It is actually really hard to find documentaries on subjects that truly interest you. There are just so many waves of documentaries on subjects you already have heard before, celebrities and nature that it is hard to find something not talked about so often. Something new.
I watched The Mask You Live In because just days before I found out about the documentary, I was briefly discussing with my wife the culture of masculinity. How many studies had been conducted on what forced masculinity by parents and peers does to a boy and how to fix those sorts of issues. I went to a seminar in college (of course) on the topic, found it interesting, but didn’t remember a lot about it. I remember they were giving away free non-alcoholic beer (because it was about masculinity) and that is it. Mostly because I never had alcoholic beer so I thought it’d be funny, and sure enough, it tasted terrible.
The Mask You Live in description basically talked about our narrow definition of masculinity, how it hurts men, boys growing up, and thus, society, and what we can do to change it. That is topical, especially with all of the recent mass shootings in America, which of course were all basically committed by men. Clearly there are issues here and any outlet that is willing to discuss it should be heard, so I wanted to learn from the documentary myself and pass on any important messages I could gather.
And you know, review it fairly. Just because it is important subject matter doesn’t mean it is well done.
We’re just saying this is an important conversation. Man to man. Mono y mono. Dude bro to dude bro.
The actual line of thought it somewhat hard to follow in this documentary. It does flow from related subject to related subject, but it doesn’t always do a good job during the transition. You are talking about video games and then suddenly porn the next second and it felt jarring each time.
In addition to that complaint, there isn’t really like one narrator or guiding voice throughout the documentary. We hear literally dozens of people talking, from kids to prisoners to teachers to people who have received doctorates in various subjects. But outside of the Doctors it is unclear of who any of these people are or why they have a part in the documentary. For the most part it is just to tell their own personal stories, about growing up or abuse or hiding their insecurities, but still it hops around through so many people without focusing on a specific message that it is easy to get lost.
All of that being said, the messages in this documentary are very important. You might not be able to really get all of it, but the parts that are easy to understand and are emphasized can hopefully stick with you. A documentary for the most part SHOULD feel important in some way, to some people. And thankfully, The Mask You Live In is something that can affect every male viewer and most of the female viewers as well.
I looked up the director, a woman!, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who is mostly a small part actress. This is her second directed documentary, the first being Miss Representation in 2011. It deals with the opposite-ish problem, about women not being represented well in media or positions of power and how it can damage a young girls mind. It sounds fantastic and it is quickly moving up my must see in the near future list.
I don’t agree with everything said in The Mask You Live In. And like all documentaries with research, I wish it would include the source of the statistics it shows and there are a lot of statistics showed. But it is clearly presented in a mostly non-biased light. Full of personal anecdotes and science to back it up.