Sociological Issues in the Movie Hitch - Essay Example

Hitch- Analysis The movie, “Hitch” directed by Andy Tenant was released in the year 2005. The plot of the movie revolves around Alex Hitchens commonly known as Hitch. Hitchens played by William Smith performs in the movie as a “Date Doctor” whose job is to train men so that they are able to woo their dream women. The movie is set into motion by Albert Brennaman played by Kevin James when he falls for the famous celebrity Allegra Cole. At such a juncture Albert seeks advice from the famous “Date Doctor” so that he is able to draw the attention of his lady love Allegra. During the time when Hitchens tries to help out Albert he also falls for Sara who was a gossip columnist. Thus the movie moves forwards with the interplay of the four characters in different situations. (Tenant, 2005). As the movie moves forward it is able to capture the attention of the audience because it is a movie to which most of the audience is able to relate easily. The goal of the paper is to explore how closely sociological issues are related to the movie Hitch. The main issues which have been addressed through the movie are primarily social interaction, race and gender. This is because we see in the movie Sara the gossip columnist had a strong dislike for men and she believed that men are worthless. From the feminist perspective it can be said that Sara wanted to protest against all men of the society by showing complete disregard and disgust for them. Moreover we also see in the movie that she thinks Alex Hitchens as a man who teaches other men to use women according to their fancy. This is because one of the clients of Alex had a one night stand with Sara’s best friend. Taking cue from this we can say that the movie Hitch also tries to focus on the objectification of women from the perspective of Sara. Through Sara the message which we get is that objectification of women by men was a very common phenomenon and women were aware of such a system existing and here in the movie Sara’s desire to unmask Hitchens is basically a protest which women want to undertake against men. Therefore Sara is determined to unmask Alex in front of the world. Devereux in the book, “Media Studies: Key Issues and Debates” says that the casting of the movie “Hitch” has remained an example of the inadequate representation of the minority groups like the Blacks in the mass media. Alex played by William Smith is an example of African representation in the media and the presence of stars like him point to the fact that though Blacks have received recognition in Hollywood it is limited to a large extent. It was found that the producers of the movie were very confused regarding the female role against Smith. They knew for certain that if a White is paired against a Black it will hurt the sentiments of the White Americana and if two Blacks are starred together as the lead roles even then the White Americans will lose the interest for the movie. As a result after devoting a lot of thought Eva Mendes who was an American born but of Cuban origin was cast opposite Smith. Taking cue from this it was further analyzed that the media favored the lighter skinned people because that enhanced their revenue and it enhanced their revenue because the general audience accepted the norm which supported under representation of the Blacks. Hence it can be interpreted in the sense that in USA the phenomenon of racial disparity is a stark reality. The Whites in America still psychologically are not prepared to accept the Blacks in similar platform as of the Whites. Such an attitude of the Whites are represented well when we see that the media represents the Black as minorities and the Whites get the dominant screen presence. Racism is rooted deep down in the minds of the White people and as a result no way can they come out from its confinement. Hence we can say that the Americans try to continue their power hegemony through the practice of racism. (Devereux, 2007, pp. 181-183). Massey has also talked about racism which was a harsh reality in the land of America. Rather he had said that the elements of social inequality based on race were abundantly present in America. Thus we can understand as to why there was so much confusion among the makers of the film with respect to the star cast. (Massey, 2005). Massey had also talked about the Apartheid which was present in the American society and as in all walks of life racism troubled the African Americans it was certain that it will be present even in the entertainment industry. He in fact said that the various media in fact were effective ways to propagate the elements of racism within the people. A very important sociological factor which we should notice in the movie, “Hitch” is that the reason as to why Hitchens becomes a Date Doctor. As Hitchens was in his youth he was betrayed by a female. The incident had left him emotionally bruised and from then on he had decided to that he would help those men who wanted to get love from particular women. This is because Hitchens had the capacity to sympathize with the men as he had had a similar experience. In fact he wanted to compensate his failure by helping other men. Moreover by helping other men Hitchens felt victorious. Such an attitude of Hitchens can be explained in the terms of Mead’s view of social interaction. According to Mead individuals tend to act based on the kind of social interaction which they have in their life time. The kind of experiences which an individual has with regard to social interaction shapes his or her later behavior. Mead had in fact said that the self is the product of the social experience. Thus we can say that Hitchens present profession that of a date doctor was due to the bitter experience which he had had in his love life. As because he was rejected in his early life by a woman he was determined to develop ways by which the women would easily accept the men. (Macionis, 2007, 159-160). The movie Hitch continues to be a wonderful reflection of the contemporary US society. This is because the making of the movie and its star cast had well expressed the fact that racism is still practiced in the society. It in fact is a negative reflection of the US society. Moreover we also get to know from the movie that till date women are objectified in the US society because if that was not the case Sara would not have developed such an idea about the date doctor Hitchens. Again this gives a negative reflection of the US society. Hitch is a very original reflection of the US society and helps us to form an idea of the existing conditions. A very positive aspect of the movie is that it makes the audience believe that they may seek true love and happiness with professional assistance. This in turn is able to generate hopes in the minds of the people. It can be said that Hitch is able to provide people with a utopian idea. Hitch becomes a medium for the audience to transport themselves away from the harsh realities of life. Altogether Hitch had the capacity to make the audience happy. It has been said that media is mirror to the society. In this case Hitch proves it because it reflects the existing social phenomenon and at the same time gives us an idea of the fact that an individual is shaped according to the social interaction which one experiences. Hence we can say that Hitch by Andy Tenant may apparently seem to have a lighter content but if we carry out a careful study we will realize that it has deeper social implications. References 1. Devereux E. (2007). Media Studies: Key Issues and Debates. USA: Sage. 2. Macionis J. (2007). Sociology. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. 3. Massey G. (2005). Readings in Sociology. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. 4. Tenant, Andy (Director). (2005, February 11). Hitch. USA: Columbia Pictures Corporation. Read More