In the film multiple female characters are involved, the character of Sian represents how women are traditionally expected to be a housewife and forced to be of lower status in terms of society in comparison to men. In the scene where Sian is cooking in the kitchen and being told off by her husband, highlights how women are ordered around and controlled by their husbands and are archaically expected to complete certain jobs that are deemed womanly, for example cooking, cleaning and bearing children.
Her appearance is old fashioned to reflect the old fashioned values she holds. Her body is completely covered in clothing, her clothing is inconspicuous and muted due to the dark and grim colours of her clothing, this is a common clothing theme for women throughout the film. However the muted colour scheme could be a means of representing the fact Sian is, at the beginning of the film, almost forbidden from expressing herself and her opinions on the gays.
In the first scene that Sian really comes out of her shell is when she speaks out in front of the community board, she says;
"I’m sorry, but everyone’s saying they don’t have a problem. Good. They’ve raised the most money so - Invite them."
She breaks character in this scene and we as the audience get the impression that she's never spoken out before in front of these people. This is indicated by Hefina's reaction, who asks
"And who the bloody hell are you?"
Hefina's reaction suggests she holds a figure of authority in the community, or, as Sian refers to her, being the "head honcho".
Latika is the main female character in the film. The Male Gaze theory can be applied to Latika as the films director is male. The Male Gaze theory means that Latika is shot by the camera in a way to appease the male audience of the film and as a character her function is to only serve the males characters in the film. For example in the train scene;
In this scene Latika is shot in a way that would appease the male audience, the part of the scene that shows this is at the 30 second mark. To appease the male audience the camera focuses on her body and facial features, the un natural backlighting behind her helps to amplify her features making them more noticeable. Latika is looking straight at the camera and smiling which breaks the 4th wall between character and audience helping create a direct address with the male audience.
Latika fits Propp's character type of "The Prize" or "The Princess" as her purpose is to be rescued by Jamal and to act like a prize for Jamal after he overcomes the obstacles and completes his journey throughout the film, this happens in the film when Jamal rescues Latika and finishes the film with the romantic kiss and the "Happily Ever After" ending. As a character Latika doesn't have a lot of depth because she isn't involved in a lot of scenes and doesn't say a lot in the scenes she is involved in. She is a passive character as she has things done to her for example; kidnapped, forced into prostitution, etc.) and she doesn't control what happens to her unless she is helped by a male character for example; when Salim helps her escape to meet Jamal.
Even when Latika is young her character is still not aloud to make decisions and they have to be made by a male character. For example in this scene:
Even when she is standing in the rain she cannot take shelter unless a male character says so, which is what happens in this scene, showing further that she relies on the male characters.
As a single representation of women, Latika shows how women in the film are reliant on men to make their decisions and that women need men to rescue them and help them, for example when Latika is kidnapped and when she needs Salim's help to escape and cannot do it on her own. Latika represents Indian culture as she represents it, the cultural belief of India is that women are subservient to men, which is shown throughout the film and the selected scenes as Latika relies on the male characters and needs their help/support.
1:17 - 1:24
In this scene Jamal and Latika finally reunite in the adult years for the first time in Latika's house where she lives and is owned by the gangster Javed who is now aided by Salim. This scene depicts Latika as possession of men, purely to be owned with no choice of her own. She is quite obviously scared of Javed, constantly warning Jamal to leave and save himself from Javed if he were to find out who he really is. Throughout the film, Latika fits Propp's character type's description of 'the princess', her sole purpose in the film is to be saved by Jamal from the 'bad guys'. There is no real character development the way there is with Jamal or Salim, she served to as a vehicle to push the plot along and act as a prize for Jamal when he completes his journey.
In this scene, when in the presence of Javed, Latika shrinks her body into itself and makes herself physically smaller, inferring her inferiority in comparison to the strong man. She becomes a typical housewife character whereby she is forced to cook/prepare food for Javed who believes she should conform to the stereotypical roles of the woman within Indian society which is to please the man.
However, in a way, her telling Jamal to leave so that he is not hurt by Javed or his gang challenges this perception as she shows bravery, potentially sacrificing herself for the safety of the man she loves. It is a role reversal, however it does not last long as she soon becomes the victim of male superiority again when she is taken and cut on her face by the men who work for her 'owner'.
