Interview on Double Life

Section of Interview with Christina Lamb

Interviewer: We are still here with Christina Lamb talking about her experiences in her career being a war journalist and the struggle that she faces with having a family at home. So Christina, What made you want to be a war journalist?

Christina: I wanted to represent the women that are not in the profession of war journalism. I wanted to show that women can lead the way in retrieving extreme stories and exclusives from the heart of the problem. The war is something that people from the outside world tend to shy away from but I felt that being a war journalist will aid in giving the English the true and in depth coverage of what is going on.

Interviewer: That is a great achievement Ms.Lamb to be a positive role model for women to aspire to. What feeling do you get or what rushes through your mind when you are in the middle of a war or horrifying point in your travels?

Christina: I consider myself an adrenaline junkie so when I am in the middle of war I get excited but still scared but I also think about the next time I will be in the same situation. I get a sort of exhilarating feeling which I want to continue feeling.


Interviewer: Do you feel that you are neglecting son, family life?


Christina:  Not at all. I am blessed to have a husband that I do. He takes care of our son like if he is both of us put together. I am grateful for what he does and he reassures me that our son has a healthy life.

Interviewer: Do you not feel that your career is damaging to your being?

Christina: Again, not at all.  I cannot contain the passion that I have for this career. This is all I wanted to do and want to do till the feelings that I get when I am in Afghanistan and other such places fades away. However, I do doubt this.

Interviewer: Would you choose between family life and war journalist?

Christina:  No. I struggle with this question all the time but I believe that I juggle the both greatly.

The Feminine Mystique-H/W

Classroom Activities

• How is sex used in horror films?

Sex is used in horror films to give an idea on who will be killed or haunted by the antagonist. For example, in Scary movie 1, a character who sleeps around gets killed first out of a group of others.

• Is it true that virginal female characters are more likely to survive in a slasher flick?

Virgins are viewed as the most innocent in a horror film so they wont be the one targeted by the antagonist, however, this may also be a reason why virgins are killed because they will be seen as too pure to be alive. For example, in Jennifer's Body, Jennifer is possessed by a spirit because she was a virgin.

• Some writers have identified many horror film tropes as relating to men's fear of women. Can you think of any film standards that make the feminine monstrous?

Film standards that make the feminine monstrous is instances where the woman is possessed as a demon or other mystical creatures, has a link with others in the spirit world.

Focus on the paragraphy starting at the bottom of p.193 'The horror subtext is the lawyer's developing dread...'

• What is effective about the language in this extract?

The language used draws attention to the views that men have of females damaging what they have made and are proud of. The lexical sets used on females and feminists illustrates that that is the main focus of the paragraph.

• How does Kael use lexis and semantics to create an impression of the aspects of the film?

Kael uses lexis and semantics to create an impression of the aspects of the film by relating them to the views that men have of women. For example, she uses the lexis of attributes of women like emotions and crazy to emphasis that that is how men see women.

• How does Kael use rhetorical features to support her argument?

Kael uses rhetorical features to support her argument to get the reader thinking about their thoughts on the opposite sex through her description of them.

• How is syntax effective in this extract?

Syntax is effect in this extract because it is written how people would speak it and not how good it will look professionally. For example, 'she's merely a monster in a monster flick'. The adjective, monster, did not have to be placed there before she described the movie. If people were explaning it to a friend, they may have said it the way she did.

Beginning of ‘essay’ on The Feminine Mystique

                In films, women and men are sometimes shown in different lights than the stereotypical images we as citizens have of each other. It is becoming common in films like Jennifer’s Body and Fatal Attraction, that female sexuality is a criterion that must be filled when producing movies. This extreme female sexuality has been exaggerated and has become a cliché in most cases.

                Immense female sexuality has been seen in the form of the ‘girl next door’, ‘horny housewife’, ‘outside woman’ or just a lonely sad woman. These roles show women to be overly interested and frustrated about sex which gives negative labels to women in society. It is unbearable to know that these representations of females are made and presented to the public. Normal women take offence to be seen as those types of people.

                From the point of view of a man, women are merely seen as sexual objects from the way that they are portrayed in films where they exert intense sexuality. This can be transferred into society because men may think that all women have this quality and will treat them in accordance to how they are seen in films.

                Female sexuality is now more about extravert and open sexual frustration than the subtleness of what it once was in films. Instead of their being a woman that is confident about herself and position in life, they are now shown as desperate women in need for sex. This is seen in Fatal Attraction where the antagonist is a woman that sets eyes on a man and doesn’t want to let him go because of her need for him. This shows women in society to be needy and dependent on the presence of a man in their life.