Wednesday, March 02, 2011
Gender Bender
We will discuss some of the cultural and gender oriented details of the Film Stage Beauty this week and take a short quiz to prepare for the midterm -- During the 17th century masculine attire included skirts, long wigs and pointed shoes, at least in England! It's funny how women couldn't perform onstage because that was inappropriate, but men often went around looking like what today, we'd consider feminine....Communication theorist Judith Butler claims that "gender" in and of itself, is a 'performance'--think of an actor you admire from TV or Film.....are they masculine or feminine? Gay or straight? Respect diversity in your answer, and describe what aspects of the performer you chose make their gender obvious: In short, how do they "perform" masculinity or femininity? When you think about Kinneson in Stage Beauty, what traits was he trained to highlight and to hide to portray a female on the stage? Why do you think fans of celebrities get confused between a stars' ACT or public persona and their real, normal, everyday life?
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One of my favorite actresses is Natalie Portman. I recently saw the movie Black Swan in which she played the main character, Nina. In the movie, Portman played a very feminine role, one that was overtly girlish even more than womanly. The girlish feminine qualities were portrayed through her very high voic,gracefulness both as a dancer and in her every day behavior, and her overall gentle demeaner. The role was very convincing, and when I see her on T.V outside of the role I still trasfer this persona onto her real personality although she is probably not like her character. Portman portrays femininity in this role as a frail delicate balance that can be easily influenced by others, and is a whirlwind of emotions.
-Chrystia Cabral
I have to use Dwight Schrute from the office because he is one of the most masculine characters I have watched on T.V. He is always talking about hunting something or doing some sort of work. He always brings up that he is working on his farm or the fact that he owns one. All very masculine things. He always wants to be in charge of whatever is going on. He portrays this role very well. He takes almost everything that happens in the show as a serious manner and doesn't goof off by any means. Very masculine
Michael Drummond
By: sasha lopez
I think the actress Jennifer Aniston which always exudes femininity, mainly playing a woman in a challenging relationship. She always is portrayed as an American sweetheart which in itself has feminine expectations. She is straight, and most all the films she chooses to act in she is tied to a famous male heart throb. Although in her personal life she lacks one main feminine aspect…being a mother. According to some major magazines she is longing for that one missing piece of her femininity. Kinneson was trained to elaborately sway his arms, bat his eyes, and speak in a high pitch voice like a woman. He became so accustom to playing a woman on stage he lost his own identity and couldn’t act like what he actually was, a male. I think fans get so wrapped up in a character that they see that person as the actor and only that.
The actor that comes to mind is Willie Garson from Sex and the city. He plays Carries gay best friend. In the show he plays a very well dressed, loud, and openly gay flamboyant man. It was surprising to learn years later watching an interview that he isn't gay at all but because he does such a great job in that role many including myself assume that he is. Garson is very much a guy's guy and lacks all of the qualities his character has. I think people get carried away with well played roles that they confuse the actor for the character. -Devin Kearns
I like film actor Liam Neeson. He always seems to portray a very masculine, very capable character. He is a martial arts expert and likes to bring those skills to the screen when he can as he did in the movie Taken. He generally plays a married man. His walk is masculine, his talk is masculine. There is nothing really soft or feminine about him.
I think fans get confused because they only see the one side, the public side, of the person and that is what sticks with them.
As an example, my older brother was news anchor for many years. He would have women come up to him and his wife when they would go out to dinner and gush over him telling him how sexy he was and asking for his autograph. When these types of stories were related to me, I would just bust up laughing because I don't see my brother as sexy. He is just my brother, an ordinary person who happened to work before a TV camera. If they saw these celebrities in real life, the "glow" would disappear pretty quickly, I think.
Suzanne E.
Donnie Yen is a good martial arts actor that I like. He portrays a masculine character in the film “Ip Man.” He plays the main character Ip Man and he uses his talented martial art skills in the film. During the Japan war, he escaped and moved to Hong Kong with his wife and kid. Since he only knows martial arts, he decided to teach martial arts as a way to earn income to support his family. Yen willingness to take on new challenge and responsibility to support his family is the definition of masculinity.
Kyneston was trained to played a female actor by the way his moves his arms and the way he has to speak like a woman. His role of playing as a woman had became so normal to him that he lost his own identity as a man.
The fans of celebrities cannot distinguish the real actor itself as another person. For instance, when I think of Courtney Cox-Arquette, I always recall her as “Monica Geller” from the television show “Friends.”
Ling Vuong
One of my favorite actors is Gerard Butler. I feel like he is the epitome of masculinity. He is muscular, rugged, and usually plays characters that are more "sex-driven". I'm following the stereotype of how a man who is masculine "performs".
