After seeing the short film on Tough Guise in class. I began to wonder why these messages of the violent, misogynistic, and selfish attitudes towards women were being reinforced in all forms of media. The movie that first came to mind was “Limitless” where the main character played by the “Hangovers” Bradley Cooper becomes addicted to a fictional drug that produces a side effect that resembles that of the Tough Guise. The drug helps him overcome problems related to confidence and motivation. As if he were not enough of a man prior to the drug, its effects create the degradation of women, violence, and search for power.
The images in the movie “Limitless” are those of the Tough Guise but in contrast the video by Rihanna called “Man Down” makes an effort to counter that by giving the main character Rihanna her power back after being raped by a man she met at a club. Similar to Jennifer Lopez’s character in “Enough” the woman is able to get her power back but without the intensive training. So after Rihanna personally becoming a victim of domestic violence she is able to get a fictitious form of revenge through the video.
I hope that the trend continues upward where the male characters in movie are shown to be respectful of women and more accepting of their own feelings. The time of the showing male characters having to smack a woman when she is acting hysterical or not crying after something extremely dramatic happens to him is in our media past. Why these gender norms are still shown make me worry about what my soon to be born daughter will be inundated by the Media.
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