I, Tonya - A Film Analysis

I, Tonya, is a 2017 film directed by Craig Gillespie, which looks at the life of the American figure-skater Tonya Harding and her rise to prominence, as well as her personal life. The film has been shown to the students of my media class, to offer us an opportunity to dissect a film, to better understand how different aspects of the film represent certain topics and subjects such as women, the USA and the 1980's.

Women in I, Tonya

Above: The image of reference the class has been tasked with analysing.

In I, Tonya, the film is set in the 1980's, which was a time when gender-normative values certainly had more prominence in their more "traditional" interpretations of males and females in the 20th century. Due to this, even without considering the film, men and women had a bold line drawn between the two, which to this day, ever since decades and centuries ago, has survived and retained its cultural impact on society, which dictated how people dressed, what they could and should do and generally how they went about their lives.

Some, including myself, consider the aim of existence as being a good person, rather than a good man or a good woman, excluding gender from the entire evaluation of what makes a human-being a "good" person. In the 1980's, these more black and white views on gender were more pronounced, or at least less challenged than they are today, which is why the men in the film have short hair and conservative clothes and the women (particularly figure-skaters like Tonya) wear a moderate amount of make-up, exuberant dresses and have longer hair. These things (when considering the views of the time period in which the film is set) give us more of a definition between the two genders, which was certainly recognised by the film, with a judge of the figure-skating competition telling Tonya that she does not put across the image that the skating judges want to promote.

What I assume is meant by this comment, is that Tonya does not fit the feminine and innocent image that the adjudicators are looking for, she is a "redneck" and is told that she looks like she chops wood, which she indeed did. Chopping wood would have been considered a more masculine behaviour, which adds to the issue Tonya has as not being the perfect girl in the eyes of the judges. Scandalous as though it may be, this affected her final scores due to the nature of the judges and society as a whole, in spite of her excellent skating.

Women are looked at with the "male gaze", a more prominent attitude in this time period when gender normative values became more free to be expressed in western society, particularly in the last few years. The gaze then, sees women as an object of consumption, a second fiddle to men, as well as innocent and traditionally "girly". These views did not and still fail to appeal to the identity of many people and have been responsible for the sort of scandalous judgement from the judges that we see in the film.

Men in I, Tonya

Above: An image for referencing men in I, Tonya.

Men receive a different treatment, which is represented by the film. In the 1980's, more pronounced gender ideals and values saw men as stronger and tougher and the leaders of any relationship. This was one of many insufficient views of the time still retained by some people today. Men are certainly viewed negatively in I, Tonya, which is completely understandable. We are looking at a film set in the 1980's, from the viewpoint of a film that was released in 2017. The cultural and societal changes that can occur in such a time period are evident and prominent and offer an interesting and retrospective look at the life of yesteryear.

Tonya's boyfriend Jeff is, as is historically accurate, a troubled individual who while very much in love with Tonya, is physically abusive towards her. He is aggressive, emotionally unstable and while evidently holding good intent towards Tonya, supporting her in all that she does, his Achilles heel comes in the form of his aggressive and abusive tendencies, which not only scrutinised his relationship with Tonya, but also led to him playing an integral part in the physical assault of Tonya's skating rival, Nancy Kerrigan, injuring her leg before a figure-skating competition would take place.

Men are seen as volatile, negative and aggressive in the 1980's, which appeals to the then and presently-held stereotype that men are (or more accurately, can be) emotionally out-of-tune, aggressive antagonistic simpletons, which is a very derogatory representation of men, but one that is certainly well-founded when looking at the sorts of men the film chooses to focus on in the film.

America in I, Tonya

Above: An image to represent elements of the USA in 'I, Tonya'.

In I, Tonya, we are (primarily) immersed in the world of 1980's America. The United States of America was historically going through a cultural shift in the 1980's, as technology further advanced and America, being the cultural pioneers of the Western world and all those who idolised and still do idolise it, taking steps forward and creating household names of 80's culture in music, fashion and technology.

Focusing more on the USA rather than the 1980's, America is seen as the cultural capital of the world in the film. Tonya, among other women in the 1980's are pressed to be seen as "All American" and socially acceptable in the eyes of Western media.

The 1980's in I, Tonya

Above: A representative image of the 1980's from 'I, Tonya'.

The 1980's saw many cultural shifts in society which as mentioned before, could be seen in music, fashion and design. As seen here, Tonya's hairstyle in the image on the right is indicative of the 80's and by looking at these denotations, they connote a time that evaluates the entire essay, portraying the 1980's accurately, highlighting the sociological, cultural and economic climate.