How is ‘Gender’ represented to us in ‘Shallow Grave’?

Danny Boyle represents gender in Shallow Grave really well using the four key aspects of media, mise-en-scene, editing, cinematography and sound. He uses cinematography really well and uses a wide variety of shot angles to represent that females can be strong, powerful and dominant. This is shown by the POV angle to show that Alex is submissive to Juliet and that she is the more dominant character, the low angle makes Juliet cower above him making her out to be powerful as well. This represents the female gender differently to how we would usually expect to see it, breaking the stereo type that woman are vulnerable and do as they are told. This position is also very sexual and shows how Juliet wants to be in charge when though she isn’t with Alex.

Often in shots where there are men and woman together the men is angled and position higher then the woman, but in most of these shots they are at an equal height, showing that they are equal to one another. This represents the females becoming more socially accepted in society and that they don’t always need to be ‘seen and not heard’ the change in equality towards women is positive and shows how times and gender equality have changed.

The diegetic sound from the this scene represents the male characters as very aggressive, they do this by having David shouting and swearing loudly. Swearing alone can be seen as very masculine as well as the fact he is clearly making a scene in front of everyone. This display of masculinity contrasts well with the low angled shots making men seem weaker. This is a normal representation of men as they are normally seen as big and aggressive.

Alex also threatens Cameron making him seem even more aggressive.  When the diegetic music is playing it makes the scene feel uplifting and happy, the atmosphere is good and the characters are having a great time with each other, but when David begins to shout and swear he almost drowns the music out. This represents his character as short tempered and makes everyone feel uncomfortable, even David shows he feels uncomfortable about his out burst because he stutters mildly afterwards.

Editing is another good way for gender to be represented, as it cuts quickly to and from Juliet and Alex dancing and David sat on his own, this represents gender well as Alex appears to be having a lot more fun with Juliet, showing that females are fun and free while David sat on his own looks dull and bored. The fast paced editing is a great way to show that contrast between the three characters.

Mise-en-scene has been used very well to show how gender is represented in this scene. The different props have all been used for a reason and play a big part in how we see gender. When Alex puffs on his cigar it can be seen as a dominant action and smoking often gives connotations of being powerful. Where as Cameron is carrying a large bouquet of roses that not only carry the connotations of love but are also seen as feminine. The two props give us a good idea on how gender can be represented differently between two characters even if they are of the same sex.

The costume aspect of mise-en-scene is also shows us how gender can be different within the same sex. For instance Alex’s bow tie and shirt are undone and he looks lazy and relaxed. But Cameron’s costume is neat and tidy and he seems to have made an effort the occasion and taken time in getting ready. Spending a lot of time getting ready is often associated with the female gender again showing us how little things like costume can tell us a lot about different characters and they way Boyle wanted to represent them. As well as Alex’s clothes looking a mess his hair also appears unkempt and long whereas David’s hair is neat and well looked after.

Juliet’s costume again represents her differently to how other women are portrayed in the scene, her dress is tight, slimming, quite low cut and black, this gives her a strong and sexual allure which indicates that she maybe feminine but doesn’t want to be represented as weak. This idea is backed up by her actions as well during the scene.

The lighting used in this scene also represents how women are becoming more dominant because when Juliet is standing over Alex it becomes a lot darker and she looks quite menacing which isn’t how we expect to see women. We expect them to be dainty and wear feminine clothes. Stereotypes tend to tell us that they should look like this and behave in certain way, Shallow Grave does a good job of breaking these stereotypes and representing gender differently to how people of that era may expect them to be represented.