Post-Feminist Representation

Background of the film
Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a 2005 American romantic action comedy film, directed by Doug Liman and written by Simon Kinberg. The film stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as a bored married couple who learn that they are both assassins hired by competing agencies to kill each other.
Post- feminist views
Like the film flight plan, Mr. and Mrs. Smith propose many post feminist views; we see this as one of the lead roles is played by Angelina Jolie. Her character in the film is an assassin; typically this type of job would be known to men as they would seem to be the stronger sex. However in this film the stereotype is being challenged as Angelina Jolie has the same amount of power as her husband (Brad Pitt), who is also an assassin. The couple are both trying to kill each other; however Angelina is the one who is always one step ahead in the game. There is seen to be role reversal in the film as you would imagine the main protagonist to be a man especially as the job is an assassin however it is the woman who is on top.
Socially, women in society are delving deeper into main masculine roles, especially for jobs and more masculine jobs with higher salaries. Women are becoming more and more successful on a day to day basis the stereotypical housewives is what most women used to be known for however this stereotype is now being broken., this has changed as now women are becoming more independent. The way society and the audience of the films perceive women have changed dramatically, as these stereotypes are being challenged.

Traditionally history shows as mentioned above that women’s main role with in society was to in such ‘do nothing’. What women were known for was the typical housewife, which meant they would cook clean and look after the kids. While the man in the house would be the one who had the job and provides for the family (being the breadwinner). This stereotype is broken as in flight plan Jodie foster is a single mother who has just lost her husband, however she is also an engineer. The job title shows that the patriarchal views which are seen in society are now seen to be a motion in the past. As these ideologies are slowly balancing out as women have the right just as much as men do. Also Jodie foster is the hero in the film that defeats the villain, when normally would we see this happening? This shows that the views for women are ever changing as they are becoming more independent and less reliant on a male figure in their lives.

The film Mr. and Mrs. Smith goes against all the stereotypes society have toward women as Angelina Jolie one again is playing the role of an assassin and drives fast cars and has very powerful guns. Also a scene in the film were the couple are being shot at whilst driving but there is a case of role reversal as Brad Pitt is driving whilst Angelina is shooting this is something the male role would primarily do whilst the women would drive, this shows that stereotypes are now balancing out.