The image above was taken from a movie poster advertisement for the 2017 Marvel film, Thor: Ragnarok. According to IMDb, this movie ranks in the #16 spot under the category of the Best Superhero Movies as of 2020. 

As with my previous post on the Black Panther movie, this poster is very busy, and a little overwhelming to some at first glance. To make it somewhat easier to comprehend, let’s focus on the two female characters on the poster. Remember to keep in mind that, in order to analyze this poster, we must take away any prior knowledge/backstory and view the poster as just that. Below, the Goffmanian Analysis will be used to analyze the poster: 

  1. Relative Size = This film poster is incredibly disappointing in its portrayal of women in regard to number. Not only that, but the two women portrayed in the poster above are much smaller than the male characters. While there is one woman, the character Hela, displayed larger in size, the second one is significantly smaller than the rest of the males on the poster. This character, Valkyrie, is the bottom-most character in the foreground of this particular film poster. This confirms our unfortunate expectation that males are generally the focus of advertisements according to the Goffmanian Analysis.
  2. Licensed Withdrawal = Similarly, all the men in the foreground, save for one, are looking directly at the camera; whereas, one of the two women on the poster is looking away from the camera. This invites us as an audience to look at her bare arm as she wields a weapon. 

In conclusion, while this film poster doesn’t portray nearly as many female characters as it does male characters, it proves there is not a lot that can be determined as negative in light of the Goffmanian analysis. Overall, it has been a pleasant surprise to see that, as time progresses, female characters are given stronger poses and overall appearances in advertisements.  

Shared by: Maddie Glosny
Image Credit: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/A1HBBNzBdxL._AC_SL1500_.jpg