FM2: British and American Film Section C: US Cinema Comparative Study

What are the names of the 7 dwarves? Which dwarf wears glasses? What musical instrument does the beardless dwarf play in the ‘Silly Song’ ? What type of bird is associated with the Queen? How does the Queen die? What does the Huntsman use instead of Snow White’s heart to fool the Queen? What is the curse that Snow White falls under when she bites the apple? Whose name does Snow White write (with pastry) on the pie she makes? How do the dwarves find out that Snow White is in danger?

 Doc, Dopey, Happy, Sleepy, Sneezy, Grumpy and Bashful  Doc  The drums  A crow  She falls off a cliff/lightning strikes and causes the cliff edge that she’s standing on to fall  A pig’s heart  The Sleeping Death  Grumpy  The animals harass them.

Write a response to the following question ( words) Using the information from today’s session and referring to examples from at least 1 sequence of the film discuss how Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs can be seen to reflect the time it was made.

 Watch the DVD extra Still the Fairest of Them All: the Making of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and make notes on the production context and the audience response.

 Analyse Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in relation to gender representation.  Consider the messages and values that these representations suggest.

Films document the time period in which they were made, they can tell us about what people were thinking, what they were concerned about and their attitudes to issues like race and gender. By doing this, they give us messages about the social and political context and show us the values (what was important to people and what they believed) of the time.

Analysis Task:  Make a list of words that you would use to describe Snow White  How does she represent women in 1930s America?  What does her design tell us about the ideal look of women in the 1930s?

Ideology refers to a set of overarching ideas that exist in society. These ideas can lead to assumptions like “we have to go to work to live" (capitalist ideology) or “men are breadwinners of the family” (patriarchal ideology). Ideology works to make values and ideas seem normal and natural when in fact they have been developed through social and historical circumstances.

 Analysing representations of gender is one way in which a society’s ideology can be examined.  The way men and women are re-presented (shown/portrayed) to us in films can be an important clue to the way a society thinks about how men and women should behave.  We need to consider how the representations of men and women in SW&TSD give us clues to the way 1930s society viewed men and women in general.

Women’s Work  What does the video suggest about women’s roles in the 1930s?  Use this to help you answer the questions at the bottom of p8

Sequence 1 - Snow White finds the dwarves’ cottage. Sequence 2 – The Queen’s Magic Spell Task 1: Analyse both sequences and answer the questions on page 9 of your booklet Task 2: Complete the comparison grid on p10 of the booklet. Extension Task – Write a brief response to the question at the bottom of page 10

 How are the male characters represented in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs? Task Complete the grid on page 11 of your booklet What words would you use to describe the male characters in the film?

 What do these representations tell us about the ideological views of the male gender in 1930s America? What should men do/be like?  Identify at least 2 sequences from the film that you could use to give examples of how men are represented.

How far is the representation of characters in the American films you have studied influenced by the times in which the films were made? Using examples from the film, write a detailed plan answering the question.

 Watch and analyse Enchanted (David Lima, 2007) using the first 4 questions on page 12 of your booklet.