The choice of a movie is determined by several factors but this article explores gender, mood, and arousal as a factor of movie choice. Take the concept of sports for instance; a man will watch a sports movie based on the violence and confrontation of the particular movie. A woman on the other hand will watch due to the body shape, movement, and beauty of the actors. (Banerjee, Greene, Krcmar, Bagdasarov, & Ruginyte, 2008, p. 97) This article attempts to prove that film choice is based on the specific gender’s need for gratification.
Specific content appeals to a gender regarding the characteristics of a film. These characteristics are: story line, mood, and the content. An action film for instance has a high sense of thrill or arousal and suspense which can potential keep a man on his toes but for a woman the same film can be watched due to a certain actor playing in it or possibly due to a female hero within the storyline. Based on this films can be tagged as “men or women” films. For instance a woman film could be based on a female succeeding , have a storyline told from a female point of view, or based on the concept of falling in love or other “happy” thoughts. On the other hand a man film could be gritty, violent, sexual scenes, or have some type of competition. (Banerjee, Greene, Krcmar, Bagdasarov, & Ruginyte, 2008, p. 97) The overall feel of the movie can determine whether it is the preferred choice of a man or woman through mood or arousal.
The author utilized 544 subjects out of a Communications class that consisted of 44% males and 56% females. A study was done to confirm or deny her theory of movie choices based on men or women’s point of views. 4 movies in all were chosen. Of the 4 chosen, 2 were based on specific moods and the other two were based on arousal. The concept of the movie was to explore the choice of the film based on the type of sensation the subject was experiencing or needing at that current time. In order to measure the choice of the film the subjects were given a list of 10 movies with descriptions in no specific order. The subjects were instructed to read the descriptions and rate them based on describing words from 1-5. 1 meant that the description represented the movie well and 5 meaning that description did not represent the movie at all. The results of the tests showed that all the subjects read the descriptions of the movie the same way and nothing was different. This did not reach the goal of the first experiment which was to find which movies were chosen based on high mood or arousal. During the course of this experiment the subjects were offered the chance to view clips of the movies. In order to complete this experiment the authors used Form V of Zuckerman’s (1994) Sensation Seeking Scale.
Banerjee, S. C., Greene, K., Krcmar, M., Bagdasarov, Z., & Ruginyte, D. (2008). The Role of Gender and Sensation Seeking in Film Choice: Exploring Mood and Arousal. Journal of Media Psychology: Theories, Methods, and Applications. doi:10.1027/1864-1105.20.3.97
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
For my paper I decided to take a look at two movies that I highly enjoy watching Starship Troopers and Pride and compare and contrast them with a theory that we have learned this semester. I chose these films not only for their stark differences in plot, but for more importantly the various ways male characters are depicted in these films. I will be analyzing the bulk of male characters in each of these movies through the eyes of the masculine theory. As you know the masculine theory deals with the various ways that male roles are depicting in the film and sometimes can even be used to see how woman are depicted in films if they are depicted in a masculine way. When analyzing a film this way you need to look at how males are represented in…
- 1605 Words
- 7 Pages
Good Essays -
This analysis will examine the following focal points, panopticism, scoptophilic instincts, and visual pleasure. First, the analysis will examine panopticism in relation to embedded “secret politics” within the film, The Day I Became a Woman. Second, the analysis will compare both scoptophilic instinct with visual pleasure.…
- 661 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
History can prove that the consciousness of fertility can cause females to flaunt just how fertile they are to the proper mating pool through ornamentation. It was researched through the observation of mating rituals in birds. Females are known to lavishly decorate their nests with flowers, leaves and the best twigs they can find just to attract a suitable mate. Although the studies and observations can prove that females tend to make themselves stand out to a partner, yet, there is still the question of why. In a study (Hasleton, Mortezie, Pillsworth, Bleske-Rechek, Fredrick 2007) has come up with a study on ornamentation and how it is affected by shifts in the ovulatory cycle. Hasleton et al. (2007) hypothesizes “that changes in women’s motivations manifest themselves in changes in self-ornamentation through attentive personal grooming and attractive choice of dress.” thus a woman is more motivated to go out and find a man once they have adorned themselves in the proper dress that makes them feel attractive.…
- 663 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Film has proven to be a medium through which society frames its expectations of gender performance and derives its accepted societal norms. This paper will call attention to how “chick flicks”, and in particular how the sub-genre of makeover films influence how women are expected to portray their femininity. The Devil Wears Prada is a perfect example of a makeover film within the chick flick genre. The “chick flick” genre is often described as movies that are meant to serve as entertainment for women that examine independent and self-sufficient heroines that portray female empowerment. Within the “chick flick”…
- 1673 Words
- 7 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Hello Thinh! After reading your rhetorical essay, I agree what you said "media embrace the gender inequality and the idealism of a female body." People always see that the photos woman always appeared in movies, TV, magazines, who are in good shape, attractive and charming. It lowers the value of the women because people just appreciate their body and not appreciate their intellectuals. According to what you said "showing researched evidence (ethos), personal interview (pathos) and statistic (logos)", I can understand the purpose of the director that the film is more credibility and persuaded to the audience by using logos, pathos, and ethos. Overall, your essay is well organized, and it provides different sources as well as analyze what you…
- 150 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
