Film Analysis Essay on ''The Mask You Live In''

Introduction

'The Mask You Live in' is a 2015 documentary film that was directed written and produced by Jennifer Siebel and premiered at the Sundance film festival the same year. The film outlays some of the negative notions about masculinity in the western culture as Jennifer perceives it. This paper, therefore, seeks to review the film and elucidate on what it is all about.

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First and foremost, ''The Mask you Live in'' centers around the distorted images of masculinity that most men and boys tend to suffer from. Also, it depicts the dire need that young and older men have to be themselves in positive and normal ways without having to endure suffering. For example in instances where they have to portray feelings of tension, or tenderness.

The film depicts that young boys that have not yet experienced puberty are not so different from girls in regards to feelings and how they express them. Usually, for boys, before adolescence, the feelings of sorrow, joy, empathy, and friendship come quite easily. Nonetheless, as a result of cultural norms that have been promoted by the popular culture in recent years, male parents, adolescent boys, and men, in general, have learned to wear a mask that makes them seem emotionless.

As a result, sociologists and psychologists have labeled this transformation as 'the boy code.' Even in their early life, when boys become emotional, they are often referred to as 'sissies' making them see how vulnerable they are. This consequently results in the belief among most young men that being masculine and being a man can never be associated with vulnerability nor tenderness. Sometimes in extreme conditions, the lack of masculinity is often referred to as ''machismo'' (Schlichthorst et al. 163)

''The Mask you live in'' goes on to clearly illustrate the damages and dangers the so-called ''boy code'' or ''machismo'' has, not only on women and men themselves but also on the society in general. At some point in the film, interviews are conducted for both young and older adults as well as sociologist and psychologist representing both sexes. The overall moral belief from the film being empathy for men and young male adults and this, of course, becomes the most undelaying cultural issue as it affects people across all genders and ages.

Secondly, the film in a major way focuses on roles older men play in the lives of young men and boys, and especially those played by mentors or fathers. Stories are told, from shocking to purely sad revelations. The prisoners narrate their encounters and tell of what they have had to go through. Thus conforming to statistics from the recent past that one out of five boys experiences sexual molestation in America.

Some boys, however, are pathologically masculine or hyper-masculine and tend to bully others or even worse. They may also engage in mayhem, destructive behavior or prey on the vulnerable and weak. This way the boys think to themselves that they have established a bona fide. On the contrary, though, most boys exhibit healthy masculinity where they enjoy mayhem in sports, but then that is as far as it goes. They do not exploit other but defend and protect them when the need arises. Therefore, as according to Jennifer, telling a young boy to 'man-up' could be degrading and harsh.

Nonetheless, the film shows a brighter side where older men can help young male adults to develop their emotional orientation without necessarily blaming or shaming them whether in private or out in the open nor neglecting women and mothers who play a seemingly important role in the emotional development of boys (Pirkis et al. 10).

''The Mask you live in'' portrays the average adolescent male as intensely depressed. According to the national institute of Mental data, clinical depression is rare and lower among boys. Statistically, it shows that there exists only 4.3% depression in boys aged between 13 and 17, while that of girls within the same age group being 12.4%. (Schlichthorst et al. 162).

Jenifer's film further portrays that in America three to four boys commit suicide every single day, thus classifying suicide as a male disease. For instance, among persons aged between 10-24 years, most of the suicide victims are often male accounting to about 81% of the total victims. In another example, in 2010, 3951 young men died by committing suicide. Therefore, male suicide is often a neglected issue, and Jenifer's efforts to raise awareness on the matter is thus commendable (Schlichthorst et al. 164).

Conclusion

Overall, the film is extremely positive and educating and plays a major role in articulating the concerns faced by the boy child. One thing notably important about the film is the fact that it helps boys and men, in general, understand that while they are expected to be brave, masculine, energetic, protective and performance-oriented, they can at the same time be kind, empathetic an in touch with their emotions.

Also, and for the most part, the film is an excellent treatment of somehow controversial culturally ignored and delicate subject. That is; the difference between Normal masculinity distorted masculinity. It also includes numerous images of 'good men' participating in athletics and competing fairly, as well as men working out.

Work Cited

Pirkis, Jane, et al. "Looking for the 'active ingredients' in a men's mental health promotion intervention." Advances in Mental Health (2018): 1-11.

Schlichthorst, Marisa, et al. "Using a television documentary to prevent suicide in men and boys." Australasian Psychiatry 26.2 (2018): 160-165.