I heard this book described as Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics but about film and decided instantly that I wanted to read it. Ross takes his readers through a series of essays on aspects of film throughout history- technical developments, the male gaze, the depiction of human bodies, voices and fears. He discusses the use of film as propaganda and as a support of the dominant paradigm of mainly straight-white-male-creator's versions of normative society. Ross obviously loves film, but he is a very clear-eyed fan.