I usually have a pre-class video running as students assemble for my Global Media Literacy class. While I generally collect these videos over on my Tumblr, this semester I’m going to try to post all the ones I use to the blog.
For Day 1, I played a great little short film called CATCH, which is a stop-motion animation shot entirely with Google Glass.
As you no doubt have heard in the last few days, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is in a lot of hot water over actions by his staff in closing several lanes of traffic on the George Washington Bridge this fall. My goal here is to not analyze the political fallout from this case, but rather to look at what can we learn here from the media literacy perspective:
While women talking to each other about something other than a man in movies was a good indicator of success last year, 2013 was not a stellar year for women directors. According to a story from Variety, only two of the top 100 box office movies from 2013 were directed by women: Disney’s animated Frozen (co-directed by jennifer Lee) and the remake of Carrie directed by Kimberly Peirce.
Geek girl blog The Mary Sue pointed out that most of the top-grossing films by women (i.e. 8 of the top 10) were independent films.
One of the commentators at Variety suggested that the reason there were so few women directors at the top in Hollywood was because, “Maybe there aren’t that many who want to direct film… If there aren’t women directors…then there aren’t women directors.”
What do you think?
There’s long been the argument made that the reason that movies primarily feature male characters is that these types of movies make more money than those that have prominent female characters.
For 2013, that statement is demonstrably false. A study done by Vocativ took the Top 50 movies for 2013, looked at their Bechdel Test scores, and looked at their earnings.
(You all remember the Bechdel Test, don’t you? Three parts: 1) Are there two or more named women characters in the movie with speaking roles? 2) Do they talk to each other? 3) Do they talk to each other about something other than a man?)
Authors Versha Sharma and Hanna Sender found that of the Top 50 grossing movies, 17 of them (36 percent) had strong passes, seven had weak passes (they barely met the criteria), and 26 failed. Those that passed (plus the special case of the Sandra Bullock movie Gravity) grossed $4.22 billion. Those that failed grossed $2.66 billion.
Keep in mind that the passing movies are not necessarily high-brow, politically correct Oscar bait. Fast and Furious 6 passed, as did The Smurfs 2 and G.I. Joe: Retaliation. As Vocative points out, “If G.I. Joe can do it, anyone can (you would think). And The Heat (from the folks who brought you Bridesmaids continued to show that crude, female-based buddy comedies can be successful.
Geek girl blog The Mary Sue points out that the success of Bechdel passing movies is likely to be a product of good writing: “Effective writing means you get good female characters, and effective writing produces successful movies.”
Here’s there infographic presenting their data:
It’s almost New Year’s, and that means it’s time to look back at the year that was, to look forward to the year that will be, and to be thankful you didn’t do something utterly clueless through the media. That is, unless you’re one of the following:
In March of 2003, Natalie Maines of the popular country band The Dixie Chicks told a British concert audience:
““Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all. We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas.””
Immediately following these comments (made shortly before the US invasion of Iraq), radio stations were pressured to stop playing the band’s songs, DJs who played their songs got fired, concerts were cancelled, and the band lost their corporate sponsors.
Members of the band also received numerous death threats.
President George W. Bush rightly noted:
“The Dixie Chicks are free to speak their mind. They can say what they want to say…. They shouldn’t have their feeling hurt just because some people don’t want to buy their records when they speak out…. Freedom is a two-way street…”
In December of 2013, Phil Robertson of the popular reality show Duck Dynasty made some negative comments about homosexuality in an interview with GQ magazine. Among the most quoted is:
“It seems like, to me, a vagina—as a man—would be more desirable than a man’s anus. That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.”
In response, the A&E network, which carries Duck Dynasty, announced that they were suspending Robertson from the show indefinitely. A statement from the network says:
“We are extremely disappointed to have read Phil Robertson’s comments in GQ, which are based on his own personal beliefs and are not reflected in the series ‘Duck Dynasty. His personal views in no way reflect those of A&E Networks, who have always been supporters and champions of the LGBT community.”
Robertson got support from Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (the show is filmed in Louisiana) and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Jindal said in a statement, “Phil Robertson and his family are great citizens of the State of Louisiana. The politically correct crowd is tolerant of all viewpoints, except those they disagree with.”
Looking at these stories, I notice several things:
It’s early, but it will be interesting to see the fall out from the Robertson story. But don’t be deceived. People on both the left and right face consequences for speaking their minds.
If you’ve been thinking about buying yourself a Kindle e-book reader
There are also the backlit paperwhite versions and the fancy Kindle Fires (that are really tablets), but many people think the simplest Kindle is the best. My mum in law likes it because it is so light.
BTW, any purchase you make after following the link above will help support this blog.
Actor Peter O’Toole died today at the age of 81.
He has been my favorite actor since I was in high school. Here are a few of the reasons why:
“I’m not an actor, I’m a movie star!” – My Favorite Year
“If God could do the tricks we do he’d be a happy man.” – The Stuntman
“My life, when it is ended, will read better than it lived.” – The Lion in Winter
But my all-time favorite Peter O’Toole line is from Lawrence of Arabia, the movie that made him a star. T.E. Lawrence (played by a very young O’Toole) does his trick of extinguishing a match with his fingers for his aide William Potter:
“Ooh! It damn well ‘urts!’
“Certainly it hurts.”
“Whats the trick then?”
“The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts.” – Lawrence of Arabia
UPDATE: Full-length obit from the New York Times.
Also, here is his acceptance speech for his honorary Oscar:
