Narrative in Wanted

The narrative in Wanted is a non-linear structure this is because the narratives of Wesley Gibson(McAvoy)identity and character narrative being unclear. Examples of these are when he is told at the beginning of the movie that his father had been killed at the metropolitan building as Fox explains at the store where he gets medicine. However later in the film he comes face to face with his father's killer only to realize that the person who had been killed was not his father and his father was face to face with Gibson though Gibson realizes this after he shoots his father and that the Fraternity had been lying throughout the plot of the movie. Gibson's narrative is also unclear as after he finds out the truth from one of real father's accomplices he reminisces flashbacks in the movie such as in the store when his father was not trying to kill him but to protect him from joining the Fraternity and more importantly to protect him from Fox who had also been lying to him throughout as the Fraternity wanted Gibson to kill his father without knowing who he was as they figured that his father would not kill Gibson as he was his son. Also Jolie's character(Fox) has also an unclear narrative in the film and this is seen flashbacks of her painful childhood experiences that were painful such as seeing her father being torched alive, which could lead to an explanation of her being ruthless and dominant towards Gibson and how she followed a path into being a renowned assassin.

Vladimir Propp Theory can be used to identify characters in Wanted:

The Hero - Wesley Gibson(James McAvoy), trained by the Fraternity in becoming an assassin to kill his father's murderer, despite the fact he has been given false information and that his father is still alive though the Fraternity tell him to kill his father an ex fraternity member , even though Gibson does not know this.

The villain - Sloan(Morgan Freeman)- The head of the Fraternity and its headquarters, has targeted Gibson as the next member of the Fraternity, after finding out that the weave of loom had Sloan's name in code as the next target to be assassinated he decides to make his own targets

The Donor - Fox(Angelina Jolie)- Mentors and trains Gibson into becoming an assassin for the Fraternity by at first dominating and ruthlessly beating on him, she trains him how to use guns, and other weaponry, showing him the how the assassins operate working in secrecy, slyly undercover and striking targets when not suspecting.

The Helper - Fox(Angelina Jolie) saves Gibson's life at the store from the store Gibson is at, mentors and trains Gibson into becoming a well known assassin, also helps Gibson into assassinating his first target that had been decided by the weave of loom. Also aids Gibson when he goes to confront his father's assassin despite the fact that the assassin his father though Gibson does not know this, Fox does.

The Princess - Fox(Angelina Jolie) would have been the reward for Gibson however she sacrifices her own life in order to save Gibson's from Sloan by curving a bullet through all remaining Fraternity members before killing herself.

The Dispatcher - Pekwarsky- One of Gibson's father's closest accomplices, tells Gibson the truth about his father, and that the person Gibson shot and killed was in fact Gibson's father, as the Fraternity had been lying, gives him plane tickets back to Chicago, Illinois where the headquarters are based to confront Sloan the person who had instigated Gibson against his father.

Media Language and form in Wanted

Connotations and Denotations in Wanted:
The connotative meanings in Wanted are used to highlight and follow the genre of action/thriller in the film. Some of these meanings are usually associated with the roles of assassins, examples are undercover, hiding etc. An example of this in Wanted is where the Fraternity of Assassins are actually based where it is shown to be an very isolated area operating in an textile mill factory where they weave looms on the lower floor of the factory whilst training to become assassins on the upper floor showing that the assassins have a dual identity should anyone interrogate about their actions. However the weaving of the looms is a key symbol and sets the narrative of the movie, which give out the names of targets to be assassinated by a code in the fabric that is being produced, once again codes is a connotative meaning as they are usually associated with assassins or spies as they will be able to recognize and understand the message rather than anyone else.

The denotative meanings in Wanted are used to show the audience the obvious roles of assassins use, this is things such as continuous usage of weaponry such as fire-arms and knives that are used to assassinate the targets. Other meanings are that are obvious meanings associated with assassins is when McAvoy's character assassinates the target by shooting the gun through the window into the head of the target from the opposite building, showing the meaning of assassins being very professional, efficient and quick but also doing the job without being able to be recognized and known.

