“What is right and real – is the storytelling”: masculinity, media and creativity
Abstract
The stereotypical view of creativity as an emblem of youth, and old age as a signifier of decline can hold grave consequences for filmmakers in the second half of life, as this misconception can result in negative attitudes, a decline in media coverage, and less funding for film production. Thus, ageing male film directors might face a collisional intersection, when the gender-based status that provides social privileges, meets with older age-based status, which leads to social weakening. This qualitative study explored the means which male directors in the second half of life use to remain creative and make films in an ageist, vastly changing world. The study is based on a dataset of transcribed semi-structured interviews with 13 well-known Israeli male directors over the age of 55. The findings led to the formation of a model of creativity in older age, which consists of the following six pathways: inspiration, adaptation, innovation, preservation, circumvention and imagination. While some of the interviewed directors emphasized their ability to change and adapt to the new cinematic world, others adhered to their old filmmaking language. The understanding of the cinematic creation as based upon the art of storytelling was common among both “camps”.
Keyword : ageism, cinema, communication, creativity, filmmaking, masculinity
How to Cite
Aharoni Lir, S., & Ayalon, L. (2022). “What is right and real – is the storytelling”: masculinity, media and creativity. Creativity Studies, 15(2), 348–363. https://doi.org/10.3846/cs.2022.15383
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
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Gallistl, V. (2018). The emergence of the creative ager – on subject cultures of late-life creativity. Journal of Aging Studies, 46, 93–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2018.07.002
Goff, K. (1992). Enhancing creativity in older adults. Journal of Creative Behavior, 26(1), 40–49. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2162-6057.1992.tb01155.x
Hickson, J., & Housley, W. (1997). Creativity in later life. Educational Gerontology, 23(6), 539–547. https://doi.org/10.1080/0360127970230604
Holton, J. A. (2007). The coding process and its challenges. In A. Bryant & K. Charmaz (Eds.). The SAGE Handbook of Grounded Theory (pp. 265–289). SAGE. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781848607941.n13
Huberman, A. M., & Miles, M. B. (Eds.). (2002). The qualitative researcher’s companion. Sage Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412986274
Hurd Clarke, L. (2018). Women, aging, and beauty culture: Navigating the social perils of looking old. Generations, 41(4), 104–108.
Lauzen, M. M. (2020). Living archive: The celluloid ceiling: Documenting two decades of women’s employment in film. https://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2020_Living_Archive_Report.pdf
Lauzen, M. M. (2011). The celluloid ceiling: Behind-the-scenes. Employment of women on the top 250 films of 2010. Report. https://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/files/2010_Celluloid_Ceiling.pdf
Levy, B. (2009). Stereotype embodiment: A psychosocial approach to aging. Current directions in Psychological Science, 18(6), 332–336. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2009.01662.x
MacLeod, K. (2015). You play your part: Older women on screen and in production. In E. Thorsen, H. Savigny, J. Alexander, & D. Jackson (Eds.), Media, margins and popular culture (pp. 28–40). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137512819_3
Miller, D. L. (2016). Gender and the artist archetype: Understanding gender inequality in artistic careers. Sociology Compass, 10(2), 119–131. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12350
Montuori, A. (2019). Creating social creativity: Integrative transdisciplinarity and the epistemology of complexity. In I. Lebuda & V. P. Glăveanu (Eds.), Palgrave studies in creativity and culture. The Palgrave handbook of social creativity research (pp. 407–430). V. P. Glăveanu & B. Wagoner (Series Eds.). Springer Nature Switzerland AG. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95498-1_25
Mulvey, L. (2006). Death 24x a second: Stillness and the moving image. Reaktion Books.
Neugarten, B. L. (1979). Time, age, and the life cycle. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 136(7), 887–894. https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.136.7.887
Oleś, P. K. (2019). The Paul Gauguin syndrome: A great life change. I. Lebuda & V. P. Glăveanu (Eds.), Palgrave studies in creativity and culture. The Palgrave Handbook of social creativity research (pp. 317–334). V. P. Glăveanu & B. Wagoner (Series Eds.). Springer Nature Switzerland AG. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95498-1_20
Ponterotto, J. G. (2006). Brief note on the origins, evolution, and meaning of the qualitative research concept “Thick Description”. The Qualitative Report, 11(3), 538–549.
Rodgers, B. L., & Cowles, K. V. (1993). The qualitative research audit trail: A complex collection of documentation. Research in Nursing and Health, 16(3), 219–226. https://doi.org/10.1002/nur.4770160309
Shaer-Meoded, I. (2016). Ignota Cinematographico: In Primis Mulierum Cinematographico in Israhel (1969–1983) [Master’s Thesis. Tel Aviv University]. Tel Aviv, Israel [unpublished source].
