King of zombies and the representations of gender.

As far as the representations of women in movies posters go, posters from seventy years ago portray a completely different type of woman from those we view in this day and age, “King of the Zombies” is a perfect example. In this film poster from 1941, we can see that the woman and man are almost the same size, but the lady is crouched into the man representing that she needs caring for and protection from whatever we cannot see. She is wearing the colour red representing a sense of femininity with the colour matching her blush and because she is flushed, she represents the typical needy female role in a movie. In addition, the expression on her face shows that she is scared and delicate. The hand on her shoulder from the male role proves that she is a very vulnerable character and obviously needs comfort in the tense situation/ scene that they are in during the film,moreover, femininity while a broad boundaried concept in the 21st century, was several decades ago a rigidly structured set of values regarding both the expected appearance and mannerisms of a “lady” in America. Conforming to this idea, the female illustrated is the perfect image of the 1940’s American leading lady the delicate beauty reliant on the protection of a male. In this instance the sweet faced woman clings in fright to the male with a protective arm around her shoulder. Despite appearing worried himself it is a given expectation that he be able to keep her out of harm’s way as she is clearly distressed .Also the male character is holding the flame representing a very protective stance, like he will be the one to fight if they get into any danger if needed too. The woman’s hand is clutched onto the protagonist’s chest making sure she is safe and represents a very defenceless look for the woman, undeniably the female has been designed to act as an accessory to who appears to be the protagonist – a tribute to his masculinity which unknowingly so is also slightly hypocritical. the man has not in kind been affected, suggesting that the need for males to appear well groomed does not interfere with his valiance, let alone bravery. Therefore hinting to a subtle inferiority within theatre at the time that is often only rendered purposefully within recent material for films. Her prudence is another testament to her status as a lady and her role as a trophy to the male, and is probably added to throw some glamour into the mix of the movie and stir up drama.