Man Woman Mirror

Making a video essay is often about finding the right format to convey the information you want to offer. Various visual (and auditive) strategies have varying effect; the trick is trying to find the best fit. This Fandor video essay combines the modus operandi of the supercut with a simple yet elegant example of data visualization.

 

It traces the (tired) trope of characters staring at themselves in mirrors, and then either bursting out in tears or in violence. The response, this piece shows, is often determined by gender. While female characters typically break into tears, their male counterparts more often break the mirror. These respective responses are laid out in a neat graph with an X and Y axis, plotting the gender stereotypes in a visual pattern.