Non verbal structures of meanings in Wanted:
An example of non-verbal structures of meanings in Wanted is in the scene set at the pharmacy as McAvoy's character, Wesley Gibson pays for his medicine he is approached by an Jolie's unknown character Fox for the first time. At this point Gibson becomes anxious, nervous and vulnerable that Fox's character has realized without having to say anything. His nervousness is highlighted by looking startled in this particular scene as he says "I'm Sorry", despite the fact that he has not done nothing wrong. On the other hand Jolie's character is shown to be more confident in her approach towards McAvoy's character and this is highlighted the smirk she from her facial expressions as she tries to explain how she knew Gibson's father. The smirk can also be seen as a sense of dominance on behalf of Jolie's character and trying to impose her dominance over Gibson by the way he is positioned in the scene, almost trying to ignore Fox and thinking that she is not there. The very importance of the scene is that there is an close-up of Fox's and Gibson faces to see the different facial expressions of both characters which can be said that Fox looks the more dominant character out of the two, this relates to the ideology of an more roles of females and males reversing of being unconventional of the female saving the male character, which results in an matriarchal society of the female being the more dominant than the male.Also the clothes in this very scene are shown that Jolie's character is wearing an type of dress despite the fact she is an renowned assassin and would be wearing more hi-tech gear such as an body armor or extra ammunition in her pockets.



However this could be because of the mise-en-scene that it is set in an pharmacy store that she may have to wear more normal clothes and blending in with the rest of society by acting as an normal normal citizen without her identity being known as a assassin. The props that are used are mainly products that have been stocked up in the store where Gibson buys his medicine from, and Fox and the rival assassin trying to kill each other with guns that they carry and protecting Gibson as well.The guns are commonly associated with assassins for them to kill the target and so there is continuous usage of fire-arms in a public place which can once again highlight the conventions of an action/thriller. In this picture the ideology of males and females roles being reversed, unconventional in society as it is Jolie's character saving McAvoy's character from being killed whilst he is cowardly hiding with him covering his ears to block out noise from the gun shots.



Significance of Mise-En-Scene:
The setting of the film takes place pre-dominantly in Chicago, Illinois where the Fraternity of Assassins headquarters are based headed by Morgan Freeman's character Sloan. The setting is shown to blend in with the roles of assassins as being in a isolated area showing the roles of assassins working in secrecy, undercover, showing the significance of the location as it is where they carry out the plans to kill targets that have been decided by the loom of weave. The location of the textile factory is shown on the upper-floor to be very confined where Fox trains Gibson to be come an assassin and is shown to be very confined, small damp areas where assassins train.

Soundtrack/Language: The soundtrack in Wanted is non-dietetic that is shown in the beginning of the film in very few scenes before Fox is introduced to the audience, the first song is slow-paced of the soundtrack reflects on Gibson's personality of an struggling office worker and living in a flat as he walks out the lyrics "I believe I can see the future" could highlight and foreshadows that Gibson's life is about to change from an office worker to an assassin. However there is also fast-paced, exciting non-diegetic heavy metal/punk genre instrumental sound to keep the audience engaged and that fittingly represents the scene, in this scene an unknown assassin jumping out of an building and flying in mid-air shooting rivals on opposite buildings in the process.

Media Representations- James McAvoy( Wesley Gibson)

James McAvoy's portrays Wesley Gibson, a character that works as an office accountant who often has stricken panic attacks and therefore takes anti-anxiety pills for him to recover. He then meets Jolie's character Fox at the pharmacy where has continues to get his prescribed medicine. In this very scene he is shown to be intimidated by Fox and this highlights of the roles being reversed of now the female being the hero and the male being the victim as she tells her where she has came from and to tell him about his father who was also an assassin before he was killed. McAvoy's character from facial expressions is shown to nervous, vulnerable and intimidated by the way he continuously apologizes to Fox. Fox also saves Gibson from a possible assassination of Gibson as she tries to gun down the assassin, Gibson is cowardly hiding and has an panic attack because of the commotion caused in the pharmacy. Later in Wanted, Fox is elected by the Fraternity to become the mentor of Gibson in training him being an assassin and Gibson's character is shown to be dominated and Fox's intimidating presence as she trains him for the role of an assassin. However as the movie progresses Gibson becomes much more stronger than from the beginning due to Fox's character of dominating him and exposing his weaknesses and turning, developing them into his strengths, one of these is when he learns how to use weaponry to his advantage rather than before such as unable to shoot the wings of an fly before eventually deciding to but not even being able to see the wings of the fly and aiming wrong due to the pressure and panicking .

