In today’s society, the fast pace of pop culture is steadily increasing. The objectification of women in pop culture is directly proportional to such a trend. Thus women have lost all sense of their identity and have simply become shadows of our society. The Dream Worlds Documentary is a perfect example of this. This movie was a great analysis and inside look at how women in our society are objectified into subjects whose sole purpose is for males to look at them.
The main idea behind this documentary was to investigate the way pop culture images such as music videos, advertisements and commercials, affect youth’s concepts of their self and their sexuality. It is through this point that I believe this film relates to our class readings the best out of the other two films we watched this semester. This is because the readings that we have done thus far discuss issues surrounding femininity. The way that women are used in advertisements and music videos as objects of pleasure, show just how narrow the definition of being a woman in today’s society has become. Both our readings and the documentary portray this message. Another issue that connects this film to our readings is that women are seen as nymphomaniacs and desire sex at all times. Pop culture has given us this false sense of femininity, thus men think that all women are out just to have sex with them. Dream Worlds III is a great documentary that gives the audience a whole new perspective on the way women are used in today’s culture.
Talking about this film from the standpoint of artistic sense and production, I thought the documentary portrayed the message very clearly. It personally opened my eyes and gave me a new perspective on how culture has broken down women in to objects rather than subjects. The part that did it the most was the section on “Constructing Femininity”. During this section of the documentary, it discussed how in music videos the number of women always outnumbers the men; they are draped over them wearing minimal clothing. The object of this is to show that the male is in power. These images are showing society’s youth that it is ok to treat women in such a manner and that male dominance is acceptable. It is obvious from the film that their perspective on this issue is to try and get gain awareness about the objectification of women and to try and stop it. Through the images that they showed and the dialect about each topic, it is clear to see that they feel very strongly about this issue and wish to create a whole new way of looking at women in pop culture.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Film Analysis: Lovely and Amazing
Lovely and Amazing Film Review
When we first began watching this film as a class, I wasn’t too sure what to think about it at first. But the further we got into the, the more it began to grow on me. Lovely and Amazing was about a family of women, a mother, three daughters and granddaughters; all fighting their own battles against insecurities and body image issues.
The main idea behind this movie is taking a look at the lives of three women, whom let their individual insecurities affect their lives and how they confront those insecurities. Although each of their personal struggles is different, each one brings to life the problems and anxieties that women of all ages face in today’s society. This brings up the connection between this particular film and the class readings that we have done throughout the semester. The readings that we have been discussing have all been dealing with body image issues that women have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. For example, Jane the mother is struggling with her old age and hates the way she looks. In order to achieve her younger looking self again, she opts for liposuction surgery as a “quick fix” for her insecurities. She feels that once she gets this surgery she will be skinnier and feel younger and finally be happy with her body. Unfortunately, the surgery has a very negative effect on her and causes a life threatening scare. Such effects women don’t think about when they are contemplating about having such surgeries to change their physical appearance. Another related issue that was portrayed in the movie was dealing with the acceptance of being different. The adopted daughter Annie, who is overweight and black has many insecurities that she is dealing with in this film. Throughout the whole movie she was trying to become “more white” like her white family and always trying to gain the attention of her older sisters. It was sad to me that a girl at such a young age was already being faced with such body image issues. Children her age should be more worried about who they are going to the play with than what they look like compared to everyone else. It just shows the shift that American culture has taken concerning body image and the way people see themselves.
The movie overall was very different compared to anything that I had seen as of recent. I feel as if it were a low budget film, thus the scene settings were completely different than other movies of its time. On the other hand, I really enjoyed it. The issues that the writer portrayed through the dialect as well as through the way it is acted out make this movie very true to real life versus the Hollywood version. That is what makes this movie so nice. Real people can relate to the women characters and their issues. Thus, this movie creates a powerful connection between the script and the audience leaving me to believe that this was one of the goals of the writers; to create such a connection. By watching and listening to the script of the film the only real assumption that I gained from it was that they believed that women are very insecure about who they are and how they should look. Not all women in today’s society are like that. But I will agree that the majority of them are. This movie was a very accurate account about how people try to make adjustments to themselves in a world of free floating insecurities and self-involvement.
When we first began watching this film as a class, I wasn’t too sure what to think about it at first. But the further we got into the, the more it began to grow on me. Lovely and Amazing was about a family of women, a mother, three daughters and granddaughters; all fighting their own battles against insecurities and body image issues.
The main idea behind this movie is taking a look at the lives of three women, whom let their individual insecurities affect their lives and how they confront those insecurities. Although each of their personal struggles is different, each one brings to life the problems and anxieties that women of all ages face in today’s society. This brings up the connection between this particular film and the class readings that we have done throughout the semester. The readings that we have been discussing have all been dealing with body image issues that women have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. For example, Jane the mother is struggling with her old age and hates the way she looks. In order to achieve her younger looking self again, she opts for liposuction surgery as a “quick fix” for her insecurities. She feels that once she gets this surgery she will be skinnier and feel younger and finally be happy with her body. Unfortunately, the surgery has a very negative effect on her and causes a life threatening scare. Such effects women don’t think about when they are contemplating about having such surgeries to change their physical appearance. Another related issue that was portrayed in the movie was dealing with the acceptance of being different. The adopted daughter Annie, who is overweight and black has many insecurities that she is dealing with in this film. Throughout the whole movie she was trying to become “more white” like her white family and always trying to gain the attention of her older sisters. It was sad to me that a girl at such a young age was already being faced with such body image issues. Children her age should be more worried about who they are going to the play with than what they look like compared to everyone else. It just shows the shift that American culture has taken concerning body image and the way people see themselves.
