Reaction Essay DIFF Short: Making the Man

Although short I found this independent film quite appropriate for the discourse concerning media literacy. In just 11 minutes, film maker John Susman
successfully shows the validity of film, or more so the lack there of. The short illustrates background editing involved with the video interview process, and the ways in which the truth is construed deceptively.

In short, the film shows the magic, so to speak, of editing and how one nervous, unconventional, “average Joe” is transformed into a dream date. The film’s title: Making the Man is thus quite right on in terms of the film’s over all message. The film is illustrative of the potential and common lack of modality created through video editing. A woman interviewer interrogates a younger male for what seems to be a desk job or similar occupation. After many fatal attempts at receiving insightful input from the interviewee, the woman asks the man to repeat after her word for word. What seems like a routine interview practice turns into the ultimate scam to take all of the repeated phrases out of context and edit the interviewee into the perfect candidate for a dating service. An example repeated phrase is: “I travel often to exotic places like Africa”. The final product’s spliced sections from the interview informs the audience as to the conventionally desired aspects of masculinity and professionalism and delete less amiable features such as nervousness and short-lived conversational skills. The movie illustrates editing’s ability to create the epitome of America’s socially constructed image of “man”.