Aaron Wolff
Mrs. Kolb
Intro to film
13 April 2026
Film can kind of be a cultural instruction manual to mold how we see what is considered normal,
acceptable, and even possible. Writings like Complicated Women, the Hays Code, and Birth of a
Movement, it’s evident that films don’t simply mirror society, they actively contribute to creating
the ideas we associate with gender, sexuality, and race.
One of the more surprising revelations for me came from Complicated Women. I didn’t know
that some of the earliest Hollywood films produced more complex portrayals of female
characters than those found in contemporary films. Female characters in early silent and talkie
films were at once independent, sexual and business savvy. This, however, changed with the
implementation of the Hays Code in the 1930s. The Hays Code was incredibly restrictive, and
limits the ways women and sexual relationships could be portrayed. The Code limited the
number of portrayals of women in normal and/or moral roles. Witnessing this shift in the film
industry, it was clear that institutions have an immense power over representation, not that
audiences all of a sudden preferred less complex characters, but the industry decided women
were only allowed to represent what was deemed as normal normal.
The same form of restriction was imposed upon sexual portrayals of characters. The Gay
Representation clip shows the way LGTQ+ identities are either completely removed from film,
or coded in order to go unnoticed by an audience. If characters can not openly be queer, the
industry must take another approach by using stereotypes, or innuendo, and ultimately, the
normalization of heterosexual identity will endure long term. This may have resulted in
generations of individuals growing up with false impressions of who queer people are.
Race is another important facet which film has clearly impacted. Birth of a Movement explicitly
shows the film Birth of a Nation’s impact in reinforcing the already present racist ideas, a direct
correlation between media, and actual consequences. The film in part brought about the
resurgence of the KKK, a striking realization of just how effective the media could be.
Conversely, the Race Films movement provides a contrast, by showing how the marginalizedsector of society uses media to fight against oppression, by presenting an alternate reality, in
terms of Black stories, and ideas that have been excluded from what is portrayed by mainstream
Hollywood.
Ultimately, looking at these texts, it is nearly impossible to claim movies are not works of
propaganda. From the enforcement of restrictive rules on representation of women and sexuality
through the Hays Code and its proponents, to the impact racist films such as The Birth of a
Nation have, films continually have shaped society, but through such a profound manipulation
that the audience is made to believe their choices of what to like and dislike are wholly their
own. From there, these ideas develop, which in turn leads to the manipulation of what it means to
be who we are, be that a woman, a member of the LGBTQ+ community, or of a minority race.