Stereotypes In Miss Congeniality

The 2000 film, Miss Congeniality, was directed by Donald Petrie and starred Sandra Bullock and Benjamin Bratt. The representation of women and the female body was shown through Bullock’s character who played the lead role as FBI Special Agent, Gracie Hart. In the beginning of the film, Gracie is seen as an aggressive tomboy who’s never taken seriously by her coworkers due to the fact that she’s one of the few females in her profession. People today would depict a female agent to not be this beautiful dolled up women, but be an intimidating, masculine women with harsh features. In society, this would be the exact representation of how people would stereotype female FBI agents. Being an agent surrounded by men, Hart feels as if she’s not being treated with respect nor taken seriously because of her gender. For example, since she failed one assignment, she was immediately taken off and assigned to a desk job. Due to this, Gracie stays away from anything womanlike and acts, talks and eats like a man just to fit in. Stereotypically men are handworkers …show more content…
At first Special Agent Eric Matthews (Benjamin Bratt) was chosen to take the lead, but couldn’t fully be involved due to the fact that they needed a woman to participate. Gracie’s male colleagues decide to manipulate the female agents by editing their bodies in swimsuits to only find out that Gracie is the best match. Throughout the film, there are many comments of how society labels these women such as when Gracie states, “I’m not going to parade in a swimsuit, like some air headed bimbo.” As Gracie accepts the offer, she’s told that she has to transform into a prim and proper young lady in order to fulfill her duty. She has to transform herself into a “sex object” by getting a complete makeover in order to fit in with the other

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