“…after a minute of talking with Dr. Lamb, I was pleased to find her not only kind and accommodating, but firmly in support of comics and graphic novels. Essentially, Dr. Lamb’s argument is that the movie superhero of today doesn’t emphasize social justice so much as he exemplifies superficial trappings – fast cars, big guns, and beautiful women. The article references the Iron Man franchise as a specific example, but in my conversation with Dr. Lamb, she went on to acknowledge that Dark Knight had to fight hard to stay under an “R” rating in movie theaters and that it wasn’t a movie for kids despite being marketed as one.

And you know what? She’s absolutely right.

Comic book movies walk a very strange and fine line. On the one hand, they need to appeal to adults, but on the other hand, they have to be appropriate enough for kids. Dark Knight failed in the latter category. As much as I love that the movie was a beautiful metaphor for the nature of chaos and order, it wasn’t something for kids to look up to. It was an adult’s superhero film.  (more…)

CLARIFICATION:   We think that the revisioning of superheroes in movies and by marketers is the main problem.  Another problem is the marketing of this revisioned superhero (the WWF wrestler typo Rambo-like figure) to younger and younger boys. These newer versions downplay backstory and social justice themes in order to fit in multiple explosions, car crashes and over the top violence.  We don’t mind that boys are given superheroes to look up to and many comic book versions are very complex figures, although it would be nice if they were given friends and didn’t have to be so alone at the top.  (Sharon likes the X-Men for their social justice themes about oppression of minority groups and their friendship!!!)  Below are some answers given to Barry Deutsch, blogger!  Read more if you like:

1) What recent movies and/or comic books did you examine, and how were they selected? WE DIDN’T EXAMINE MANY COMIC BOOKS AT ALL. OUR REMARKS HAVE TO DO WITH SUPERHEROES AS THEY ARE PORTRAYED IN THE MOVIES.

2) The Guardian article made it seem that you were comparing current superhero depictions to past superhero depictions. What time period in the past were you comparing current superhero depictions to, and which past superhero movies or comic books did you examine?  WHAT WE EXAMINED WAS A RANGE OF MEDIA IN BOYS’ WORLDS BASED ON WHAT THEY TOLD US THEY WATCH, READ, WEAR, LOOK AT ON THE INTERNET, ETC.  THEY DIDN’T TELL US ABOUT COMIC BOOKS BUT THEY ALL WERE EAGER TO SEE THE LATEST SUPERHERO MOVIE…   THROUGH OUR READING OF BOOKS LIKE THE TEN CENT PLAGUE, WE CAME TO UNDERSTAND THE REPRESENTATIONS OF SUPERHEROES OF OLD.  WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT MODERN SUPERHEROES AS REPRESENTED BY MARKETERS AND HOLLYWOOD IS THEY LOOK AN AWFUL LOT LIKE WWF FIGURES, THEY ACT LIKE ACTION MOVIE LEAD CHARACTERS, AND THAT THE AMOUNT OF EXPLOSIONS, CAR CRASHES, AND TORTURE IN THESE MOVIES MAKE THEM INAPPROPRIATE FOR YOUNGER BOYS AND DOWNPLAY OLD THEMES OF SOCIAL JUSTICE IN EXCHANGE FOR THEMES OF REVENGE AND RETALIATION

3) According to the article, “Lamb, who surveyed 674 boys aged four to 18, claimed these hardnosed heroes may be damaging the social skills of teenagers and even affecting their performance at school.” Can you let me know a little about what in the survey results led you to these conclusions?
WELL, I DIDN’T CLAIM THAT EXACTLY.  OUR BOOK, PACKAGING BOYHOOD: SAVING OUR SONS FROM SUPERHEROES, SLACKERS AND OTHER MEDIA STEREOTYPES BEMOANED THE MARKETERS’ AND MEDIA’S BOMBARDING BOYS WITH BASICALLY TWO WAYS TO BE A BOY –OR GROW UP TO BE A MAN, THE SUPERHERO WHO HAS BEEN REFASHIONED TO BE SOMEONE QUITE DIFFERENT THAT THE GUY WHO WANTED TO FIGHT FOR WHAT’S RIGHT AND BRING PEACE TO SAY GOTHAM CITY OR METROPOLIS, AND THE SLACKER WHICH HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH SUPERHEROES BUT WHICH IS ANOTHER MEDIA STEROTYPE THAT INCESSANTLY TELLS BOYS THAT YOU CAN BE COOL BY NOT CARING AND SCHOOL IS FOR GIRLS.
4) Did you have any means of comparing your results to how boys reacted to movies or comic books from the past period you were comparing the present to?

AS I SAID EARLIER, WE DIDN’T DO A STUDY OF BOYS BUT BOYS’ MEDIA
I also have two questions about the broader applications of your work.

5) As a feminist, I try hard to avoid stereotypical gender roles in my work. But as a comic book creator, I worry when people in the news talk about the need for characters to be better “role models.” Many creators worry that too much pressure to provide good “role models” can lead to bland, unmemorable creations. What would you say to a creator who had that concern?

I LOVE MANY OF THE COMIC BOOK CHARACTERS TODAY. EVEN THE CHARACTERS IN THE MOVIES WHO ARE THE SAME OLD VERSIONS OF HYPERMASCULINITY, WHEN PRESENTED IN COMIC BOOK FORM, GET FLESHED OUT.  I REMEMBER A PANEL OF THE THING CONFRONTING SOMETHING HORRIFIC THAT HE WAS ABOUT TO ATTACK – TURN THE PAGE AND FIND OUT HE IS LOOKING AT HIS BABY’S POOPY DIAPER!  THESE FIGURES ARE REAL MEN WITH REAL VULNERABILITIES ON THE PAGE (OR SOMEWHAT) – THEY GET TURNED INTO ONE DIMENSIONAL ACTION “HEROES” ON THE SCREEN.

6) What sort of change would you like to see in how superhero comics or movies are made, if any?
FIRST I THINK THAT THERE NEEDS TO BE RESPONSIBLE MARKETING. IF YOU ARE CREATING AN ACTION HERO IN A MOVIE THAT ALMOST REACHES AN R RATING, THEN YOU CAN’T ADVERTISE TO YOUNGER KIDS.  BUT REALLY SUPERHEROES  ARE ATTRACTIVE TO LITTLE KIDS, BOYS AND GIRLS ALIKE, SO I WOULD ARGUE AGAINST MAKING MOVIES FOR “THE WHOLE FAMILY” THAT ARE THINLY DISGUISED ACTION MOVIES.  RETURN SUPERHEROES TO CHILDREN OR AT LEAST MAKE VERSIONS OF THE MOVIES THAT THEY CAN ENJOY WITHOUT HAVING TO BUY INTO THESE HYPERMASCULINE STEROIDAL VERSIONS OF SUPERHEROES.

I THINK THAT PRODUCERS NEED TO EXAMINE WHAT HAPPENS TO THE SOCIAL JUSTICE GOALS OF THE SUPERHERO AND WHETHER THEY NOW TAKE A BACKSEAT TO OVER THE TOP VIOLENCE, AGGRESSION, REVENGE AND EXPLOSIONS.  WHEN YOU TEACH KIDS TO USE THE LANGUAGE OF SOCIAL JUSTICE IN ORDER TO EXACT PERSONAL REVENGE, IT’S PROBLEMATIC BECAUSE MOST AGGRESSORS IN THE WORLD THINK THEY ARE JUSTIFIED.

TAKE A LOOK AT CAMPAIGN FOR A COMMERCIAL FREE CHILDHOOD’S CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE HAPPY MEAL TOY OF THE THING THAT SAYS “IT’S CLOBBERIN TIME” – THEY SAY, “NO TIME IS CLOBBERIN TIME FOR PRESCHOOLERS.”  SUPERHEROES HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO TEACH ALL SORTS OF SOCIAL JUSTICE MESSAGES AND SOME STILL DO – THE X MEN, FOR EXAMPLE, ARE ALL ABOUT MINORITY DISCRIMINATION, RIGHT? – BUT WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT BY UPPING THE ANTE ON THE VIOLENCE, WE DON’T LOSE THOSE MESSAGES.