Media Representations- Angelina Jolie( Fox)

Angelina Jolie portrays Fox an ruthless assassin for an organization calling themselves the Fraternity, she is seen to be a very strong, independent woman and a key member of the assassins.Her independence and ruthlessness character may have grown from a scene later as she reminisces of her childhood experiences of seeing her father torched alive by a rival assassin, and therefore to cover her pain she uses her characteristics to be shown dominant of other colleagues and in particular James McAvoy's character Wesley Gibson. Also she subverts the female stereotypes by the way she handles weaponry whilst she drives a car at the same time trying to kill the rival that has targeted her and Wesley Gibson. This is shown when she shoots down the windscreen window and climbs out of the car, showing to audience that she is prepared to risk her own life to save Wesley Gibson by conducting a dangerous act of shooting at the vehicle where the assassin is driving whilst she is lying on the car she had been driving. Whilst the roles of the female and males being reversed and being unconventional, she often asserts and makes her characters dominance over Wesley Gibson, this is seen in one scene, where she ties McAvoy's character to a chair and continuously beats him repeatedly asking the question in an intimidating tone " Why are you here"? for him to give her the answer. Another is when she sets up a target board and stands between the board and Gibson telling him to "shoot the target" highlighting her bravery. Another example of her bravery is shown towards the end of the movie by curving the bullet to shoot the remaining assassins of the Fraternity and then risking her own life to save Gibson's. Also Jolie's character is often to been seen as an sex symbol for the male audience " Male Gaze" this is seen when she walks out of a bath tub with nothing but a towel she wears to cover her lower body and exposing the tattoos on her back.

Wider Contexts: Kill Bill Vol 1 Analysis Fight Scene

In this short scene of Kill Bill Vol 1, the opening shows a long shot of Uma Thurman's character(The Bride) walking towards an house, that from its appearance shows that the area is classy, upper-middle class, peaceful area, this can be highlighted by the slow jingle, a nursery rhyme that is being played as she approaches the house.When Vivica Fox's character opens the door, Thurman's character starts reminiscing as she looks towards her enemy, there are flashes of red highlighting danger, consequences of previous actions, aggression and blood. This can also show that whilst Fox's Character has a daughter and has motherly instincts and love, it can also prove that she is equally as dangerous and also independent as we see no male presence in this particular scene. When Thurman's character is fighting Fox's character they are also shown to be very aggressive towards one another and also equally as strong, and therefore subverting away from female stereotypes of being caring and innocent. Also in the scene they are countering the stereotype role that is associated with a female where a medium shot is used to highlight the brutal beating on each other with any thing they can find such as being thrown into plates, display stands being thrown on to their bodies and fighting with knives and other kitchen items.However towards the end of the scene, they immediately stop fighting as Fox's daughter enters the house and seeing the carnage they have caused once again highlighting the innocence of Fox's daughter they display motherly affections by speaking to her in a normal tone. It can also be noticed that whilst Fox's and Thurman's characters are strong, independent characters in different ways they are seen to be promiscuous from the male audience relating to Mulvey's theory of "Male Gaze" due to both characters wearing tight clothing as they fight can be seen as them being sexually promiscuous despite the fact that they is much more masculinity with the way they are fighting.In this scene we also hear more vulgar language used such as "Come on Bitch" and " Look Bitch" which can once again highlights their masculinity as these words are not commonly associated with the stereotype female that are portrayed.

Migrain analysis of Wanted trailer

MIGRAIN analysis of Wanted 2008 trailer :
Media Language- Close Up Panning of Angelina Jolie, strong, shooting a gun setting up her character narratives and intention from the beginning, Medium shot of male character(James Mcavoy)side angle looking terrified from Jolie's character showing vulnerability, the roles of males and females have reversed. Setting in an undercover building showing assassins are very "sly", "devious" "deadly", Low angle of the target zone- reflecting on the rival target they want to kill. Close up facial expression of Angelina Jolie's face expressing her disappointment of James Mcavoy's character, could be interpreted the failures the males have had and the disappointment females have to live through. Rapid shot of the Dodge Viper being driven crazily , Angelina Jolie driving and picking up the male on the passenger, James Mcavoy terrified of being killed showing female dominance. Low angle, medium shot of Angelina Jolie standing symbolizing her female dominance, being looked up to

Institution- Universal Pictures, Well Known American film production company

Genre-Action, often featuring characters such as Angelina Jolie, (Mr and Mrs Smith, Tomb Raider), Morgan Freeman(Lucky number slevin)

Representation of Angelina Jolie's character- Strong,independent woman- shooting of the gun in the supermarket can represent her threat and danger as a renowned assassin.
James Mcavoy's gun loader falling out as he prepares to take aim represents his vulnerability a sense of innocence, naive. The representation of the location where the film may have set is that it is undercover hideout where the assassins do their planning and practicing of shooting weaponry at targets.

