badoli
The documentary raises some valid points, but ends up very superficial. The downfall starts with blaming of superheroes and video games. The old stereotypes from the brainwashed boy are popping up, that are refuted in a lot of studies. Sure, media has influence, but the "how" and the "how much" only implied. The study it presents is from the 70ies and 80ies and hardly representative of the present state of psychology.As such it feels the movie pushes a narrative. Some of the interviewed people offer only anecdotal reference and some just lack any credentials for the issues they discuss. At times it feels weirdly constructed, as with the vilification of porn segment. Even Philip Zimbardo only conjures the old outsider-stereotype and an extremely bold statement like "violance against women is at epidemic proportions" is not supported by any historical figures. Questionable feminist terms like "rape culture", "entitlement" and "privilege" are thrown around.The main topic of this film is very important and current and at times it seems the film is highlighting the right issues. But ultimately it looses itself in general attack on anything that it perceives masculine. I wish it was more subtle in the approach and better researched and balanced.
Jada Flint
The film, The Mask You Live In, demonstrates the difficulties that men face in society to fulfill the expectations associated with the idea of manhood. The film illustrates the pressure from parents and other adults to limit the expression of emotions because it is viewed as a weak and negative characteristic that is typically associated with girls. The mindset of constantly hiding emotions and portraying a sense of toughness, just to make sure one does not loose their manhood, can lead to bullying or depression because it psychologically affects boys and men. Additionally, media plays a significant role in pressuring the idea of manhood because it illustrates a limited view of what men should be. A significant amount of violence and porn can influence how men treat women in society simply to prove their manhood. I think the film does a great job at showing these ideas to the audience to help understand the mix messages society creates to define manhood, and the need to redefine the ideas and concepts of manhood.
Billy Bob
Hard to believe these women couldn't find a man (other than the severely traumatized or psychiatrists in it) to work on this. If they had, they might have better addressed the enormous role women play in this problem. The vast majority of women encourage this wounded alpha male behavior. Its what I tell my 14 year old son- you'll get those women who pathologize boyhood, like the filmmakers and most every female teacher he's ever had (anyone notice the dearth of positive female educators in this film?), or they are going to get the "I want a bad boy" from most young women. I tell him to just be decent, humble you, and sooner or later you'll find the minority of decent women out there. Take a look at online dating profiles of women. What's the two characteristic almost every woman asks for? "You have to be confident and make me laugh all the time." They don't want a real person. They don't know what to do with them when they find one. Full time confidence and weakness and vulnerability don't jibe, my dears.
lukewarmhuskerfan
It's a film written, produced, and directed by women, who have never been men, and despise men. They even say in the documentary that masculinity is not natural (cultural creation only), and imply that being masculine in general is 'a problem.' Yes, all said in the film, and even when they showed video of boys just playing. It's basically hate speech but with a softer approach, the 'politically correct' hate speech of our time.The only examples of 'manhood' they mention are criminal, abusive, sexist, racist, or otherwise bad behavior, which aren't the norm for men, and aren't exclusive to men. Watch videos on the internet or read the news, you'll see so many women abusing children/spouses, physically fighting others, even numerous videos of women intentionally running over people with cars during fights (yes, seriously), but would that female behavior be considered 'masculinity' too? Of course this film won't touch that, how would their thesis of 'masculinity is the cause of all the world's problems' possibly stand up to those aspects of reality? The documentary rarely mentions typical guys or everyday masculinity. One researcher in the film recalls meeting fathers dropping their kids off at kindergarten, and she was shocked they were tender and loving with their kids. Seriously? There's no mention of the general positive influence of having a father in the home has on a child's life trajectory, despite their being staggeringly positive data about it, but yet ignored by this film (doesn't fit the propaganda). The only mention of fathers are negative, abusive examples. They say society is getting worse, but they never mention the exponential increase of children raised in broken families by a single mom. Instead this film blames video game and t.v. violence for 'masculinity' and crime, and outright lie about the scientific consensus on the link between real-life violence and video games. The scientific consensus (general findings across dozens of studies, not just a cherry picked few) is completely the opposite of what the "political scientist" said. Feminist narrative matters more than reality in this film.The young males interviewed were real men with real experiences, but they also were atypical, not the norm for guys. It was only troubled/abused teens, a jock in a frat, and some gay men. Me and 80% of the guys I know are not represented here. It's because this list of interviewees is cherry-picked to serve a narrative, not to understand norms, despite the fact this film generalizes to the norms.It portrays frat guy behavior as normal male behavior. It is not the norm, it is an exception. Feminists, if you want the frat lifestyle to end, then convince the hundreds of thousands of highly attractive girls to stop mating with frat guys and partying with them every day for generations on end. Girls show up there voluntarily, they are not kidnapped by the hundreds. But I doubt you can convince college girls otherwise, despite how many false narratives and questionable stats you can muster, women have shown for generations that they like frat guys, so frats are not going away.And this leads into how the influence of young girls on young boys is not mentioned at all in this documentary, as if girls are not part of the equation? This documentary would have you believe that girls are all angels, they don't bully boys or attribute to their bullying, and their sexual preferences in boys apparently has no influence on how boys behave. Yes, this documentary totally skipped this dynamic when trying to portray "reality" for boys. News flash, male traits that the most desirable girls find most attractive (confidence, leadership, risk-taking, "having balls") absolutely help shape male behavior. And I got bullied by girls all the time, they tried to bait me into fights with other guys, made fun of my weight on a daily basis, etc. But what do I know, I was just an average boy who actually lived as a boy.I am a nice, sensitive, educated, respectful guy, I'm exactly the kind of person feminists want all men to be (except I don't buy into their anti-male propaganda). But sensitive people have opinions and feelings, and this film highly offends me. My identity is not the "Mask I Live In." I'm a man, I've never hurt anyone, and there's no reason I should be shamed for being a man, and I should not have my entire sex defined by negative stereotypes. I have the right to have a positive opinion of myself, and no feminist hate-group or their propaganda films can tell me otherwise.I gave the film 2 stars instead of 1, simply because the visuals, camera-work and editing looked very professional.
