When the inmates were interviewed, they revealed the expectations of men in their household and, therefore, depicting societal expectations that led to a path of violence and negativity, subsequently, making them criminals. The editors sequence the shots of the inmates in a way in which one inmate starts off by telling the interviewee the most common and known expectations of men and slowly build-up to the more serious issues that boys/men experience in order to meet these expectations and if not possible, they have to resort to violence in order to solve their problems and feel powerful. Since there are frequent shots of the same group of inmates revealing the different expectations, it displays that there are many societal expectations of men and issues faced by men in order to meet these expectations. At the end of this interview, the scene is ended with the last shot fading out, thus, leaving the audience time to digest the consequences of these expectations and how continuing to pressure boys to comply with these expectations can seriously harm their well-being and future. Through these cinematographic effects, the documentary successfully makes use of the interview where it is able to send a message across to the audience regarding the severity of the issue.

What was the documentary’s most powerful scene for you?

I believe that the most powerful scene was the introduction of the documentary with George Orwell’s quote, “He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it”.  George Orwell was a novelist where his work was characterized by challenging societal norms and social criticism. Subsequently,  by starting the documentary with his quote, it makes the meaning of the documentary more powerful. Additionally, this quote not only tells the audience the situation in the past with the expectations of men, but it also reveals that the same issue occurs in today’s modern society where boys wear a mask from a very young age and choose to pursue that identity when they grow up in order to meet societal expectations of what a man is meant to be.

Do you think that the documentary is accurate in its portrayal of this topic?  Why/why not?

I believe that the documentary is quite accurate in its portrayal of this topic of masculinity as well as the causes and consequences of them because the consequences are quite noticeable around the world, especially in the US. Although the documentary is centered around the American civilization, it can be related to other communities with their own set of expectations. For instance, in Asia, a man is typically considered powerful if they are smart and knowledgeable, and the consequences of these expectations are similar, where they resort to violence in order to feel powerful.  However, as of 2020, I believe that the situation has improved due to more education on mental health as well as personal and social education in order to decrease the tendencies of suicides amongst people especially the younger generation.