THE film The Mask You Live In screening at the Shirley Burke Theatre, Parkdale, next week examines the role boys are encouraged to play in our society and how the pressures to conform influence their behaviour.
It follows a group of boys and young men in the US as they struggle to stay true to themselves while negotiating our culture’s narrow definition of masculinity.
Under societal pressure, the characters confront life’s “messages” – often subliminal – which encourage them to disconnect from their real emotions, devalue their friendships, objectify and degrade women, and resolve conflicts through violence.
Online videos compound this false view of reality – especially pornography which, these days, is so easily accessed by the young.
The gender stereotypes interconnect with race, class, and circumstance, creating a maze of identity issues boys and young men must navigate to become “real” men.
Founder of Suburban Sandcastles, Bridget Wood, is hosting the film. She says it is important to channel boys’ behaviour – good and bad – in constructive ways and generate purpose and passion.
“We, as a society, prescribe gender roles which limit boys’ true expression,” she said.
“These roles mask the reality of life and boys simply have to act as they are expected to.”
The impact of media games is a case in point. By the time boys are 12 they may have “killed” 12,000 people at the touch of a button. There’s no empathy or involvement – just detachment.
“Some boys live in a world of video games and dopamine hits. It’s not reality but it is how boys are taught to behave.”
Ms Wood said beliefs and expectations about male behaviour were handed down through generations and allowed to prevail.
Hence the need for the film: “When a society doesn’t question things we get polarised. This is really about opening a conversation and assessing how best to raise boys.”
Actors in the film range from a three-year-old to elderly men. One is a US football coach who talks about his boyhood experiences and how they influence his coaching style.
It’s all manly stuff.
Experts in neuroscience, psychology, sociology, sports, education, and media also weigh in, offering empirical evidence of the “boy crisis” and tactics to combat it.
The Mask You Live In aims to illustrate how we, as a society, can raise a healthier generation of boys and young men.
A guest panel will include social worker and counsellor Melissa Rowe and neuroscientist and behaviour expert Brett Fisher.
They will take part in a question and answer session afterwards, take questions about the film and offer their professional and personal opinions.
Tickets are available online or at the theatre for $25. Doors open at 5:45pm for the 6.45pm screening on Wednesday 15 July.
Viewers can buy dinner and dessert. Exhibitors will showcase products and services reflecting the Suburban Sandcastles’ ethos of connection with our food, environment, relationships and ourselves.
Proceeds from a raffle will help support a disadvantaged child through children’s author Liliane Grace’s Master your Life and You Can Master Anything online program which guides children and teens through goal-setting, reflection and building resilience.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 8 July 2015
