1

The Film Industry:

Viewed From Two Different Lens

Yasmine Castaneda

Writing 2

Allison Bocchino

February 21, 2024

 2

Introduction

As the Film Industry has progressed and evolved alongside humanity, there have been

thousands of writing pieces that touch upon the topic. Depending on which lens you use when

looking at the Film Industry determines your opinion on the topic, each highlighting a different

point of view. The article “Working with ‘Monstrous Men’: Ambivalent Sexism in the Bombay

Film Industry” by Zeltzyn Rubi Sanchez Lozoya looks at the film industry through a feminist

lens as she discusses the issues of sexism in the workplace and how it holtzs the progress of

women representation in the Bombay Film Industry. Meanwhile the article “Exploring Art Film

Audiences: A Marketing Analysis” by Sharon L. Chuu, Jennifer C. Chang, and Judith L.

Zaichkowsky looks at the Film Industry through a marketing lens as it analyzes the market

potential of art film audiences when compared to commercial film audiences. One article

showcases the discipline of Feminist Studies by exploring and expanding knowledge regarding

the social construction of gender, meanwhile, the other article presents knowledge that would

help marketers create public awareness leading toward the success of a film. This is through the

two articles' differences in arguments, intended audiences, and research approach.

Difference in Arguments

The arguments the two articles present are different from eachother because while one is

structured to encourage discussion about gender roles within the Film Industry, the other is more

of a recommendation for marketers working within the Film Industry to start marketing toward a

specific audience.

In Sanchez Lozoya’s article, her argument isn’t clearly stated, and instead chooses to

introduce her argument by saying what the article does. Towards the beginning of her article the

statement “This article” is said multiple times and then afterwards proposes a piece to what is
 3

considered as her argument. For example, “This article exposes a composite of concerns

including but not limited to reputability, personal security…thwarts women’s success in the

Bombay film industry”1. This choice was purposely made because the most important part of the

article is about her presenting her ideas and the various sources that lead to that thinking, as well

as informing the readers. This approach allows the audience to be more responsive to the article

and leads to further discussion of sex discrimination against Women in the Film Industry.

Allowing for people to join in on the conversation and expand on the topic is a part of what the

Feminist Studies Displicline aims to do. This is also displayed This is further displayed towards

the end of the article when Sanchez Lozoya encourages the reader to remember what she’s

discussed when navigating media and encountering monstrous men in efforts to be closer to

gaining gender equality2.

Meanwhile, the approach Sharon L. H.. Chuu, Jennifer C. Chang, and Judith L.

Zaichkowsky choose to present their argument is a lot more assertive. Within the article before

the reader gets to the introduction they are already presented with the argument, “Art film

audiences are found to warrant marketing attention because they are more committed to movie

attendance, have a more favorable attitude towards movies in general…”3. The article also

focuses on the benefits and notable potentials of marketing toward the art film audience

compared to a commercial film audience. This clearly stated argument is meant as a hook for

marketers within the industry because it’s to make the art film audience seem like an untapped

market, therefore if it were to be marketed correctly it could lead to films being more successful.

1
Zeltzyn Rubi Sanchez Lozoya, “Working with ‘Monstrous Men’: Ambivalent Sexism in the
Bombay Film Industry,” Feminist Media Studies 22, no. 6 (2022): 1296.
2
Zeltzyn Rubi Sanchez Lozoya, “Working with ‘Monstrous Men’: Ambivalent Sexism in the
Bombay Film Industry,” Feminist Media Studies 22, no. 6 (2022): 1307.
3
Sharon L. Chuu, Jennifer C. Chang, and Judith L. Zaichkowsky, “Exploring Art Film
Audiences: A Marketing Analysis,” Journal of Promotion Management 15, no. 1–2 (2009): 212
 4

Marketers want to know why this audience is so important and how they can market towards

them because it will benefit them in the end, hence why the article is under the Marketing

Discipline. Seeing that the argument pulls in marketers, leads to the discussion of the difference

in audiences between the two articles.

Difference in Audiences

When reading the two articles it is clear that they are both meant for completely different

audiences. One is for feminist scholars or people familiar with feminism and the other is for

people working in or interested in working in the field of Marketing for films, this is determined

by the terminology used and presentation of evidence.

Within Sanchez Lozoya’s article words like “patriarchal”, “paternalistic behavior”,

“binary labels”, etc. appear without clearly defining them. For example, “By rewarding women

for conforming to a patriarchal status quo, benevolent sexism inhibits gender equality”4. The

word “patriarchal” is used in the article and there is no sentence afterward describing what this

patriarchal status quo looks like or is defined by. This means that the author is under the

assumption that the reader would know what that is, people who would know what the patriarchy

is are feminist scholars and people familiar with feminism. Sanchez Lozoya also uses the

#MeToo movement as a topic of discussion when referring to heterosexuality, however, she

never actually describes what the #MeToo movement was and what happened during it5. Again,

assuming that the audience is familiar with the #MeToo movement to have a full understanding

of her writing. While one can look up the definition of the terminology used, people who are

4
Zeltzyn Rubi Sanchez Lozoya, “Working with ‘Monstrous Men’: Ambivalent Sexism in the
Bombay Film Industry,” Feminist Media Studies 22, no. 6 (2022): 1298.
5
Zeltzyn Rubi Sanchez Lozoya, “Working with ‘Monstrous Men’: Ambivalent Sexism in the
Bombay Film Industry,” Feminist Media Studies 22, no. 6 (2022): 1301.
 5

familiar with Feminist Literature/concepts reading this article leads to a deeper understanding of

the article. It can also promote connections to other feminist writings.

