male hegemony is a field of male hegemony (at least until now). The film narrative is centered on the male protagonist, while the female image is often constructed under male desire. On this basis, almost every movie can be said to have a heroic male protagonist. In terms of female images, perfect "moral models" and seductive "dangerous women" have always been loved in the history of Hollywood female image creation. Two extremes (Chen Changyun, 2011). The triangular relationship between John, Elizabeth, and Abby in "The Age of Passion" happens to occupy the two extremes of "hero", "moral model" and "dangerous woman".
As the "lone awake" among the crazy people, John jumped out to stand on the opposite side of the crowd in order to save his wife Elizabeth. At the end of the film, he tore up his confession after experiencing some inner struggles, and stood on the side of defending the truth and truth and went to death calmly. Although in this tragic story, John did not succeed in saving anyone or even sacrificed himself, he has also satisfied the audience’s requirements and imagination for "heroic spirit": boldness, perseverance, arrogance, self-control, and strength to become one The glorious image of "death is glorious".
Elizabeth was portrayed as a moral role model with high prestige, integrity, and never lying. Such a female image is an ideal wife image in the mind of a man. Although the first half of the film was slightly indifferent to John due to his adultery, in the end the two reconciled, and Elizabeth is still John's only object. And the ingenuity of the film is that it is because of Elizabeth’s deep love for her husband, she “never lied” to preserve her husband’s reputation and said that she did not know about the adultery of John and Abby, but pushed the two to A worse situation. Good people are persecuted because of their kindness, compared with sinister people because of their sinfulness, they are sought after by everyone. Throughout the film, Elizabeth plays the role of the hero's "facilitator", always accompanying and supporting John. When the witch hunt began, Elizabeth had always persuaded John to expose the truth, but never stepped beyond the thunder pool to expose or force John to expose. At the end of the film, whether John chooses to live or die for justice, Elizabeth will not try to control his will, but only supports John's choice. On the whole, Elizabeth is "warm", "reliable", and "a sense of belonging" as a perfect wife.
As a "dangerous woman", Abby's sinister heart is self-evident, but it is also extremely tempting. Like all temptation bad women, Abby is young and beautiful, a symbol of eroticism that couldn't be better, and the adultery with John magnified her carnal temptation to the limit. Compared with Elizabeth's indifference, Abby's enthusiasm also made John difficult to extricate himself. Even when he knew the danger, John still had a private meeting with Abby, and under his selfishness that he didn't want to hurt Abby, the tragedy of the prey intensified, eventually involving his wife and himself. As a result, Abby was cast aside by everyone as the source of all evil.
Looking back at the character analysis above, it is not difficult to find that the film has left viewers in the wrong direction, that is, John is a glorious hero and Abby is the root of all evil. Putting aside the people who fell into collective madness in the film, among John, Elizabeth, and Abby, in fact, only Elizabeth can be said to be a positive character. Abby is undoubtedly the executor of evil, but John is the source of Abby's series of actions. According to the sequence of the story, John and Abby committed adultery. It was revealed that Elizabeth dismissed Abby, and the people in the town criticized Abby's behavior. As a result, Abby held a grudge against Elizabeth. In this incident, John, the initiator of the action, turned out to be a bystander on the sidelines. Then John refused to clarify and stop the witch hunt in time in order to protect Abby. He tried to watch the fire from the shore but eventually caught the fire. In this process, Elizabeth had made it clear that Abby would definitely retaliate against herself again from the development of the incident, and John turned a deaf ear to it. So far in the story, John has always played the role of a coward and a selfish man. When forced to resist, the film cleverly used a series of scenes, light, music and other narrative techniques to make the audience identify with John, gradually portray him into a hero of struggle, and transfer all the faults to On Abby.
In summary, as a movie of male hegemony, "The Age of Passion" can be summarized from two aspects of gender prejudice: 1. Whether it is an "angel" or a "devil" female image, it is all based on the male to female image. Aesthetic conception satisfies men’s desire for peeping; second, all responsibility for the event is attributed to women, so that men will experience transformation and salvation and eventually become brilliant heroes alone.
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