Pathway: Gender in Orlando by Julia Howard

1 x A4 black photograph album; 34 vellum pages; 24 x colour prints, Mixed, Presentation book containing Sally Potter's notes on the film and colour photographs of Tilda Swinton at Hatfield House

The way that the protagonist poses when female portrays her as a vulnerable helpless being. When the character is male he stands tall and comes across as an authoritative figure.

1 x colour slide in transparent plastic hanging sheet, Digital, Film Stills - Scene 58 - (Tilda Swinton) and Shelmerdine (Billy Zane) in the film

It is interesting to think of the two characters distinctly symbolizing the male and female gender. When I saw this scene I thought that the intertwine of the two characters bodies represented the togetherness and joining of the two sexes. Especially because Orlando has just had a sex change and still seeks to accurately understand her gender identity. There is also a feeling that the protagonist does not fit any category and is very much alone both in her journey via gender change and through periods of time which are vastly different.

Black and white A4 computer printed, Paper, Revised draft of screenplay

Gender not being a factor in the movie Orlando is a new way to think of how gender is represented and how Sally Potter intended to represent, and commentate on gender differences.

1 x A4 black photograph album; 34 vellum pages; 24 x colour prints, Mixed, Presentation book containing Sally Potter's notes on the film and colour photographs of Tilda Swinton at Hatfield House

It is interesting that the protagonists change in gender is reflected in the background. The setting mirrors the gender changes occurring.

1 x A4 black photograph album; 34 vellum pages; 24 x colour prints, Mixed, Presentation book containing Sally Potter's notes on the film and colour photographs of Tilda Swinton at Hatfield House

This pathway comments on the way the protagonist is represented in a gender specific way, not only by the way she looks and acts as those genders but also in how the setting reflects her gender, and the stereotypes of each gender.