The new film "The Revenant" has received a lot of praise from many people that I know and from many people that write reviews on various Internet sites. If you haven't yet seen the movie, you may want to click away because this will contain some spoilers.
My complaint comes from the female representation in the film. There are only two female characters and both of them are abused as characters.
The first female character is the wife of Glass, the main male character (played by Leonardo DiCaprio). This character is killed off before the plot of the movie even begins. As I talked to various people about this factor, many of them brought up the fact that this was based on a true story. While this is true, the inclusion of the wife as a recurring force in Glass's life illustrates the fact that her death acts to build him as a character. I will say that her comments do make her a sort of grounding force in the film. However, it reminds the audience that Glass is so strong because he has to overcome the death of her and his son. She is killed and used to make him a stronger and a more masculine character.
The second female character (keep in mind that these are the only two significant female figures) is continually overcome by men through sexual assault and physical force. This woman is the daughter of the Native American chief (seemingly). He spends a majority of his screen time searching for her. She has been taken, however, by the French fur traders. Halfway through the movie, the audience discovers that she has been sexually assaulted throughout the whole time she's been missing. When the main character sees her, he provides her the opportunity to save herself from one of the many men that are in this group of captors.
My beef with the movie largely comes from this character. She is only used as a sexual outlet for the group of men. The only living female character of the movie is depicted as lacking agency. Furthermore, the scene in which Glass finds her is later a source of heroism for his character. The chief and the girl later behave as if he saved her. He did not. He provided her the opportunity to free herself from one out of her many captors. He then leaves her alone in the camp of a large number of men that are still threatening to her.
The female characters in this movie served to further develop the main male character. We have enough stories like this. Yes, the acting was fantastic. Yes, the graphics were outstanding. Yes, this plot was based on a true story. The choice to make this story into a movie now was based on how creators thought people would respond. They knew that people would like it, which they have. Like other films, certain parts were probably changed to make the story more marketable. A ghost of Glass's dead wife was included. The representation of women in this movie is nothing new. However. it's functioning off of the roles that women have played for years.