Sharma, Sh., & Babu, N. (2017). Interplay between creativity, executive function and working memory in middle-aged and older adults. Creativity Research Journal, 29(1), 71–77. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2017.1263512
Simonton, D. K. (1990). Creativity in the later years: Optimistic prospects for achievement. The Gerontologist, 30(5), 626–631. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/30.5.626
Spector-Mersel, G. (2006). Never-aging stories: Western hegemonic masculinity scripts. Journal of Gender Studies, 15(1), 67–82. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589230500486934
Staples, D. E. (1966–1967). The auteur theory reexamined. Cinema Journal, 6, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.2307/1225411
Stephen Follows: Film Data and Education. (2015). How old are hollywood directors? https://stephenfollows.com/how-old-are-hollywood-directors/
Tsai, K. Ch. (2013). A review of the inquiry of creativity in older adults in journals. British Journal of Education, 1(2), 20–28.
Ward Mahar, K. (2001). True womanhood in Hollywood: Gendered business strategies and the rise and fall of the woman filmmaker. Enterprise and Society, 2(1), 72–110. https://doi.org/10.1093/es/2.1.72
Aharoni Lir, Sh., & Ayalon, L. (2022a). The ethos of the auteur as father of the film craft – on masculinity, creativity and the art of filmmaking. Creativity Studies, 15(1), 130–146. https://doi.org/10.3846/cs.2022.14258
Aharoni Lir, Sh., & Ayalon, L. (2022b). The wounded lion – ageism and masculinity in the Israeli film industry. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 76472. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.756472
Angus, J., & Reeve, P. (2006). Ageism: A threat to “aging well” in the 21st century. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 25(2), 137–152. https://doi.org/10.1177/0733464805285745
Arnheim, R. (1957). Film as art. University of California Press.
Ayalon, L., Doron, I., Bodner, E., & Inbar, N. (2014). Macro- and micro-level predictors of age categorization: Results from the European Social Survey. European Journal of Ageing, 11, 5–18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-013-0282-8
Ayalon, L., & Tesch-Römer, C. (Eds.). (2018). International perspectives on aging. Contemporary perspectives on ageism (Vol. 19). J. L. Powell & Sh. Chen (Series Eds.). Springer International Publishing AG. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73820-8
Bandura, A. (Ed.). (1999). Self-efficacy in changing societies. Cambridge University Press.
Becker, H. S. (2008). Art worlds. University of California Press.
Bodner, E. (2009). On the origins of ageism among older and younger adults. International Psychogeriatrics, 21(6), 1003–1014. https://doi.org/10.1017/S104161020999055X
Burnard, Ph. (1991). A method of analysing interview transcripts in qualitative research. Nurse Education Today, 11(6), 461–466. https://doi.org/10.1016/0260-6917(91)90009-Y
Calasanti, T. (2004). Feminist gerontology and old men. Journal of Gerontology: Series B, 59(6), S305–S314. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/59.6.S305
Cera, R., Cristini, C., & Antonietti, A. (2018). Conceptions of learning, well-being, and creativity in older adults. Journal of Educational, Cultural and Psychological Studies, 18, 241–274. https://doi.org/10.7358/ecps-2018-018-cera
Colombo, B., Antonietti, A., & Daneau, B. (2018). The relationships between cognitive reserve and creativity. A study on American aging population. Frontiers in Psychology, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00764
Connell, R. (2015). Masculinities: The field of knowledge. In DQR studies in literature. Configuring masculinity in theory and literary practice (Vol. 58, pp. 39–51). S. Horlacher (Ed.). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004299009_004
Connell, R. W., & Messerschmidt, J. W. (2005). Hegemonic masculinity: Rethinking the concept. Gender and Society, 19(6), 829–859. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243205278639
Cristini, C., & Cesa-Bianchi, M. (2019). Culture, creativity and quality of life in old age. In A. Bianco, P. Conigliaro, & M. Gnaldi (Eds.), Social indicators research series. Italian studies on quality of life (Vol. 77, pp. 243–253). A. C. Michalos (Series Ed.). Springer Nature Switzerland AG. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-06022-0_16
Eisler, R., Donnelly, G., & Montuori, A. (2016). Creativity, society, and gender: Contextualizing and redefining creativity. Interdisciplinary Journal of Partnership Studies, 3(2). https://doi.org/10.24926/ijps.v3i2.130
Elefant, L., Konor-Attias, E., Hasson, Y., & Dagan-Buzaglo, N. (2021). The celluloid ceiling: A gender-based analysis of the Israeli Film industry. https://adva.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/celluloid-ceiling-en.pdf
Flood, M., & Phillips, K. D. (2007). Creativity in older adults: A plethora of possibilities. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 28(4), 389–411. https://doi.org/10.1080/01612840701252956
Gallistl, V. (2018). The emergence of the creative ager – on subject cultures of late-life creativity. Journal of Aging Studies, 46, 93–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2018.07.002
Goff, K. (1992). Enhancing creativity in older adults. Journal of Creative Behavior, 26(1), 40–49. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2162-6057.1992.tb01155.x
Hickson, J., & Housley, W. (1997). Creativity in later life. Educational Gerontology, 23(6), 539–547. https://doi.org/10.1080/0360127970230604
Holton, J. A. (2007). The coding process and its challenges. In A. Bryant & K. Charmaz (Eds.). The SAGE Handbook of Grounded Theory (pp. 265–289). SAGE. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781848607941.n13
Huberman, A. M., & Miles, M. B. (Eds.). (2002). The qualitative researcher’s companion. Sage Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412986274
Hurd Clarke, L. (2018). Women, aging, and beauty culture: Navigating the social perils of looking old. Generations, 41(4), 104–108.