Crew:
Directed by Danny Boyle
Written by Simon Beaufoy
Produced by Christian Colson
How it came together:
The writer wrote the film with the intentions of wanting "to get (across) the sense of this huge amount of fun, laughter, chat, and sense of community that is in these slums. What you pick up on is this mass of energy." which is what he tried to do when writing about life in the slums. He also took Three research trips to India whilst writing the film to try and add a sense of realism to the film. Casting:
Dev Platel - Older Jamal
Saurabh Shukla - Sergeant Srinivas
Anil Kapoor - Prem
Freida Pinto - Older Lakita
Irrfan Kahn - Police inspector
Problems whilst making the movie and after production:
The movie was almost never released in cinema.
Changing the films plot from 12 short stories to one film plot.
The film challenged the realism of what life is like in India to be poor and live in the slums, however this caused criticism towards the film as people began to doubt the realism of the films portrayal of urban poverty in India.
The film also faced criticism after being accused of fuelling Western stereotypes about poverty in India.
Indian people also argued that the name of the film "Slumdog" is a reference to India people hinting they are dogs and Nicholas Almeida protested to have the word "dog" out of the films title.
Representation By Steve Baker Published 2007 "Mediation 1. Selection - Whatever ends up on the screen or in the paper, much more will have been left out - any news story has been selected from hundreds of others which the producers decided for you were less interesting, any picture has been chosen from an enormous number of alternatives. D1
2. Organisation: The various elements will be organised carefully in ways that reveal life is not: in visual media this involves mise-en-scene and the organisation of narrative, in the recording of an album the production might involve remixing a track. Any medium you can think of will have an equivalent to these. This organisation of the material will result in... D2
3. Focusing: mediation always ends up with us, the audience being encouraged towards concentrating on one aspect of the text and ignoring others. If you are watching a film the camera will pan towards an important character, in a tabloid the headlines will scream, for your attention. It can be easy to ignore how different from our everyday lives this is. If you are walking through a field, you are unlikely to see a sign saying "look at this amazing tree." You make your own decisions about what is worth our attention. The media text, through mediation tries to do this for us." D3
"Any representation is a mixture of: 1. The thing itself. 2. The opinion of the people doing the representation. 3. The reaction of the individual to the representation. 4. The context of the society in which the representation is taking place." D4
"Here are some things that are generally agreed to be part of the dominant ideology in Britain:
People should put their families first.
People should work for their money and not show off too much about how much they have.
Women should behave modestly
Women should look after their appearance." D5
Appearance - this can include, physical appearance and clothing as well as the sound of the voice. e.g. "all teachers wear dreadful clothes".
Behaviour - typical things that people in this group might do. "Grannies like to knit".
The stereotype is constructed in ways that fit the particular medium.
There will always be a comparison whether real or imaginary with "normal" behaviour." D6
Hegemony
The hegemonic model says that the ruling classes maintain their power through control of ideas rather than force. In hegemony, the ruling classes, govern by consensus: they control the way the media represents the world so as to influence the way people think about the world, and the ruling class. This can become a running battle between rivals. " D7
"This is the age of the moral panic Newspaper headlines continually warn of some new danger resulting from moral laxity" C1
"moral panics are nothing new" C2
"almost anything can spark off a panic" C3
"people to describe the increasingly rapid succession of scares in the mass media about risks to the social and moral order" C4
"play on the fears of those who feel anxious about mounting risks. Whilst professional groups with an interest in making claims for more resources (eg the police, social workers and teachers) have often been prepared to provide evidence of crisis" C5
"The first is that they take the form of campaigns (crusades), which are sustained over a period, however short or long. Second, they appeal to people who are alarmed by an apparent fragmentation or breakdown of the social order" C6
"society is now more moral place than it was" C7
"When morality us no longer a question of a few basic rules, authoritatively pronounced on by politicians and church leaders, then society has to argue, debate, negotiate and renegotiate" C8
"play on the fears of those who feel anxious about mounting risks." C9
"Moral panics are often symptoms of tensions and struggles over changes in cultural and moral regulation" C10
"The Role of Stereotypes" By Richard Dyer Published 1998
"The word stereotype is today almost always a term of abuse. This stems from the wholly justified objections of various groups -- in recent years, blacks, women and gays, in particular -- to the ways in which they find themselves stereotypes in the mass media and in everyday speech." B1
