Gender Roles, Expectations and Polarization Analytical Essay by Top Papers

The paper discusses the film 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (2001) that was the first of a series of phenomenally popular films, based upon the equally popular novels of the "Harry Potter" series by J.K. Rowling, with a prominent school theme in that all are set at the "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." The paper explains that while Hogwarts is a fantasy representation of a school, its basic model is the traditional British boarding school, it is also arguably the single best known educational environment among young people in the world today. The paper discusses how the sheer extraordinary popularity and influence of this film, and its recreation of a school theme, presents us with a range of complex implications with respect to issues of gender roles and expectations, identity, and the impact of the film's representations of these upon its vast, young viewing audience. The paper argues that the representations of gender in the school setting in the film mirror its gendered representations of family roles, with females serving as enablers of male power and authority. While complexities and subtleties in the depiction of female agency and identity in the film are explored, nonetheless it is shown how this film can foster regressive and conservative models of gender among young viewers.