What It's Like to be a Woman in Hollywood
1) TedTalk Analyzed: https://www.ted.com/talks/naomi_mcdougall_jones_what_it_s_like_to_be_a_woman_in_hollywood#t-1008788
2) The purpose of Naomi McDougall Jones' TedTalk is to bring awareness to the inequality present within the production of movies in Hollywood. She invites others to take part in the revolution to bring equality to the women working in the field of film. In the Ted Talk, she discussed how not only are women given minor and simple roles in films but are actively discouraged from producing films just because of their gender. Jones brings another issue to light being how all of this affects our view of ourselves and the world around us. By watching films where the main character is a male and is also produced by a male, we are limited to one viewpoint.
Jones gets her point across that women are not given the same opportunity as men to express their ideas through the art of film first, by using personal experience to intrigue her audience. In the beginning of the TedTalk, she tells a story of how she asked her agent for more complex and meaningful roles and he goes on to tell her, "Yeah. I don't really know what to do with you. You're too smart for the parts that are being written for women in their 20s, and you're not quite pretty enough to be the hot one, so I think you'll work when you're 35." By including Jones' own experience in the beginning of her talk, she is building credibility towards her knowledge on the subject. The audience now knows that she herself has experienced this inequality and is compelled to keep listening.
Because the topic of gender inequality can easily be perceived as emotional (and possibly hard for males and some women to grasp), it was important for Jones to include a large quantity of factual evidence to build credibility to her argument. One statistic that really helped me grasp the intensity of the issue was that although women and men are graduating from film school at the same percentage rate, only 5% of women are in the studio system making large scale films. Jones goes on to say that you either have to think that women are that much less talented than men or accept that the system has been manipulated in favor of men. This use of reasoning that went along with her statistic helped shut down the easy scapegoat opinion that women are just not as talented as men because that is too much of a drastic difference between the two genders to be feasible.
Another technique Jones used to get her point across in the talk was provoking the emotion of lust. At the end of her talk she says to the audience, "I want to watch movies that teach me about people who are different than I am. I want to see women's bodies on film that aren't perfect. I want to give our little boys the chance to empathize with female characters so that they can become more whole men. And I definitely want to give a little girl who may not have a real-life role model the chance to watch movies and see women doing everything she dreams of achieving." Jones use of pathos is found in this part of her talk because she is describing a future that (hopefully) everybody wants. We all want to grow as a human being by being able to empathize with people of different backgrounds which we can do by watching a movie.
I picked this TedTalk because although I am aware of the gap between men and women in Hollywood production, I wanted to be more knowledgable on the topic and find ways to fight for equality. As somebody who enjoys watching movies, I realized that I was being ignorant as to how the system of Hollywood limits my education of different types of people. By the end of Jones' TedTalk, I further realized the importance of what we watch and how we all need to enforce change.
2) The purpose of Naomi McDougall Jones' TedTalk is to bring awareness to the inequality present within the production of movies in Hollywood. She invites others to take part in the revolution to bring equality to the women working in the field of film. In the Ted Talk, she discussed how not only are women given minor and simple roles in films but are actively discouraged from producing films just because of their gender. Jones brings another issue to light being how all of this affects our view of ourselves and the world around us. By watching films where the main character is a male and is also produced by a male, we are limited to one viewpoint.
Jones gets her point across that women are not given the same opportunity as men to express their ideas through the art of film first, by using personal experience to intrigue her audience. In the beginning of the TedTalk, she tells a story of how she asked her agent for more complex and meaningful roles and he goes on to tell her, "Yeah. I don't really know what to do with you. You're too smart for the parts that are being written for women in their 20s, and you're not quite pretty enough to be the hot one, so I think you'll work when you're 35." By including Jones' own experience in the beginning of her talk, she is building credibility towards her knowledge on the subject. The audience now knows that she herself has experienced this inequality and is compelled to keep listening.
Because the topic of gender inequality can easily be perceived as emotional (and possibly hard for males and some women to grasp), it was important for Jones to include a large quantity of factual evidence to build credibility to her argument. One statistic that really helped me grasp the intensity of the issue was that although women and men are graduating from film school at the same percentage rate, only 5% of women are in the studio system making large scale films. Jones goes on to say that you either have to think that women are that much less talented than men or accept that the system has been manipulated in favor of men. This use of reasoning that went along with her statistic helped shut down the easy scapegoat opinion that women are just not as talented as men because that is too much of a drastic difference between the two genders to be feasible.
Another technique Jones used to get her point across in the talk was provoking the emotion of lust. At the end of her talk she says to the audience, "I want to watch movies that teach me about people who are different than I am. I want to see women's bodies on film that aren't perfect. I want to give our little boys the chance to empathize with female characters so that they can become more whole men. And I definitely want to give a little girl who may not have a real-life role model the chance to watch movies and see women doing everything she dreams of achieving." Jones use of pathos is found in this part of her talk because she is describing a future that (hopefully) everybody wants. We all want to grow as a human being by being able to empathize with people of different backgrounds which we can do by watching a movie.
I picked this TedTalk because although I am aware of the gap between men and women in Hollywood production, I wanted to be more knowledgable on the topic and find ways to fight for equality. As somebody who enjoys watching movies, I realized that I was being ignorant as to how the system of Hollywood limits my education of different types of people. By the end of Jones' TedTalk, I further realized the importance of what we watch and how we all need to enforce change.
Great job on this post!!! Didn't watch this ted talk but totally have a good understanding on what this one was about!! I definitely see Jones perspective, in most films men usually have the lead role and if its a girl she's usually really "hot" or really "ugly" no in between. I liked how you included her use of lust because she is thinking about the future generations and how entertainment should be equal as the future comes. Hmm crazy how her boss really told her to wait.... Overall good job!
ReplyDeleteGood Job Harris <3 I thought this blog was very interesting to read. When you started off talking about how women do not often play the action packed roles, my mind went immediately to naming a bunch of strong female roles in movies, but I didn't realize how wrong I was about the female to male ratio on this subject. I wish the Ted Talk would have discussed a solution because like you, I'd want to know. Great job using many stylistic devices in your explanation! Thought provoking :)
ReplyDeleteLove this talk- I'm glad you picked it!
ReplyDeleteReally appreciate the detail and thought you put into the this post. The analysis paragraph was great, and I think this is a great example of a balance of a "what" and "how" of a text. I would have loved a bit more in the technique section with direct examples from the text- it makes the analysis critical and specific!