On children's media and plot structure
So I've been mulling something over.
In boy movies the (boy) protagonist is driven by his desire to accomplish his goal (be that becoming a dragon rider, or a mighty adventurer, etc etc) and it's through his unyielding drive for this dream that he gains the respect and admiration of his peers and/or gets the love interest (via impressing her so much with his awesomeness that she just has to get with him by the end of the movie.) The side characters are generally devoid of internal lives, instead seemingly existing only to be a minor obstacle for the protagonist, first to put him down and later to be shown his incredible skills and become impressed with him. Interpersonal relationships are often presented as shallow, save between the protagonist and his father figure/mentor. (Examples being: How to Train Your Dragon, Ratatouille, Kung-Fu Panda)
In girl movies the (girl) protagonist is driven by her desire to accomplish whatever, but through the course of the film she learns to reconcile her goal with her love live until the two become inseparable and her goal becomes meaningless without her love interest there as well. Side characters tend to have more characterization, sometimes in the form of a goal independent of the protagonist. Most importantly, interpersonal relationships are a major component of the story: who is an ally, who knows what information, antagonists are more likely to be manipulative of the people around them rather than blunt forces of evil. Interpersonal conflict is a large source of tension in the narrative, especially as the protagonist and the love interest navigate their growing feelings for one another. (Examples being: The Princess and the Frog, Beauty and the Beast, Mulan--almost any recent Disney princess, really)
Obviously there are exceptions to this. In Enchanted Giselle's goal was her love life, but through the course of the film she grows past that and by the end she's (possibly, most likely) with her love interest, but what we know for sure is that she's opened a successful clothing boutique. In Wall-E, the title character is rewarded for his unyielding drive for his goal, but that goal is to find love and beauty in the world, which are not the cultural norm for male desires.
Also, there's an entire sub-genre of boy movies where the focus is on the protagonist learning to reconcile his desired life with a potentially more meaningful life including his newly met partner, and those are, like, buddy cop movies. Platonic bro friendship stories. (Like Shanghai Noon, or Toy Story.)
Of course, it's difficult for me to really hammer out this hypothesis as I consume as much non-American media as I do American, and I'm loathe to attach American cultural norms to a movie from England or Japan. So it's difficult for me to properly observe the pattern when I only deal with a fairly small sample size.
In boy movies the (boy) protagonist is driven by his desire to accomplish his goal (be that becoming a dragon rider, or a mighty adventurer, etc etc) and it's through his unyielding drive for this dream that he gains the respect and admiration of his peers and/or gets the love interest (via impressing her so much with his awesomeness that she just has to get with him by the end of the movie.) The side characters are generally devoid of internal lives, instead seemingly existing only to be a minor obstacle for the protagonist, first to put him down and later to be shown his incredible skills and become impressed with him. Interpersonal relationships are often presented as shallow, save between the protagonist and his father figure/mentor. (Examples being: How to Train Your Dragon, Ratatouille, Kung-Fu Panda)
In girl movies the (girl) protagonist is driven by her desire to accomplish whatever, but through the course of the film she learns to reconcile her goal with her love live until the two become inseparable and her goal becomes meaningless without her love interest there as well. Side characters tend to have more characterization, sometimes in the form of a goal independent of the protagonist. Most importantly, interpersonal relationships are a major component of the story: who is an ally, who knows what information, antagonists are more likely to be manipulative of the people around them rather than blunt forces of evil. Interpersonal conflict is a large source of tension in the narrative, especially as the protagonist and the love interest navigate their growing feelings for one another. (Examples being: The Princess and the Frog, Beauty and the Beast, Mulan--almost any recent Disney princess, really)
Obviously there are exceptions to this. In Enchanted Giselle's goal was her love life, but through the course of the film she grows past that and by the end she's (possibly, most likely) with her love interest, but what we know for sure is that she's opened a successful clothing boutique. In Wall-E, the title character is rewarded for his unyielding drive for his goal, but that goal is to find love and beauty in the world, which are not the cultural norm for male desires.
Also, there's an entire sub-genre of boy movies where the focus is on the protagonist learning to reconcile his desired life with a potentially more meaningful life including his newly met partner, and those are, like, buddy cop movies. Platonic bro friendship stories. (Like Shanghai Noon, or Toy Story.)
Of course, it's difficult for me to really hammer out this hypothesis as I consume as much non-American media as I do American, and I'm loathe to attach American cultural norms to a movie from England or Japan. So it's difficult for me to properly observe the pattern when I only deal with a fairly small sample size.