In contrast we observed Kyneston in "Stage Beauty". His way of being feminine was long hair, makeup, dresses, and elegant mannerisms. I thought it was interesting how he discusses at the end of the movie, how even though he acts as a woman there's still a certain level of emotion he's missing. I think this shows how women in society are said to be more emotional.
Maggie Cabrey
One of my favorite characters on rules of engagement is Adam he is a heterosexual man, but his persona is very feminant. He is married on the show but he he does things that might make you think he is gay.I am not sure what he is in real life but i cant see him being any thing other than gay.Kinneston was trained to be a women and had to get rid of any traits that were masculine and i think her was confused of his real identity because it had been taken away from him in order to play a role.
I like Natlalie Portman also! Good example Chrystia! Mike--I think Dwight is really "overplaying" the masculine stereotype on the office as a way to make fun of it, don't you? Modern Family features a gay couple who also kind of "over-do" some gender and role stereotypes to encourage us to recognize how limiting gender stereoptypes can be! There is always the question--If we "make fun of" an important issue, will people understand and grow from the realization something is silly, or will using humor to illustrate stereotypes it just encourage closed minded folks to make fun of people who are "different"? What do you think?
Thinking of feminine character, the first person that came to mind was Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blond. While the movie pokes fun at blonds it also over exaggerates Elle's feminine qualities. She wears pink practically all the time. She carries a chihuahua who also wears pink. She goes to the salon frequently and gets her nails done. She uses her knowledge of perms to win the case, which a man would not be too familiar with. She also listens and helps her friend with boy problems. I don't recall her doing anything that we could deam masculine.
Kinneson was taught to be gentle when playing a woman. He didn't even think about showing their strength, it was all about walking and talking "feminine" never about what they care about. For example, like Maria said he never learned to love like a woman. Like in the movie I think fans generally get more carried away with the characters. Although tabloids are so popular, we still focus more on the character. I know I personally continue to watch a show to see how a character further develops no what the actors personal life is like.
~ Anmol Kaur
Kurt from Glee is one of my favorite actors. He is feminine and also gay. He shows feminity by letting us know about his love for designer brand clothes and always keeping up with the latest styles in fashion. He also is well groomed and takes good care of his skin. He likes to sing songs that were sung by famous female singers.
Kinneson from Stage Beauty was trained to show feminine gestures and gracefulness. He had to hide his deep voice and spoke in a high pitched voice when he was acting his female roles. I think fans of celebrities get confused between a star’s act because they are so use to seeing the actor playing his/her roles rather than seeing them as a real person in real life. Plus, most celebrities would like to keep their private lives out of publicity so fans do not know how they really are.
Kim Lieng Kel
One of my favorite actors is Channing Tantum. In all of his movies he plays very masculine roles. In the movie "Fighting," he plays the role of a tough man who doesn't show weakness, only strength. His voice, the way he dresses, and the way he acts is all of masculinity. Also, I think fans of celebrities get confused between a stars' act and their real, normal, everyday life because when acting they are playing a role as someone else and acting it out so believably that it can make fans think that that's also who they are in real life.
In "Stage Beauty," Kinneson was a male actor playing the role of a woman. In order to play this role he had to be very feminine and put away all of his masculinity for the role to be believable and played well. He dressed like a woman, talked in a very high-pitched but soft voice, and used feminine body language.
Lampel Ruiz
My favorite actor is Denzel Washington. In all of his movies, he is very masculine. He has portrayed himself as the ideal "man" figure in all of his movies. In most of his movies he is the hero, the man who always has the most courage. In several of his movies he is the man with guns. The man not afraid to pull the trigger. This is a prime example of the male image they are trying to give Denzel.
I also wanted to comment on Chrystia's comment, I thought your break down of Nina's character was done very well. I saw the movie and I can see exactly where you are coming from.
-Michael Arredondo
One of my favorite actor is Angelina Jolie, she is a feminine character with a dangerous attitude. When she attacks her enemys she does it femininly, she often kicks instead of punches, which to me show a great deal of woman-ness, the idea of women and long legs attacking men. Kinneson was trained to highlight a females voice, and female fragilness. I think fans of celebrities get confused between stars act and public personal because the persona they play are persona of what their gender is suppose to act like. forexample, Angelina Jolie is really a tomboy, back when she was still in her early age as a movie star but she plays characters that were highly feminine, because she is a woman, so when she’s out in public fans expect her to be as her feminine characters because of her gender.
