"Gladiator"

Portrayal of Women

Lastly, the movie "Gladiator" stands as one of the best film epics due to its positive portrayal of female characters in the film. Female characters are not presented as sexualized objects or as evil characters in the movie and instead are shown in a positive light.

This positive portrayal is seen in the main female character, Lucilla, who is the sister of emperor Commodus. The character Lucilla is never presented as a character solely meant for "eye-candy", nor is her character ever portrayed in a sexualized way with revealing clothing like in prior toga movies such as "Cleopatra" (1963). Instead, Lucilla shows characteristics of modesty and is portrayed as beautiful in a non-sexualized way. This can be seen throughout the movie as Lucilla wears long royal dresses with magnificent designs and covers her head in a long cloth similar to Christian portrayals of Mary, mother of Jesus. This presents Lucilla in a more modest way and does not try to sexualize her character by revealing more of her skin in any way while still representing her as royalty.

Mary, mother of Jesus

Lucilla dressed in an elegant attire that covers most of her body.

Cleopatra sprawled across a bed under a thin cover and wearing nothing beneath it. The blanket is raised and reveals parts her body to the viewers.Cleopatra (1963)

As well, Lucilla is presented as a motherly figure in the movie to further promote her in a positive way as a caring and loving mother. By presenting her as a female character that is a mother, the movie has presented Lucilla as a good character as motherhood usually is a representation of good. A similar representation is seen in "Cleopatra" as she is the mother of Caesarion, but because her beauty is portrayed through sexualizing her body it becomes difficult to associate her as a pure mother to the viewers.

By presenting Lucilla as a modest character that's also a mother, the film has successfully portrayed her as a good character who does not show negative traits which differs from prior toga movie's representation of women.

Lucilla with her son Lucius in the colosseum.

Cleopatra with her son Caesarion. Cleopatra (1963)

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