Media Reaction (Sexual Harassment)

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Let's take a closer look. What did you learn from the movie?

RESPONSE:

a. Did the motion picture attempt to address the issue of sexual harassment as represented in the American landscape?

It is based on a real case, so it does attempt to address the issues and represent sexual harassment in America at that period of time and in that profession that was considered a man's job. In California, for example, sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and California's Fair Employment and Housing Act among others. The laws apply to employers, including state and local governments. It also applies to employment agencies and to labor organizations, as well as to the federal government. Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. (http://calegalteam.com/)

Specifically, the Warner Brothers movie, "North country," is based on a real case--Jenson's story and the book, "Class Action. It is the story of Lois Jenson and the landmark case that changed sexual harassment law. The movie stars Charlize Theron as Josie Aimes (the character based on Jenson), Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, and Sissy Spacek. In fear of distorting her story, Jenson was initially very resistant to being involved with the film, believing that Hollywood would exploit, cheapen, or over-simplify the story. However, the director, Niki Caro, eventually won her over.

In fact, after the premiere, Lois commented, "They have made a very good film. It's a story that compresses 20 years of stuf, and the characters are composites of several of us. But the sexual harassment depicted was true. They captured the emotions very well, and overall I think it's an incredibly powerful film that will be around a long time." (53) (http://www.sexualharassmentsupport.org/JensonVsEvelethMines.html).

Also see http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0395972/.

b. To what extent do the media rely on stereotypes when depicting a certain group?

The media greatly rely on stereotypes for groups of people, including women and men, but the sexual stereotypes seem to be more prevalent for women and girls. For example, women are subjected to many stereotypes in today's society, including through movies and television shows suggesting, for example, that all women are air-heads. Magazine and other advertisements push photographs of very slender and "sexy" women into the minds of children. Men's magazines write articles on how to "dupe" a girl into sleeping with them. It appears we still have not moved past the sexist ideals of the past. In fact judging from the way the media portrays women, it might be even getting worse. For example, television and movies shows tend to stereotype women. In fact, one of the most common ways television depicts teenage girls, especially, is as a dumb, ditzy girl with a credit card. The girl's interests are usually limited to make-up, boys, clothing and shopping. Movies such as Clueless, Legally Blonde, and other such movies encourage the idea that teenage girls and women are ditzy, ...