Taxi： Overturning and Mocking Orthodox Patriarchy

Gu+Lan

【Abstract】Traditional movies feature men who are strong， powerful， intelligent， resourceful， women just being passive roles to facilitate the characterization of active men roles， even if the male characters are characterized as villains. The purpose of the arrangement of female characters in movies is to drive the narrative of the plot， to position female characters as the object of gaze so as to provide sexual pleasure for male spectators. This traditional characterization of females in movies is the representation of the orthodox patriarchy， intentionally or unintentionally. Whereas， analyzing from the perspective of male gaze， the movie， Taxi， completely overturns and mocks the orthodox patriarchy. The key character in the movie is Belle， a skillful female taxi driver， played by Queen Latifah. The male character， Andy Washburn， is characterized as being awkward， unmanly and uncollected， in need of help from Belle. This essay analyzes the characterization of the key characters in the movie to illustrate how it overturns and mocks the orthodox patriarchy.

【Key words】overturn； mock； orthodox patriarchy； male gaze

Ⅰ. Introduction

Belle is a typically talkative black woman， who used to deliver take-outs， but gets tired of the delivery job. She turns to taxi driving because of her outstanding driving skills. She is satisfied with her job as a taxi driver and becomes well-known for her skills of driving at a speed of 135 miles per hour in the street. Washburn， an awkward policeman， has been suffering contempt from his boss， a woman， and wants to solve cases to win others respects back， since he screwed up in a drug case. Meanwhile， a gang of female robbers frequently rob banks and get away for their outstanding driving skills and resourcefulness. Washburn sees Belles great competence and persuades her to help him to catch the robbers.

The essay will analyze how the movie overturns and mocks the orthodox patriarchy， so it would be better to explain the term “patriarchy”， “male gaze” and “to-be-looked-at-ness”.

“Patriarchy”

Patriarchy is a system of family， society， ideology and politics， a mechanism in which males dominate females. In this system， males decide the sexual role and social status of females through male power， direct oppression， rituals， traditions， laws， language， custom， rites， education and division of labor， and place females under the rule of males.

“Male Gaze” and “To-be-looked-at-ness”

Laura Mulvey explores the sexual aspects of visual pleasures that derive from the watching of narrative cinema of the dominant Hollywood type. She maintains that narrative cinema provides two main forms of pleasures： scopophilia and identification. Scopophilia refers to the sexual pleasure derived from looking. In its extreme form this pleasure become voyeuristic—the “perversion” of scopophilia is to become a “peeping tom”. Scopophilia depends on a separation of the viewer from that which is being viewed. Were looking in upon a situation or a text. In general， we derive pleasure from “using another person as an object of sexual stimulation through sight”. “In a world ordered by sexual imbalance， pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its phantasy on to the female figure which is styled accordingly”. Conventional Hollywood cinema displays women to be looked at by men （to-be-looked-at-ness of women）. Men are active within the film itself and their looking. Women are to be looked at. If spectators become fixated on the image of the woman displayed before them， then they will not be integrated into the narrative flow of the film.

Ⅱ. Overturning and mocking of the orthodox patriarchy

1. Belle， characterized in the mode of conventional male character， overturns the orthodox patriarchy

Belle is a typically talkative black woman who used to deliver take-outs， getting tired of the delivery job， turns to taxi driving because of her outstanding driving skills. She becomes well-known for driving at the speed of 135 miles per hour in the street. Driving at such a speed terrifies even the male passenger and the policeman， Washburn. The striking contrast between the terrified faces of her male passenger and her thrilled facial expression signals to the viewers that the female character takes the role of male character in the movie. Belles role in overturning the orthodox patriarchy could be seen in four aspects. First， she drives at a terrifying high speed. Stereotypically， women are less adventurous， incapable of dealing with machines， while Belle displays neither of these traits. Belle knows everything about cars and loves cars. She also enjoys driving cars at such high speed that even terrifies males. Such characterization of a female character shattered the submissive and subordinated role of the female in the system of orthodox patriarchy. Second， she is good at reasoning. In chasing the robbers， Belle reasons out the possible hiding places， escaping routes， escaping tricks of the bank robbers and successfully helps to capture the robbers. Reasoning is considered to be the ability only male acquired， according to orthodox patriarchal view. Thus， the movie overturns the orthodox patriarchy again. Third， she enjoys car racing. Car racing is considered to be a game that could only be played by men， while Belle realizes her dream of driving a racing car and wins respects from her male competitors. Again， this is another point that does not comply with the constructed female figures in the orthodox patriarchy system. Fourth， she is strong enough to be helpful for men. In the movie， Belle teaches the policeman， Washburn to drive a car， and helps him to overcome his nervousness while driving. She also helps Washburn to catch the robbers. Washburn would not succeed without her help.

