Part 1 (26 Words)
I will be connecting the idea that theatre acts a moral institution by discussing a film called Miss Representation, which represents social constructs by the media.
Part 2 (74 Words)
Today, theatre has been used to address issues affecting the society at large. Miss Representation is a film that shows how the media has an effect to young girls. It is a good film because it creates awareness to the public how women are seen as objects of pleasure. Thus, this film aims at empowering women of all ages and by trying to dismantle the social constructs that have been built by the media.
Part 3 (314 words)
In most cases, theatre has been used for entertainment measures but Miss Representation takes a twisted role by using theatre for empowering women and educating young girls. Miss Representation illuminated the ugly truth about the media. This is because the media has often portrayed negative stereotypes about women as being inferior, submissive, object of pleasure and people who are not supposed to take leadership roles. The film explains that patriarchy has become dominant in the society such that there are few women in the governments or running for office. This is because the media and the society had tainted certain jobs as a masculine. In addition, the film uses statistical data to describe how the media has impacted women. For example, the film quotes that the advertisers use pictorial software to create a concept of a perfect woman, which is impossible to achieve. As a result, 65% of women in the US have eating disorder because they are striving to achieve the ideal perfect woman as advertised by the billboards and other source of media (Miss Representation DVD). This indicates that the film Miss Representation uses the media as a platform to convey a moral message to the women. This is because the world we live in in is patriarchal and misogynistic. Thus, using the media to create awareness among women is a good moral stance by the theatre industry. This is vital because the media industry including theatre has become a huge business that affects and shapes our moral behavior. In addition, the society has built social constructions through negative stereotypes of a group of people in the society. Young girls have been affected by the media because they grow up believing that they are objects of pleasure, which is not the case. Thus, positive films such as Miss Representation indicate that the theatre can be used to institute morality in the society.
Part 4 (104 Words)
Miss Representation is a good example of theatre being used as a moral institution through creating awareness to the public. This connection has made me believe that theatre can be used to influence a lot of lives positively. Through, more education and awareness, less people will be affected by the negative perceptions and stereotypes in the society. When theatre is used as a moral institution, then the society can dismantle the social biasness that women are inferior to women and that they cannot work in certain places. Miss Representation actively shows the gender paradigms and through more positive theatre, these paradigms can be dismantled.
Works Cited
Miss representation. Dir. Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Perf. Nancy Pelosi. Virgil Films, 2012. DVD.
