"Crazy, Stupid, Love" Presentation Contribution

In class yesterday, I presented with my classmates Nicole and Anthony on the popular culture that is embeded within the film "Crazy, Stupid, Love" starring Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell, Emma Stone, and Julianne Moore. In order to contribute to the presentation, I created a powerpoint that had several slides of information related to the lecture notes as well as readings assigned for class. I wrote about the three components of romantic comedy and quoted several sentences related to the meanings of terms like class, gender, and identity. I helped come up with some of the questions that we wanted to ask the class at the end of our presentation, such as "How do you define class?" "What are 3 components of a romantic comedy?" and "What is your experience of love? Do you have faith in it or is it all stupid? Is there such a thing as a soulmate?"

As I watched the film, I noted the scenes that represent human relations as seen in society today. I thought that the advice which Jacob gave to Cal at the bar, not once but twice, was a significant influence on how men behave throughout the film towards women as well as how women are viewed through the eyes of men in society today. In thinking about the question, "How does the film resist and/or reaffirm old ways of seeing human relations?",  I looked for scenes that demonstrated both resistance and reaffirmations. As a result, I found that Emma Stone's character, Hannah, represents old ways of viewing relationships between men and women because women have always expected men or boyfriends to propose, as she does in the film and since her character in the film is a lawyer, it resists the idea that women are only meant to be caretakers at home; instead it suggests the woman's ability today to thrive in a typically male dominated role/career.

Initially, my contribution to the group presentation consisted of watching the film on my own several times, rereading the chapters assigned for class in order to make connections to the film, creating a powerpoint presentation with images and text to break information down for the class to understand, and I also talked to my group members about questions we could ask the class as a part of the group activity. It was a great experience. I now view the film on a completely different level of interpretation thanks to the analysis suggested in our text book. Nicole and Anthony always answered any questions or suggestions I had which allowed me to contribute in a productive and helpful manner. If we were allowed to dissect every character or scene in the film, I'm sure the presentation would have taken up several class meetings as this film depicts many aspects of popular culture, human relations, society values, and gender roles from the past as well as the present.