WEEKEND FILM ANALYSIS

'Weekend' (2011) is a romantic drama directed by Andrew Haigh , the film explores the sudden relationship sparked between two homosexual men and how their relationship develops and progresses over a weekend, providing the audience with a detailed and at times intrusive insight into the various elements contained within their relationship. Including major themes such as acceptance allowed the film to accurately portray the struggle many homosexual men may face due to an underlying stigma surrounding the topic , this stigma created and continuously projected through various sources in society, the defined outline of masculinity contributing to many men unable to accept their sexuality. I personally think the film effectively reflected the controversy often associated with this particular topic, elements such as the cinematography were very effective in provoking a reaction from the audience due to the intimacy between the two main characters being shown in its true light. The cinematography displayed within the film was key in emphasizing this often unspoken of topic, focussed lengthy shots were used through out the film in order to create a sense of awkwardness among audience members, mirroring the awkwardness of the topic and leaving us in thought , causing audience members to think if we would react the same to a scene featuring a heterosexual couple. Due to constant exposure and consumption of media many people have become desensitized to how men and women are portrayed in the majority of  media texts , men often portrayed in a very dominant masculine manner , juxtaposed to this women are often objectified and sexualised. With reference to the hypodermic needle theory this constant injection of stereotypical gender roles through the media results in many people assuming that their sexuality must fall into one category , meaning masses of people feel unable to explore or express their sexuality due to fear of not being accepted by society. 'Weekend' perfectly exemplifies many of the elements and challenges included within being a homosexual man in the modern day, as well as detailing many of the similarities between heterosexual and homosexual relationships.