×îÐÂÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´

Maxime Thibeault

Combined honours in Cinema and Media Studies
with Gender and Women Studies

Tell me a little bit about yourself before you started at ×îÐÂÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´.

I am very interested in stories, especially those told through books and moving image. I got it from my father, who loves to show me the movies he grew up with in the 1980's, and from my mother who showed me the greatest movie of all time, Dirty Dancing, and who continues to agree to watch any movie with me.

My parents, my sister, my cat, and the rest of my family have always been the most important and constant thing in my life. Other things I cherish, that make up the person that I am, are my friends, my girlfriend, brunch, coffee, gossip, Formula 1, pasta, and Timothée Chalamet.

Why did the Cinema and Media Studies program interest you?

I've always been very interested in consuming media and art more than working in, say, math and science. I was very good at math, but I found myself loving movies and TV shows, and being more interested in how they work.

Tell me about a difficulty you've overcome while you've been here.

English is not my first language, I'm French. Elementary and high school was all in French, and it was French at home. While I still have difficulty with writing in English I have seen a lot of progress in my writing, and articulate myself much better. 

Highlights of your coursework in Cinema and Media Studies?

I learned about so many new movies. Every single class, we never watched the same movie twice. I had no idea how many points of views there could be in cinema, it was a whole class and I pay a lot more attention to it now. Also, how the camera is angled, how the story is angled, who’s point of view we're actually talking about?

The course Studies in Film Directors taught by David Nicol. I guess kind of inspired my honors in a way. My honors focus on one study case on one TikTok ²¹³¦³¦´Ç³Ü²Ô³ÙÌýand then multiple videos, which is the same thing that we did in Studies in Film Directors. We looked at one director and watched their filmography and how they reflected their own life events.

Talk a bit about your honours thesis,
Motherhood: Or, How Not to be AloneÌý— The Value of Online Communities Told Through Mothers on TikTok.

My honors thesis is focused on motherhood in media. On Tiktok specifically. There’s not a lot that’s been done already. The mother community on Tiktok is massive. There's all these contradictions and specific categories.

My focus is how a woman is an individual before a mother, and I seek for this individualism within their creative content. What I found in my particular study case is how one can be true to oneself, their feelings towards motherhood, what they find difficult, and how they can prioritize themselves when going through tougher moments and days. It shows the reality of motherhood as challenging but still being able to do without forgetting about your own needs.

Usually in gender and women's studies class, you analyze a text and find reflections of it in real-life case studies. Doing my own research and my own data finding was really, really cool and like nothing I've ever done before. With help from Shannon Brownlee I did something that it was very new to me. I’m very proud of the final product.

Anything you would do differently?

Because I was so shy and had social anxiety, I did not join any societies or attend little events with my program. I didn't make friends until the last semester. Because I was so stressed with classes and homework, I didn't put myself out there to find others that have the same interests as me. Being more active in the ×îÐÂÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ community is something I would do different and recommend newer students at least try out.

What advice would you give to somebody starting the program or hitting their third year?

Take care of yourself first. Yes, school is big, you're paying for it. But always take care of yourself. Don't be scared to ask for help from the writing center, from your professors, from other students. It will take a lot of stress off you. Because now you understand what you're doing.

Shannon Brownlee, Roberta Barker and Claire Gray are fantastic. It’s obvious they care so much about their students and they're here to help. They're more than happy to help to answer emails, to meet with you. Do not be scared.