<p>Women are subordinate of men in the society, this is visible both in work places and private lives. Equality between the sexes is daily discussed in politics and the private sphere. As this is a hot topic which is debated within many areas, one of those is film production, we chose to write this essay about how the view of women has changed in movies over time. If equality doesn’t exist within the film media, then it will be hard to change the society’s point of view. To get the answer of our question, we chose to analyze three movie pictures from three different time areas, the choice came to be the three King Kong movies that were produced in 1933, 1976 and 2005.</p><p>After we finished analyzing the films we came to learn that society’s view of women has changed drastically between the 1930’s and the 21st Century. The changing progress has been both positive and negative because of the fact that women in today’s society are exploited more as sex objects than they used to be. But even in the 30’s men looked at women in a sexual matter, but in those days the difference between the respectable women and those time’s pin-up girls. On the other hand, equality between the sexes has come a long way in the work place and women have gained more independence in their private lives. But there is still a long way to go before we reach a complete equality.</p>

Women are subordinate of men in the society, this is visible both in work places and private lives. Equality between the sexes is daily discussed in politics and the private sphere. As this is a hot topic which is debated within many areas, one of those is film production, we chose to write this essay about how the view of women has changed in movies over time. If equality doesn’t exist within the film media, then it will be hard to change the society’s point of view. To get the answer of our question, we chose to analyze three movie pictures from three different time areas, the choice came to be the three King Kong movies that were produced in 1933, 1976 and 2005. After we finished analyzing the films we came to learn that society’s view of women has changed drastically between the 1930’s and the 21st Century. The changing progress has been both positive and negative because of the fact that women in today’s society are exploited more as sex objects than they used to be. But even in the 30’s men looked at women in a sexual matter, but in those days the difference between the respectable women and those time’s pin-up girls. On the other hand, equality between the sexes has come a long way in the work place and women have gained more independence in their private lives. But there is still a long way to go before we reach a complete equality.

This essay is a study of the film and novelization of the story of King Kong from the 1930’s. The aims of this paper are to analyze ways in which the character Kong represents the stereotypical image of the black male that existed in American society in 1930 by applying theories of masculinity and ethnicity and how they combined make Kong a representation of an Other. In order to study the construction of Kong as an Other an analysis of the film and a close reading of selected passages of the novelization were made in combination with the theories. Masculinity and ethnicity are studied in terms of how they create Kong’s otherness, casting him as a metaphor of a black male.          The conclusion is that the construction of Kong’s ethnicity and masculinity makes him a metaphor of the stereotype of the black male that existed in the American society of the 1930s, i.e. an Other. The conclusion is based on how the contrast is portrayed between Kong and the main characters, the fact that he is a god of the black natives of his island, and how the novelization literally describes Kong as black (and the only black character) in the fictional representation of the hegemonic white city New York.

This dissertation analyzes the South African musical, King Kong, and its resounding impact on South African society throughout the latter half of the twentieth century. A “jazz opera” based on the life of a local African boxer (and not the overgrown gorilla from American cinema), King Kong featured an African composer and all-black cast, including many of the most prominent local musicians and singers of the era. The rest of the play’s management, including director, music director, lyricist, writer and choreographer, were overwhelmingly white South Africans. This inter-racial collaboration was truly groundbreaking in a nation where apartheid was officially enacted a little over a decade prior to King Kong’s 1959 debut. Relatively apolitical in its message, King Kong proved accessible to South African audiences regardless of race or background, and became overwhelmingly lauded as an endeavor that all of the country could enjoy and cherish. The musical successfully toured South Africa’s major metropolises, often to sold-out crowds. Its domestic success later spurred a tour of Britain in 1961, making it the first major South African theatrical production to be staged abroad. Due to the multi-racial efforts behind King Kong, its success and the high quality of its performers, the musical initiated a new era in South African music and theatre for decades to come. Despite being based around King Kong, this dissertation contextualizes the production, as it uses King Kong’s creation, development and legacies to further analyze larger themes within South African and global histories. Each chapter, as a result, examines the evolution of the musical from the life story of the boxer from which the play is based, the musical’s making and tour of South Africa, the play’s 1961 tour of the United Kingdom, the experiences of the black casts in exile, and the failure of the play’s 1979 remake. By examining the play, its cast, and their collective legacies both in South Africa and further afield, this project complicates our understanding of the Black Atlantic framework by infusing Africans as active participants in these transnational discussions. / text

This dissertation analyzes the South African musical, King Kong, and its resounding impact on South African society throughout the latter half of the twentieth century. A “jazz opera” based on the life of a local African boxer (and not the overgrown gorilla from American cinema), King Kong featured an African composer and all-black cast, including many of the most prominent local musicians and singers of the era. The rest of the play’s management, including director, music director, lyricist, writer and choreographer, were overwhelmingly white South Africans. This inter-racial collaboration was truly groundbreaking in a nation where apartheid was officially enacted a little over a decade prior to King Kong’s 1959 debut. Relatively apolitical in its message, King Kong proved accessible to South African audiences regardless of race or background, and became overwhelmingly lauded as an endeavor that all of the country could enjoy and cherish. The musical successfully toured South Africa’s major metropolises, often to sold-out crowds. Its domestic success later spurred a tour of Britain in 1961, making it the first major South African theatrical production to be staged abroad. Due to the multi-racial efforts behind King Kong, its success and the high quality of its performers, the musical initiated a new era in South African music and theatre for decades to come. Despite being based around King Kong, this dissertation contextualizes the production, as it uses King Kong’s creation, development and legacies to further analyze larger themes within South African and global histories. Each chapter, as a result, examines the evolution of the musical from the life story of the boxer from which the play is based, the musical’s making and tour of South Africa, the play’s 1961 tour of the United Kingdom, the experiences of the black casts in exile, and the failure of the play’s 1979 remake. By examining the play, its cast, and their collective legacies both in South Africa and further afield, this project complicates our understanding of the Black Atlantic framework by infusing Africans as active participants in these transnational discussions.