The role of men and women

Closely comparing and analyzing through the four films that we watched in class, there was one concept that was commonly seen in all of those movies--which was the very distinct portrayal of women and men. In all four of the movies, men were the ones who flaunted their masculinity. They were the ones who were brave and took the spotlight of the film. They were the ones who fought for the good of the people, and were presented as the heroes. On the other hand, women were always the ones in the background. They had to reach out to the men for help, support and comfort. They were portrayed as helpless and futile beings, always presents as the weak target. They never took the central role in the films, and were hidden behind men for the most of the plot. Throughout the four different films, the portrayal of men and women are not exactly identical, however, it seems as though all of the films were trying to ultimately present the role of women and men by the descriptions I mentioned above. 

Even from the beginning of the film, The Big Boss by Lo Wei, men was portrayed as the powerful character that protected the fragile and powerless character of women. While Cheng Chao-an played by Bruce Lee, and his uncle are standing at the shaved ice stand owned by a woman, a group of men comes to taunt the girl. She is helplessly getting picked on by the men, and seemingly with nothing else to defend herself with. Oddly enough, Cheng Chao-an steps up to defend the girl and defeat the villain. Even from the very beginning, the film molds and shapes men into a hero who saves the helpless women. The Big Boss continues on to place an emphasis on the different roles of men and women throughout the movie. Throughout the coarse of the movie, Cheng Chao-an is shown to be very serious, mature and strong. He reveals his masculinity and redeems himself as a hero, again, by fighting Hsiao Mi and Hasiao Chiun for the vengeance of his cousins.

Bruce Lee fighting Hsiao Chiun as revege for the death of his cousins

And women figure is once again hidden in the background. Chiao Mei, Cheng Chao-an’s cousin but also his “love interest” appeared very helpless and lost, and relies on Chen Chao-an wholeheartedly to save and take revenge for her brothers. She has no other choice but to quietly wait for Cheng Chao-an to do something for her and her family. Towards the end of the film, when Cheng Chao-an defeats Hsiao Mi and gets arrested by the police, Chiao Mei runs to Chao-an and softly hugs him. I thought this scene well portrayed the role of men and women because it showed that Chaio Mei much relied on Chao-an, and she would be somewhat lost without him, and Chao-an softly touches Chaio Mei’s face to comfort her. This represents how men are the ones that comfort the women, and women are the ones who lean and relies on men for emotional comfort. 

Before Cheng Chao-an gets arrested, Chaio Mei runs to him and Chao-an comforts her.

The next film seemed to portray women and men in a somewhat different way than the previous film. In the Drunken Master by Yuen Woo-ping, the movie starts off by portraying Wong Fei-hung played by Jackie Chan, as a playful, immature, and juvenile men. He doesn't seem to take anything seriously, which is a very different portrayal of men than before. As the movie goes on, that set image does not seem to change. While Wong Fei-hung is joking around with his friends, he goes up to Tong Jing, his cousin which he is not aware about at that moment, and jokes around with her. If this scene was played out similarly to Fists of Fury, the girl would have been helpless picked on by the Wong Fei-hung. However, Wong Fei's aunt comes and defeats Wong Fei-hung. The image portrayed by women completely changes from Fists of Fury. Women is portrayed as being very powerful, and they are able to stand up for themselves. Ultimately, they are able to defend themselves from MEN, who were the ones that usually controlled the women figure and had power over them. The portrayal of women and men are completely changed in this scene. Even though there was such a little part played by a women, this time, women was able to play a powerful role, and not just hidden behind men.

Wong Fei's aunt defeats Wong Fei-hung. This portrays women as being powerful. 

Even though Wong Fei-hung seemed very immature and childish in the beginning of the movie, he starts to redeem himself towards the end of the movie. He is able to take revenge against Thunderleg for his father, and defeats him. Wong Fei-hung successfully restores his masculinity by fighting for his humiliation from before, and saving his father from getting killed by Thunderleg.

The next film, A Better Tomorrow by John Woo, also did not have women who played a central role. This movie was revolved mainly around brotherhood. This movie in particular successfully flaunted the steroetypical masculinity of men and was able to show the relationship of brotherhood very well. The characters in the movie portray masculinity of stereotypical men by taking revenge on Shing, who betrayed them for success. However, similar to the previous films, women did not, once again, have a central role. Jackie, who was Kit's girlfriend, seemed to be the one that was always ignored and did not have a significant role in the film. Whenever Jackie would try to talk and convince Kit into forgiving his brother, she was always ignored. She didn't have the power to convince her own boyfriend, however, Kit was given the power to control Jackie's feelings. For example, when it was Jackie's birthday, Kit was preoccupied with Mark and Ho that he completely ignored her. Jackie becomes upset, however, Kit is able to completely change her mood around by just giving her a little bit of attention. 

In the last film, The Fallen Angels by Wong Kar-wai, there wasn't really a specific and apparent portrayal of masculinity nor the stereotypical portrayal of women. I did not really find any difference between the role of men and women in the film. However, I noticed that both men and women looked to each other as a source of comfort. For example, the dispatcher looked to the killer as her comfort zone. She cleaned his room, looked through his trash, and went to the bar he goes to, to find safety and reliability. Similarly, He Zhiwu looks to Charlie for happiness and comfort. At the end of the movie, both of them find a feeling of warmth and comfort in each other. 

It's unfortunate to see that most of the movies we watched in class so far never had a women as a central role. However, I also think this was a quite natural thing to see back then. In many of the asian cultures, there was a defined hierarchy between men and women. Men were the ones who were in control over women, and women were suppose to be the support system of the men. As seen in the Hong Kong films, women were the ones who stayed home, cooked for the family, did the laundry, and quietly served the men. Whereas the men were the ones who went out and fought for the family, and showed off their masculinity through fighting for their loved ones. I don't think it's that women were insignificant compared to men, but it's more that men and women had different roles to take in the society. Also, in many of the readings, it talked about HK wanted to make a impression on other countries, so by showing masculinity of men, and giving them powerful characteristics, they were able to portray themselves as being a powerful, and masculine country. So, the very distinct characteristics placed on men and women in all four of the films watched in class made it very convenient for the audience to understand and absorb the idea of the two different genders that they directors were trying to portray throughout the films.