Tom Hooper is amazing. His KING SPEECH is amazing. And his newest work, THE DANISH GIRL, is equally amazing. Amazing indeed, but THE DANISH GIRL is thousandfold terrifying for an Indonesian citizen standpoint. Especially because THE DANISH GIRL speak about LGBT movement which is still considered a taboo to the point that mentioning it will only sparks controversy. And yet, THE DANISH GIRL sucessfully humanize transexual. It perpetuates the statement about how film is an effective media in Agenda Setting.
The story
The remarkable love story inspired by the lives of artists Einar and Gerda Wegener. Their marriage evolve as they navigate Einar's groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.
Einar (Eddie Redmayne) begins to have serious doubts about his gender after he puts on women’s clothing to help his wife with a painting. The moment the silk fabrics touch his skin, Einar is aroused in a curious way. He fumbles with his sudden burst of feeling, and Gerda (Alicia Vikander) gives him the gentle push he needs to fully commit to the disguise. Supported by Gerda’s unwavering love, Einar moves deeper into the alter ego of Lili Elbe. He’s obsessed with his other self, and soon, the lines between Einar and Lili begin to blur. The only thing Gerda can do is watch, and paint. She creates a portrait of Einar as Lili, and dealers who once showed no interest in her work are now intrigued by her “erotica.” She finds success, but she’s starting to lose Einar. Consumed by his desire to be Lili, Einar is entirely unavailable to Gerda. His emotions are swirling inside. He is becoming a she; Einar is becoming Lili.
Her biggest betrayal isn’t that Einar wants to make out with the neighbour (Ben Whishaw), it’s that the person inside isn’t the same person at all. The betrayal is painfully slow, but Vikander makes it tolerable because she never buckles into a ball of self-absorbed mush. She takes it all, and continues to love and support Lili to the very end.
Agenda setting
In my opinion, THE DANISH GIRL displayed the power of Agenda Setting thru film. Agenda Setting, also known as The Agenda Setting Function of the Mass Media was first put forth by Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw in 1972. They originally suggested that the media sets the public agenda, in the sense that they may not exactly tell you what to think, but they may tell you what to think about. In their first article where they brought this theory to light their abstract states:
In choosing and displaying news, editors, newsroom staff, and broadcasters play an important part in shaping political reality. Readers learn not only about a given issue, but also how much importance to attach to that issue from the amount of information in a news story and its position. In reflecting what candidates are saying during a campaign, the mass media may well determine the important issues—that is, the media may set the “agenda”of the campaign.
It may as well applied to THE DANISH GIRL. Out of the content in Lili Elbe diary, Tom Hooper as the director selecting what and whatnot content to be underlined in his film. In this case, i assume that thru THE DANISH GIRL, Tom Hooper tried to underlining several message:
1. Transexual tendency is overt.
During Lili Elbe transformation, as painful as it is to watch, Tom Hooper tried to underline that the process was started since Einar was 8 years old, during the time where she had fell over the heels to her chilhood friend. Thus, Tom bring out Hans (Mathias Schoenaerts) character. He is Einar childhood friend who during Lili and Gerda struggle, helped Gerda to accept her husband transformation. Even so, Hans existence too, underlining the statement that sexual curiosity during childhood may not resulted in sexuality deviation, where in Hans case, even though he kissed Einar in his childhood, he could fall in love with Gerda. Although the little screentime of Hans may somewhat guiding audience to the opinion of pansexuality.
2. There are stark difference between transexual and homosexuality.
It was underlined by existence of Henrik (Ben Whishaw) character as gay who got lustful with Einar, but later, he only befriending Lili after she transformed. And thru Lili lenses, we too can conclude that she only got interested to the opposite sex who will accepting her as a woman. Even, during the time where she was still Einar, she have a straight happy relationship with his wife, Gerda.
So yeah. Tom Hooper helped me to understand a lot. For all that matter, THE DANISH GIRL is a rare film to broaden your horizon, thus makes you smarter. Really worth your time.
Source:
Expres Canada
Mass Comm Theory
Image:
Rotten Tomatoes
The story
The remarkable love story inspired by the lives of artists Einar and Gerda Wegener. Their marriage evolve as they navigate Einar's groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.
Einar (Eddie Redmayne) begins to have serious doubts about his gender after he puts on women’s clothing to help his wife with a painting. The moment the silk fabrics touch his skin, Einar is aroused in a curious way. He fumbles with his sudden burst of feeling, and Gerda (Alicia Vikander) gives him the gentle push he needs to fully commit to the disguise. Supported by Gerda’s unwavering love, Einar moves deeper into the alter ego of Lili Elbe. He’s obsessed with his other self, and soon, the lines between Einar and Lili begin to blur. The only thing Gerda can do is watch, and paint. She creates a portrait of Einar as Lili, and dealers who once showed no interest in her work are now intrigued by her “erotica.” She finds success, but she’s starting to lose Einar. Consumed by his desire to be Lili, Einar is entirely unavailable to Gerda. His emotions are swirling inside. He is becoming a she; Einar is becoming Lili.
Her biggest betrayal isn’t that Einar wants to make out with the neighbour (Ben Whishaw), it’s that the person inside isn’t the same person at all. The betrayal is painfully slow, but Vikander makes it tolerable because she never buckles into a ball of self-absorbed mush. She takes it all, and continues to love and support Lili to the very end.
Agenda setting
In my opinion, THE DANISH GIRL displayed the power of Agenda Setting thru film. Agenda Setting, also known as The Agenda Setting Function of the Mass Media was first put forth by Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw in 1972. They originally suggested that the media sets the public agenda, in the sense that they may not exactly tell you what to think, but they may tell you what to think about. In their first article where they brought this theory to light their abstract states:
In choosing and displaying news, editors, newsroom staff, and broadcasters play an important part in shaping political reality. Readers learn not only about a given issue, but also how much importance to attach to that issue from the amount of information in a news story and its position. In reflecting what candidates are saying during a campaign, the mass media may well determine the important issues—that is, the media may set the “agenda”of the campaign.
It may as well applied to THE DANISH GIRL. Out of the content in Lili Elbe diary, Tom Hooper as the director selecting what and whatnot content to be underlined in his film. In this case, i assume that thru THE DANISH GIRL, Tom Hooper tried to underlining several message:
1. Transexual tendency is overt.
During Lili Elbe transformation, as painful as it is to watch, Tom Hooper tried to underline that the process was started since Einar was 8 years old, during the time where she had fell over the heels to her chilhood friend. Thus, Tom bring out Hans (Mathias Schoenaerts) character. He is Einar childhood friend who during Lili and Gerda struggle, helped Gerda to accept her husband transformation. Even so, Hans existence too, underlining the statement that sexual curiosity during childhood may not resulted in sexuality deviation, where in Hans case, even though he kissed Einar in his childhood, he could fall in love with Gerda. Although the little screentime of Hans may somewhat guiding audience to the opinion of pansexuality.
2. There are stark difference between transexual and homosexuality.
It was underlined by existence of Henrik (Ben Whishaw) character as gay who got lustful with Einar, but later, he only befriending Lili after she transformed. And thru Lili lenses, we too can conclude that she only got interested to the opposite sex who will accepting her as a woman. Even, during the time where she was still Einar, she have a straight happy relationship with his wife, Gerda.
So yeah. Tom Hooper helped me to understand a lot. For all that matter, THE DANISH GIRL is a rare film to broaden your horizon, thus makes you smarter. Really worth your time.
Source:
Expres Canada
Mass Comm Theory
Image:
Rotten Tomatoes
Pas dengan mata kuliah komunikasi dan gender nih
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