SLIDE

"Network" is a 1976 film directed by Sidney Lumet, a satirical

critique of the media industry.

In the first minutes that I analyzed in the previous presentation, there
was no outstanding female character, the first appears almost in the
middle of the first act, the character called Diana Christensen (played by
Faye Dunaway).

SLIDE – First appearance, we don’t understand if she’ll be an important
character.

SLIDE - She is a central character in the film. She’s the head of
programming for the fictional UBS television network always looking
for the next big hit.

She sees the potential in Beale's craziness and decides to turn them into
a new kind of programming. As the ratings for Beale's broadcasts
succeed in a certain way, Diana finds herself struggling to maintain
control as events spiral out of her control.

SLIDE / SLIDE / IMPORTANT CHARACTER – A PROTAGONIST

While she is not necessarily a traditional hero, Diana Christensen can be
considered a protagonist because her character serves as a driving force
in the story and plays a central role in the film's themes and conflicts.
Diana serves as the audience's entry point into the world of the film.

SLIDE In fact, it's two films in one: corrosive panorama of the TV
network, but also a sub-plot about her relationship with middle-aged
man, Max Schumaker, friend of Beale.


At first, in "Network," Diana Christensen can be seen as a threat to
patriarchal structures, as she is a successful and powerful woman who
operates in a male-dominated industry. Apparently represents a threat
to patriarchal power structures.

In response to this threat, the film portrays her in a negative way,
depicting her as cunning and manipulative, deflecting the focus away
from her abilities and onto her perceived negative character traits,
which often involves being overly aggressive or manipulative. She’s
dangerous, she’s a threat.

The idea of castration anxiety that Laura Mulvey takes from Freud can
be applied to analyze the character of Diana.

According to Mulvey, castration anxiety is a fear of losing power or
control, which can be projected in the construction of female character
in film, where there are portrayed as either dangerous and threatening
or as passive and submissive.

This fear is often expressed through the depiction of powerful women
as either being punished or castrated in some way, either physically or
symbolically.

which serves in the end to neutralize the threat she poses and
reinforces patriarchal power structures.

She’s even more dangerous because she uses her sexuality and wit to
manipulate the men around her, she’s a femme fatale.

This stereotype reinforces the idea that women are sexually predatory
and that they use their sexuality as a means of gaining power and
control over men.

Additionally, she is depicted as sexually desirable by shots that
emphasize her body.

This sexualization of Diana reinforces the notion that women's bodies
and sexuality are more important than their intellect, and that women
are primarily objects of desire for the male gaze.

She’s often shown crying or losing her temper, reinforcing the
stereotype that women are irrational, especially in their personal
relationships.