What context does the movie offer for a character’s behavior? What is the cultural context in which the movie was made, and was the representation of gender, race, or another aspect of identity typical or atypical? What do you think was/is the impact of the representation?

You do not have to perform outside research for this assignment because you will draw evidence for your argument from course materials. In general, you will be arguing that a character, situation, or dynamic in a movie is best understood through the lens of one or two course concepts, then you will explain those concepts, and apply them to your film.

You could compare messages from the readings and the movie, apply ideas and analytical tools from the readings to interpret the movie’s story, or evaluate some aspect of the movie in light of the concepts and arguments made in the reading. Or, vice versa, you can use ideas from the movie to respond to, challenge, or develop ideas in the readings.
Your essay should make a persuasive argument about how the reader should understand something. If you had to go out on a limb to make a claim about the movie—in other words, to interpret it in such a way that other people could potentially argue against you—what is that claim? Your task in the essay is to use the best evidence to argue your major, overarching point.

Recommended steps: choose a movie you are interested in, or one that is already familiar, rather than trying to find something specifically about feminism/gender/identity. Information about gender is everywhere, especially in mainstream movies. As you watch the film with the essay guidelines in mind, try to develop your observations into arguments: What patterns do you notice? Why do you think a character is represented in a particular way? Does the movie make any explicit mention of gender, sexuality, race, class, or other aspects of identity, or is all that information indirect (i.e. visible, but not mentioned in dialogue)? What context does the movie offer for a character’s behavior? What is the cultural context in which the movie was made, and was the representation of gender, race, or another aspect of identity typical or atypical? What do you think was/is the impact of the representation?

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