Representation of Women in the Oscar Winning Films by Sharmeen Obaid Chinnoy
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Date
2015
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Publisher
UMT,Lahore
Abstract
Saving Face (2012) and A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness (2015) are landmark films
in the history of Pakistani media. Directed by Sharmeen Obaid Chinnoy, these Oscar winning
films were produced by HBO and broadcasted in America. The subject of both the films is
violence against women in Pakistan. This study uses qualitative analysis of the films in order to
take out different themes and understand their connection to the message of violence against
women as presented in these films. At UMT, Lahore, a group of 67 (males and females) of media
students (Masters Level) was used as sample. They were shown the two films. A quantitative
analysis on reception of the message of violence against women in Pakistan was done on the
basis of reception theory by Stuart Hall. In the group that responded in favor of the dominant
view, female respondents (58%) outnumbered the male respondents (42%). In the group which
belongs to the negotiated and oppositional responses, male respondents (71%) outnumber the
female respondents (29%). This difference in the response has significance in the process of
communication. This refers to the question whether there is inherent bias towards opposite
gender in the male and the female components of Pakistani society or is that the subjective point
of view of the filmmaker in these films that makes the difference in reception.