Alexa Hysi and Dr. Paul Stavast, Department of Anthropology
In the last decade the number of new museums and museum visitors has increased worldwide (Frey and Meier 2008, 410). Likewise, the instances of museums in family films have also increased. The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) lists 260 films since 1914 that use museums in some form in their plot. More than 140 of those movies were produced in the last 10 years. One concern with the increase in the portrayal of museums in films is the accuracy and connotation of the depictions, as inaccurate portrayals could potentially skew visitors’ perception of museums. This research sought to identify how museums are portrayed in family films in particular, as families are the primary audience of museums, to allow museums to be aware of how mass media influences museum visitors’ perceptions of museums so that museums can combat or reinforce these perceptions. This research is particularly timely as museum budgets have been hard hit over the past few years and museums need to understand how the larger public (including those that do not attend museums) views museums in order to improve advocacy efforts.
A survey of these media depictions was taken by selecting 18 films from the IMDB that met the following criteria: museum listed in description, released in the last 10 years, top 10 grossing films for the month released, family-friendly rating (G, PG, or PG-13 rating), and no “Adult” content. An additional two films were also added to the list that fit the above criteria and that were deemed pertinent to the study but were not listed on IMDB’s plot list. To evaluate the depictions each film was watched and coded for the number of instances in which museums were used or mentioned, the specific museum utilized, the type of museum utilized, the length of exposure, the connotation (whether positive or negative), and the accuracy of the portrayal. Each film was also assigned a number of keywords to help facilitate analysis and a detailed description of each scene involving the museum was recorded.
As the primary researcher, I was tasked with watching and coding each film. Prior to this project I had seen most of the films I coded and I was fairly familiar with their plots. However, during the coding process I was surprised at how many times museums were mentioned beyond the initial or main scene portraying the museum. Although these occurrences only accounted for 0.25%-7% of each film’s running time, for the majority of the films (excluding those in which the museum is the main plot, i.e., Night at the Museum) these references became integral to the film’s plot. For example, in the book turned movie, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is used as the primary setting for a scene one time in the movie, but the museum is referred to in three other instances throughout the movie, once before the main scene and twice after. In these references, particularly the two following the main depiction, ideas learned from the characters’ visit to the museum were used to explain critical plot elements.
Surprisingly, all of the films portrayed the represented museum in a generally positive way–as a venue for a valuable and unforgettable experience. However, the majority of depictions also had a negative side. For example, in Bridge to Terabitihia, the main character, Jess, has a very positive and life-changing experience at an unnamed museum with his art teacher. However, the experience becomes negative when Jess returns home to find that his best friend has drowned in a river because he chose not to take her with him to the museum. In the hit movie, Night at the Museum the American Museum of Natural History is portrayed positively. However, interactions that the main character has with the museum director, the professional face of the museum, are negative.
For the majority of the films the accuracy of the museum depiction was a fairly true to life portrayal. Interestingly, the films in which supernatural elements are used throughout the main plot the museum depiction also took on a supernatural portrayal. Also, the films in which a museum played a heavy role in the plot, such as Night at Museum and National Treasure, tended to present more fictional ideas about the museum. The relation of centrality to the plot and level of fictionalization should be examined further by the museum community. Perhaps this phenomenon is related to an underlying cultural attitude that museums can only be important as imagined places (as opposed to real places).
Further, museums that were most often depicted in the films were “superstar” museums, or those museums “that have become household names for hundreds of millions of people” (Frey and Meier 2008, 410). These superstar museums were mainly located in New York City and Washington D.C, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian Museums. A small or unnamed museum was rarely featured in any of the films. If a small museum was featured, it was featured in line with several superstar museums. This is one of the most important findings from this study as the majority of museums in the United States are small to medium-sized museums. Superstar museums make up a very small portion of the museum industry; their persistent portrayal makes them the most easily recognized and sets an expectation for museum visitors of what museums should be like. To rectify this skewed portrayal, small to medium-sized museums should either make an initiative to ensure that small museums are also portrayed in high grossing family films, or they should help museum visitors to understand that they can have a valuable museum experience at superstar museums and small to medium-sized museums.
After completing much of my research, I recently had the opportunity to visit the American Natural History Museum, the museum in which Night at the Museum was set. During my visit I noticed how many of the visitor’s notions of that particular museum were skewed by the museum’s portrayal in the movie. Several visitors were surprised that the museum’s main entrance did not actually look like the entrance portrayed in the movie. Other visitors referred to objects in the museum by the name given to the object in the movie, such as “Dum Dum” for the museum’s Easter Island Head. One little boy even commented to his mother, “Mom, did you know that all these animals come to life at night?”
These examples clearly illustrate that visitor’s notions of a museum are skewed from the portrayal of the museum in a film. From the view of the museum these portrayals can be positive and negative–positive as visitors are more excited to visit the museum and to find those things in the film, yet negative when the museum may not be able to meet expectations established by the portrayal of museums.