27th September 2023
On Zoom
On the 27th of September, 2023, Aruna Raje, a renowned filmmaker, conducted a masterclass on "Reviewing Films From a Gender Perspective." Eighty participants attended this masterclass. Aruna highlighted the difference between gender and sex. Gender refers to socially constructed roles, behaviours and identities of men, women and gender-diverse people. It is fluid vs fixed at birth, like sex. Understanding gender is essential for equal rights and preventing discrimination. Women have been marginalised for ages despite being half the population.
As a powerful medium, cinema can promote or undermine gender equality based on its portrayals. Aruna took the participants through a history of how Indian cinema has portrayed women since the silent film era. She gave examples of solid roles in early films and the increasing sexualisation and objectification of women over the decades. The 1980s-90s were identified as a particularly problematic period with very few substantive roles for women. The early 2000s brought some improvement, but many films still rely on tropes and stereotypes.
Aruna emphasised that context matters more than just showing skin or sex scenes. She gave examples of how something like rape can be portrayed in a titillating vs sensitive manner based on direction, framing etc. She shared examples of film reviews that call out misogyny or celebrate films showing empowered women with nuance. Participants were encouraged to go beyond the plot summary and look at gender perspectives in cinema. Essential suggestions included avoiding stereotypes, allowing women real agency, and giving them dialogues/actions vs just being props. The goal should be telling human stories vs sensationalism.
There was also discussion about the need for more representation and sensitive portrayal of LGBTQ+ stories vs repetitive stereotypes. Participants shared examples of films that portrayed such stories well. Overall, Aruna emphasised that reviewing movies critically through a gender lens can encourage more empowering representation and stories highlighting different human experiences.
Youtube Link: https://youtu.be/9NBJYGRblp8