Understanding Grief and Symbolism in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Abstract

Grief is an intense feeling of loss. Studies on grief have often taken gender and psychological perspectives. This investigation adds to this extant body of literature, specifically scrutinizing the reactions of the characters in the movie Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) [1] to grief. It aims to analyze angerrelated tensions portrayed through symbolism and the violent outpouring of grief by the major characters of the movie. This study uses the qualitative research methodology to analyze data collected from particular scenes of the movie. This examination reveals that the male and female characters in the movie behave beyond the gender stereotypes that often describe males as more composed and restrained in their expressions of grief than women, who are said to be more openly articulate. Also, grief is symbolized in this film through the presence of specific elements such as the deer and the fire. Finally, this study also demonstrates two similarities that exist across gender constructs in the reactions to grief portrayed in the movie. Thus, the portrayal of grief in the movie is found to indicate that the American film industry no longer subscribes to clear-cut gender stereotypes in its depictions of bereavement.