PREP You all have a handout with the individual character posters and the ensemble poster.
Analyse how gender has been represented in The Lego Movie poster campaign. Use the written handout to help you answer this exam question (10 marks).
The first person we see in the ensemble poster is Emmet, he is the main character and so is the main focus of the poster. The main character and first person we see is a male and there are a lot less female characters than male. This mostly fits the stereotype of an action movie where most of the important characters are men and the women are usually not as important. This also reflects how action movies are typically male dominated; out of the four individual posters, only one if of a women (Wyldstyle).
In Wyldstyle's poster, we see she has a smile and open confident eyes, the tells the audience she is a strong confident young woman. Her hair has pink and blue streaks to show she is unique and doesn't want to conform to Lord Buiness' standards. She doesn't fit the stereotype for a woman in an action movie because she doesn't depend on Emmet, if fact she is a better builder than Emmet and ends up saving him for dangerous situation. For example, when Emmet is about to be melted she rescues him, completely reversing the stereotype of a damsel in distress. On the other hand, she is a stereotypical woman because she is beautiful with long eyelashes and lip stick.Hollywood has made Wyldstyle a role model for young girls by making her a self-sufficient confident woman. This also encourages more equal gender representations in media.
Vitruvius' poster is stereotypically masculine because we can see from his long white beard and hair, robe and glowing eyes he plays the character of the wise old helper who is typically a man. This reflects age and masculinity in wider society and how we associate it with wisdom.
I think Lord Buisness' poster is the most aggressively masculine because of his stereotypical facial expression, stance and hat/clothing. His eyes are wide with wrinkles at the sides and his mono-brow is raised at both sides but one a lot more then the other. His mouth open wide like he is shouting showing his teeth. He takes up most of the poster showing he is very dominant which is a very masculine trait. His large red hat is also very intimidating with teeth like edges. All this makes his a very stereotypical male villain.
Emmet is very much an anti-stereotype because even he is a male hero he is weak and fearful. The typical masculine hero is very strong but Emmet can't even do two jumping jacks. This anti-stereotypical hero is presented in the poster with wide scared eyes with a open mouth looking like he is screaming in fear. He has the same panicked look in the ensemble poster. This is anti-stereotypical because most heroes are brave in the face of danger but Emmet is quite the opposite.