-Tina Ho
My favorite actor is Mark Wahlberg. He is a very masculine person both on screen and off screen. My favorite movie by him is Shooter. This is a very masculine movie because it is an ex military sniper who lives in the woods by himself with his dog. I think living in the woods is very masculine. Also with a name like Bob Lee Swagger it can't get much better. In the movie you see him shooting guns and shooting people now I know that women do these things too but in our society it is defiantly viewed as masculine. Also when I see Mark on talk shows and stuff he just looks like a real manly man. He is from South Boston so you know he grew up in the streets. He is the meaning of masculine in every sort of the way.
In Stage Beauty Kinneson was defiantly taught to cover up his deeper voice and talk in a higher pitch. That was main thing that I noticed. I also noticed though how he wanted to be a lady all the time it seemed like, he never wanted to be a man that's why he didn't know how to act like a man.
I think fans get stars confused with there characters because they see them play these people in tv and movies and they just expect them to be there characters but when in reality they are normal people just like you and me, unless it is Charlie Sheen!!!!
Kevin Rorke
One of the actors I though of was Neil Patrick Harris. In the show "How I Met Your Mother" he plays a cocky playboy, on the verge of a womanizer, who has a new girl every week. But in real life, he is actually openly homosexual. In fact, he is married with an adopted child. There is a lot of talk on whether or not gay actors/actresses can play straight characters convincingly, and vice versa, but I think Neil Patrick Harris shows a great example of how this is simply not true. Barney, the character he plays, is almost over the top in his oozing manhood, and I think that it is a satire on the modern-day "man's" role.
As for Kinneson, he was taken from his parents to be trained his entire life to play an OVERLY feminine woman. From the hand gestures, to the high voice, it was something engraved into his personality until is WAS him. Of course, towards the end of the movie, he has to give up that part of him and find himself for who he really is, and he has to meld into the man he is on the inside. While this was his stage persona, it was so deeply a part of who he was that he could not separate. Sometimes, an actor becomes so involved in the role, he/she becomes that role.
One of my favorite actor is Martin Lawrence in the movie " Big Momma's house". In the movie, he played a feninien role as an old and fat lady during the investigation. He portrayed the whole picture of an old mama by high voice and the actions during the film. About Kynastion in the Stage beauty, his fan or who watched the movie will remember the sense of his high pitch voice and the ways he raised his arms will stay in the fan's mind.
Molly Dam
I am going to go with Jennifer Aniston. She is a straight woman and is mainly known for her character of Rachel on the show "Friends." She always plays female roles. In friends she was beautiful, smart and sexual. She is my petite which I think adds a dash of femininity and daintiness in her character. I recently watched her in the movie "Marley and Me," which made me cry, but she was the wife and mother. She was also Marley's owner, it was she and her husband, and she was the one who would make excuses for Marley and baby him a lot.
In the movie "Stage Beauty" Kinneson is taught to use his hands a lot. He was taught to changed the intonation of his voice to sound more feminine. Obviously Jennifer Aniston is a woman so whether or not she uses her hands does not make a difference.
Vanessa Monsibaiz
My favorite actress is Angelina Jolie. I think that she acts both feminine and masculine. In most of her movies she is this kick ass assassin or secret agent. She embraces her sexuality but still fights like a guy. You can see this in her movies Tomb Raider, Wanted, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Salt, and more. She is clearly straight in all of these movies, because she has male counterparts. Kinneson was trained to highlight light hands and feminine gestures, he was trained to hide the deepness of his voice and any rough gestures. Fans of celebrities get confused between acting and reality because they only know one side of the celebrity, and that is their acting side. They never get to know the real person behind the fame.
I haven't watched movie for a long time. Most of movies I've watch in last year are action movies, which the actors, actresses do more action than show their emotion.
However, thinking about plays and films today, there are still many men perform women. But it's not serious like they used to do in the past. Today, most of woman characters were performed by man are funny characters, which everyone can recognize that's a man. I think it because a man can't have woman's feeling.
It's alot differences between now and Kinneson time. Actor and actresses today was trained to perform many kinds of charaters, not one character for all life like Kinneson.
I'm not a fan or any celebrities, so I don't really understand how a fan feel. But for me, a play is just a play, an actor was trained to act, not trained to be. Therefore, no matter how good he/she is in the plays, there are nothing to do with his/her real personality. We can see a lot of good actors, actresses have done many bad things in their lives.
Hai Tran.
One of favorite actors is Keanu Reeves. I loved him in Speed and The Matrix. I think his roles are masculine in these movies as he does mostly action sequences.
When Kinneson portrayed a female on stage, I believe he hid his masculine voice to make it more feminine. I think he was trained to highlight his feminine posture and graceful hand gestures.