Lauzen, M. M. (2020). Living archive: The celluloid ceiling: Documenting two decades of women’s employment in film. https://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2020_Living_Archive_Report.pdf
Lauzen, M. M. (2011). The celluloid ceiling: Behind-the-scenes. Employment of women on the top 250 films of 2010. Report. https://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/files/2010_Celluloid_Ceiling.pdf
Levy, B. (2009). Stereotype embodiment: A psychosocial approach to aging. Current directions in Psychological Science, 18(6), 332–336. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2009.01662.x
MacLeod, K. (2015). You play your part: Older women on screen and in production. In E. Thorsen, H. Savigny, J. Alexander, & D. Jackson (Eds.), Media, margins and popular culture (pp. 28–40). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137512819_3
Miller, D. L. (2016). Gender and the artist archetype: Understanding gender inequality in artistic careers. Sociology Compass, 10(2), 119–131. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12350
Montuori, A. (2019). Creating social creativity: Integrative transdisciplinarity and the epistemology of complexity. In I. Lebuda & V. P. Glăveanu (Eds.), Palgrave studies in creativity and culture. The Palgrave handbook of social creativity research (pp. 407–430). V. P. Glăveanu & B. Wagoner (Series Eds.). Springer Nature Switzerland AG. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95498-1_25
Mulvey, L. (2006). Death 24x a second: Stillness and the moving image. Reaktion Books.
Neugarten, B. L. (1979). Time, age, and the life cycle. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 136(7), 887–894. https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.136.7.887
Oleś, P. K. (2019). The Paul Gauguin syndrome: A great life change. I. Lebuda & V. P. Glăveanu (Eds.), Palgrave studies in creativity and culture. The Palgrave Handbook of social creativity research (pp. 317–334). V. P. Glăveanu & B. Wagoner (Series Eds.). Springer Nature Switzerland AG. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95498-1_20
Ponterotto, J. G. (2006). Brief note on the origins, evolution, and meaning of the qualitative research concept “Thick Description”. The Qualitative Report, 11(3), 538–549.
Rodgers, B. L., & Cowles, K. V. (1993). The qualitative research audit trail: A complex collection of documentation. Research in Nursing and Health, 16(3), 219–226. https://doi.org/10.1002/nur.4770160309
Shaer-Meoded, I. (2016). Ignota Cinematographico: In Primis Mulierum Cinematographico in Israhel (1969–1983) [Master’s Thesis. Tel Aviv University]. Tel Aviv, Israel [unpublished source].
Sharma, Sh., & Babu, N. (2017). Interplay between creativity, executive function and working memory in middle-aged and older adults. Creativity Research Journal, 29(1), 71–77. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2017.1263512
Simonton, D. K. (1990). Creativity in the later years: Optimistic prospects for achievement. The Gerontologist, 30(5), 626–631. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/30.5.626
Spector-Mersel, G. (2006). Never-aging stories: Western hegemonic masculinity scripts. Journal of Gender Studies, 15(1), 67–82. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589230500486934
Staples, D. E. (1966–1967). The auteur theory reexamined. Cinema Journal, 6, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.2307/1225411
Stephen Follows: Film Data and Education. (2015). How old are hollywood directors? https://stephenfollows.com/how-old-are-hollywood-directors/
Tsai, K. Ch. (2013). A review of the inquiry of creativity in older adults in journals. British Journal of Education, 1(2), 20–28.
Ward Mahar, K. (2001). True womanhood in Hollywood: Gendered business strategies and the rise and fall of the woman filmmaker. Enterprise and Society, 2(1), 72–110. https://doi.org/10.1093/es/2.1.72