The image above was taken from a movie poster advertisement for the 2014 film, X-Men: Days of Future Past, which is categorized under the Marvel umbrella. According to IMDb, this movie ranks in the #12 spot under the category of the Best Superhero Movies as of 2020.
Let’s look at the poster as an advertisement, without any backstory at all, using the Goffmanian Analysis:
- Relative Size: On this film poster, we see there are four female characters, compared to seven male ones. Of the four females, only one, Mystique, is large in size and even comparable to the main focus of the poster, otherwise known as Wolverine. The other three females are much smaller in size than the males are. This can either be to emphasize which characters are more important than others, or it could be to support men being in power positions.
- Licensed Withdrawal: Again, only one of the female characters, Mystique, is staring directly into the camera. The other three are withdrawn in a way that invites the audience to look at them for their bodies rather than their powerful character attributes. It’s important to note that there are male characters who are not making eye contact with the camera and are looking off into the distance; however, this is stereotypically giving them a more masculine, mysterious vibe rather than inviting the audience to look at their bodies. With the women, it gives them a sense of inactivity, thus proving the stereotype that women are generally only in the media to to be looked at.
Shared by: Maddie Glosny
Image Credit: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91rYVUCEopL._AC_SL1500_.jpg