I think that fans get confused between a star’s public persona and their real everyday life because they come to associate stars with the characteristics of the roles they play, which is not realistic at all. Someone who plays an evil role may be a kind hearted person and vice versa.
Vickshna Anand
A good actor is Mel Gibson from the movie Patriot. He acts Masculine in the movie. He is the man of the house and act like it. His behavior and acts tell us that he is very masculine. this movie as about a war and Mel Gibson is standing up for what he believes is right and is very loyal and responsible. he get man to join him in making a group of soldiers that fight and take out all the bad guys.
When refering to stage beauty Kinneson he shows us hand gesters and acted like a women and set all of his masculine roles aside. He enjoys acting like a women beacuse it makes him feel good.
-Olga Fanina
One of my favorite actors is Johnny Depp. He usually shows a masculine character and appearance in most of his movies, such as pirates of the Caribbean. He had a mustache, loss fitting clothing, well defined muscular biceps and carried a small packet type sword. Though he mostly plays masculine roles, in one movie, Edward the scissor hands, he had a more feminine character. His skin was very pale, he looked weak, looked like he had make-up on his face and cut women’s hair.
When I think about Kinneson in the Stage Beauty, I believe the traits he was trained to highlight were the femininity side. He was taught how to scream like a woman, have gestures and hand motions as a woman would move, and be very soft and gentle. Some of the traits he had to hide were his manly deep voice, movements as a man would move and his gender parts.
People sometimes get confused between a stars’ act and their real, normal everyday life because the fans only see them in that specific role. The fans have only one perspective, not taking into account all the other possible characteristics of an individual.
Adleen Prasad
I do not have a favorite actor, but I can say that I really enjoy Ben Affleck. I liked him in the movie, Pearl Harbor. He played as a young pilot. His role was very masculine and full of energy. Every time I see him on different roles, he shows a great personality and transmits a personal courage on every scene. I do not know a lot about him on his real life, but his performances could help me to see him as a great human being.
Kinneson, was an actor. He was trained to act as a woman for many years that he always live with his role acting so feminine. Performing as a woman, it was his own identity, so at the end he suffered a lot because he can't find himself.
Fans of celebrities don't look that there are a lot make up and training behind their roles and sometimes an actor is so talented that fans want to see them as a real persona. We should remember that being an actor or actress is a job.
Armida G. Lee
Neil Patrick Harris of How I met your Mother plays a real ladies man on the TV show... He womanizes and sexualizes and demeans women yet the actor himself is gay. Although he is gay i believe his "act" on the show. Kyneson was trained to "act" like a woman... But as he was probably trained by men Id have to say that he was trained to act the way a man believes a woman acts and feels. In short an imitation of a woman. We tend to believe that an actor life is as we would imagine it, not the reality of some of the same struggles we all might have.
Kim Ramm
Hey Leslie A. I have to agree with you on Angelina Jolie. I believe she is an awesome actress who is great at always great at what she does. There is no doubt that she can and will play both masculine and feminine roles.
Teng Xiong
To the people who come along and paraphrase another person's work:
It's not fair to those of us who put thought and work into our answers.
my favorite actor on tv now is mark harmon from ncis. he has always portrayed masculine traits. but he does in this recent role different than when he was younger. for example when he was younger he showed his masculinity in different ways, he was way more playful in the roles he played, kind of like a jock. now he plays roles that are more serious and more of leadership than playful. you can tell by the way he plays the role that he his the king of the pack.
-neal vickers
An actor who I feel portrays a masculine role very well is Steven Seagal. He is the type of character who can be loving and sweet to his wife, walk out the door and be a freaking wreck to his enemy. In most of his movies, he kicks ass. Let me rephrase that, in all his movies...
His movies contain very minimal feminine scenes.
When I think of Kynaston, I think he was a good actor at what he had to do. The trouble that I saw was that he was stuck in character even outside of his theatrical parts. His gay lover makes him play the role woman during sex, making him put on wigs and all.
Kynaston is so lost, he doesn't know how to be with a woman...
Teng Xiong
I think of Jason Statham. He always plays "the tough guy" in all of his movies. He's seen as masculine because he always wears tuxedos and fancy suits and is very muscular. He also drives fast cars, knows how to fight, and knows how to use weapons; all very masculine things.
Kinneson exaggerated his gestures because they were feminine gestures. Because he emphasized them, he seemed more feminie.
-Manider Sekhon
I've been watching the series 'Supernatural' recently, and I would consider the main character Dean to fill the role of 'masculine' as defined by our culture. He's tough, brave, courageous, loyal, and funny to boot.