The movie overall was very different compared to anything that I had seen as of recent. I feel as if it were a low budget film, thus the scene settings were completely different than other movies of its time. On the other hand, I really enjoyed it. The issues that the writer portrayed through the dialect as well as through the way it is acted out make this movie very true to real life versus the Hollywood version. That is what makes this movie so nice. Real people can relate to the women characters and their issues. Thus, this movie creates a powerful connection between the script and the audience leaving me to believe that this was one of the goals of the writers; to create such a connection. By watching and listening to the script of the film the only real assumption that I gained from it was that they believed that women are very insecure about who they are and how they should look. Not all women in today’s society are like that. But I will agree that the majority of them are. This movie was a very accurate account about how people try to make adjustments to themselves in a world of free floating insecurities and self-involvement.
Film Analysis: Mona Lisa Smile
Femininity has greatly changed over the decades. In today’s society, women are just objects of desire and are worth nothing more than a mere glance from a man. It seems as though the only thing they are good for is to come running when the man gives her the nod. I believe that femininity just goes in a huge circle, slightly changing with the times. In Mona Lisa Smile, the setting is back in the fifties, a time when women were meant to be seen and not heard, much like today. The only right that women had back in that decade was the right to cook, clean and tend to her family. It was looked down upon if she wished to get a job versus being married. This movie was about how girls at the very and prestigious Wellesley College begin to go against conformity when a strong-willed teacher (Julia Roberts) graces campus with her presence as well as her modernized ideals of femininity.
The main idea of this movie was to show the shift from conformity to the new wave of femininity that exuded independence as a woman. This is where Mona Lisa Smile relates back to the class readings. Throughout the semester we discussed femininity and this film is filled with examples of changing the definition of what it means to be a woman, more specifically changing the roles of women in the early fifties. One example that can be found being discussed in both the readings and in the movie was the part where Julia Roberts’s character, Ms. Watson, encourages Jane to apply to Yale Law School. It had been Jane’s dream of going to law school ever since she was a little girl, but women of that time were expected to go to college and get married. Not to have a career of her own. But going against the grain, she applied anyways, knowing that she was taking a path that not many women of her time would have. This example portrays the beginning shift from conformity on the Wellesley campus. Another example that can be seen in this movie is the ideals that Julia Roberts’s character is trying to portray to her students. She wishes for her students to lead the world and not just live a simple life as a housewife to some man. She preached about not conforming to the female stereotype of their time and felt that her students were meant for more than to just adapt to being a wife and a mother solely based on idea that other people have for them. These ideals that she believed in and preached about are very intertwined with the ideals that our readings were discussing.
Taking a look at the film from a perspective simply based on the production and artistic sense, I have to say that I really enjoyed it. They characters were played very well by the actresses and the dialect, style of dress, lighting, etc. was very well depicted in production. I believe that the assumptions about gender and body image were quite obvious to see in this particular film. The script is my proof. Throughout the film, the script was constantly talking about moving away from conformity and creating a new, independent woman which made the writers perspective on such issues very plain to see. Overall, I loved this movie and thought that it was a great portrayal of such a strong and inspirational message.
The main idea of this movie was to show the shift from conformity to the new wave of femininity that exuded independence as a woman. This is where Mona Lisa Smile relates back to the class readings. Throughout the semester we discussed femininity and this film is filled with examples of changing the definition of what it means to be a woman, more specifically changing the roles of women in the early fifties. One example that can be found being discussed in both the readings and in the movie was the part where Julia Roberts’s character, Ms. Watson, encourages Jane to apply to Yale Law School. It had been Jane’s dream of going to law school ever since she was a little girl, but women of that time were expected to go to college and get married. Not to have a career of her own. But going against the grain, she applied anyways, knowing that she was taking a path that not many women of her time would have. This example portrays the beginning shift from conformity on the Wellesley campus. Another example that can be seen in this movie is the ideals that Julia Roberts’s character is trying to portray to her students. She wishes for her students to lead the world and not just live a simple life as a housewife to some man. She preached about not conforming to the female stereotype of their time and felt that her students were meant for more than to just adapt to being a wife and a mother solely based on idea that other people have for them. These ideals that she believed in and preached about are very intertwined with the ideals that our readings were discussing.
Taking a look at the film from a perspective simply based on the production and artistic sense, I have to say that I really enjoyed it. They characters were played very well by the actresses and the dialect, style of dress, lighting, etc. was very well depicted in production. I believe that the assumptions about gender and body image were quite obvious to see in this particular film. The script is my proof. Throughout the film, the script was constantly talking about moving away from conformity and creating a new, independent woman which made the writers perspective on such issues very plain to see. Overall, I loved this movie and thought that it was a great portrayal of such a strong and inspirational message.
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