The character portrayals in these movies are decidedly embellished, but the underlying gender stereotypes still exist.
How are women depicted?
- Sex Objects
- This one of the most prevalent themes concerning women throughout both trailers, and media in general. There are too many examples for me to pick just one, and most of them are the visual representations of the women shown.
- Stubborn/Controlling/Irritating
- “What is wrong with you two?!” (“Hall Pass”)
- Critical of men/Intimidating
- “This is why we need to go to a gay bar.” (“Hall Pass”)
- Easily offended
- Gullible
- The women in the bar promptly sympathize with Adam Sandler’s character as he pours out his secrets in “Just Go with It.”
- Love to gossip with/brag to other women
- “I have to tweet to all of my friends!” (“Hall Pass”)
- Maternal by nature
How are men depicted?
- Breast and butt (or sex, in general) obsessed; Controlled by their hormones
- Judge women almost entirely based on looks
- “Are you guys sure Applebee’s is the best place to meet hot, horny, women at?” (“Hall Pass”)
- Insensitive
- “What’s this?” - “A circle?” (“Just Go with It”)
- Clueless/Moronic
- “You gotta be kidding me!” - “What?” - “You just checked out that girl’s butt!” - “Do you think she noticed?” (“Hall Pass”)
- Commitment-phobic or resent the commitment they are in
- “Most married men believe that, if not for you, they could actually be with these other women.” (“Hall Pass”)
- Beer gulping gluttons
- Did you SEE how much food was devoured from that table in the “Hall Pass” trailer (at 00:17)?
- If in a relationship - “whipped” and powerless
- Cue scene of “Hall Pass” where the husbands are cowering in the backseat of the car
- Use lies or tricks to manipulate women, especially for the purposes of having sex with them
- “Every guy has an angle.” (“Just Go with It”)
Once again, these stereotypical portrayals of masculinity and femininity are not isolated phenomena. The movies “Knocked Up,” “The Ugly Truth,” “The Hangover,” and “Hot Tub Time Machine” all come to mind, just to name a few related examples. Both men and women are degraded in these films, but do two wrongs make a right?
It may be argued that the average viewer does not accept these depictions whole-heartedly, but rather takes them with a grain of salt. However, I also believe that we have become too comfortable with the persistent portrayal of these definitions. What are younger generations learning from the media they have grown up surrounded by?
I had never heard of either of these movies...thanks for enlightening me! They seem awesome =D.
ReplyDeleteIn all seriousness, Kaitlen, you're a great writer. My only criticism is that I feel like you're focusing too much on individual instances of gender stereotyping without discussing why these portrayals are potentially harmful.
Some might argue that these (kind of) humorous portrayals are perfectly harmless. Why let something as innocuous as a movie character ruin your day?
Thanks for the feedback! These are good points you bring up. More general analysis and discussion is definitely needed now.
ReplyDeleteNot to spoil the film (and it isn't a spoiler because it's actually established in the film fairly early on), but what the trailer for Hall Pass doesn't say is that the wives get a Hall Pass as well, and are more successful in their endeavor than the husbands. I haven't seen the film yet personally, but I know people who've gone to test screenings. Apparently the men are actually portrayed as all talk, unable to actually act on the personas they've built, while the wives have no such issue.
ReplyDeleteIt's an interesting gender reversal at work in that movie, though the trailer unfortunately does it a disservice by not mentioning it. I'm curious to see what your thoughts on the film are after knowing that bit of information though.
I appreciate the additional knowledge about the film; thank you! This gender reversal that you speak of is a reversal from the gender assumptions of the past, but not the present. From the sounds of it, these portrayals are actually along the same lines of society's current gender definitions.
ReplyDeleteWe see some lingering values from the past; for example, women are still the ones who dominate (across the board) household commercials. However, now men are often the ones marked as failures. Men are still, generally speaking, expected to be physically superior, but women are stereotyped as mentally superior. Today's media loves to portray men as losers and women as either narks, manipulators, or sex objects.