Kai Ting (Phoebe) Yun
Shannon R. Wooden and Ken Gillam, Pixar’s Boy Stories, Masculinity in a Postmodern Age Book Outline
Rhetorical Outline of the Book
Proposition: Critics, feminists, and parents need to view Pixar’s films and its representation of masculinity with more scrutiny because boys are experiencing a hardship identifying with their gender and shaping their identity given the epidemic outdated notion of masculinity while the postfeminist landscape of masculinity is changing.
Goal: To raise the awareness of the need to reform the notion of masculinity. To hope for a more equal attention and examination from scholars, parents, media, and critics toward boy culture besides girl culture. To interrogate the representations of boyhood
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The authors value the many positive messages Pixar’s films hope to convey but call for a more critical view from parents in hopes of them and their sons understanding what visual and cultural messages they are actually receiving. The authors also assume that the audience is fond of Pixar films; the audience therefore should be familiar with male and female characters and general plots of Pixar films in order to engage in the book’s discussion. Believing the media’s enormous power in shaping how the public perceives the culture it is inhabiting, the authors make references to the media, including Pixar, noting what the content media deliver to the public can affect human’s behavior for generations. Feminists are both praised for their work done for women and criticized for their sometimes illogical responses toward scholars’ attempt to engender productive discourse of masculinity. The authors also include Pixar fans, including me, as their intended audience and hope to generate more thoughtful consideration regarding the films from them before they blinding accept all the information Pixar …show more content…
In Chapter One, the authors begin by considering Toy Story against the backdrop of midcentury American masculinity, fatherhood, and celebrity. The proposition made is that Pixar’s encouragement of a homesteader male model is restrictive rather than empowering. Chapter One provides a premise and the first reason to justify the authors’ proposition. Chapter Two, however, reveals a paradox: The traditional alpha masculine body type may be simultaneously held up as the unassailable standard of manly virtue and success in Pixar’s movies. Chapter Two provides the second reason to justify the author’s proposition. Chapter Three continues to support the point the authors make in Chapter Two. The authors argue that the films reiterate the glorification and value of athleticism whereby violence becomes a harsh treatment to those that seem “naturally” inferior. Chapter Three provides evidence to support the authors’ point in the previous chapter. In Chapter Four, the authors contend that Pixar’s films not only inform its nostalgia for “real-man” brawn but also a clear condemnation of the ostensibly fraudulent masculinity performed by the engineer, technophile, or intellectual. Chapter Four provides the third reason to justify the authors’ proposition. In Chapter Five, the authors suggest that although Pixar superficially encourages its characters to embrace an authentic, home-centered life,
Lucas in her articles regarding Australian masculinity presented in cinemas suggests that the themes of social perception and presentation of masculinity and maleness have been repeatedly used in Australian cinemas (Lucas Page 138). She adds that images of masculinity in cinema may reflect and maintain the dominant hegemonic masculinity, but as well may also challenge the dominant concepts of masculinity (Lucas 139). A large number of Australian cinemas display standard perspectives of masculinity, which promotes the binary impression of male and maleness, which includes logical, domination, violence or competition (Lucas page 139-140).
Katniss Everdeen of The Hunger Games may not be perfect, but one thing she succeeds in doing is breaking many gender stereotypes. Women in media, such as movies, are hyperseaxualized and are not a real representation of real women. Whether it be women still having traditional roles or them having unrealistic body types, women are not properly represented in the media. In four diverse studies on gender and children’s entertainment done by Dr. Stacy L. Smith and Crystal Allene Cook they prove the need for more males in movie and television entertainment aimed at children.
In their essay, Gillam and Wooden express their revelation that Disney/Pixar is trying to teach their young viewers a new perspective regarding the characteristics of a male. The authors focus on denoting certain points in Pixar movie plots when the male protagonists underwent character growth and hence became the “ideal” character the audience learned to love. Gillam
As a 90’s born kid, I was exposed to various genre of children’s animation when I was
He adopts an ambivalent tone in order to examine the conflicting views of high school genre films. Denby’s purpose in writing this essay is to show how the overuse of these stereotypes results in few original teen films. Original movies expose their viewers to a diverse range of people and ways of thinking. Adolescents often mirror or find inspiration in the characters they see in media, so it is important to depict a variety of people in media targeted towards them. People of various sexual orientations should be represented more prominently and truthfully in media targeted towards children in order to promote acceptance and provide role models for those exploring their identity.
