FOCUS on the Things Missing

Nick Glanvill

The Representation Test for the Movie Focus

The movie Focus, in my opinion, was a very good movie. I thought it had a unique storyline of a con artist (Will Smith) taking an amateur con artist (Margot Robbie) under his wing and they ended up making lot's of money together. Of course, things began to get romantic and things got messy.

Going into the movie, I had high hopes as far as the representation test goes, considering the poster of the film has the African American actor, Will Smith with the Female actress Margot Robbie embracing each other. Already, this movie was beating other films in the representation test. Yet, as the film went on, it did not reach my expectations for getting a high score on the test.

Throughout the movie, Margot Robbie's sex appeal is used to con people. For example, when Will and Margot meet, she seduces him, then tries to steal his wallet. Well, lucky for both of them, Will is a con-artist and easily spotted the con. This is where the partnership began. Will started to train Margot and her first step to see if she was capable of being on the team was the Mardi Gras Parade. Margot dressed up, and did the similar trick of seducing men and stealing their watches, wallets, and more. So, throughout the movie, Margot's body was definitely used "for the male gaze".

The use of men was seen well in this movie, compared to other movies. The main character being an African American was not seen in a stereo-typical way. He also was just a normal man. He didn't have to 'match' an extreme and unhealthy body type. Sure, morally, there may have been some things wrong, but men weren't seen violent in any way in this movie.

Personally, I think this rating system is fair based on the movie. I do in fact think it is fair for this movie, however, others such as the Revenant, Saving Private Ryan, or any other movie that is based in the past is not fair. Simply because they are depicting what times were like in those days. No women went and fought in World War II, that's not how our world worked.

Yet, in modern day films such as Focus, they are no excuses for women, people of color, LGBT, or people with disabilities not to be in the film. Depending on the story line, depending on what type of movie it is, there is room for all different types of people in movies.

To wrap things up, I think Focus was a great movie, but they ended getting half way there on the Representation Test. They depicted men, especially African American men well, however, that wasn't the case for women. That is why Focus deserved a C on the Representation Test.