Jan.1, 2010 Happy New Year!

This joyous photo of youthful exuberance is Bryn Kressin, at left; one of our Shaping Youth winners of yesterday’s Packaging Boyhood book drawing where we pulled names from those who commented or tweeted about our weekly posts about boys, manhood and media messages impacting the males we love.

The other two winners were author/educator Dr. Liz J Myer (who writes about ending gender harassment/bullying in schools) and Suzette Valle (who writes about young Hollywood’s influence on kids and teens at Mamarazzi Knows Best) …

Meanwhile, thanks again, Bryn, for this slideshow of your life lessons abroad…and congratulations to all three winners of the Packaging Boyhood book; which is clearly one of my most important media literacy picks for 2009 along with Diane Levin & Jean Kilbourne’s So Sexy So Soon, Rachel Simmons’ Curse of the Good Girl and Liz Funk’s poignant  SuperGirls Speak Out on the gender studies/media front.  (more…)

Dec. 29, 2009 Last night I watched ‘The Hangover’ rated R, which I’d heard described by several YOUNG teens (meaning unable to buy a ticket unless sneaking in via diff. multiplex theater) as ‘hilarious,’  and ‘over the top’ and wanted to see where the kid appeal was coming from and try to ‘relate’ to why this movie was a ‘favorite’ on many a Facebook page.

I’m not here to summon Dana Carvey’s SNL ‘Church Lady’ character from yesteryear or count the number of 100+ “f-bombs” or ‘That’s so gay/REtard vs. reTARD and paging Dr. Faggot‘ slurs are in the film…

However, today’s our last Tuesday of featuring Packaging Boyhood for our Packaging Boyhood book drawing 12-31 (just leave a comment to enter to win) and The Hangover is absolutely ripe for media analysis on how they’ve chosen to ‘package’ manhood (as boyhood).

The Packaging Boyhood authors might view the movie’s plotline  as a mashup of their Chapter 5 (”Wanna Play? What Boys Do”) and Chapter 6 (”Rebel, Resist & Refuse“) as it’s got all of the elements and then some…

Toss in the segue to New Years celebrations and ‘par-TAY’ cues, plus the film’s dvd release and it’s exceedingly timely. Yes, yes, it’s a given that the movie is NOT remotely for kids, yet it’s also self-evident that they’re its biggest fans, given the ‘tender ages’ of KIDS reviewing the film on Common Sense Media’s user-generated forum alone. Similarly, any bachelor party-Vegas theme is bound to have ‘X-treme’  excuses for stupid/silliness and debauchery, after all, it’s a Todd Phillips film, (Road Trip, Old School, etc.) not a high brow Academy Award nominee. (more…)

 http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=61633

Dec. 8, 2009 It’s Tuesday, time for our weekly “Packaging Boyhood” focus, so what better time than the holiday season to sound the ‘red’ siren on the ‘green’ brand that tween and teen boys are sucking up to…Monster energy drink.

With everything from motocross and macho madness to the thumping, screaming, ‘over the top’ rebel yell, Monster ‘packs a vicious punch’ by creating lil’ monsters out of the male middle-school set without a clue (or a care) as to the impact of the jolt and crash ‘kick ass flavor’ to their adolescent bods.

Wow. I feel like I got a testosterone infusion just reading the freakin’ label, “when it’s time to unleash the beast within, grab a Monster and GO BIG!’

Packaging Boyhood authors wrote a whole chapter on ‘What Boys Do’ and rightfully nail this verbiage as positioning violence and risk taking and ‘pushing the limits’ as a culture conduit to ‘manhood.’

