Post Feminism In the film TAXI

The film Taxi is based in New York, around a female taxi driver who has a big ambition and a racing attitude. This reflects the reason her taxi can be converted into a street-racing car. Immediately this shows a form of post feminism. The film also immediately starts with a cyclist who's gender is not shown, racing through New York city in a record time. It is made to look as if this is a male on the bike, however once the helmet comes of a female is shown. From this we can see that is is very unusual to see women setting cycling records, therefore going against the stereotype. She is also shown working at a garage with other men, and she is treated as "one of the lads". The power the media has forces us to believe this is almost "abnormal" for a female to be working in a garage, and not being connoted sexually. In turn this shows a form of post feminism in the movie, and gives us an insight into the narrative.

Stereotypically men young men revolve around street racing, and women are seen as sexual objects. However the fact that a female is skilled at street racing and driving itself shows a type of role reversal. It also shows how women in this era do things that male’s stereotypically do, which is the definition of post feminism.

Through the film Queen Latifa (mya) is dragged into a crime investigation with a police detective. She is shown to be very intelligent as she manages to find ways in which to catch the criminals, which aids in their eventual capture. Again this is a form of post feminism as she is shown to be strong and independent making decisions that normally men would.

The thief's in the movie are in themselves a post feministic group. They are a group of young attractive Brazilian women. They are shown in a variety of scenes taking place in criminal activities, such as robbing a bank. Again this reinforces the post feministic themes in the movie, as robbing a bank takes a large amount of intelligence to carry out successfully. The fact that it is females robbing a bank is very different to the stereotype of male violence and criminals.

However the criminals are also shown to be stereotyped as they use their good looks to get out of situations with the law enforcement. A shot is shown of the females changing their apparel into bikinis and revealing clothing shows in a way they are being stereotyped. However this could again show their intelligence of finding a way not to get arrested, and shows that the weakness of men could be attractive women.

During the movie, we see many low angle shots of the female criminals, which connotes their power in the movie. During racing scenes, quick cuts are used to help create pace, and chase scenes are often found in action films. The re-equilibrium (Todorov) in the movie is when the female character is about to start a race in the Nascar racing circuit. Again this connotes a very un-stereotypical feature, a female driving in a motorsport which is powered and consists of all men.

Another key character in the movie is the leader of the police department, which in this movie is a female. She is represented and shown to be very powerful, and we do not often see women in such a high position of the law. Along with the other features of the film, i think TAXI shows a clear post feministic message across to the audience, and does it in a humorous way. For example the main male character being slightly "blonde", which is often a representation surrounding women.