Order Number |
45jh75647nmg |
Type of Project |
ESSAY |
Writer Level |
PHD VERIFIED |
Format |
APA |
Academic Sources |
10 |
Page Count |
3-12 PAGES |
The United States is a nation of moviemakers and moviegoers. Based on 2009 numbers, the Motion Picture and Television Industry is made up of more than 95,000 small businesses spread across all 50 states, producing 2.4 million jobs (mpaa.org, 2010). In terms of our national appetite for film, moviegoers bought almost 1.3 trillion tickets in 2010, generating over $10 trillion dollars in gross sales at the box office (the-numbers.com, 2011). This figure doesn’t include the average American’s money spent on DVDs and the hours devoted to watching DVD versions of films or those aired on television.
It is evident from these numbers than that, as a society, we watch a significant number of movies, whether in the theater or at home. Peter C. Rollins, author of Hollywood as Historian: American Film in a Cultural Context (1997) proposed a significant question based on the tremendous presence of movies in our lives: Does Hollywood influence society or is it the other way around?
For this assignment, do the following:
Select a film dealing with gender, and analyze it using material from the course.
Write a summary and analysis of the gender-related issue(s) you observe in the film.
Organize your paper into the following sections:
Title page
Table of Contents
Introduction (1–2 paragraphs summarizing the topic briefly)
Background (brief synopsis of the film and identification of major gender issues)
Analysis (brief analysis of the gender topic(s) you uncovered and their specific relation to the course material)
Conclusion (1–2 paragraph review of your findings)
References
List of suggested films
The movies listed below are meant only as recommendations. You may select one of these or choose one of your own. If you choose your own film, be sure to confirm the appropriateness of the selection with your instructor.
9 to 5 (1980)
Best Years of Our Lives, The (1946)
Blackhawk Down (2001)
Born in Flames (1983)
Boy A (2007)
Color Purple, The (1985)
Disclosure (1994)
Erin Brockovich (2000)
Fatal Attraction (1987)
Married Life (2007)
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Mr. Mom (1983)
North Country (2005)
Pillow Talk (1959)
Revolutionary Road (2008)
Stepford Wives, The (1975 or 2004 versions)
Thelma and Louise (1991)
Waiting to Exhale (1995)
Wedding Banquet, The (1993)
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
Working Girl (1988)
An example to illustrate what is expected out of this assignment is the film The Snake Pit, an Academy Award winning film from 1948 that depicts the struggles of the heroine Virginia, who finds herself in a mental institution. The film documents her journey from a troubled female, who appears detached and unfulfilled, to a cured woman reunited with her husband and emotionally ready to move on with her life.
Though many critics viewed the film as an important social statement about the need for change in the deplorable condition of mental institutions of the time, the producers and the author of the book on which the film is based conveyed a deeper meaning—a look at the female’s struggle between the roles of mother and wife and that of educated career woman. The result is a slip of sanity and a need for therapy to find her way back to an acceptable role in society (Fishbein, 1979).
Following the structure outlined above, a paper on this film would include a background section that would provide details of the plot and characters. The analysis section would introduce, define, and discuss concepts from the course that help explain the gender issues in the film. Finally, the conclusion section would briefly summarize the major points about how the heroine’s initial struggle is connected to issues with gender identity and resistance to gender stereotyping in addition to anxiety over her husband’s struggle to fulfill his expected role as successful breadwinner.