5th Element

The Fifth Element, a 1997 Sony Pictures film is written and directed by Luc Besson. Though it is set in the future, 2263 to be exact, America is far from having made gains in refuting patriarchy. By examining the characters, this film can be interpreted as operating under, and verifying, the dominant male (also white/heterosexual) ideologically structured system we exist in today. This film is reminiscent of 40's and 50's noir in that it makes political statements about women, operating in an overtly anti-feminist way.
The central female character, Leeloo, is coded as being important because of her "sexual power," much like noir women. However, the shots, dialogue, costumes, acting, and story remind the spectator that she is restricted and marginalized in society. From the very first shot of her, Leeloo is the voyeuristic fantasy of the male spectator and male characters. She is literally on display, lying naked in a glass case, in the first shot we see of her. The narration of the film comes to a halt, as there are alternating shots of Leeloo and the men who are staring at her in disbelief and obvious pleasure. The men in the film through dialogue call her "perfect," "the perfect being" or "the supreme being." The spectator is made to see Leeloo, played by the thin, attractive, sexy, Caucasian Milla Jovovich as "the perfect woman"—though "perfect" perhaps only for our white, male, heterosexual, and young ideal spectator (or the character Dallas, her lover by the end of the film). Dialogue during this scene is important, as when the male Captain says that they will need "pictures…for the archives" of Leeloo, who is making orgasmic movements in her glass cage. The Priest goes on to say that Leeloo is "mankind's most precious possession." These lines clearly signify Leeloo's position as merely an object, there to be look at as sexual, and as something men possess. Leeloo is given thin strips of thermal tape to wear in this first scene, which reveals most of her... [continues]

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