Gender Roles in a Children’s Movie

            In Monsters Inc., there are many different characters who have traits unique to themselves. For example, Sully, one of the main characters, is a giant teddy bear. He looks like a monster, very large and scary, yet he is caring and has a soft side. Mike Wazowski is another main character who again is scary and a monster, but he is not always like that. The big, scary monsters are even scared at a few different points in the movie. The two main characters portray themselves as intimidating monsters, seemingly as a strong male character. Boo, a main female character, is one of the main reasons the softer sides of characters come out. Boo is seen as a helpless little girl who is expected to be scared of everything, especially Sully and Mike. On the contrary though, Boo is not intimidated by the monsters, but she finds joy in them and befriends them. Boo goes against the assumed role that she would play in the movie and acts quite unlike the little girl that her character is. Roz is another female character in the movie, portrayed as an old, grumpy lady. This portrayal goes almost hand in hand with her actual character, the person who checks everyone into and out of work. Roz also does not take any tomfoolery from anyone, not even Mike when he tries. Despite Monsters, Inc. being a very old movie and one that is shown to quite young kids, the portrayal of gender within the movie can be seen as many characters go against the assumed way they would act from their appearance.