(Sampson 2015: online) In her essay, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975: 63), Mulvey reveals how films are structured in a way that facilitate the viewer to objectify female characters and to identify with an “ideal ego” (Freud 1991: 397) of the male protagonist. Mulvey identifies this phallocentric structure of cinema as a byproduct of a patriarchal society. Essentially stating that a male-orientated society will undoubtedly create male-orientated art. (1975: 57) Within this patriarchal realm, it is argued that cinema thus far has been constructed for the pleasure of a male audience, and as Mulvey states, “pleasure in looking has been split between active/male (subject) and passive/female (object).” (1975:…
- 596 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Both Pollitt and I can agree that entertainment can impact people’s way of thinking (546). Pollitt observes a general trend of boys playing the lead role, but declines to fully endorse the idea that in a princess movie; the female plays the main character (545). Whenever I see a racing movie like Need for Speed or Fast Five it makes me feel like I can drive…
- 1051 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
So when we are watching films, we seem to be indirectly owning everything on the screen, including the power of the male character. The act of looking at women is described in the sequences of pair looks where men are active as subject while women are passive as objects/images on film. The male spectators can look through the camera to the male characters, and then from the eyes of the male characters look on female characters. The purpose is through the sight of male characters, the viewers can find the pleasure. For instance, in the scene where the male character will be cut and changed into a part of female character’s body, the viewer whether they wanted or not, have to direct their looks to the direction of male characters’ looking. Also the majority filmmakers are male so the films are made on the perspective of men’s eyes. Therefore gender are the chief determinant in the process of looking and being looked at in films, where men will have the dominant perspective for…
- 463 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
3. I think it has some effect on the stories it tells, but not as much as people think. I believe that back in the day when people had different views on men’s and women’s values, the movies and how they were shown was different than how movies are made today. Movies today are more about equality and equality between gender and race, as compared to about 50 years ago.…
- 450 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
A study of the representation of women in the action film genre and the social messages and values constructed and conveyed.…
- 2605 Words
- 11 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Despite recent critical successes of films featuring female leads (The Hunger Games, Brave, Beasts of the Southern Wild) and the fact that women ages 12 and over are 51 percent of moviegoers, the study found that women on the big screen remain under-utilized. In film, female characters are on the rise–one-third of all characters in the top 100 grossing films of 2012 were women. However, the percentage of female protagonists in film has fallen from 16 percent in 2002 to only 11 percent in 2012.…
- 1435 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
Women and men are also differentiated through sports. Females are sexualized and described as soft and girly. Females are portrayed as though, through…
- 955 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The movies are a great way to pass some time and escape reality for a couple of hours. People like movies for all sorts of different reasons. Movies usually come out each week on Friday night and on average three to four movies come out a week. That comes out to over two hundred movies a year and that is just mainstream film. One of the decisions people have to make is what movies to watch. The paper will discuss what the writer likes to watch, what he finds enjoyable, and what he does not. There is also the choice to watch in the theater or rent and watch at home. The first choice is more immersive and on a bigger screen while the second choice is less expensive and more intimate.…
- 661 Words
- 3 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Women tend to be more emotional and rational then men, whereas men are far less emotional and react on impulse. The different understanding of the ways that each sex communicates is still to be studied. Women tend to react more emotionally than men, resulting in submerging themselves, mind body and soul into making decisions. Meanwhile men, impulsively react to situations for the sake of having a reason to do so. Men see women as less competent to making decisions that involve a lot of thought, and this is due to women’s emotions. The view on this is that women are simply still more emotional when it comes to various things. Movies, relationships, and everyday life situations are the causes that affect women more then men. This difference of emotion usually gets noticed the most during the midst of a relationship, when a woman seems to not be understood by men and vice versa. The perspective of women and men’s vast difference in emotion come into affect the most in times of affection.…
- 788 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
This study looked at the relationship between watching foreign film, dramas, or variety show habits and the students’ academic performances. To determine whether its exposure benefitted the students or not, a reliable research has to be conducted. Considering student’s differences factors and strategies while studying, the results might be differ from many aspects. The individual skills include how frequent they watch the movie, how long they spent their time and what types of entertainment that they favored the most. An argument about the uses of visual aids such movie shows and others can enhance the academic performances will be settled on after the results of this study had been processed. A pilot study was conducted first to check whether there was any problem regarding this issue. About 3 to 5 students were tested. Finally a survey was conducted at the boys’ and girls’ hostels in Kolej Profesional MARA Indera Mahkota where 40 students consist of 15 male students and 25 female students. This survey was conducted by distributing a set of questionnaires to all the respondents. In general, this study was a big success where majority of the students agreed that this method of learning can enhance their academic performances. Winding up, several suggestion, opinion and recommendations were recorded in the finishing part of the report.…
- 4011 Words
- 17 Pages
Good Essays