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Tootsie Film Analysis

871 Words4 Pages

Tootsie, a critically acclaimed comedy has been a gut-splitting, yet touching film for decades. This work simultaneously delves into the critical idea of gender roles within media while maintaining the lighthearted feel of a love story. Viewers and critics around the globe even go as far as stating that such a piece is well on its way to becoming a cultural artifact. Dustin Dustin Hoffman stars in Tootsie as Michael Dorsey, an unapologetic actor in New York who is unemployable in the industry due to his temperamental past. Due to this, Michael makes the transition into a liberated and eccentric woman by the name of Dorothy in order to fill the role in a daytime Soap Opera. Being one of the first of its kind, Tootsie, strategically calls on …show more content…

To start, the down-on-his-luck actor Michael Dorsey is seen as a smooth talking, bright, and aggressive character, epitomizing a sense of masculinity from the start of the film. Some critics even goes as far as comparing Michael to Dustin Hoffman himself. This character is comprehensibly the easier of the two roles to act, but this doesn’t mean that there wasn’t an abundance of technique …show more content…

This in part, is due to Hoffman stylistically crafting Dorothy to have a straight posture, high and soft voice, and overall using fewer hand gestures and movements as compared to Michael. In the scene where Michael first transitions into Dorothy is a perfect snapshot to display Hoffman’s characterization of her. She is filmed strutting down a street, eyes set upon the camera with her posture held straight and tall. Specifically, by standing with her weight centered and her shoulders back as compared to Michael displays more of a feminine nature. In addition to just her posture, she appears to fill less space physically by limiting her hand gestures and head movements to convey a more rigid

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