She’s the Man Movie Analysis Essay Example

The romantic comedy, She’s the Man directed by Andy Fickman in 2006, has various concepts of gender expectations that are challenged and reinforced that are seen present in today’s society. This film is about Viola Hastings a girl who is passionate about playing soccer. But when her women’s soccer team gets terminated from her Cornwall high school due to a lack of players, Viola decides to impersonate her twin brother who was sneaking off to London with his band. So, Viola found a way to play for Cornwall’s rival, Illyria. Unfortunately, she develops feelings for her roommate, Duke. This leads all of her plans to become entangled, and Viola must figure out how to solve them before anybody discovers her identity.  The scene’s transitions as well as its audio codes, technical codes and symbolic codes suggest how the stereotype that women are less capable than men, with an emphasis on sports and physical activity, is particularly reflected in this film. It reveals the sexist stereotypical roles and the difficulties that women face implanted by society. Moreover, Viola depicts the behaviour of the hegemonic masculinity role that adheres to social norms. Andy Fickman’s message was more than about winning a soccer game. It is an attempt to prove that a young woman with a dream showing the image of a man, can compete in today’s male-dominated world. But on the other hand, the film exemplifies gender discrimination and inequalities.

Firstly, the film reinforces stereotypical expectations in society that females are inferior to men, especially in sports. This is demonstrated by the boy’s coach and the boys’ soccer team through their reactions and behaviours by the use of their dialogue and camera angles that show body language. In the opening scene, when the female team got cut off, Viola a sporty tomboy asks to play for the boys’ soccer team. The coach and the boys just mock her for even suggesting to try out. We can see the dominance and misogynistic attitude being reinforced through dialogue when the coach says, “Girls aren’t as fast as boys, or strong or athletic. “This is scientific fact. Girls can’t beat boys! It’s as simple as that.” The selection of the Coach’s words like aren’t and can’t expresses his legitimacy to his idealogy that girls aren’t good enough. He cites scientific proof to make his opinionated comment seem valid and his voice adds authority to his sexist remark. Additionally, the medium close-up further reinforces the male’s dominance when we see the men ridicule the females. The close shot shows the facial expressions of the boys and the proximity between the team. The boys laughed and mocked the girls when they heard that they wanted to try out for the team. They also started to nod with each other when they agreed with the coach’s statement. This demonstrates that they all support and agree with each other that they also think that boys are better than girls. In particular Justin, a player on the team is crossing his arms and his face is tilted down at Viola with a raised eyebrow. This shows that women are looked down upon by men. The medium close up shot illuminates the body language of the boys when it is seen that they have a domineering position and the boys' proximity shows that they stick together to reinforce the coach’s dialogue. The conflict of gender roles is seen as imbalanced in particular for females for their inferiority to men’s dominance in the opening scene.

Secondly, the main character Viola challenges the female expectations embedded by the social constructions to break the stereotype that all women should be "proper". This was demonstrated when Viola was invited to a debutante lunch that she attended. In this scene, Viola was surrounded by other debutantes that reinforce the female gender roles, whilst Viola is breaking those expectations made by the debutantes. Through the medium shot and dialogue, Viola rebels on her mother’s expectations about being a debutante and how to act “ladylike.”  Through the shot, she shows traits of acting like a “man.” For example, the juxtaposition was seen between Viola and another debutante, Olivia. Through Viola’s body language, her entrance was loud and sloppy. Viola makes emphasised facial expressions that imitated disgust when she was eating chicken with her hands, chewing with her mouth open aggressively and wiping her food off her mouth with her hand. The people sitting at Viola’s table sighed and gave her a disappointing look. On the other hand, Olivia’s body language was elegant and soft. She was eating small bites at a time whilst wiping her mouth with a cloth gently. Although she is filled in a room with feminine women, she still receives the pressure that women experience because they are frequently forced to behave in a feminine manner shown by Olivia. However, Viola is unconcerned with what image she is defined as. Furthermore, in response to Viola's actions, her mother whispered to her, “Chew like you have a secret.” This response made by her mother is what is expected to be for traditional female gender norms. Females are portrayed to be quiet and elegant but, Viola intentionally defies conventional femininity with her loudness and aggression. She is seen to be “un-lady-like,” compared to Olivia. Viola depicts what seems to be a ‘manly’ woman who doesn’t care about the dainty female image built in by her mother through the use of medium shot and dialogue.

Lastly, Viola reinforces the role of men when she transforms into her brother Sebastian showing the male stereotypes.  This is demonstrated when Viola disguises as Sebastian to find out that she constantly has to prove her manliness to become friends with the other guys around her. She convinces the boys by getting her friends, Kia and Yvonne to make Sebastian look like a chick magnet. For example, through the use of the over-the-shoulder shot, we can see how Sebastian treats the girls and Kia’s body language. The close-up shot of Kia’s legs rose to an over the shoulder shot showing their hug between each other. Kia is constantly rubbing Sebastian’s shoulder and holding his hands. She holds eye contact with him but Sebastian’s gaze is disinterested in her. This is reinforced when Kia went in for a kiss, however, Sebastian put his finger on her mouth and turned her away. The shot shows that Sebastian looks at her body when she walks away and nods when he sees her behind with a satisfied look. Kia’s flirty body language reinforces the female stereotype of being flirtatious and boy obsessed but Sebastian’s confident body language reinforces the stereotype of being cocky and dominant. This shows that Sebastian is superior to the girls and reinforces the male stereotype of viewing women as sexual objects. In addition, dialogue has been used to praise Sebastian after seeing him with many girls. Duke shocked he says, “Ok.. ok, we might need to do a little revaluating here.” Duke is having second thoughts about Sebastian even though he was avoiding him before. And when Sebastian breaks up with is girlfriend just after seeing Kia and Yvonne, the boys praise him saying, “You the man! Let's scoot over to make some room for the man!” Duke’s repetition of the ‘man’ reinforces that using women as objects and easily throwing them out is the power that men have over women. Men are judged on how many girls they can attract and how they treat women, especially in front of other men, before being considered "real men." Viola reinforces that men are judged by the characters they portray according to very traditional masculine stereotypes, with little opportunity for any sort of femininity inside them.

In conclusion, She’s the Man is a film that reinforces and challenges conventional expectations constructed by society. The film depicts the societal gender roles by the use of codes such as audio codes, symbolic codes and technical codes. These gender stereotypes have a direct impact on power and gendered relations, contributing to gender inequality shown by the misogynistic coach and the boys' team. Later on, Viola has a difficult time since society puts pressure on her to become a ‘lady.’ But when she dresses up as her bother Sebestian, she exaggerates the social stereotypes that men are the dominant sex and that women are completely dependent on men. The message of the film is the stereotypical idea that a woman must dress as a man in order to even be accepted as an equal to a man. Andy Fickman takes aim at the social impact of gender roles from all perspectives. He challenges the idea that all women should be "proper" and explores the effects of society's perceptions of women in sports by using a strong female lead. In direct contrast to this, he utilizes men to be strong and domineering seen by the boys in the film.