Gotta say, it’s been fun counter-marketing the sheer absurdity of the entire energy drink category based on the hyped up, gender specific packaging alone. (not just ‘Monster, Monster Hitman, & Monster Sniper’ but Full Throttle, Red Bull, and other spiky, thuggish, ‘tough guise’ contrasts to the myriad pink think thinspiration cues of energy drinks like RockStar for the girls) It’s so predictably stereotyped that it’s almost amusing, and easy to see into the ‘crystal ball’ of the future and be able to tell kids what to watch for in advance. (more….)

Like it or not, the media has a massive effect on today’s boys. That’s why I was so excited to see Packaging Boyhood: Saving Our Sons from Superheroes, Slackers and Other Media Stereotypes, a new book by Lyn Mikel Brown, Sharon Lamb and Mark Tappan. Today, they share with us an excerpt about boys and drinking — and as a resident of Wisconsin, a state that consistently leads the nation in binge drinking, I agree that it’s high time we started paying attention to the unconscious messages we send our sons.

According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, males age 12 or older report higher rates than females for all measures of alcohol use and abuse, including binge drinking and alcohol dependence.

No wonder. The party-hardy atmosphere is everywhere they are – from about age 5 and up. We’re not talking about the ubiquitous beer commercials during Monday Night Football, the crazy liquored-up antics on VH-1 or MTV reality shows, or even the champagne drinking players in rap videos. We’re talking cartoons, G-rated films, and tween TV. Whether it’s the Poison Apple Pub in Shrek or the cool bar on the beach where the Madagascar friends hang out, socializing in animated films often means drinking.

And just like it is in real life, over-indulging leads to trouble-making and stupid behavior. Elliot the deer and Boog the bear, two buddies in the animated film Open Season, trash a country store after getting “drunk” on candy bars. Buzz Lightyear drinks too much “tea” in Toy Story, and his friend Woody tries to sober him up. In his movie, SpongeBob SquarePants has a terrible hangover from his ice-cream bender of the night before.

But why let the elementary school set have all the fun? Nothing says cool to a “tweenager” more than a good out of control party. TV shows targeting tweens help kids imagine being a mythic teenager; you know, the guy who has the hot babes and the fun parties, who hangs in clubs, dorms, and other places where there are no pesky, dopey, intrusive, nagging parents; the guy who has no homework or after school job and who doesn’t actually work hard at anything.

That’s why the boys in The Naked Brothers Band, a Nick show about a group of precocious preteens living the rock star dream, do their best to imitate the kinds of problems parents are trying to control. In their first movie, a mockumentary of their rock star rise to fame, then six-year-old bad boy drummer Alex develops a lemon-lime soda addiction. When their original band breaks up, he binges in a bar scene, chugging like a frat boy, and ends up in a luxury rehabilitation Soda-holics at Sea program.

Then there’s bad boy Zack on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, a show about twin tweens living it up in a luxury hotel (the new version of the show has them living it up on a luxury cruise ship—more babes in bikinis!), who sets up his own underage dance club in the hotel lounge. The boy “bartender” pushes sugary soda to shy, nice girl, Barbara, and after chugging root beer – “Hit me again!” – she takes her hair down, whips off her glasses and starts dancing suggestively while the crowd shouts, “Go Barbara! Go Barbara!” It’s a nerdy boy’s dream when she staggers to Cody and kisses him hard on the mouth.

Most of these preteen shows feature 8-14 year olds running their own lives in a world created for them by adult writers who know how to create a pseudo-sanitized version of Entourage. All the themes, expectations, and desires are there—but it’s okay because the drinks they’re chugging aren’t really alcoholic and the come-ons and references to hot girls don’t really lead to the party-house bedroom. But there’s no missing the staggering around and slurred speech or the wild, loose behavior as anything but an imitation of the real thing.

So what’s a parent to do? Watch these shows and movies with your son. Help him understand what’s really being sold with those funny antics and silly situations, and discuss the behavior you see.

