For the assignment Quick Cuts 4, I chose to answer Question B. Question B asks the following: “How can a movie present an ideology?” To begin with this question, I first would like to define the term ideology. Ideology is typically defined as a body of ideas that reflects the social needs and the aspirations of an individual, group, class, or culture which can influence people’s beliefs and actions." The way that things and people are shown and perceived in film contributes to the way that society sees them in real life. Portrayals in movies contribute to how we experience things in our everyday life.
Now that the term ideology has been defined, I would like to answer the question “How can a movie present an ideology?” I think that ideology can be presented in a number of different ways. Whether we are aware of it or not, we learn things from movies. Movies push information on the viewers, and the viewers are influenced by the information. We learn by watching and doing (or implementing what we watch on the screen into our real life.) Movies have always presented ideologies. For example, movies present the ideas of family values, work ethic, consumerism, good vs bad, gender roles, etc.
With the family values ideology, movies present the idea that getting married, settling down, having a few children, and living in a house with a white picket fence is the American dream and how families are supposed to be. For example, this ideology can be found in films such as Unfaithful, The Vow, Overboard, etc. With the consumerism ideology, movies present the idea that shoppings is a sort of therapy that helps you achieve happiness. It is the idea that the more stuff you have, the happier you are. For example, in films such as Sex and the City, Pretty Woman, Clueless, The Wolf of Wall Street, Confessions of a Shopaholic, etc, shopping is a sort of therapy for the characters. Shopping and buying clothes, shoes, purses, fancy cars, it all makes the characters seem happier. With the good vs bad ideology, movies typically have a hero and villain. These movies present the ideas that the good always wins, the hero never loses to the villain, the hero is usually morally good with no flaws, etc. For example, in films such as Superman, Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Avengers, Iron Man, Spiderman: Homecoming, Mulan, The Hunger Games, etc, there is always a clear hero and a clear villain. There are always two sides, good and evil or right and wrong. These movies are used to teach what values are considered good and which are considered bad, teaching children what type of behavior is acceptable. With the gender roles ideologies, movies used to present the ideas that women were dependent on men, finding love, and getting married. Movies used to present the ideas that men were independent, strong, free, and in charge. For example, films such as Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Grease, Peter Pan, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, etc that show the characters as strong, but still in the stereotypical way that females that need help and cannot be strong and independent. However, as times change, women are now presented just as strong, smart, and independent as the men are. For example, films such as Sex and the City, Mulan, Frozen, Moana, Brave, Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman, Legally Blonde, A League of Their Own, Ride Like a Girl, Oceans 8, etc all involve strong female characters that are fully capable of holding their own.
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