Michael
Fontaine
Intro
Comp
9/25/16
Stuck
In Love
After going through and answering all the questions to
the RepTest, Stuck in Love scored a six, which is referred to as a C on their
grading scale. Was I surprised by the
result? Nope, not really… not at all
actually. I expected this movie to score
much lower than a C after reading the questions on the RepTest. It seemed to be very focused on LGBT people, people
with disabilities, and women having a lead role, none of which the movie
has. Now, I firmly believe that this
movie is all the better for not having those specific things shoved in there to
give it more “diversity”, because I believe this movie is great the way it is. The first box I checked was next to the
question, “Does the film represent women as more than objects for the male
gaze?” I thought back to the movie and
while there are some scenes that depict women as “objects” for males, I think there
is more of an argument to be made for the other side. The protagonist’s sister, one of the main
characters in the movie, is a young successful writer who has just had her book
published. She worked hard to improve
her career for herself, not for any man, and it ended up paying off. The film also passed the Bechdel Test because
there is a scene in which the protagonist’s mother and sister finally talk to
each other after many years of the sister holding a grudge over her mother. This scene of them talking portrayed the
emotion they felt after finally seeing and talking to each other after many
years, nothing to do with a man. The
next box I checked asked the question, “Does the film avoid perpetrating an
extreme and unhealthy body ideal for men?”
If you have not seen the movie please do not read what I’m about to
write, spoiler alert ahead.
The two main male characters in the movie, one being the protagonist,
and one being his father, are both slim and regular guys. They are not overtly-muscular, and they are
never shown working out or going to a gym.
The movie actually pokes fun at one of the side characters, who is
extremely muscular, and the slim regular dad ends up “taking back” his ex-wife
who started the movie with muscular guy.
Spoiler over. One of the final boxes I checked was one that
had the question, “Does the film include men in non-stereotypical roles? (i.e.
caregiver, competent involved parent, etc.)”
The protagonist’s father has a great relationship with his son and is
literally a competent and involved parent during most of the movie. He pushes his son to be social and learn life
through experiences while also pushing him to pursue his passion in
writing. To conclude the test, the film
does not celebrate any offensive racial, ethnic, or cultural stereotypes in my
opinion. I think someone could probably
argue for the other side, but they would have to pluck out small specific
details from the movie which might be otherwise unnoticeable so I really don’t
think it’s that big of a deal. I think
this grading system is a bit unfair because a movie doesn’t need people of a
specific culture, or ethnic group to be great.
To be great, a movie needs to inspire, it needs to evoke emotions and leave
you saying, “Wow”, or better yet, nothing at all. I don’t think this rating system reveals
anything at all about the actual movie.
I think you could possibly get a feel for some of the main characters
from the test, but not much else.
Overall, I think that while some movies would benefit from the RepTest,
Stuck in Love is a great film the way it is.
No comments:
Post a Comment