Film Review - Tough Guise

1.) The main thesis of the film "Tough Guise" was that men have been encouraged by society to be overtly masculine, and use a "Guise" in order to be considered a legitimate man in society. In doing so, its consequences are vast and far reaching: the film discusses the prevalence of acts of violence such as school shootings and gang violence that maybe wouldn't have happened or been as likely if we weren't so focused on being society's version of a "real man"

2.) The main arguments in support of the thesis were the G.I. Joe action figures over the past 4 decades. It was absolutely comical to see how massive the current G.I. Joe toys are compared to the 60's. Next, the film did a great job by showing scenes from movies in which the characters are telling another character that to be a real man they need to ....

3.) The thesis of the film relates strongly to this course because in this class one of the most important things to do is to evaluate and reconsider our preconceived notions about deviance... And this film correctly states that a man being perceived as a "fag", "pussy", or "bitch" is certainly deviant, and then it discusses why those terms are used--in turn making a gay person, female genitalia, or female dog (woman in this context) deviant.

4.) The argument I found most convincing was when they were pointing out countless examples of how the media portrays a "real man." The example of the original Batman compared to the current Batman was night and day. The film also touched on gang violence and masculinity which definitely have strong correlates.

5.)I don't believe there really was a point they brought up that was not relevant to their arguments in the film. However, I was disappointed that they omitted to discuss the advances in workouts and other muscle enhancing stimulants and technology. The fact is that consumers have a better vehicle to getting larger, muscular bodies. That is why the fitness industry is so prosperous and large. If they would have discussed this point they could have also discussed how society makes men without muscles a problem, which can be "cured" by buying a Bowflex, P90X, MuscleMilk, Gatorade, Steiroids, etc. Next, I would have enjoyed the film pointing out how many home runs there are in baseball now compared to 50 years ago.

6.)The point that still stands out to me in this movie were the G.I. Joe figures. I would love to see how much muscle a G.I. Joe would have if he were a real person, and look at how disproportionate his body is, and then proceed to laugh at consumers for buying into that laughstock. I would study the point by measuring and scaling the size to a 6 foot tall male.