How does the film both follow and challenge the

ideas behind the feminist theory? How are the

male gaze and female spectator shown through its
key scenes?
Throughout this investigation I will be exploring the idea of
the Feminist Theory using the film Divergent (2014)
directed by Neil Bruger. During the investigation I will be
selecting key scenes that both follow and challenge the
male gaze theory and how the idea of the female
spectator theory develops throughout the film.
To begin with, Laura Mulvey who is commonly known for
The Feminist Theory, rejects the idea that men were
dominant in society, and recognises the patterns in how
women are portrayed as submissive compared to men in
the film industry. What the theory consists of is two
arguments that describe the role of women in Film and TV.
One being the Male Gaze theory, and it is referred to how
women are objectified and used in a way thats visually
appealing for a masculine point of view. Secondly, the
female spectator theory, this is when a womens role in
film is dumbed down and made weaker; to lower her
importance and make the male roles become superior. A
quote from Budd Boetticher an American film director
argues for the theory - "What counts is what the heroine provokes,
or rather what she represents. She is the one, or rather the love or fear
she inspires in the hero, or else the concern he feels for her, who makes
him act the way he does. In herself the woman has not the slightest
importance." What this is telling us, is that the only times a
female serves any significance is when she is the love
interest of a the male character, or is made into a weaker
character both emotionally and physically so that the male
character can save her and protect her because she is
not capable of doing it herself. Though this may not
always be true depending on the plotline of the film and
what direction it will take.
In the film Divergent, having the main protagonist being a
female already deviates the theory from that start.
However, in the beginning the character Beatrice Prior or
more commonly Tris, who is the main protagonist, starts

off in her faction in Abnegation, which is known for their

minimalistic lifestyle and selflessness, and this is evident
in her appearance, the costume she wears is a plain
white/grey dress along with her hair in a simple bun, this
tells us her character is quite conservative, this
symbolises her innocence, peace and lack of malice.
Another example of this, is during one of the first few
scenes, the character is allowed to look to in the mirror for
a few seconds, and during this time, the actor appears
uncomfortable and shy at looking in the mirror, which
quickly makes her look down away from it. Already, we
recognise that she is represented as a character that lacks
self-confidence and dominance, which pushes her into the
minority. The scripting and her acting style proves this as
she remains quiet for the most part and her body
language is uncomfortable or shy and both of these link
into one another. The mother of the character also
appears in the beginning, as a secondary character that
does not have a lot of significance, but we can instantly
see that she is a conventional housewife that you would
typically see in other movies that involve a family, and
only purpose is to take care of the family

Another reason for this is that a male character, which is

portrayed as her brother, often overshadows her, as he is
represented to be selfless and altruistic, and he is highly
praised for these acts but she did not willingly follow the
same virtues, which often left her character believing that
she was selfish. This signifies that she is a weak character
and that she feels as if she does not serve great
importance or significance. For example, the scripting in
the beginning when the actor is still narrating, she
mentions, for my brother Caleb its easy, it comes
naturally this is when he runs over to help an old
woman with her bags, whilst having to prompt
Tris to do it as well. In the next piece of dialogue, he says
what if she was blind or an amputee? Would you
help her then? Its not that hard which in a sense,
mocks her ability to help others which is what her faction
stands for, which in turn fits in to the female spectator
theory because she has been dumbed down or at least her
character feels that way due to a male character.
Later on in the narrative, the character has to take the
test to see which faction she belongs to, she learns she is
divergent which is an extremely rare case that is looked
down upon for being dangerous. However, being a
divergent means that she belongs to three different
factions Erudite, Abnegation and Dauntless. The writer
begins to slowly bring out her character by challenging
female spectator theory as having a combination of these,
makes her characters abilities and intelligence much more
stronger than the audience and character realised. As
quoted by actress Ashley Judd (Triss mother) in the
documentary Bringing Divergent to Life, The book
starts out with an emotional aria and right away
theres woman vs nature, woman vs other and
woman vs self, and Beatrice Prior has all three from
page 1 just by having three of these elements
challenges the theory itself because of how much strength
it shows Triss character to have, even the other people
recognise her abilities and strength from the start or at
least believed that she would grow into such a powerful
and complex character later on. After the ceremony that
determines what faction the characters go to, Tris chose to

go to Dauntless, the most fearless and daring faction there

is which instantly emphasises the idea of the characters
strength, as she begins to challenge herself, the narrative
then becomes much more interesting because of the
change in her character, we can identify in her facial
expressions that she is happy to challenge herself and
finds excitement in doing so. This argues against the
female spectator theory as Triss character is showing
elements of strength and power in herself, and having a
mind of her own which starts to show her importance and
intellect.

