Boys Don't Cry Image
For my piece of analysis I choose to study the movie poster for the film, "Boys Don't Cry."
I found this image on a website focusing on the IMP Awards, but the image was originally found at amazon.com. This movie poster's objective is, obviously, to sell the movie to consumers and to advertise for it as well.
It is a difficult piece of media to be gendered. The image gives the idea that the film is about a very bold, masculine person. That narrative that the image is conveying that the film is about a bold invidiual contrasting with the rest of the film, basically a piece about contrast and differences, meaing there will be a major piece of conflict within the film.
The framing of the image adds to the mystery of the film. On the poster, it advertises Hillary Swank as the staring role, yet the image on the poster appears to be masculine. But, one cannot tell since the head is cut off, therefore no conclusion can be made about the gender. Also, the use of the strong color black outlining the main character means that this character is strong, bold, and different. Especially compared to the harsh, bright orange color encomposing the back of the poster. These colors greatly contrast, once again, telling of a great conflict occuring in the flim. We can also see that the actor is wearing western style clothing against a flat highway in the background, walking. This conveys that the main character is walking a long road and can be a metaphor for their loner character. It could also try and explain the setting of the film. It works both ways.
I would say the reading of this piece of media has to do with sexual identity. Even if one has never seen the film before, and you have no idea that the film is about sexual identity, you can tell by the mystique of the actor on the poster. If you study the figure and the features of the bottom of the face, you can tell it is a feminine person, yet is wearing masculine clothes and is holdinga masculine pose. The mystique of the main character is the main point of this movie poster.