The image above was taken from a movie poster advertisement for the 2002 film, Spider-Man, which is based off of the Marvel comic books. According to IMDb, this movie ranks in the #15 spot under the category of the Best Superhero Movies as of 2020.
Using the Goffmanian Analysis to analyze this poster has proven to be practically impossible. It is disappointing to see that there is only one character on this official film poster, and that it is a male. Knowing that this movie is centered around Spider-Man’s character makes this a little easier to understand why there are zero females on the poster; however, it implies that the female character/s is/are not as important.
We cannot analyze this poster in regard to relative size, feminine touch, function ranking, the family, ritualization of subordination or licensed withdrawal, as there is an absence of female characters. We can, however, identify this poster as stereotypical of male characters in that Spider-Man is looking directly at the camera and that he is wearing his suit, which gives him a higher status than that of an average man without special powers.
Shared by: Maddie Glosny
Image Credit: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51kzFX8Zr8L._AC_.jpg
