I work part time at a movie theatre. Many children come into the theatre and are immediately drawn to the movie posters. The bright lights and size excite both boys and girls, however I have noticed that the younger girls are more interested in the "prettier" posters with so called feminine colors such as pink, purple etc and with characters dressed in feminine clothing. The younger boys seem to be drawn to the posters that are black and have very masculine men as the main focus preferably with some sort of "male" object i.e. a car, motorcycle or gun. Because I feel that media sends such a strong image, I chose to do my photo of a side by side collection of two very different posters that each represent gender roles just as strongly. Many parents feel that the shows their children watch or the books and games they look at may be the only place they are receiving messages from the media. This is not the case because media messages are everywhere and the message is received whether you watch the film or not.
The two movie posters I chose to be in my photo are The Help and Righteous Kill. These two posters send incredibly distinct messages about how men and women are expected to behaved or perceived to be. In The Help the poster is yellow and purple. The poster features four women. Two of the women are seen heads down arms folded and appear to be gossiping to make this point even stronger above the title of the movie is the line "Change begins with a whisper." This sends the message that for women, change is harder to bring about and needs to be done quietly. I don't believe this would have ever been said about men. Men aren't perceived as quiet and submissive and when something needs changing men get it done by all means possible. This approach however is unacceptable, as seen in the film Iron Jawed Angels the women characters who pursued radical changes received severe backlash, brutality and even imprisonment. In the poster there are also two other women sitting on a bench one is seen bent over hands clasped and in a pink dress, the other woman is seen sitting in a floral dress looking at her nails with her ankles crossed. The only woman in the poster who is looking directly at the camera is the main character who was thought of as "odd" because she broke gender stereotypes by not wanting to get married and have children but to pursue a career.In the Righteous Kill poster the image that is clearly being sent is that men are strong and deserve respect, and are willing to obtain it by any means possible. What further illustrates this theme is the line above the movie title stating "Most people respect the badge. Everybody respects the gun." The poster features to very prominent masculine male figures of our culture: Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino. Both men are facing the camera and the focus is zoomed in so their faces take up the bulk of the picture. You do not see their bodies or surroundings, only their faces which look rough, weathered and masculine. Both men appear to be very serious. Neither is smiling nor showing any facial expression for that matter other than a perceived expression of toughness. This poster really draws on the "tough guy man's man" appeal. Underneath of the title Righteous Kill (with the word "kill" bright red, the only aspect of the photo that is in color), is a gun, badge and an outline of the New York City skyline. The gun represents masculinity as does the badge which in bold letters says "Police" as well the seal surrounded by the words "protect, serve, justice and fidelity" I do not think it is a coincidence that these very masculine men have the occupation of police officers. I also do not think it was by chance that the badge seems to be placed over the gun with the word "protect" being almost to the trigger, which in some way sends the message that by men being violent and having to shoot people they are "protecting." I also think that the outline of the skyline of such a big threatening city impacts the message previously stated that men are needed to protect women and while men can function in New York City on their own, women cannot and need constant protection. When young children look at these posters, they tend to associate themselves with the characters of the same gender as themselves. Therefore the girls get messages of how they should look physically and dress but also of how they are expected to act, sit, talk and portray not only themselves, but their gender. Young boys get a strong message of what a man is, when bombarded with stereotypical appearances, occupations, and themes of actions such as their duty to protect. These images sent to young children can be both good and bad. Whether or not you perceive them as positive or negative takes the back seat to the main point which is children are not only being faced with gender stereotypes, they are curious about them and do feel pressure to follow them in some way or another.
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