Women have been easily outnumbered by men throughout cinema, and films focused on organized crime are no different. While we’ve seen multiple women in the various films we have watched throughout the semester, very few were in main or even prominent supporting roles. The women in these films may get pushed to the side, be seen as the doting housewife, or only being brought in to further the various men’s story lines. This may not always be the case but, sadly it is not uncommon to see this. Women in organized crime films, much like in real life, seem to get the short end of the stick. When, in film, they are shown to be a part of the organization and not just waiting at home for their boyfriend or husband, they are still not treated with the same level of respect as their male counterparts.
Angela is a great example of this point. We see the title character being well versed in the practices of their crimes. She knows when she is delivering the merchandise when she is being followed by police and exactly how to avoid being caught, as seen by her hiding the drugs and only retrieving them once the cops have stopped her and subsequently let her go. We also find out through her phone conversations with clients that she understands the lingo of how much they want to buy when they discuss shoe purchases. Angela even knows which shoe box to put the money into. While she is privy to all of this information, when it comes to discussing the business with various members, her husband and even her lover do not want her to be involved. It is an interesting piece of the movie that she is shown to be trusted enough to carry out all of those roles, but can’t even attend the meetings, though she does hide and listen in. In Galantuomini, the same actress from Angela, now a crime leader, is still not treated with respect. When she confronts another leader, he consistently disrespects her and refuses to go along with her plan. They degraded her by finding where she had taken her son and assaulting her in front of him. Although both of these characters are mothers, we barely see Angela interact with her daughter, and while in Galantuomini we see her being protective over her son, there isn’t a huge focus on the mother/child relationship as we see with other films.
I Cento Passi shows, amongst other things, the seemingly too close relationship between a mother and her son. In this film we get to see Peppino’s mother actually standing up to the Mafia. This is significant since in other films they can be shown as caring for their family affected by the Mafia, but not doing much to stop it. In I Cento Passi, Peppino’s mother buys all of his newspapers to try and stop others from reading it, therefore protecting him. She brings him books after he is kicked out of the house and after he dies she joins the protest march against the Mafia. In other films such as Placido Rizzotto, we see the mother of his girlfriend not do anything as her uncle sexually assaults her.
Women are likely to play more background roles than leading roles for the next few years. As the culture of the world changes, so will this. If Mafia and anti-Mafia films continue to be made, then we should see the progression of more female characters playing pivotal roles within these movies.
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