Meanwhile the article, “Exploring Art Film Audiences: A Marketing Analysis” uses

similar methods when establishing an audience. Like the previous article, the authors use various

marketing terminology like “merchandising”, “standardized marketing strategies”, etc. without

proper definitions behind them. However they do present multiple data tables and calculations as

evidence, for example, “Using averaged construct 7-point scale we have means of 4.37 vs 4.98

vs. 5.56, (F = 22.65, p < .001) showing that art film audiences feel movies are a more deeply

important part of their lives than the other two groups…”6. While it does give an overall

explanation of what that means, the description is not specific enough to where it defines each of

the numbers, nor what the variables F or p mean. Someone who is well-versed in the Marketing

field would not only know the terminology used but also have a full understanding of all of the

statically evidence provided.

Difference in Research Approach

While the two articles did conduct some of their research, the approach in which that

research was conducted and the methods used are different from one another. The article

belonging to the Feminist Study discipline has a more interpretive research approach while the

Marketing discipline article is more empirical.

Sanchez Lozoya describes her evidence used as, “I based my conclusions on interviews

held with women and men working in the industry, participant observations of independent film

productions on set, and everyday practices of a small production house”7. Some of these

6
Sharon L. Chuu, Jennifer C. Chang, and Judith L. Zaichkowsky, “Exploring Art Film
Audiences: A Marketing Analysis,” Journal of Promotion Management 15, no. 1–2 (2009): 222
7
Zeltzyn Rubi Sanchez Lozoya, “Working with ‘Monstrous Men’: Ambivalent Sexism in the
Bombay Film Industry,” Feminist Media Studies 22, no. 6 (2022): 1296.
 6

interviews were prompted by her questions, and you can tell when she uses a first-person point

of view. By using interviews, not only is she getting the perspectives and understanding of these

individuals in the industry but it comes across as more of a personal story. This puts into

perspective the effects of the social construction of gender on the workplace, and women in the

film industry. While conducting statistical data can be used in the Feminist Studies discipline.

Analyzing individual case studies, interviews, events, and stories is a lot more common in the

discipline because it allows the full story to be shown. When we are shown the full story, there

tends to be a lot more personal connection between the writer and the reader which can prompt

the reader to further explore the topic or something similar.

With the Marketing article being more empirical, that means its thinking is more based on

data. The approach that Chuu, Chnag, and Zaichkowsky took when conducting and gathering

their data is described in the Methodology section of the text. They had 438 attendees from 4

different theaters answer a questionnaire designed to test 6 different hypotheses, this

questionnaire was about 5-10 minutes long with 35 questions, and they then gathered the results

and showcased them in the Results section8. This presentation and conduction of research were

necessary for the article because not only is research about art film audiences limited but

marketers would need the necessary information to make an informed decision. If there was no

analytical data, the evidence used to explain art films, commercial films, and consumption would

not have sufficed. This is fitting because Marketing tends to determine success through numbers

and engagement hence why having analytical data to back up the article's argument is so

important.

8
Sharon L. Chuu, Jennifer C. Chang, and Judith L. Zaichkowsky, “Exploring Art Film
Audiences: A Marketing Analysis,” Journal of Promotion Management 15, no. 1–2 (2009):
218-225
 7

Conclusion

It’s important to note that while the two articles, “Working with ‘Monstrous Men’:

Ambivalent Sexism in the Bombay Film Industry” and “Exploring Art Film Audiences: A

Marketing Analysis”, tackle the same topic of the film industry the content that it talked about in

both articles are vastly different from each other due to their pertaining academic disciplines.

One tackle and dissects the sexist ideologies affecting women in the Film Industry (specifically

the Bombay Film Industry), while the other takes a look at Film Industry Marketing and how

they can target a new demographic of moviegoers. These differences aren’t only shown by their

individual topics but rather by the way they present their arguments, the intended audience they

are writing to, and the research approach used to gather evidence. Overall, it's their differences

that make them showcase their academic principles, and the methods used are fitting to their

corresponding Academic disciplines.

Bibliography

Chuu, Sharon L. H., Jennifer C. Chang, and Judith L. Zaichkowsky.

“Exploring Art Film Audiences: A Marketing Analysis.” Journal of Promotion
Management 15, no. 1–2 (2009): 212–228. https://doi.org/10.1080/10496490902835688.

Sanchez Lozoya, Zeltzyn Rubi. “Working with ‘Monstrous Men’: Ambivalent Sexism in the
Bombay Film Industry.” Feminist Media Studies 22, no. 6 (2022): 1295–1310.
https://doi-org.proxy.library.ucsb.edu/10.1080/14680777.2021.1883087.