Foreign and Eye-Opening Shorts...

Recently I watched a couple of short films that I came across on Tumblr, which really inspired me and made me think differently. Both of these shorts centred around what the world would be like if everything was flipped over and rules and norms about gender and sex were switched. The first film I watched was intriguingly titled "What if gay were straight and straight were gay?". This film shows the life of a young girl who is going through a sexuality crisis. In a imaginery world where being gay is the norm and being straight is mocked and 'wrong', this young girl is coming to terms with the fact that she might fancy boys instead of girls, which is expected of her.

 This film really moved me because it is a gritty showing of what life would be like if straight people were treated as harshly as parts of society treat homosexuals. This short os about 20 minutes long-much longer than I plan for my short film to be, but I would hope to bring to my short film what this one has. For many people, shorts like this could be a real eye-opener because we know that the main girl is not in the wrong by being attracted to boys even if she is treated in the film as if she is. Films like this aim to improve the thoughts of society and if the message is clear, they can be very successful and moving.

Another short film I stumbled across was called "Opressed Majority". This 10-minute short displays what the outcome would be if males were exposed to sexism and sexual violence in a society dominated by females. In this film, a typical father is carrying out his everyday duties. He starts by taking a walk with his child in a pram, not even taking a second glance at women running alongside him topless and shouting crude comments to him. This film tries to represent, in almost an exaggerated way, how sexism effects women and tries to put forward this perspective to men. Later in the short, the man is exposed to sexual violence by a gang of women and then speaks to a police man after viewing a line-up. His wife gets angry at him and leaves. While the thought of men being sexually abused by women and not being taken seriously by policeman for making the claims, these types of things do happen in real life- to men and to women. Also, this film is shot in France and the actors are speaking in French. I think this is effective as it shows that this type of opression is present in all parts of the world and not just in the UK. It also shows how the conventions of a short film are not different in other countries.

 

 

 

-KW