Here are a few “typical boy” behaviors to look out for in his media:

Koolaid or soda chugging in ways that suggest chugging a beer;
Doing “jello shots”, even when it’s just jello.
Getting crazy, acting goofy or doing stupid things after drinking sugary sodas or some other beverage.
Sharing woes or drowning troubles in a bar or saloon;
Living a party social life in clubs, dorms, or on the beach, chilling with sodas or drinks in beer mugs, champagne flutes, or cocktail glasses.

It will be nearly impossible to protect him from a “drinking is a rite of passage for boys” media message, so start these conversations early. Put his natural powers of observation to work, teach him to question advertising, and help him know when to say no to this version of “boys will be boys” behavior!

Lyn Mikel Brown, Ed.D., Sharon Lamb Ed.D., and Mark Tappan, Ed.D. are authors of Packaging Boyhood: Saving Our Sons From Superheroes, Slackers, and Other Media Stereotypes.

Nov. 17, 2009 Missed my mark on the Tuesday Packaging Boyhood post last week where I wanted to springboard from the fabulous “author’s spotlight” on Ypulse where they asked readers to share a fictional male role model they admire and why.

Ypulse offered a copy of the Packaging Boyhood book for the ‘first 3 comments’ and I chimed in that I’d like to carry it forward and continue the contest here on Shaping Youth with our end of year drawing next month since we’re giving away three copies from the names that are leaving comments each Tuesday. (yep, you keep commenting, you keep getting entered, do the math, play the odds, eh?)

Wanna play? I’m eager to hear from boys to men, as well as the females in their lives who may have a different pick altogether as we grapple with heroes, archetypes anti-hero role models and the ever-shifting concepts of masculinity, boyhood studies and what it means to be a man today. (more…)

Nov. 3, 2009 In diving into media messages targeting boys for my weekly Tuesday Packaging Boyhood posts, my mind snap went to ‘gaming’ pronto.

Is this a stereotype? Or did I just do a Malcolm Gladwell style “Blink” in rapid cognition? I flipped to the Packaging Boyhood chapter on “What Boys Do” since we know marketers are tapping a boy’s desire to be ‘powerful’ and admired by others for their image as same, which plays right into gaming. Sure enough, along with tackling topics like sports, speed,  winning, guys-n-guns, beer-n-babes, heroes, “tough guise” and porn, they shared:

“Boys told us they love games where they can perform like rock stars, jump or kick like sports stars, fight like warriors, or kill enemies with some of the most impressive weapons of modern combat. By playing video games, a boy can become a hero; he can turn the tide of battle or make the right decision to change the world,” wrote  authors Lyn Mikel Brown, Mark Tappan and Sharon Lamb.

Yep. Sounds pretty dang motivating. Who wouldn’t want to have control of their own destiny? Sure beats dressing up to please and serve with all the pink think video game gender cues…(more…)

Oct. 27, 2009 It’s the Tuesday before Halloween, perfect timing to wrap up part two of our Packaging Boyhood post about gender clichés, costumes, and ‘Saving our Sons from Superheroes, Slackers & Stereotypes’ as the book’s title says.

Moreover, we have tips & tactics for those eager to hear how to best play dodgeball with ambient influences.

We’ve all heard those exhausted “NOW what?” frustrations from media literate parents confronted with pester power and exposure to “what’s perceived as cool” even if the wee one has never “seen the movie, show, or media attached to it.” (THAT is ambient marketing, my friends)

Media and marketing are so ubiquitous with saturation on so many emotional levels of ‘peer acceptance’ that if you try TOO hard to veer elsewhere you may land smack dab into ‘forbidden fruit’ territory…one step forward, three steps back. So the first given that the Packaging Boyhood authors impart is to try not to ‘over-react’ and make such a ‘huge’ deal out of it all in wide-eyeballed, ‘omg, what are you even thinking!’ mode.

Truth be told, I used to predict a direct correlation with the playground posse…the more sanctimonious the parenting style,  “My child will NEVER be seen with a ____ gun, weapon, Barbie doll, makeup, Lunchable, piercing, tattoo, etc. (insert item du jour) the more likely that very same child would be the one coveting said item the most. (more…)