How many films do we watch during a year? How many times have we rewatched films? Whether it is with friends, family or alone, films are a part of our lives and therefore constitute a social factor. Why do we watch films? What type of films are we more likely to enjoy? From action movies to romantic comedies and musicals there are endless possibilities of stories. These films mirror how our societies are structured and constructed.

The idea of our research is to take three very famous movies that we believe have had an impact on society. We want to look at the social structures in the movie, compare them to the respective society at that time and see whether or not these movies had an impact on society at the time. Additionally, we want to understand whether or not the same impacts have been maintained throughout time and generations: are people nowadays as much impressed by the role of Princess Leia as the people in 1977? 

The movies we have decided to talk about in our research include Star Wars IV, Black Panther, and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Out of the three, the first two defied gender stereotypes, while the last one reinforced them.   

Being four academics with very different backgrounds and interests, we decided to conduct this research through an interdisciplinary perspective. Indeed, our research is a lot of sociology, with an in depths analysis of gender relations, but it is also very much about cinema, and the impact or role it plays in our every day lives.