1. ‘Messages & Values’
Get Carter is set in 1971 in a post ‘Swinging Sixties’ world
What do you know about the ‘Swinging Sixties’?
The ‘Swinging Sixties’ is a term applied to the
fashion, music and cultural revolution that took
place in London in the 1960’s
In 1963 the Contraceptive Pill was introduced –
this heralded a new freedom for women – They
now had control over their own sex lives and
reproduction
What changes could the contraceptive pill bring
to women of the 1960’s?

2. Swinging Sixties?
Are these attitudes towards women represented in ‘Get Carter’?
What does this tell us about the impact of the ‘Swinging Sixties’?
A lot of men in society felt their place was threatened
by this and a ‘loss of status’ was a fear many men held

3. Carter’s Women
Watch the opening scene from Get Carter and make
notes on the following:
How are audience positioned to view male characters in
this world?
How are the audience positioned to view female
characters in this world?
Whose POV do we adopt? (do we see the world
through the eyes of men, or women?)
Audience Positioning:
Refers to how we relate to certain characters/actions
we se on screen.

4. To be seen, & not
heard
The shot identifies the films protagonist Jack Carter
He is positioned as a loner, isolated from the criminals he
surrounds himself with telling us that he is different in
someway
The other men are in groups and are viewing pornographic
videos of women
The character of Anna is played by Britt Ekland a famous
model and actress
She is presented as glamorous and attractive, but quiet and
obedient
The film immediately positions the women in the film as
submissive and men as dominant

5. Swinging Sixties
How do your notes about the film correspond to the representation of
women that the ‘Swinging Sixties’ ideology promotes?

6. Analysis Task
You must now begin analysing the representation of women in Get Carter
You must find the scenes that provide the best analysis of female
representation in the film and complete an in-depth analysis of the micro
elements
You must note down the ways women are represented:
Consider:
• How are they treated by men?
• How do they react to men?
• What is their purpose in the narrative?
• What happens to the women once they have served their purpose?

7. Learning Objectives
Analyse the representation of:
Anna
Edna
Glenda

8. Glenda
What role does Glenda play in the narrative of Get Carter?
(What is her function in the film?)
Glenda is introduced as an object of Kinnear
who attempts to seduce Carter
She is seen as a tool to be used by Kinnear
She is used to please men; Kinnear uses her to
seduce Carter, and Carter by sleeping with her
In each frame she is surrounded by men, told
what to do and ignored when not ‘working’
Notice how her voice is often drowned out by the men around
her, signifying her as a lower status and importance than them

9. Laura Mulvey - Male
gaze
Mulvey goes on to say that the role of female characters in a
narrative serves two purposes:
1.
As an erotic object for the characters within the film
2.
As an erotic object for the spectator within the audience
As a result, women that are seen in film are not signifying real
women, but rather the idea of women which is often fetishised, by
male audiences
Do you think this is true of Get Carter?
What does this tells us about 1970’s
culture? And male audience members?

10. Anna
Watch the following scene and consider how
‘The Male Gaze’ applies to Anna
Anna is framed in a way that suggests someone
is watching her
The obscured frame provides a voyeuristic
experience for the audience – this is how they
want to see women (She has been fetishised)
Carter instructs Anna and is able to pleasure her
with just his voice – demonstrating his power
over her, and his masculinity
The male gaze applies here as both Carter
(imagining) and the audience members are
seeing Anna as an erotic object

11. Edna
What function does Edna play in the narrative of the film/
Enda’s role in the film to provide food and
shelter for Carter
She never leaves the home and when
attempting to assert her authority, is over ridden
by Carter who tells her to:
“Make us a nice cup of Tea”
She is even
rewarded for
her obedience
“I might even
let you watch”
The role is Edna serves
Carter – she is inside the
home, making food and
providing sexual pleasure
for the male (temporarily)
in her life.
She is a representation of
what many men saw as the
role of the women in
society

12. summary
Watch the following scene and consider how ‘The Male Gaze’ applies
These reps of women give us an insight in to how
women were seen by many men at the time
It shows us that the liberation and freedoms women
gained during the 1960’s took a long time to take
effect
By positioning women like that we are encouraged to
see women as Carter does and how many men at the
time did
The idea of women as controlled and lower status was
still held by many men in society

13. Men and Women
As we have seen, the representation of Women in Get Carter is
a very negative one.
They are not represented as strong, independent women that
the ‘swinging sixties’ mythology promotes
Instead they are portrayed as objects that men use and control

14. Men and Women
Many critics have argued that director Mike Hodges was
commenting on the transition from ‘Swinging Sixties’ to a more
economically bleak 1970’s
The extent of ‘female liberation’ is questioned by this film
Get Carter portrays a society in which women are not
liberated, except in superficial ways
The female characters are all victims, owned and used by men
who see them as sex objects and little more
It is implied that the sexual freedoms brought by the
contraceptive pill has benefitted men more than women
Whilst this is true, we must be able to prove
this point with analysis of the film!

15. 1960’s fallout
Get Carter presents a Britain where ‘Free Love’ has been
replaced by Pornography and exploitation
It is a reflection of how ‘female liberation’, a result of the
‘swinging sixties’ eventually benefited men just as much, if
not more than women
The men who make the pornography use the
advancements made during the 1960’s to control
and further exploit women
They are able to reinforce their positions in society
this way and maintain their dominance over women

16. 1960’s fallout
What type of drugs do we see used in the film?
By the 1970’s Marijuana and LCD had been replaced by
Cocaine and Heroin – some would argue that this is a
natural consequence of a more liberal view of some drugs
Get Carter presents a Britain were most positive outcomes
of the ‘swinging sixties’ were either eroded or exploited
The use of recreational drugs is now an epidemic spreading
through the working classes and Heroin is used to control
women
Those most directly responsible for this were the people
who held the most power – The Patriarchy

17. Glenda & Carter
After the ‘swinging sixties’ women’s place in society slowly
began to change as they entered the work force and
aspired to be seen as equal to men
As more women moved in to the work force, many men felt
their positions and status in society was being challenged
Jack Carter and the other men in the film represent a
‘masculine crisis’ that men faced in the aftermath of the
‘Swinging Sixties’

18. Glenda & Carter
Carter uses Glenda for sex and information
When she leaves for her bath Carter watches a
pornographic film depicting two women
At first Carter appears to enjoy the film, until his niece
appears in the film
Why do you think Carter is so angry when he sees his niece?
Carter reacts angrily to the scene as HIS niece is being abused
He clearly cares about his family, but only in a superficial way
The use of his niece is an affront to his status – he is being
mocked by Kinnear who uses ‘his women’ to challenge him

19. Family Values
Why do you think Carter is obsessed with avenging his
brothers death?
In the scene were Carter sees his Brother in the coffin he
places a hand on his shoulder out of affection, but this is
tarnished later as he is seen shaving over the open coffin
For Carter, the attack on his family is personal, but more
importantly it is an attack on his name
Status is very important and reinforcing this status is fundamental to their
lives
The men of the film use violence as a tool to raise or maintain their status
Sometimes this is against men, but a lot of the time it is against women