CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This chapter contains background of the study, state of arts, problem formulation, scope and limitation, goals and function.

1.1 Background of Study

Woman as human being has the same right as man in this life. Unfortunately, woman is not treated in the same level of man especially in the social life. Female stereotypes symbolize either the spiritual or the material, good or evil. Under the category of the good-woman stereotypes those who serve the interests of the hero. In the bad evil category are deviants or reject serve man or his interest. Feminism as “a movement or even a consciousness departed from the perception that there is a discrimination of women all over the world, and an action in order to discharge the imbalance situation both by men or women. To understand further about the problem of feminism it is better to understand the meaning of the word feminism itself.

The movie which the writer chose is the most inspired movie talking about woman’s desire entitled Wild . When the writer first saw the preview, the writer was intrigued by the fact that it was about a woman backpacker . Wild is directed by Jean- Marc Vallée who was born on March 9, 1963 in , Quebec, Canada. He is a director and editor, known for Buyers Club (2013), Wild (2014) and C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005). Even though the movie is about woman, but the screenplay is written by man and the cinematography is shot by men. Wild is a film based on the best-selling memoir by Cheryl Strayed about a woman who hikes the Pacific Coast Trail alone to work through her grief and trauma and face herself in a real way–as well as prove to herself that she can be the woman she aspires to be. Strayed had been devastated by the death of her mother, Bobbi Lambrecht, in 1991. Her stepfather disengaged from Strayed's family, and her brother and sister remained distant. Strayed became involved in heroin use, and eventually she and her husband divorced. Seeking self-discovery and resolution of her enduring grief and personal challenges, at age 26, Strayed set out alone, on her 1,100-mile journey, having no prior backpacking experience. Wild intertwines the stories of Strayed's life before

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2 and during the journey, describing her physical challenges and spiritual realizations while on the trail.

In this movie, the writer is going to analyze the feminism that portrays through the acting of Reese Witherspoon as Cheryl Strayed. She aims to find her own self, bringing her pain and trauma. Cheryl and her brother watched their mother endure intense suffering at the hands of their mentally and physically abusive father, and Bobbi was just getting her life together when she fell gravely ill. The loss was too much for Cheryl to take, and before long she sank so deeply into heroin addiction that it destroyed her marriage. However, the kindness of strangers helps her to collect endurance and courage to keep her on the track. Cheryl Strayed is a truthfully feminist who has taught to gather your obstacles into power and desire. At the end, she breaks the statement that a woman will not be able to hike alone. She is trying to figure out her weakness and make it as the stepping stone to be the power in proving her strength which has been done by Cheryl Strayed in the Wild movie. Cheryl Strayed as the main character in the movie Wild released in year 2014 is portrayed as a feminist. She is self-reliant, brave, strong woman that is drawn through her characterization. Wild is the best movie about perfect feminist because Wild represents real woman’s body. Cheryl Strayed has a thin, blemish and weak, she also does not put any make up on her face and let he hair in the wilderness. The movie is not adrresing the problem being a woman, but the character was socially influenced and indeed distinctly become social issue. The movie is not a woman movie because the background is a hiking jouney which anyone can watch it. Wild is very relatable. The movie aims to show the meaning of being feminist and to be kind person you are proud of. As a woman, woman is not a minority. Problem comes to challenge ourselves like Cheryl’s experiences. Her mother had died of cancer, she was divorced and believing she had nowhere left to turn as her personal demons were eating her alive, which is when she decided it was time for something dramatic to get her back to the woman her mother believed her to be. She would travel the Pacific Crest Trail, taking her more than 1,000 miles through the Mojave Desert, north to the boarder of Washington State and Oregon. Cheryl Strayed is a truthfully feminist who has taught to gather your obstacles into power and desire. At the end, she breaks the statement that a woman will not be able to hike alone. 3

This movie is worth to analyze because in the era where Cheryl decided to hike in 1995, it is unusual thing for woman to do the outdoor activity especially in the wilderness with zero experience. This movie gives the literally advice that in some movie or literatures, woman is shamed for their sex lives and enjoyment of it, but Cheryl is different from that case. Cheryl challenges the norms, the expectation of society and herself. Wild captures that untamed, unstoppable feminist spirit.

1.2 State of Arts

To do this research, the writer studied the previous thesis that is focusing on the Feminist theory. The first thesis is Representasi Feminisme dalam film the Huntsman: Winter’s War written by Dini Zelviana released in 2017. The Huntsman: Winter’s War film shows a formidable female figure who became the main character in the film. The writer uses the qualitative method in her research. Usually female characters are rarely used as the main characters in the film, the female character is only a partner to complement the main character of the fighting man who is the focus of the film, and in the end these women will be under the protection of male figures. She tries to answer how feminism depicts in the movie Huntsman: Winter’s War.

The second thesis is An Analysis of Liberal Feminism Values of the Main Character in the Film “Miss Potter” written by Aenun Nahdiyati in 2009. The thesis is focusing in the Liberal Feminism. The writer uses qualitative descriptive which analyze between words or sentences that have its own meaning in the movie. The aim is to analyze the main character in the movie Miss Potter related to Liberal Feminism values that appears in the movie. The data is collected by the book and internet that contains the related material. The thesis problems are how the director give the characterization to the main character in the movie “Miss Potter” and the second is what kind of liberal feminism depicted in the main character in the movie. In the end of the research, the writer aims to show Miss Potter is a liberal feminism in the movie according to the liberal feminism.

The third previous research that the writer chosen is the local research that the writer found in the library at Bina Nusantara University entitled Self Identity towards The Main Character of The Black Swan America Film by using Feminism and Male Gaze Theory written by Teresa Sylvania in 2015. The writer uses feminist approach 4 to analyze Nina Sayers in the movie Black Swan. The director is Darren Aronofsky. Nina Sayers is depicted as feminist because in the movie she struggles for self- identity and the real her.

From the three previous researches, the writer conducts the research entitled a woman’s journey from lost to found in Jean-Marc Vallée’s Wild (2014). The writer analyzes the main character that is Cheryl Strayed. The analyzing uses library research methods. The writers will apply the intrinsic elements to understand and get further analysis about the story. Then the deeper analyze is the extrinsic element which will be applied is feminism theory. The goal of this research is to get know how feminism is applied in the movie and also how Cheryl struggles during her walk. The most important thing and makes this research is different from the three previous researches is the movie is based on the true story of Cheryl Strayed who did hike in 1995. The movie shows the details of her experience in hiking for months, poignant life events, the death of her mother and the divorce with her husband that propelled her journey. The movie has been termed “Wild Effect” which inspiring people to hit Pacific Crest Trail.

1.3 Problem Formulation

The major problems of this research are:

1. How does the main character struggle against woman stereotype presented in Wild 2014?

2. How does female main character discover her own life freedom as reflected in Wild ?

1.4 Scope and Limitation

The scope of this thesis is Wild (2014) movie directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. The movie is an american biographical adventure of Cheryl Strayed who inspire woman to stand for their own self as being strong; a woman of great strength and character. To limit the subject matter and to avoid complexity during this analysis, the writer focuses her discussion on theory of feminism. To intensify the analysis, the focus of research is on Cheryl Strayed as the main character in the movie Wild (2014). Other characters are also included as far as they have contribution to the research. 5

1.5 Goal and Function

The writer identifies two goals of this thesis;

1. To find out how does main character struggles against woman stereotype presented in Wild 2. To find out how the female character discovers her own life freedom in Wild .

The functions this paper is:

1. Open a mind this is modern era women can have same rights as men

and able being equal with man.

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