In the two films I have studied, Pans Labyrinth and La Haine, the theme of representation is very significant in both films in constructing messages that challenge national ideologies of Spain and France. In Pans Labyrinth, the use of a patriarchal society where women are inferior along with the control of the class system through the fascist government and the civil war causing a lack of national identity within Spain is comparable to the film La Haine, the hyper-masculinity and lack of women contribute to a cycle of violence within the ethnic working class seeking a french national identity.
In Pans Labyrinth, the time period of the film is set during the fascist regime during the Spanish civil war. The fascist military is comprised of solely just men, spearheaded by the film's embodiment of fascism, Captain Vidal. Vidal is a ruthless, homicidal maniac obsessed with power and having a son. Vidal hates Ofelia, the female protagonist of the story and destroys her family, by telling the doctors to go ahead with Ofelia's mums childbirth even though she will die because of it and he murders Ofelia at the end of the film. He also murders the doctor, who euthanises a man tortured by Vidal, this act of compassion is deemed unmanly by Vidal and he is shot because of it. Contextually, it is accurate that Spain was dominated by men during this period of fascism and that women were treated inferiorly to them, which is evident in the film with the most powerful female character Mercedes who works as a cook. The film challenges the context because Mercedes, in her inferior position, works as a undercover rebel and starts the uprising of the farm Vidal lives on.
In La Haine, the three main characters are all male characters who are criminals, comparative to Pans Labyrinth use of hyper-masculinity. Vinz is obsessed with murdering a police officer with a gun highlighting the lack of compassion that associates with hyper-masculinity. Said is not violent like Vinz but he is still abrasive and aggressive, with a lack of respect for women. The least hyper-masculine is Hubert who wants to leave behind the cycle of violence in the French banlieue's however he is shown at the end of the film shooting someone, reaffirming the cycle of violence and hyper-masculinity. Throughout the film, there are almost no female characters with the exception of the boy's mothers and two females they try to chat up in a art gallery. Unlike Pans Labyrinth, there is no strong female character to stop the violence like Mercedes and this results in the cycle of violence continuing. Contextually, the film challenges a ideology that men are stronger than women because if the three young men in the film were stronger, they would act more like Hubert and try to get out of their way of life.
Continuing from this theme of women, In Pans Labyrinth, the position of women in the film is that they are inferior. Ofelia, the protagonist is bullied and oppressed by Vidal, a metaphor for how fascism oppressed women, her mother is seen by Vidal as a woman that will just birth his son, nothing more and Mercedes is a cook, even though she is a spy for the rebels. However, Ofelia and Mercedes are both similar female characters in that they are independent, they do not conform to the will of Vidal like Ofelia's mother has. Ofelia tries to steal her brother back from Vidal near the end of the movie, putting her life at risk and Mercedes ribs Vidal's cheek apart with a knife. At the end of the film, Ofelia lures Vidal into the labyrinth where he shoots her and takes her brother. Inadvertently, this distracts Vidal and Mercedes and the rebels are there to shoot Vidal when he leaves the labyrinth. The fascist government in the film is ended by women, implying that females are stronger than men.