Specifically in this scene, although we are able to see the

start of the development of Tris becoming a stronger
character, we can also see that she is clearly represented
weaker as well, in terms of physical, appearance and
abilities. A stated before, her costume symbolises
simplicity and innocence whereas in dauntless, the
costumes contrast against that which presents her as an
outcast to begin with, and simply weaker in comparison
which could arguably be something that meets in with the
female spectator theory because she appears and is
represented as weaker. However, the audience will be able

to identify her strength as well as her weakness, as she is

just beginning to face the challenge that she has been
given.

After going through a couple challenges, the next couple

of scenes then take place when the characters arrive at
dauntless. However, in order to physically get into
Dauntless, they have to jump from a tall building down to
the bottom one at a time. Judging by the acting style and
facial expressions from the other characters and how they
physically present themselves, they all appear
uncomfortable and scared by the thought of going first,
but after a few seconds, Tris volunteers to go first which
shows a lot of confidence that would intimidate the other
characters. However, despite her character doing the act
of something that nobody else who have the confidence to
do, which in fact argues against the female spectator
theory because shes seen as the stronger individual in
this scene, the male character Peter makes a comment
as she is taking off her cardigan yeah stiff take it off
put it back on in a mocking and arrogant tone to make

her feel embarrassed in her moment of strength and

confidence, and strip that away from her, which supports
the female spectator theory. In fact not too far on, he
makes another comment at her whilst she is changing
nice legs stiff again in a mocking tone, in an attempt
to provoke her, and it also shows his sexist attitude as well
as his judgment for her faction.
The narrative then starts to show the costume change in
the characters, each and every character from the
different factions have to wear Dauntless costumes, which
is all black. The biggest contrast is with Triss character, as
it is the exact opposite of the costume she was originally
wearing in the beginning. As stated before, her character
used to wear a very simple and plain grey/white dress,
which represented her last faction as it was based around
the idea of a simplistic and selfless lifestyle. However, now
that her character has joined dauntless, its completely
different, as black is seen as sinister and evil which is
usually stereotypical in showing the villains. For example,
from Star Wars there is Darth Vader who is draped in a
black cloak and wears a black mask, and having a darker
character goes against the theory as they are seen as
more powerful. This adds a new layer to her character but
not in the sense that she is what is represents, but it
shows that she is tougher and stronger, in terms of her
appearance. However, her physical abilities to begin with
are very low, so this still contrasts with that idea. Later on
when she wears black leathered based clothing, alongside
a weapon, it is more revealing of her feminine figure,
which also shows her strength, but also support the male
gaze theory to an extent because it could arguably be to
fit around the masculine point of view but it could also be
to show more confidence for her character.

In Dauntless, the majority who lead Dauntless are male

and one of them being the character Eric, who we quickly
identify as a strong character as he is strongly built, talks
with a stern voice and his facial expressions remain
neutral but in a way that it looks arrogant. Further into the
narrative, we get a better idea of his character, he shows
no remorse nor sympathy for any of the other characters
and degrades those who are weaker than him, which
includes Tris and more specifically Christina who is Triss
friend. He is seen superior compared to them, which fits
around the masculine point of view, seeing the women
weaker compared to the men. There is a moment in the
film when Christina is fighting against another female who
happens to be physically strong and share masculine
qualities, but Christina opts out of the fight to which Eric
responds neutrally, until the next scene where he pushes
her off a bridge. He does this by acting more sensitively to
her, and this tricks her character into believing his act, he
puts his hand by her back and softly asking you feeling a
little better? and once she responds, he pushes her off
the bridge and leaves her hanging there to punish her for

being weak and assert his dominance physically and

mentally, the dialogue you have three options, hang
there and Ill forget your cowardice, fall and die or
give up this is evident to the fact he shows no remorse
or sympathy towards her characters pain, and enjoys his
dominance in this situation. We also see this through his
posture whilst Christina is hanging from the bridge, he just
relaxes onto the rails and watches, and speaks down to
her, so this is also evident to him enjoying his power over
her, which is seen from a masculine point of view,
supporting the male gaze theory. Another thing to mention
is the cinematography that plays into this, there are
moments where its done in a high angle shot and a low
angle shot, which both represent the characters weakness
and dominance. The low angle in this scene is done to
make the character Christina look helpless and weak, and
the high angle assert the character Erics position of
power.