2. Lieutenant Marta， a female leader of the eighth precinct of the police department， gives orders to a group of male staff

In the system of orthodox patriarchy， males decide the sexual role and social status of females through male power， direct oppression， rituals， traditions， laws， language， custom， rites， education and division of labor， and place females under the rule of the male. Whereas we can see how the characterization of Marta overturns the orthodox patriarchy， from the follow aspects. First， she is the chief of a group of men， policemen. The word policeman reveals that it is an occupation for men， not women. In the system of the orthodox patriarchy， women are considered to be weak， stupid， submissive， and incompetence. However， in the movie， Marta is characterized with positive male features such as being competent， enterprising， brave， having leadership， a perfect male image constructed by orthodox patriarchy. Such an image inside a female body satisfies the male imagination of a pretty woman which provides sexual pleasure for the male. Second， she issues orders to a group of men. In the system of orthodox patriarchy， women are placed under the rule of men. The movie places Marta in the position of a man giving orders and Marta plays the role of issuing orders no worse than a man， if not better.

In short， the characterization of the two females overturned the female roles in the system of the orthodox patriarchy by giving the female characters the good qualities that can be only found in males. To some extent， it is an attack on the orthodox patriarchy.

3. A gang of female bank robbers beyond the arm of the police

A gang of robbers robbed a couple of banks and successfully escaped the police. Ironically， the police had great difficulties in catching these robbers， so bank robberies continued to occur. Analyzing the characterization of these robbers could provide us the insight into how the movie overturns and mocks the orthodox patriarchy. First， the robbers are female instead of male. In the system of patriarchy， women are depicted as being submissive， stupid， weak， but this gang of female robbers are neither submissive nor stupid nor weak. They are intelligent. Taking advantage of the imagined female features in the system of the orthodox patriarchy， they rob banks under the camouflage of well-dressed men to escape the police and lead their investigation into a dead end； they show their femininity while coming across the police investigation to make them less suspicious. Their intelligence of taking advantage of mans stereotyped knowledge of women is more of a mocking of the orthodox patriarchy than an overturn of it. Second， there is a striking contrast between their femininity and bank-robbing skills. They are attractive with slender legs， beautiful blond hair and fine curves， and smile like angles. Contrastingly， they drive better than men， leaving the chasing police behind； they fire like men without fears of hurting others.

The physical appearance of these robbers is an object of male gaze in the system of orthodox patriarchy. The purpose of their existence is to provide sexual pleasure for the male spectators inside or outside the movie. However， the characterization of them with the most desired physical appearance and the best male qualities is more than providing sexual pleasure for the male. The movie used the female features desired by males to ridicule and oppose males. The overturning and ridiculing come to a climax when Marta is being searched by one of the robbers. The depiction of the scene is， to some extent， erotic both to the male and female viewers， inside or outside of the movie.

4. Washburn， an awkward policeman， overturns the imagined male features in the system of orthodox patriarchy

Judging from the imagined male feature as defined in an orthodox patriarchal system， men love high speed， adventures， the feeling of having everything under control， dealing with machines， while Washburn has nothing to do with these male traits. He is terrified in the car driven at a high speed. Unlike average men who love cars and have good driving skills， he is unable to drive a car skillfully， even if in an emergency. His awkwardness in dealing with cars contrasts with Belles skillfulness in everything concerning cars. The dislocation of the role of Belle and Washburn is one of the strikes on the orthodox patriarchy. Men act like women， whereas women act like men. In other words， the characterization of Washburns awkward is a mock at the orthodox patriarchy system.

Another blow on the patriarchy system is Washburn being played by Bell. One scene of the movie depicts Washburn trying to get his badge back from Belle. Belle hides the badge in her hand， successfully keeps Washburn from taking it away. Belles agility contrasting with Washburns incompetence to control constructs another ridiculous dramatic conflict. The conflict constitutes a heavy blow on the orthodox patriarchy which mocks the imagined male character and shows that men are not necessarily more capable than women.

In general， the characterization of Washburn is a complete overturn of the imagined male character and mocks the orthodox patriarchy.

Ⅲ. Summary

The movie， Taxi， overturns and mocks the orthodox patriarchy implicitly. The dislocation of male and female roles， the manipulating of men by taking advantage of male knowledge about female characters liberate women from the bottom of the patriarchal social class， and place then in a even higher social position， which toppled the male superiority over female in the system of orthodox patriarchy.

References：

[1]汪民安.文化研究關鍵詞[M].江蘇：江蘇人民出版社，2007.1.1： 78.

[2]Mulvey，L.（1981）‘Visual pleasure and narrative cinema，in T.Bennett et al.（eds）Popular Telivision and Film，London：British Film Institute，208-209.

[3]Elaine Baldwin，Brian Longhurst，Greg Smith，Scott McCracken， Miles Ogborn.Introducing Cultural Studies.北京：北京大學出版社，2005.1.