Dylan Moran Blog Post

Dylan Moran

Blog Post

When people think of the star Jennifer Lopez, she is immediately associated with her famous backside.  Her butt is often associated with her star persona. Before Jennifer Lopez became famous, Latino American actresses were rarely given speaking roles in film. Most actresses that are popular in cinema are white. While the Hispanic community is becoming America’s largest minority, it is important for films to include Latina actresses for commercial purposes. That is why Jennifer Lopez became such a prominent figure once she reached her status of stardom. 

Most in the Hispanic community do not like to see woman extremely skinny like most white audiences like to see. Hispanic people consider woman with a little meat on their bones to look “healthy” and “successful.” This is why the obsession of Jennifer Lopez’s butt made her so widely accepted. What is interesting about this is the reality of Jennifer’s background. Her ethnicity is Puerto Rican and she grew up in the Bronx, yet she often portrays roles meant for a Mexican-American. Take the film Salena for example, that character isn’t meant to be played by a Puerto Rican, but because of her commercial appeal she was cast for it. 

She became very popular in Spanish-American media; she often showcased her backside in the Spanish version of People magazine. After success of the film, “Out of Sight” was met with critical and commercial acclaim, Lopez became a big star. During interviews, she was not as much questioned about her acting chops, but more so on her famous buttox. She became incredibly famous not because of her talent, but for her body. 

Jennifer Lopez is an interesting star to study because of her ethnicity and what she is best known for in our society. I cannot imagine a similar star coming to prominence in the ‘Golden Age of Cinema’ for doing what J Lo is known for. She disturbed the social order of how stars can become famous, and many others fallowed her path afterwards. Even at the age of 45 she released a music video called “booty” featuring Iggy Izalia showing off their bodies throughout the entire thing.

Dylan Moran

Blog Post: April 6

        The role of the “white male hero” in the early 90s was changed due to the political figures running America. The comforting white leaders from the 80s such as Bush Sr. and Reagan did not have as good of reputations as they used to. Hollywood’s interest in Justice had been won over by the interest of family. The overall perception of morality had begun to change in society and in cinema. Reagan used this in his campaign and begun to emphasize the importance of family. This transition of a man of justice to “family man” can be seen in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s film Kindergarten Cop. In the beginning of the film he is a tough, masculine man who fights for justice. By the end of the film he gives all of it up to become a kindergarten teacher full time. He learns that family is more important than serving justice, which was exactly the kind of image that our political leaders were trying to showcase during this time. This is also shown in Terminator 2, which was the film that we watched in class. Arnold’s character at first is a killing machine; he has no regard for humans or human life. It is only until the young man who he is supposed to protect tells him not to does he stop. This terminator becomes the father figure that John Conner never had. His mother watches the terminator fondly as her son high fives him over and over. She says that he would never drink too much, never hurt him, and only protect him forever.  This shows the transformation of the justice server to family man. He begins as a machine but becomes humanized as the film carries out. John teaches him how to talk and act like a human being, which therefore makes the audience begin to accept him as one. At the end of the film, the terminator sacrifices himself for John Conner and his mother. This is symbolic of the justice server sacrificing what he loves for the good of a family. These roles that Arnold plays represent the ideology of American society during that time period.

Dylan Moran post

Dylan Moran

Tara McPherson

CTCS 412

9 February 2015

Reading Response #2

           When American’s were asked who their favorite star was in a 1995 poll, the number one favorite was John Wayne. John Wayne was one of the most prominent actors in the history of cinema. He often starred in films of the western genre and became a symbol for American masculinity. Even though he never served the military or fought in any war, general Douglas MacArthur thought he was the model of an American soldier. In a lot of ways he represented the nostalgic idea of the American man, a reminiscent image of what being a man used to be. Wayne was a very big and strong man, the camera would always capture him as a larger than life figure. He was famous for his walk and gave true purpose to all of the movements he did. The walk became so well known and famous that numerous people took credit for the invention of it. The female gaze is often studied in classical cinema, where a female character in a film is objectified sexually. One can wonder if John Wayne was an object of sexual voyeurism in the roles that he played. Recall the first time we see John Wayne’s character in the film Stagecoach (Ford, 1939), when the camera paints him as a handsome hero. He became the myth of the American frontier and patriotism. His characters represented the conservative ideologies of an American man. Wayne held a lot of political importance, presidents would often try to model their personas after the Duke to gain acceptance. Moviegoers who watched his films were more likely to vote for the conservative icons before the liberal ones. John Wayne will always go down in cinema history as the quintessential image of the American cowboy and will always be labeled as the stereotype of American masculinity.

Dylan Moran Post #1

The article for this week is entitled, “Producing and Consuming the Woman’s

Film.” It explores the female subjectivity of films in the 40s and 30s, particularly Now

Voyager. The article states that the traditional realm of the woman’s experience is the

familial, the domestic, and the romantic. These are the character traits that make up the

majority of the female characters of that time period. Movies then were often structured

around the glamour or lure of the woman. Advertising was often presented by having the

alluring female characters use of the products, such as cigarettes. In the beginning of the

film Now Voyager the main character Charlotte is projected as an undesirable woman.

This becomes a factor to her self-esteem, for it is based your popularity with other

people. Then there is a transformation with the scene on the boat when she is presented as

glamorous. She is framed as a person to be looked at; well lit, centered, and has a new

wardrobe in every scene. Being a movie star, Betty Davis brings a certain personality

type to all the roles that she plays. Independent woman in cinema usually fall into two

categories; the strong, noble, sympathetic or the evil, sexual and domineering. Betty

Davis has often gone back and forth between these two character personalities. She was

not only a big movie star but also a great actress, so her characters were able to avoid

feminine norms. This article talks about narrative pattern of womans text to be

predominately “herione’s text,” which is a story about a woman’s personal triumph over

adversity. These were other representations of woman that demonstrated woman-

enduring hardships completely on their own and how they are able to overcome them.

The ending of this film offers this type of character arch was the woman was able to

triumph over her adversity and become stringer in the process. By studying the female

character traits in Now Voyager and reading this article we are able to have a greater

understanding of the way female characters were portrayed in cinema during the 1930’s.