As stated, the characters that lead Dauntless are male, in

fact it is the same with Abnegation which Triss character
has been a member of, so she has been around that
strong male influence for practically the whole of her life,
which is why she starts off quite conservative and on her
journey her character discovers different traits she has not
been able to explore because of that influence and
impression she has been around. For example, in the
beginning, she saw Peter picking on someone from
Abnegation and wanted to stand up to them but her
brother, stopped her from doing so. We can see elements
of this throughout the narrative, whenever there is a bad
situation she feels the need to say something but does not
as she has been taught to stay quiet, partly because of
what her characters faction stood for but also from the
influence she got around the male characters in her life.
However, as her characters confidence begins to show
through, she starts speaking up to the male leaders and
male characters that are seen as the dominant roles,
which leaves those character taken back by it. For
example, when Eric tells another male character to go and
stand in front of the throwing range whilst he throws
knives directly in his way, that character accepts his
defeat whereas Tris stops it and takes his place, which
displays her strength and confidence which in comparison
to that male character, he is weaker and lacks bravery.
This illuminates the fact that she is starting to be
represented as a stronger character, arguing against the
male gaze theory.
Though most of the leaders are male, the leader of the
faction Erudite is in fact a very powerful female. Her
character holds herself with composure and confidence to
mark her power, but she does share male qualities, in
terms of how she presents herself to other characters. She
is not as softly spoken as the majority of the females; she

is straightforward and shows a lot of pride in her

dominance. She is also followed by a few people who work
for her, which makes her stand out more and it further
emphasises her dominance.
Further into the narrative, Tris now suddenly starts to
become a stronger character, in terms of both of her
physicality and appearance, as her character has
determined and motivated to keep her place at Dauntless.
The next scene takes place in an old abandoned area that
has now been occupied by Dauntless as some kind of
arena to practice. In this, Triss dialogue appears much
more confident when speaking to Four, compared to the
first time she stays quiet for the most part out of fear and
embarrassment. However, in this scene whilst climbing
the Ferris wheel, Four who is the male leader of Dauntless,
in comparison to Tris, he comes across as weaker through
his body language and dialogue, he appears
uncomfortable with heights and stops for a moment
this is high enough whilst Tris is eager to get to the
top Though this may be the start to a nice and calm
scene, it also argues against the theory, as even the
leader of Dauntless is weaker in comparison to a female
character who is only just beginning to become stronger.
As stated before the cinematography plays a part in
showing the weaker and stronger characters, and in this
scene the high angle shot emphasises Triss strength as
she also looks down towards Four which makes him
appear weaker.

In that same arena, once everybody starts to fight, Tris is

the one who is leading the group to the prize, she directs
and orders people alongside Four which automatically
makes her come across as a leader and dependable, so
she holds some responsibility, and through her acting
style, we can see that she is becoming a stronger
character. The male character Peter then appears whilst
Tris and Christina are near the prize, and again he asserts
his power over Christina by threatening her with a gun and
pushing her over. However, Triss character is able to
come in and shoot him, which leaves his leg temporarily
paralysed, and Christina responds the same way by
shooting him in the other leg making him physically weak
and in general, appear weak because Tris and Christina
have now asserted their dominance to the situation, and it
gives some sort of justice to their characters now that
they are becoming more confident and stronger
characters. In terms of the cinematography, they used the
same technique they did with the bridge scene; they had
the high shots and low shots to emphasise which
character was weaker or stronger. For example, Peter
confronts Christina and the tilted low shot of his character
makes him seem bigger and stronger whereas in
comparison to Christina, she would be seen as weaker and
looked down upon, and as stated, that changes once Peter
is on the floor and seen as the weaker one which argues
with the feminist theory, because hes been made that
way by two females. Specifically having such a
strong leading role, I think young women really
need to see a intelligent, fearless and fiery woman
quoted from actress Zoe Kravitz (Christina), from the
documentary Bringing Divergent to Life.
In the arena sequence in particular, this is where the
audience begin to see Triss characters strength
developing. Her acting style shows a much more confident
and smart character, through her body language and

dialogue. In comparison to previous scenes, she is less

hesitant and more sure of what to do, and confronts Peter
which is a big step for her character since he has been the
one with the sexist attitude and looking down on her. The
red lighting usually represents evil and darkness but in
this scene, its arguable that it can represent her strength;
similar to how her black-leathered clothes represent that
too.
In conclusion, we can see the development of a weak
female character becoming the opposite of what she
began with. This film begins with supporting the feminist
theory but then throughout the narrative it becomes
clearer that it in fact argues against it whether that is
through costume, cinematography or dialogue, it definitely
shows that the main purpose of this film is to fight that
theory.