29 Films, 36 Pages, 1 Research Paper

For my Sociology major, we have to complete a year-long research course. I decided to take it my junior year because I found out about a study-away opportunity during the spring of my sophomore year  (which I am now accepted into and will be even be updating you on). That meant I could not take it my senior year. So I had to lock in, work hard, and complete a project. And I did just that and I am proud of it too!

Step 1. Choosing a Project (and a Partner)

Entering the course, I was excited about using Stata and really working with data. Stata is something I call "coding-lite." That is no offense to anyone who uses Stata. In fact, wrapping my brain around it was difficult sometimes (I tended to over-code due to my previous experience). Stata is a data visualization software. It is much more bare-bones than something like R, but it gets the job done!

I really didn’t know what kind of project I wanted to work on. I just wanted to make sure it combined well with at least one of my disciplines, meaning I.T. and Film Studies. We were allowed to do either a survey or content analysis. Content analysis is observing and collecting data from public works like music, film, news articles, and more.

I knew that I didn’t necessarily want to work alone. I met and talked with my professor, Dr. Gilliland. She told me that almost everyone has decided to either work alone or with a partner, besides Maggie Malcolm ‘27, whom I ended up working with. We had many things in common, one of which was an interest in Film. We both had Letterboxd accounts, although we had very different tastes. She’s more into rom-coms than horror or straight comedy, but I love a good rom-com. Dr. Gilliland recommended we do content analysis for this reason. Through the entire process of deciding our research question, we had many different ideas and iterations, but for all intents and purposes I’m skipping to the good part: We decided to analyze crime films over the past 15 years, looking at criminals by race and gender. 

Step 2. Doing the Work to Think About Doing the Work

Yes, that heading is right. A big thing in research is literature framework/review. You essentially have to find out information on what you're researching. It’s fair. Of course it’s tedious, but all good things require tedious work.  We also had our sample description and collection method around this stage. We had to define our research question, create hypotheses. It was a cycle of going back, editing things, and repeating until what felt like infinity.

Image from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

We collected our 29 total films because that was the number that fit our sample. We observed films listed as crime on Letterboxd that were non-animated and fictional. We split it in half. We watched one film together and part of another. Some of my favorites were The Girl in the Dragon Tattoo (I’ll take any excuse to watch a David Fincher movie), Spy (a rewatch but such a good comedy), and The Batman. I am still so mad I never saw The Batman in theaters. I loved the set, costuming, and actors. So juicy. I must say…Fincher’s was my only new 5/5. This was the fun part for me, watching the films. Malcolm not so much, but I am an outlier in terms of movie consumption. During summer or winter break, if I don’t watch one in three days, it feels like I’m dying. (I know, overly dramatic, but what’s the point of a blog if I don’t indulge in the dramatic?) 

Step 3. Doing the Work AND Results Time!

Okay, although the results can be displayed outwardly because it’s public. I’m not doing that. I know. I’m sorry to disappoint, but you wouldn’t want to look at all of that data anyway. Also if you could not tell from the title our total research paper was 36 pages, so that would be one long blog and this one is long enough as is.

We only had one statistically significant finding, which means that only one had 95% confidence. That one was on organized crime by race for male characters, where we found that there was strong tie to blackness and brownness and organized criminality on screen. The main thing we observed was the sheer massive number of white characters and male characters. There were 160 white characters and 154 male characters. POC and women were less than half of those numbers. 

We also had to present our findings. We practiced and practiced. In the end, I ended up talking very fast, but we got good questions and did not run over time, so whatever works!  Dr. Gilliland was giving me a “slow down,” look, and I did…eventually. I honestly do feel a bit bad about it, but I am confident out loud in class, in front of an audience, asking questions to professionals, literally everything else. The thing is I have never presented work like this before. I have presented film work, but this was new, and I am glad and proud I have done it. 

And I was correct. I had a blast working with Stata.

Image from the presentation.

Step 4. What Do I Take from This as a Filmmaker?

Well, I just wrote a crime script. Now with this topic back in my brain. I think to how I would cast this: do I want to risk perpetuating stereotypes, or do I want to showcase diversity? With the limited portrayals of some groups there is even more likelihood roles would seem to fall into stereotypes even if they are more complex. I think it is a matter of trusting your gut.

I mean, the main issue we found, regardless of whether it was statistically significant, was the roles that people of color were portrayed as were in line with large stereotypes both in the news and historically origins through systemic racism. I think, as a filmmaker, I just want to be conscious of what I write. I want to check in every now and then and think about broader social issues when I’m writing and whether or not my work helps or harms. 

I am also not currently in a place where I can hire a crew, but ideally I would want a diverse set with a unique variety of voices. I am not just referring to socioeconomic backgrounds. I want people who disagree with me. I want people who will make the bold choice and ask for forgiveness rather than permission. I want any set of mine to be open to suggestions, criticisms, and new ideas because that is how work blossoms into something really beautiful.