Disney movies have been the leading outlets for child education and social learning. Due to such power of influence controversies have been raised which include the following, but not limited to, gender roles and stereotypes, issues of independence, and misrepresentation. Many people argue that despite the morals and messages that occur within such films there are still underlying messages that deal with beauty standards and norms. However, others may argue that Disney is evolutionary and evolved the imagery of male/female standards. The controversy then becomes: are Disney films doing more harm than they are good? Due to certain themes brought on by such movies, it has left younger audiences with both positive and
In Guyland, Michael Kimmel chronicles the journey of young males and the issues they face while trying to exert their masculinity and prove themselves to their peers. Based on interactions among North American males between the ages of 16 and 26, Kimmel has found that at an age where young men had previously prepped for a life of work and committed relationships, they are now living in “Guyland” where they spend their time drinking, playing video games, and having immature relations with women. Kimmel explains that these young men are “frighteningly dependent on peer culture” and “desperate to prove their masculinity in the eyes of other boys.” (30) These young men live in constant fear that they will not measure up to the ideals of
Stephan Babich 's blog post entitled, "The Fall of the Female Protagonist in Kids Movies", and Richard Lawson and Jen Doll 's article, "The Lies Hollywood Told Us: Love and Romance Edition”, are rhetorical arguments that attempt to support a notion about an explicit aspect of motion-picture theatre. In Babich 's post, he writes about how women are hardly ever the protagonist in kid 's movies. The goal of his argument is to persuade avid animation movie watchers that future films should have a female playing the leading role. The main idea of Lawrence and Doll 's article is to convince men and women who frequently watch romance movies that they should not expect the romantic situations and endings that Hollywood
Pixar has been very successful in terms of producing and filiming movies that targets the younger generations. It means that they're aiming for children who loves to have some fun in watching movies as much as they want. This is why Pixar continues to innovate no matter what story are they making. However, this is something that the kids must look forward to, and it's never been "darker" than before. As a result, they've decided to release a short tale that would make things interesting for the children. This is something different that you've ever imagined for good. This is not just like any other Pixar films that you've seen out there. This is not just like Toy Story, Finding Nemo (and Dory), Monsters, Inc., The Incredibles, A Bug's Life, Brave or so. Without further ado, this short Pixar tale is what we call 'Borrowed Time'.
Mulan is an animated film that was released in 1998 from Disney during third wave feminism, which features an Asian woman protagonist. She is a Disney princess, but at first glance you wouldn’t think so. Mulan is introduced as a clumsy tomboy who did not think she would ever bring honor to her family. In order to accomplish said honor, she would have to by being the perfect bride, in accordance with the matchmaker. The film has a great amount of feminist ideals, however, it doesn’t leave out stereotypical gender roles and several examples of overdetermined ideologies. Patriarchy is very prevalent in this film, from the woman characters positions, down to the songs they sing throughout the film, patriarchy is a theme that cannot be missed. This paper will discuss how feminine and masculine stereotypes are conveyed in the film, how gender stereotypes are portrayed, and of the patriarchal themes included in the film.
perpetuated over the years throughout Disney’s movies. Disney is one of the largest media companies in the world. According to Forbes, the “net worth and market capitalization of Disney Company has been estimated as $103.96 billion in 2013” ("Walt Disney Company Net Worth - Celebrity Net Worth,”). From the premiere of the Steamboat Willie cartoons in 1928 Disney has transformed pop culture as we know it today. This paper is designed to look into four major issues gender identity, gender roles, ethnicity, social class throughout Disney’s Cinderella (1950) and Frozen (2013). I aim to show that in these films can be found a subtle manual for social norms, a supplier of dominant family values. I will assess certain sociological concepts that are represented in these films namely ‘The American Dream’, standardization, pseudo-individualism and the creation of false needs. As a society, the understanding of these issues are instrumental to our being since our identity is often distorted through long term norms, ideals and merits set forth through these animated films.
The movie surveyed a wide array of the troubles faced by boys and men as they try to navigate the realm of masculinity. A common theme was the command “be a man” and the cultural baggage that comes with living up to that ideal. To “be a man” means to not cry, to not be sensitive, to not let people mess with you, to respond with violence, to be angry, to drink, to womanize.
The original draft more generally based and less clear of what the exact thesis and argument was because I focused on other dynamics, such as patriarchy, in which I needed to narrow. Overall in the final prospectus, I argued that there are sexist themes portrayed in The Little Mermaid and the importance of analyzing and identifying these are because it is so prevalent and affective in real life society. Every argument has a purpose and a goal, and the goal with writing this paper is to bring awareness of this type of rhetoric in films in order to avoid falling or accepting its skewed
The author of Animating Revolt and Revolting Animation, Judith Halberstam, uses rhetorical strategies to speak to her point that animated movies can be used to reach a wide ranging audience to convey deep underlying messages in a way that is entertaining for all. The author points out how Pixar movies brings non-traditional characters to life and faces them against real life struggles but does so in a happy ending manor that captivates audiences. This is accomplished by the author introducing a plot line from a Pixar movie that illustrates a struggle or classic battle and then describes the characters that are in the struggle and how they live through it. The author then describes an actual real life struggle and relates it back to the animated movie.
For my final paper where we had to pick a topic from current popular culture, I decided to write my paper with the focus on Disney movies. More particularly with the focus on the Disney princess movies. When it comes to the Disney movies they have always been and will always be such a huge part of our society. While growing up most children grow up watching these movies and get the idea that that is what they want to be when they grow up. When you ask a young girl what she wants to be when she is older there is a good chance that she will say that she wants to be a princess when she grows up. I have always been such a huge fan of Disney movies and I have a feeling I always will be. I found it very interesting this semester when we spend the short class period talking about the Disney female and male characters. It is rather interesting and something that I can say that I really never noticed before but the fact that the majority of all the female characters all had the same face shape. Whereas the males there were none two that were the same. However for this paper I will be looking into the relationship to cultural meanings about gender and other identity markers, such as race, sexuality, and cultural norms as seen in some of the more classic well known Disney movies.