I normally love reading Sociological Images, and so I was really surprised, when I came across a post that failed to recognize that there are multiple sites of oppression,
in favor of centering gender as the prime location of oppression. To demonstrate the complete domination of male stories,
Gwen Sharp posted a series of videos by Feminist Frequency’s Anita Sarkeesian, which
examined a list of the movies that have won the best picture award at the oscars. The list is as follows.
Starting in 2009 is
The Hurt Locker which although directed by a woman is still all about men
Slumdog Millionaire – men
No Country for Old Men – need I say more
The Departed – is about men
Crash – is an ensemble
Million Dollar Baby – is interesting because it’s pretty equally a story about a man and a woman
Lord of the Rings – men
Chicago – is woman centered
A Beautiful Mind – men
Gladiator – is about a man who fights other men
American Beauty – man
Shakespeare in Love – man
Titanic – is from a man’s perspective
The English Patient – man
Braveheart – man
Forrest Gump – man
Schindler’s List – man
The Unforgiven – is about men on horses
The Silence of the Lambs – is about a man who eats people, and this is interesting because although Jodi Foster’s character plays a pretty big role in the film, you would never describe it as a movie about an FBI agent who… you would describe it as a movie about Hannibal Lecter.
Dances with Wolves – man
Driving Miss Daisy – is about a man and a woman
Rain Man – is about a man and his brother
The Last Emperor – man
Platoon – man
Out of Africa – is woman centered
Amadeus – is about a man
Terms of Endearment – is woman centered
Gandhi – is about a man, albeit a pretty extraordinary one
Chariots of Fire – men
Ordinary People – is about a family
Kramer vs Kramer – is about a couple
The Deer Hunter – men
Annie Hall – is about a man and his love life
Rocky – is about a man who fights other men, again.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – man
The Godfather, Part II – men
The Sting – is about two con men
The Godfather, Part I – men
The French Connection – is about men
Patton – men
Midnight Cowboy – is a man
Oliver! – is a boy
In the Heat of the Night – is about men
A Man for All Seasons – man
The Sound of Music – is woman centered
My Fair Lady – is another interesting one because it’s pretty equally about both a man and a woman’s story
Tom Jones – man
Lawrence of Arabia – is so male centered that there aren’t even any female speaking roles in it
West Side Story – is about both a man and a woman
And finally in 1960 is
The Apartment which is from a man’s perspective
At first, the analysis seems quite fair until you begin to think about what some of these movies are about. A Beautiful Mind was released in 2001. It was directed by Ron Howard and starred Russel Crowe as the mathematician John Nash. I certainly will not argue the fact that the protagonist was male, but I do think it is simplistic to reduce this to a man's movie. Crowe played a man that spent a lifetime negotiating schizophrenia. He is eventually forced to acknowledge that he is not doing top secret work for the government, but has actually had a very serious and sustained break from reality. The movie ends on a high note when Nash is given the Nobel prize in Economics.
