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時代を映す人気映画の女性たち
『ローマの休日』『プリティ・ウーマン』
『ブリジット・ジョーンズの日記』の主人公は、
それぞれの時代の女性像を色濃く映し出している。
The three heroines of Japan
"Women have changed ...," says a current ad on subway billboards. It may just be a catch phrase, but one thing is certain: The image of women in popular movies has changed dramatically.
In the last fifty years, three very different movie heroines have captured the imaginations of women in Japan: Audrey Hepburn in "Roman Holiday" (1953), Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman" (1990) and Renee Zellweger in "Bridget Jones's Diary" (2001).
The extraordinary popularity of these three female characters reflects the dreams, frustrations and fears of Japanese viewers. It also reveals the way Japanese women have thought and felt about themselves and other women.
In "Roman Holiday" (1953), a frustrated princess decides to play hooky. Japan was entering an era of high economic growth when the movie became popular. At the time, Audrey Hepburn was everything Japanese women (and men) dreamed about. Tall and thin, she had long legs and a neck like a giraffe's.
Hepburn also projected a mixture of adult sophistication and childlike innocence. In Japan, where most women's names used to include the character for "child" (ko), a woman pretending to be a child was (and still to a certain extent is) popular with men and the women who wanted to please them.
But the life of the princess in "Roman Holiday" is controlled at every turn by ministers, officials and other overbearing male figures. Like so many postwar Japanese daughters, wives and daughters-in-law, the princess dreamed of freedom but felt tied down and helpless. But interestingly enough, it is also a man, the newspaper reporter played by Gregory Peck, who comes to her rescue and protects her.
The prostitute played by Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman" is a member of the world's oldest profession. Vulgar and loud, she was the perfect heroine for Japan's "bubble" years when even a prostitute could dream of becoming a princess.
And that is exactly what happens to her. With the help of the men around her, she cleans up her act, and finally marries a rich, handsome millionaire played by Richard Gere.
Both the princess and the prostitute lead lives average women in Japan, or anywhere else, can only dream about, but both share the same dependence on men for their own self-esteem.
And so does Bridget Jones, the most recent of these heroines. However, she marks quite a change from the elegant princess or the flashy prostitute. Bridget, as played by Renee Zellweger in "Bridget Jones's Diary," is witty and kind, but also socially awkward and overweight, and she smokes and drinks too much. But by the end of the film, the man of her dreams decides he likes her just the way she is.
The film's popularity seems to reflect the romantic fantasies of an age of lower expectations. Forget the diets, the designer clothes and the pretense of sophistication. There's a perfect prince of a man somewhere out there who is looking for an ordinary, unexceptional person just like you.
Shukan ST: May 16, 2003
(C) All rights reserved
- current
- 最近の
- billboards
- 広告掲示板
- have captured the imaginations of 〜
- 〜の心をとらえた
- "Roman Holiday"
- 『ローマの休日』
- "Bridget Jones's Diary"
- 『ブリジット・ジョーンズの日記』
- reflects
- 反映する
- frustrations
- 欲求不満
- fears
- 不安
- viewers
- 観客
- reveals
- 浮き彫りにする
- play hooky
- 公務をさぼる
- era
- 時代
- thin
- すらりとしている
- giraffe
- キリン
- projected 〜
- 〜のような雰囲気をかもし出した
- sophistication
- 洗練
- innocence
- 純粋無垢
- character
- 文字
- pretending to 〜
- 〜であるように振る舞う
- at every turn
- 常に
- ministers
- 大臣
- officials
- 役人
- overbearing male figures
- 高圧的な男性
- postwar
- 戦後の
- daughters-in-law
- 息子の妻
- felt tied down and helpless
- 縛り付けられ、無力だと感じた
- comes to her rescue
- 救い出す
- protects
- 守る
- prostitute
- 売春婦
- a member of 〜
- 〜をしている人
- world's oldest profession
- 世界で最も古くからある職業(売春)
- Vulgar
- 下品な
- loud
- 無遠慮な
- that is exactly what happens
- それがまさに起きるのである
- cleans up her act
- 行ないを改める
- millionaire
- 億万長者
- lead lives
- 生活をする
- share 〜
- 共通の〜を持っている
- dependence on 〜 for their own self-esteem
- 自尊心を保つため〜に依存すること
- marks
- 示す
- quite a change
- 大きな違い
- flashy
- けばけばしい
- witty
- 機知に富む
- socially awkward
- 人付き合いが下手な
- overweight
- 肥満の
- just the way she is
- ありのままの彼女
- fantasies
- 空想
- age of lower expectations
- 高すぎる期待に合わせなくてよい時代
- pretense of sophistication
- あか抜けたふりをすること
- out there
- 現実の世界には
- ordinary
- 平凡な
- unexceptional
- どこにでもいるような