“That’s the second time you’ve tried to kill me today…oh come on it was jus a little bomb”[1]
‘How have the representations of women changed according to the stereotypes of them in the past, with particular reference to ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’?

When considering the word ‘representation’ words such as ‘label’, ‘portrayed’, ‘image’, and ‘constructed’ are a few that come to mind. Representation is a stereotype, which categorizes a group of people by only a few characteristics. Stereotypes between men and women have dramatically changed within today’s society, as women today challenge themselves to taking up a range of opportunities which allows them to gain a higher status in society. The action film genre is typically male dominated, where men take upon leading masculine roles, which entail playing the active part, and women were to take on a more passive role and were only they’re to be looked upon as ‘sex objects’. However, award winning, action comedy film ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’ (2005,Doug Liman, USA) seem to play around with the traditional roles. Both Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt undertake challenging roles where Jolie plays the part of a ‘dominant powerful woman’, Brad Pitt still plays the part of an active character although seems to be passive towards Jolie, which is considered to be bizarre as you would not usually see this role change as both characters have similar roles which represent the change in society as well as them seen to be more equal. ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’ have significantly portrayed women in a more positive way where they are seen to be up taking the active role in being dominant and are not being ‘labelled’ to the fixed stereotype of a woman.

[1] ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’ 2005