Kynaston was trained to have very fluid motions, much like a ballet dancer would. This gave him a sense of femininity. He was soft-spoken at a high tone, over correcting for man's generally deeper voice.
Unless there is a lot of coverage of an actor, or the actor tends to frequently exist outside their roles (think big-name actors like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie), most of the time they aren't seen past their character.
One of my favorite examples of this is Gilbert Gottfried whose character tends to have an annoyingly high-pitched tone; when he's out of character, he sounds like anyone else would, but you wouldn't even know who he was during a face-to-face conversation.
~Alex Carlson
I had to give this blog a little bit more thought than previous ones. I had a hard time thinking of the best actor/actress to choose. I had to think about how their masculinity/femininity is defined by a certain culture. But one did come to mind eventually.
The character, Will Truman, from Will and Grace, is gay character portrayed by a heterosexual actor. The character is animated when he speaks and has other subtle mannerisms that others might label as feminine. However, I don't think that he is necessarily feminine for others either. For example, I have seen heterosexual Asian males that are just as expressive as he is and they are just simply labeled as expressive.
As far as the character Kynaston, I think his exaggerated high pitch voice and the graceful hand gestures were used to highlight what is considered feminine traits.
One of my favorite actor is Jackie Chan. He is one of the most masculine character i have ever watched. In the movie Rush Hour, his character, Inspecter Lee, he fought with the bad guys to save the young girl. He played this role very well and very masculine because of his kungfu and the stunts he used. In his life, he is a director. He likes to make movies and find crazy stunts to try.
Kinneson was an actor who was trained to act and speak like a woman. He soon got really use to the way he acts and lost his identity as a man.
Fans tend to recognize celebrities as their characters instead of seeing them for themselves. For example, many people like Jackie Chan because of his skills in kungfu and the stunts he perform. Another example is Arnold Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger was a fasinating actor in "The Terminator;" however, not much people liked him when he became the Governor. The way they act in films and the way they live life is different.
One of my favorite actor is Jackie Chan. He is one of the most masculine character i have ever watched. In the movie Rush Hour, his character, Inspecter Lee, he fought with the bad guys to save the young girl. He played this role very well and very masculine because of his kungfu and the stunts he used. In his life, he is a director. He likes to make movies and find crazy stunts to try.
Kinneson was an actor who was trained to act and speak like a woman. He soon got really use to the way he acts and lost his identity as a man.
Fans tend to recognize celebrities as their characters instead of seeing them for themselves. For example, many people like Jackie Chan because of his skills in kungfu and the stunts he perform. Another example is Arnold Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger was a fasinating actor in "The Terminator;" however, not much people liked him when he became the Governor. The way they act in films and the way they live life is different.
-Kabao Lor
One of my favorite actors is Denzel Washington. I really liked him in the movie, "Man On Fire." He played a very masculine character. He was a body guard for a little girl, which was kidnapped. When that happened, he acted as a tough guy and went out to search for the girl. He had no fear to beat up and kill people.
I believe that fans get confused between the stars act and their public persona because the fans don't know them personally. They know the actors and actresses as the character that they played. So they label or see the actor as that character even though its acting.
Quang Nguyen
My niece's favorite show when she was young was teletubbies. There was a major controversy about one of the charecters from the show. Tinky Winky, the purple teletubbie with the purse. Parents feared that the producers were trying to convert their children to be gay by having a gay teletubbie. Being gay is much more acceptable today then it was a decade ago, but it is still a taboo for many Americans. Honestly, I thought that the purple teletubbie was a female teletubbie because of the purse.
-Dan Phan
One of my favorite actors is Jim Carrey. In his Movie Liar Liar, where he plays the role of a husband and father,Jim Carrey adapts to more masculine qualitites. Whereas movies like Ace Ventura, in which I am perplexed with the character he plays. His gestures and style of communicating has a feminine essence. At first I thought, in the movie he was either playing a homosexual or Bisexual character. In real life Jim Carey has a deep voice and is serious in nature. Every no and then he does make a funny comment and chuckles, but does not portray the character he is in his movies.
saihra nagin
I like they guy from 50 first dates who dresses up like a women but still a man and he is a single father of 3
My favorite actor is Robert Downey Jr.. In the film Iron Man, I think he does pull out some of the elements that make the gender represenitations more interesting. He shows his masculinity by his passion to the machinery and also his humor.
People who get confused between fantacy and real world because that is what a great performer gas to be able to do.
Ho Hwang
also the women in 50 first dates she is very manly but still is a women and she tries to go out wit a gurl but says"i preferr sasauge to taco" and i start laughing it was hilarious
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