{"id":33775,"date":"2011-02-27T12:41:45","date_gmt":"2011-02-27T17:41:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/?p=33775"},"modified":"2011-09-28T14:22:59","modified_gmt":"2011-09-28T19:22:59","slug":"male-centric-plots-and-the-oscars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/2011\/02\/27\/male-centric-plots-and-the-oscars\/","title":{"rendered":"Male-Centric Plots and the Oscars"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nLester Andrist (of The Sociological Cinema<\/a>) sent in a clip by Feminist Frequency’s Anita Sarkeesian. She looks at the way that the movies that are rewarded with Oscars tend to be highly centered around male characters and male-dominated plots. It seemed appropriate for Oscars day:<\/p>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n

(Transcript after the jump below.)<\/p>\n

Lester also pointed out The Girls on Film<\/a>, a group that recreates male-centered scenes from movies with a female cast. They’re fun and also highlight the types of roles we do and don’t expect to see women in. Here’s Lester’s favorite, a recreation of a scene from J. J. Abrams’s Star Trek<\/em>:<\/p>\n

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\nTranscript<\/p>\n

As you might have guessed, I watch a lot of movies, some of my favourites are science fiction but also dramas, action, thrillers and I\u2019ll even admit the occasional romantic comedy. If you go to the movies a lot too you might have noticed one thing that the vast majority of these films have in common, most of the movies seem to be stories about men. One of the primary reasons Hollywood continually churns out movies about men is because we live in a male centered society. Most simply, male centeredness is an aspect of patriarchy that shows us how most of our attention is placed and prioritized on men, men\u2019s stories, the things men do and the things men don\u2019t do. As a result, the images we see in the media often focus on male-centered stories.<\/p>\n

One way to demonstrate the male centeredness is not only to look at the movies that are made but to look at which films are most honoured and celebrated. To do this I looked up the films that won the Academy Award for best picture over the past 50 years. Let\u2019s see whose stories are being told?<\/p>\n

Starting in 2009 is The Hurt Locker which although directed by a woman is still all about men
\nSlumdog Millionaire \u2013 men
\nNo Country for Old Men \u2013 need I say more
\nThe Departed \u2013 is about men
\nCrash \u2013 is an ensemble
\nMillion Dollar Baby \u2013 is interesting because it\u2019s pretty equally a story about a man and a woman
\nLord of the Rings \u2013 men
\nChicago \u2013 is woman centered
\nA Beautiful Mind \u2013 men
\nGladiator \u2013 is about a man who fights other men
\nAmerican Beauty \u2013 man
\nShakespeare in Love \u2013 man
\nTitanic \u2013 is from a man\u2019s perspective
\nThe English Patient \u2013 man
\nBraveheart \u2013 man
\nForrest Gump \u2013 man
\nSchindler\u2019s List \u2013 man
\nThe Unforgiven \u2013 is about men on horses
\nThe Silence of the Lambs \u2013 is about a man who eats people, and this is interesting because although Jodi Foster\u2019s character plays a pretty big role in the film, you would never describe it as a movie about an FBI agent who\u2026 you would describe it as a movie about Hannibal Lecter.
\nDances with Wolves \u2013 man
\nDriving Miss Daisy \u2013 is about a man and a woman
\nRain Man \u2013 is about a man and his brother
\nThe Last Emperor \u2013 man
\nPlatoon \u2013 man
\nOut of Africa \u2013 is woman centered
\nAmadeus \u2013 is about a man
\nTerms of Endearment \u2013 is woman centered
\nGandhi \u2013 is about a man, albeit a pretty extraordinary one
\nChariots of Fire \u2013 men
\nOrdinary People \u2013 is about a family
\nKramer vs Kramer \u2013 is about a couple
\nThe Deer Hunter \u2013 men
\nAnnie Hall \u2013 is about a man and his love life
\nRocky \u2013 is about a man who fights other men, again.
\nOne Flew Over the Cuckoo\u2019s Nest \u2013 man
\nThe Godfather, Part II \u2013 men
\nThe Sting \u2013 is about two con men
\nThe Godfather, Part I \u2013 men
\nThe French Connection \u2013 is about men
\nPatton \u2013 men
\nMidnight Cowboy \u2013 is a man
\nOliver! \u2013 is a boy
\nIn the Heat of the Night \u2013 is about men
\nA Man for All Seasons \u2013 man
\nThe Sound of Music \u2013 is woman centered
\nMy Fair Lady \u2013 is another interesting one because it\u2019s pretty equally about both a man and a woman\u2019s story
\nTom Jones \u2013 man
\nLawrence of Arabia \u2013 is so male centered that there aren\u2019t even any female speaking roles in it
\nWest Side Story \u2013 is about both a man and a woman
\nAnd finally in 1960 is The Apartment which is from a man\u2019s perspective<\/p>\n

So only 4 out of 50 are centered exclusively on women\u2019s lives. The vast majority are stories about men and their lives and although a few are ensemble casts the women often play secondary or stereotypical roles.<\/p>\n

Year after year we see men and men\u2019s stories being created, produced, celebrated and awarded while women\u2019s stories take a back seat or aren\u2019t even represented. and it\u2019s also Hollywood behind the scenes that is dominated by men. It\u2019s astonishing that Kathryn Bigelow is the only woman to have ever won an academy award for best director in it\u2019s 83 year history, and she won for \u201cThe Hurt Locker\u201d in 2009, which is most definitely a male-centered film. In fact only 4 women have ever even been nominated for best director. And what\u2019s more startling is that women only account for 7% of Hollywood directors. Hollywood executives, production companies, financial investors and backers are most interested in marketing to young men and funding stories that they, as men, can relate to. Thus they fund and produce the majority of Hollywood films to appeal to this demographic.<\/p>\n

Obviously, I want to see a many, many more films centered on women\u2019s stories, however it\u2019s important to note that even women centric films can be sexist. For instance, in so called \u201cchick flicks\u201d depict women in stereotypical gender roles obsessed with shopping, love and finding \u201cMr. Right\u201d. I want to see more films that depict women as full and complete human beings. And just so we are absolutely clear\u2026 I\u2019m not saying stories centered on men are never good, interesting or important but I want to point out that they are disproportionally valued and most rewarded in our society.<\/p>\n

Here are a few simple questions to keep in mind next time you are at the movies, to help you identify whether the story you are watching is male or female centered.<\/p>\n

1. who has the most screen time
\n2. whose perspective do we see the scene from
\n3. whose story arc does the plot revolve around
\n4. do we see them make decisions
\n5. who do we most identify with<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lester Andrist (of The Sociological Cinema) sent in a clip by Feminist Frequency’s Anita Sarkeesian. She looks at the way that the movies that are rewarded with Oscars tend to be highly centered around male characters and male-dominated plots. It seemed appropriate for Oscars day: (Transcript after the jump below.) Lester also pointed out The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[55,2096,2087,343],"class_list":["post-33775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-gender","tag-gender-femininity","tag-gender-masculinity","tag-tvmovies"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33775"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33775\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39980,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33775\/revisions\/39980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}