Gender roles in the Nepali film Bulbul: A discourse analysis

Abstract

Cinema is an art form that reflects society and encourages people to see the world in a different light. It is a kind of artistic expression of human society. It is also a mass media, such as providing information, education, entertainment, and cultural transmission. Films are well-liked, and their audio-visual nature gives the viewers a wide range of societal effect, including the development of social and gender standards. A lot of research has been done on movies, but this study has analyzed the gender representation in the film Bulbul, which was nominated for the 92nd Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language Film category. In the film, a woman plays the lead role, while a male plays the supporting one. Using discourse analysis, the focus of the research has been on the feminist features within the film that dictated how women are portrayed in these theatres in connection to modern Nepali culture. The representations of gender in movies influence our perceptions of what a man or a woman is and should be, assuming social constructivism. The findings of the study reveal that women in Nepali film are portrayed in stereotyped ways. Their feelings and ideals are rarely heard by the male characters in the films, which is an indelible feature of Nepali culture. Despite the fact that the protagonist in the film Bulbul is portrayed as a self-employed woman, her position is as stereotyped as the women in other films featuring female protagonists. Due to the lack of opposition to inequity and injustice, the male dominance is prominent in the film. To conclude, the film tells the story of a woman as it includes the female protagonist, whose positions is not equal, and is never given the same weight as its male counterparts. The findings show that the characters still adhere to patriarchal ideals, albeit some oppose them occasionally. The outcome, on the other hand, is rarely favorable.