complexity of women’s emotions as psychological thrillers and horror movies feature women unabashedly shouting their pains and even smiling as blood splatters across their faces. In the article Beneath the Cool Girl Exterior: Why Female Are All the Rage [2], the author cites David Fincher’s Gone Girl (2014) as a film that subverts the shallow depiction of female emotion in movies. Amy Dunne, the film’s protagonist and anti-hero, illustrates that women can feel these negative emotions and, with enough spite, act on them.
Films like Gone Girl and characters like Amy Dunne serve as an opportunity for the world to recognize that real, layered, and morally-gray emotions are not exclusive to the male species.
Despite such developments in media and film, it must be stated that there are still challenges remaining in the field concerning gender and emotion. Correct representation of female rage must be careful not to cater to the male gaze, where women are only able to feel frustrations and anger because of a man’s action. A revolutionary portrayal of female emotion must recognize that women and their emotions can exist without the need for men to do something — there is no need for bullying, cheating, and other violent acts from the opposite sex just for women to act “crazy.”
Women’s emotions and actions are not a product of male control.
Although women have successfully reclaimed spaces and gotten the rights they deserve, there is still so much work to be done to be on equal footing with men in a patriarchal society. Despite Beyoncé singing that the world is run by women, societies are still very much biased towards males and misogyny is far from gone.
As a powerful tool in shaping perspectives, media and film must work towards progressive representations of women. Women are more than just delicate pieces of meat meant to satisfy the arrogant male ego — they are humans capable of feeling and expressing real emotions. It is the cinema’s duty to ensure that such characteristics are shown, no matter how unattractive and imperfect they are.
Essay written for my English 13 (Writing as Thinking) class as a preliminary requirement for my final paper.
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Bibliography:
[1] Balanescu, Miriam. 2022. “Female Rage: The Brutal New Icons of Film and TV.” Www.bbc.com. October 12, 2022. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20221011-female-rage-the-brutal-new-icons-of-film-and-tv.
[2] Bautista, Kimberly John. 2022. “Beneath the Cool Girl Exterior: Why Female Rage Films Are All the Rage.” Esquiremag.ph, 2022. https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/notes-and-essays/lessons-on-female-rage-from-gone-girl-a2836-20221216-lfrm.
[3] Kring, Ann M. 2000. “Gender and Anger.” Gender and Emotion, March, 211–31. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511628191.011.
[4] Matthews, Becky. 2019. “Anger, She Wrote: The Changing Faces of Female Rage.” Girls on Tops. 2019. https://www.girlsontopstees.com/read-me/2019/2/13/anger-she-wrote-the-changing-faces-of-female-rage.
[5] Tiongson, Nicanor G. 2004. The Women of Malolos. Google Books. Ateneo University Press. https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Women_of_Malolos.html?id=i_O3H7iRa-4C.
