Film and  MASCULINITY

Influence of Film as a form of Mass Media

How Movies Can CHange our Minds

 

Puatz STudy

“Younger people, particularly teens, are much more likely to be impacted than older adults...they are still developing and shaping their worldviews,”

John Guida: University of Dayton

Main Idea: Movies influence on Opinion is stronger                            than we realize

1. Participants were given a questionnaire on political opinions

 2. Participants watched politically charged films and retook the survey

25%

of answers changed on the second take

Sub-ideas:

The Medium is the message

Marshall Mcluhan

The "Netflix Queue":

"The message of any medium or technology is the change of scale or pace or pattern that it introduces into human affairs."

  • HOLLYWOOD influence (And responSibility) at an all time high

  • FIlm important in the nurture process

 CUltivation Theory

Viewers of film and Television (and other Media) Gradually develop connections between what they see in film and reality.

 Professor George Gerbner: Univercity of Penn

 CUltivation Theory

 

  1. FIrst Order: Exposure to film causes general ideas and opinions (Political, SOcial, etc) to be slowly altered

  2. Second Order: EXTREME cases such which create strong opinions and even conditions

Continued

  • EXTREME (SECOND ORDER) RESULT OF FILM CULTIVATION THEORY:

  • VIOLENT FEATURES OF FILM HAVE CAUSED VIEWERS TO GRADUALLY FEAR THE REAL WORLD

CONNECTION: MEAN WORLD SYNDROME

McQuail, Denis & Sven Windahl (1993): Communication Models for the Study of Mass Communication.

So How DOes this Tie in to MASCULINITY?...

 

Bringing me to my Base Text...

How Movies Teach Manhood

  • Boys are rarely are provided with plots that give an accurate representation of society 
  • In order to introduce young boys into a fair society, gender should be portrayed fairly;
  • Plots should include less violence=victory=reward

By

Colin

Stokes

Star Wars
Wizard of Oz

"I want fewer quests where my son is told, "Go out and fight it alone," and more quests where he sees that it's his job to join a team, maybe a team led by women, to help other people become better and be better people, like the Wizard of Oz."

The Increasingly significant influence of film makes it critical that film provides the younger generation with accurate portrayals of society. It is not solely the fault of hollywood that films often fail to provide realistic standpoints for young people, as the consumer is a large part of the solution.

The significance of the Bechdel Test

  • Simplistic, surface level;
  • Yet still, somehow, not achievable by many films

  • Most relevant: Many kids movies like UP, Toy Story, and the Lion King fail the test

The Statistics

Ideally:

We should aim for films, for young people especially, to exceed the Bechtel test

PARALLEL Modern CHILDRENs FIlm?

Our job in the Netflix queue is to look out for those movies that pass the Bechdel Test, if we can find them, and to seek out the heroines who are there, who show real courage, who bring people together, and to nudge our sons to identify with those heroines and to say, "I want to be on their team," because they're going to be on their team.

Zootopia

  • Female protagonist
  • While there is some minor violence, the plot is far more fighting for a reward
  • Themes of relations between characters of both genders to accomplish a common goal

The Lion King

  • All male protagonists
  • No female characters that talk to each other about anything other than the main(male) protagonists

The Solution: Beyond Hollywood

The production of film is controlled by the consumer. It is not the choice of hollywood producers to decide what film themes are profitable.

  • Ending "Star Wars" like movies and violence in film is not the solution BUT
  • Promoting movies with more representation of women as protagonists and features of human relationship beyond violence is
  • Being selective as to what to show children is

Conclusion

Work CIted

Waletzko, Anna. "Why the Bechdel Test Fails Feminism." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 27 Apr. 2015. Web. 31 May 2017.

Waldman, Katy. "The Bechdel Test Sets the Bar Too Low. Let's Write a New One." Slate Magazine. N.p., 07 Jan. 2014. Web. 31 May 2017.
"Commonly Asked Questions about McLuhan – The Estate of Marshall McLuhan." Marshall McLuhan. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2017
​Desta, Yohana. "Netflix vs. Cable: How Viewers Watch TV in the Summer." Mashable. Mashable, 19 June 2014. Web. 31 May 2017.
Stokes, Colin. "Transcript of "How Movies Teach Manhood"." Colin Stokes: How Movies Teach Manhood | TED Talk Subtitles and Transcript | TED.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2017.

"Bechdel Test Movie List." Bechdel Test Movie List. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2017.

 

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