Audience- Social class C1, Clerical jobs, small tradesman , Ages 18+,appeals to genders of both males and females, appeals to males, such as the actors featuring Morgan Freeman, James Mcavoy and Common, also the character of Angelina Jolie sexually promiscuous dressed,objectified. Also would appeal to females as aspirer's due to her masculinity strength and also seeing her as an independent woman in other films such as Lara Croft, and Mr and Mrs Smith and trying to become more like her using personal relationships.

Ideologies- Anti-patriarchal, unconventional in society, the roles have reversed as the female is saving the male from being attacked. Angelina Jolie is seen to be the more dominant in the film, whilst James Mcavoy's character more vulnerable,scared, terrified. Therefore the roles have reversed breaking away from the stereotypical male and female characters that are shown in the society.

Narrative-non- linear Narrative, Todorov's theory highlighting the narrative structure of Wanted, The Proppian hero theory and how it breaks this theory as the female is seen more often as the protagonist.

Analysis: Wanted Poster

In this poster, it can be seen that Angelina Jolie's character's image is higher than James Mcavoy's character, which could imply that Jolie's character has the lead role in the film whilst Mcavoy's character is that he may be featured in the film as an supporting character. Also in the poster there is a background of which could be the location of the movie where it has been set in although it is still very vague. However it can be also implied that as Jolie, and Mcavoy's characters narratives are of assassins, the setting may have the meaning that they work at night as assassins where areas are isolated where they cannot be caught and so can do their jobs of assassins professionally. Jolie's character in the poster is also is holding a gun showing her to be composed from the image but also to give out the meaning of her to be dangerous and ruthless. The gun Jolie is holding has a small pattern on the loader and trigger that can be interpreted as a stem of an leaf or an flower. This shows that whilst she is shown to be more masculine throughout the movie as an assassin and often dominant in asserting power over Mcavoy's character she is still shown to have feminine roots by having a customized gun that has a feminine type pattern. The poster also does not mention the lead character's names, however this is because Angelina Jolie is known worldwide therefore her name is not mentioned as when audiences see the poster or the trailer they can easily recognize that it is Angelina Jolie due to her being well known but also appearing in similar films such as Mr and Mrs Smith and Tomb Raider. The Universal studios image is also published on the poster, that has produced Wanted but also similar movies that involve action/crime/thriller genres such as Bourne Identity, Spy Game, American Gangster.

Proposal

Title: How has the representation of the stereotypical female been subverted in order to create `strong,individual females in particular reference to Wanted(2008)?

Hypothesis: The roles of the females have changed over the years in Hollywood, in the portrayal of the characters played by Angelina Jolie in Mr And Mrs Smith and Wanted, Uma Thurman in Kill Bi ll Vol 1&2 and Gangs Of New York featuring Cameron Diaz. This can be seen in the way they are now portrayed often equaling their male counterparts such as George Clooney and Brad Pitt in the sense that they have become independent and stronger as them compared to before in where the typical female stereotype is presented in movies such as Along came Polly and others that often star Jennifer Aniston or Eva Longoria.

Theories: The theories that will be used will be the "Male Gaze" theory by Laura Mulvey exploring how women have been subverted away from the stereotype female into independent strong, individuals that are now known to be shown more sexually promiscuous. Todorov's theory highlighting the narrative structure of Wanted, The Proppian hero theory and how it breaks this theory as the female is seen more often as the protagonist.Another theorist I will come across is Susan Faludi, a journalist who argued for women's rights and having their own identity, not being overpowered by male presence by having everything decided for them and therefore females trying to become more independent.

Other texts that will be referred to are: Mr and Mrs Smith, , Kill Bill Vol 1&2, Gangs of New York, .