The role of the women in the classic gangster genre using the film "Get Carter"

Essay by byoung1859University, Bachelor'sA+, April 2005

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In the film, Get Carter (1971), directed by Mike Hodges, women are objectified as sex objects, and carry little personality. The many female characters in the film are portrayed as needy, and seem to throw themselves at Jack Carter (Michael Caine), the main character in the film. In a gangster film, women are typically viewed as personal possessions to powerful crime bosses, and other powerful figures. The film Get Carter illustrates the strong sexism towards women in the gangster film genre. The film also shows that while a woman's role in a gangster film seems to be seemingly simple, the woman's role is in fact a key element to the genre.

Throughout the film, Jack Carter makes his way in and out of many women's lives, carrying little or no regard for the women other than as sex objects. Although Carter is very lucky with women, he rarely has to beg.

Women throw themselves at him as a way of expressing their lust for both he and his power. In a gangster film, the main characters are usually ruthless, cold-hearted killers. Women seem to be on of the few things that can get under these men's skin. In a gangster film, the main characters are usually ruthless, cold-hearted killers. Women seem to be on of the few things that can get under these men's skin. When Carter goes to visit the crime bosses playing poker, not two minutes after he sits down, the woman in the room is draped all over him. She does this in front of her current "man", a very powerful mob boss opposite of Carter, which also adds to the tension between the characters.

In the film, the wardrobe worn by the female characters, lends you to believe that the director wanted you to look...