Gender Stereotypes In The Pixar Animated Film Lifted

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Looking up at the vast night sky, the wonder and excitement of space captivates many people. We wonder what is out there, or who is out there? The Pixar animated film Lifted takes our curiosity and puts it on the big screen. The story focuses on a little teen alien named Stu, as he tries to pass his human abduction exam, graded by Mr. B. Stu attempts to abduct a rural farmer named Ernie. Stu, being an overconfident teen, hilariously messes up the entire abduction, amazingly not waking up Ernie. Mr. B ends Stu’s test by cleaning up the mess Stu made, breaking Stu’s heart causing him to pout and cry. The tears slowly melt Mr. B’s heart, who gives Stu one last chance, and lets him drive the UFO home. The film ends in the UFO shooting away, but …show more content…
The three characters all are male, and easily stereotyped as common human behavior. To begin, the human, Ernie is sleeping the entire film. When Stu is flinging Ernie around the room, Ernie hilariously does not wake up. In addition to constantly sleeping, Ernie also snores loudly. This says when men are focused on a task they deem important, it is the only thing they do. Simultaneously, Stu is also incredibly stereotyped. Stu, the trainee alien, can be described as weak, naive, and ambitious. Stu is trying to become an alien abductor, and he is inadequately prepared. The stereotype of a trainee, is shown as textbook definition as possible. He is overconfident, and eventually freaks out when things do not go his way. Which explains the small emotional range men have, as they are told to hide their emotions by society. Finally, the last example Mr. B, is everyone’s least favorite type of teacher. Mr. B is portrayed as mean, since he does not smile or give encouragement to Stu. He writes mysterious comments about Stu performance, eventually escalating to taking over the controls from Stu. The unexpected twist at the end is when Mr. B lets Stu fly the ship home, as he sees how upset Stu is. This shows how easily Mr. B can change his mind, reflecting the reality of society that people easily switch between options. People can chose to purchase an item, but …show more content…
Stu, the “student”, treated a certain way by Mr. B, the “teacher”. Mr. B harshly judges every move Stu makes, although Stu is not an expert or sure of what he is doing. This is common in many classrooms in society. Teachers often belittle their students by setting way too high expectations, of which students hardly make it too. If students do not make the expectations they are ridiculed to embarrassment, nearly bullying the student. Stu on the other hand, is supposed to walk on eggshells with Mr. B and struggle to achieve perfection. In addition to that relationship, Ernie, the human is objectified. Ernie is the object Stu attempts to abducted, showing that Ernie is of little value to Stu. Almost mirroring society as men view women as objects to achieve as girlfriends and wives. Stu’s goal is to get Ernie, putting Ernie in a class way lower that Stu himself. Again, the higher class treats the lower class as menial. Each of the relationships throughout the entire film, shows a clear difference in class level and

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