Movie posters of the same genre all tend to look the same. Rom-Coms have white or pastel backgrounds with pink accents and feature a couple (or multiple couples) comically gazing at each other. Horror movies are black with red or white titles and one slightly creepy image as the central focus. Action movies often have dark colors with pops of red and yellow and showcase either a lonely figure in a desolate landscape or a power struggle between good and evil.
A disturbing similarity between most movie posters of all genres is the way in which they portray women. If a woman is present on the poster at all, she often stands behind a man, poses as to indicate her gentleness, looks away from the viewer, or a combination of the three. Here are some examples:
This poster, promoting the newest season of Doctor Who, is a prime example. The female character, Clara, is positioned in the background behind the Doctor. The angles of Clara’s pose (knees, hips, elbows, shoulders) are soft, and neither her hips nor her shoulders squarely face the camera. If you look closely, you can see that even her left foot is angled away from the camera. Her gaze points up and away from the audience. To top it all off, she wears a sweet, girly smile on her face. On the other hand, the Doctor has his hands firmly placed on his hips, which are square to the viewer, and he directly stares down the camera. The contrast is impossible to overlook. All of these factors combine to clearly establish the male character as dominant over and more important than the female character.
The three posters above, though multitudes better than the Doctor Who poster, have some of the same problems. On the poster for The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Emma Watson’s character looks directly into the camera and stands in the center of the trio, both of which are positive aspects. She also, however, is folded into Logan Lerman’s character, seemingly supported by him. In the actual movie, those roles are reversed, as she provides emotional support for him. Looking at the collage on the Valentine’s Day poster, you’ll notice that none of the female characters looks at the audience, and all but one smiles. Conversely, the two male characters make eye contact with the viewer. Finally, Iron Man 3: I have to give props to the poster for featuring Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow’s character) so prominently, but her post in relation to Robert Downey Jr. is much weaker. He completely supports her as she squishes herself against him in a slightly sexual way.
Why is this a popular trend? It seems to reflect the lack of strong representation of women in visual media. Female characters are all too often used as glorified props rather than legitimate characters. Even in movies such as Iron Man 3 and The Perks of Being a Wallflower that do feature well-developed, important female characters, these women are misrepresented on movie posters. As a prominent portrayal of media in our society and the first impression of a given movie, the movie poster should represent women in a strong, respectful light.