Judith Butler

 Gender performativity refers to how our performance of gender affects the world around us  

Julie is highly subversive of the male gaze theory through the outfits she's wearing and not being represented as a character who gets chased around by men 

Simon is represented as an emotional character which is subversive as men are thought to not be emotional 

Liesbet Van Zoomen agues that representation of men and women are constructed through media language, and that representations reflect the ideology of the producer. Evaluate this feminist theory of representation. Make reference to Les Revenants in your answer 

Knee Jerk Reaction:

In general, there are clear differentiations between men and women in Les Revenants. However, Van Zoonens theory is often basic and straightforward, and the representations of gender in Les Revs is far more complex. 

One couple which represents a clear gender binary in Les Revs is Simon and Adele. In the scene where Simon returns to Adele, a clear binary opposition is constructed between male and female characters. Simon is dressed prominently in a black suit, with connotations of death and masculinity, while Adele is dressed in a white nightgown, which here has connotations of innocence of the wedding day they could never expereince. Simon is situated outside in the pitch black, while Adele is positioned in soft, low key lighting. Finally, while Simon shouts in a detached and perhaps stereotypically masculine, Adele shouts in an emotional and again stereotypically emotional way. The ideology of the producer here is clear: there are clear differences between men and women. By depicting men and women in stereotypically different ways, it can be argued that a stereotypical and sexist ideology is cultivated for thetarget audience. Yet, as we shall see, the representation of gender in Les Revenants tends to be far more complicated.  

However, many of the representations of gender in Les Revs are highly unconventional. Perhaps the most unconventional is Julie. Julie is introduced an establishing shot of her apartment where she is sprawled out on the sofa watching the horror film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Her flat is clutteed but not dirty, and is stuffed with stacks of books. Wearing her oversized jumper and shirt, Julie is constructed in a stereotypically masculine and therefore highly atypical manner. Julie's manner and performance is cold, which performs a binary opposition with her flirtatious  and clearly sexualised neighbour. And unlike Adele is completely unfazed by the appearace of the stereotypical terrifying child who stalks her home through her housing estate at night, which is a clear subversion of how women oftem react in horror film. The character of Julie is highly subversive and reflects the subversive ideology of the producer. While Julie may be a subversive character challening stereotypical rpresentations of how women tpically function in horror movies, the character of Julie will be far more appealing to certain audiences, and may be far more relaible to feminist audiences too. In this way, Les Revenants challenegs women's straigjtofward theory.

Another woman who subverts typical expectations of women is Lena. While Lenia is stereotypcally attractive and perhapsstereotypically flirtaitous, her representation is subtly unconvential. Lena's appearasnce is stylish but scruffy. Her oversized jacket is widly at odds with her small dress and her tights, which means her performance of gender is rather