Ageism and gender through the mirror:  the case of Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022)

Abstract: In the tradition of western film sector, the mirror has played different roles, from displayingrepresentations of the female body that subsumes into the satisfaction of the male eye toprojecting gendered standards that have taken part in the construction of Western socialimaginaries. Since the motion picture sector is a form of public discourse that influences andshapes beliefs, imagery and cultural practices of a given society, this thesis puts underscrutiny the relation to the mirror in both symbolic and material perspectives through the casestudy of the main mirror scenes of Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022). By combininggender sensitive analysis and compositional interpretation methodologies, this thesis showsthe potential of the mirror as an instrument of change and empowerment in relation to genderand ageism. It demonstrates that employing the mirror through a feminist lens enables the denormalisation of negative stereotypes of bodily appearance that are scarcely representedonscreen, as it is the case of aged female bodies. Simultaneously, it renegotiates therelationship between youth and adulthood and disrupts hegemonic representations ofmasculinity. This master’s thesis offers a new feminist perspective of non-normative bodilyappearances using the mirror as the main source of analysis.