Robbie's Blog

  Chp 3 How does cinema reinforce the dominant ideology? What are the most important theoretical tools for analyzing cinema’s ideological function? Dominant ideology is based on society’s standards and morals. This means that dominant ideology can change over time. Back then, it stayed similar for many years because the same group of people pushed standards for society. We can see some change today as we know better, but it can take a long time for society to fully change. Still, cinema can reinforce dominant ideology by making films that keep that standard alive. For example, feminist movements were popular in the 1970’s. People started to look at media and how women were seen, but things like the James Bond films were still made. In Film Theory: The Basics by Kevin McDonald, he says, “It is necessary to recognize that these are different dimensions, but that they are also fundamentally intertwined” (p. 107). The book states that experimentation with film theories are needed to ...

This weekend, I watched Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.  The reason why I decided to watch this film is because the wrestling team had a dual night themed to the film calling it Talladega Night. The gym was filled with decorations relating to the film and spectators were dressed as if they were in the film. So, I couldn't help but watch it again to get into the groove of things.  I have to say, the film is really funny. There are some jokes in there that probably wouldn't hold up into today's standards, but it didn't stop it from being goofy overall. I can definitely see how it may be a little too tongue in cheek today, though. Will Ferrell is a super funny actor and he is in a lot of comedic films that I like. I would say that this is probably one of Will Ferrell's best films in terms of comedy and how it did overall, as far as I can tell. There's something that he presents in his films that makes it a good time to watch. Like most films of his, it...

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year, and a way I feel is necessary to start off the holiday spirit is by watching the newest movie A Christmas Story Christmas . This film is a sequel to the 1980 film A Christmas Story . I'd say for what the film was, it was pretty good. It's always nice seeing characters come back from a loved film years later in a new one. This was something that my whole family has been waiting for and it was worth the wait in my opinion. It focuses on Ralphie now as an adult with his wife and kids visiting his mother's place, where the first film was located. There are so many references from the first film, they even will point them out during the credits if you missed them. It had the same goofiness like the first film and I liked that it took it from the perspective of ageing characters we've known for so long. It was a slower film, but honestly that's probably because Ralphie is older and you can't beat a classic film. These...

I went back to one of my favorite childhood films, that one being the "memeified" Shrek.  This film became an instant classic for many people. The animation back in the day was a big deal and a big eye opener for audiences in terms of what animation was going towards. The story is even heartwarming and connecting for multiple age groups.  With the animation in today's standards, you can tell that it has aged. However, that doesn't mean that it's unwatchable. It's even watchable for little kids to this day. Even though there's been people saying that a remastered version of Shrek would be nice, I'd be fine if they didn't. It's one of the animated films that doesn't get people to focus so much on the animation alone, but its story. As a kid, Shrek was one of the films I would almost watch on a daily basis. It's a story explained that can't be matched and has impacted pop culture as a whole. Watching it today makes me appreciate my chi...

I'm a huge Marvel fan and I decided to write on  Black Panther . I always found Black Panther to be an awesome superhero and I really enjoy the film. Not only was it a big deal for superhero fans like myself, but it was also a big deal for people of color and women. This gave a lot of people characters to look up to and it feels like something that is heading into the right direction. Women should be happy to have characters in a superhero film that can stand up for themselves; they get to represent the many strong women in the world, whether that be mentally, physically, spiritually, etc. This goes for Okoye and the rest of the armed forces of Wakanda. It's a perfect example of the male gaze improving with time. Yes, we had Black Widow with the original cast of Avengers, but she still was sexualized for the male eye, and was seen as the weakest Avenger. Captain Marvel was another superhero to improve on the male gaze situation, but Black Panther did it first. It even gets mo...

 Since my project is about the male gaze, the James Bond franchise was the first that came to mind. The whole franchise likes to show off women's bodies in a sexual manner. Since I wanted to do my project on the male gaze, I decided to watch the very first James Bond Film,  Dr. No . You can tell that the movie has some things in there that wouldn't get away with todays standards (meaning we wouldn't find it acceptable and rightfully so), the male gaze example probably being the biggest one. I was watching it with a couple family members and they can agree with the fact that the male gaze was a problem. It's showing that exaggerated masculinity vs. femininity was a thing in films. This means that the men who showed masculinity were tough, brave, and charming. The women were often seen as weak, vulnerable, and seen as objects. From my mother's and sister's perspective on this, I can see why they were the ones that pointed this issue out. Overall, it doesn't me...

      I ended up watching the biopic of "Weird Al" Yankovic. I recommend watching it and and giving it a world. The film I have to say was really funny. I enjoyed watching it for what it was. Biopics are something that always have my interest, but some don't follow the real story completely.     The film was co produced by Al Yankovic himself. When watching it, the timeline with everything was messed up. It even showed that he died in 1985, and coming back as a zombie. This would be something that Al Yankovic would do, since he is a very comedic guy. Either way, it didn't stop it from being funny and you can tell this was to make people laugh because biopics are supposed to make you think about true backstories of real people. I'm not saying everything in the biopic was untrue, but there were definitely things that were false because of all the goofy things that happen.      In a way, I feel like this film was parading every biopic ...