"It is the guarantee of our self-respect; it is the projection upon the world of our own sense of our own value, our own position and our own rights"B2
"AN ORDERING PROCESS
stereotypes as a form of 'ordering' the mass of complex and inchoate data that we receive from the world are only particular form -- to do with the representation and categorization of persons"B3
"part of the way societies make sense of themselves"B4
"not only is any given society's given ordering of reality an historical product but it is also necessarily implicated in the power relations in that society -- as Berger as Luckman put it, 'he who has the bigger stick has the better chance of imposing his definitions of reality'"B5
"A SHORTCUT
easily-grasped form of representation but none the less capable of condensing a great deal of complex information and a host of connotations"B6
"REFERENCE
as a projection on to the 'world"
"In this perspective, stereotypes are a particular subcategory of a broader category of fictional characters"B7
"The type is any character constructed through the use of a few immediately recognizable and defining traits"B8
"the most important function of the stereotype: to maintain sharp boundary definitions. To define clearly where the pale ends and thus who is clearly within and who clearly beyond it."B9
This article is about a elderly couple who were harassed by a woman. The woman caused serious damage to their home and also threatened to kill the couple. This article uses images and videos of the woman showing her breaking into the couples house, etc. The images are from a CCTV camera. The article puts the blame of the violent acts/harassment on the mental state of the woman saying:
"Defending Robertson, Sue Mugford said she was being treated for mental health issues and over recent weeks was being looked after and given medication from care team CRISIS.
She said: 'The medication is helping her mood stability and improving her health.
'Miss Robertson says she is benefiting from this medication and the thoughts and moods that she had previously are stabilising.
'She's complying fully with all that's been asked of her."
This article itself is a single representation of mental health as the woman
Norman Bates from the film Psycho is a single representation of mental illness, this is because his character in the film suffers from schizophrenia. I this scene Norman has been arrested and is sitting in his cell, thinking to himself in his mother's voice.
The voice the audience hear isn't that of a young man who Norman is but instead of a older woman, this shows the audience how its the Mother side if Norman that is currently thinking and it shows how Norman suffers from a mental illness as he isn't just him but also his Mother, which is a split personality which is a trait of someone who suffers from schizophrenia.
During the film Norman and his Mother (being the same person) are both the villain or antagonist according to Propp's character types, due to Norman being the killer who is controlled by his Mother and he eventually kills the protagonist.
In the beginning of the scene Norman is given a blanket, in which he replies "Thank you" in a woman's voice showing his Mother side. As the scene continues the camera tracks forward towards Norman's face, eventually ending in a CU, he looks directly down the camera with a sinister smile, the smile is almost evil and scary as the Mother in him is thinking that she will not be blamed for the murders but instead Norman will also highlighting he is the villain.
The scene continues with the Mother saying that she is being watched as a fly lands on her hand, she says "She wouldn't even harm a fly", which is the Mother continuing to convince herself of her innocence and that she is not the blame and that by just sitting their she is fooling the police officers. This represents people who suffer from a mental illness as feeling no empathy or remorse for what they do, however this is true but not completely as people with mental illness' only show less empathy than a mentally stable person but just not none at all.
During the end of the scene the camera fades out from the CU of Normans face, whilst this is happening a skeleton face takes the place of Norman's face, the face is of Normans Mother's dead body, this indicated that Norman now is Mother and that side of him has now taken over.
This is a negative representation of mental illness as it shows people with schizophrenia to be psychopathic killers as the character of Norman is a single representation of the stereotype as throughout the film he takes part in violent murders. It is also negative due to Norman being the antagonist of the film.
This article talks about the rise of murders caused by mental health in 2009 and makes a prediction that the murders will only increase with years to come. This links to the quote A6 that "There must be a measurable increase in the level of anxiety arising from the conviction that a group’s behaviours pose a substantial threat to society", this is because the article shows figures that indicate the life threatening behaviour of people who suffer from mental health which links to the quote because the article itself makes the point that the behaviour of people with a mental illness are a threat to society.
This article is about a woman who harassed a elderly couple over the colour of their house, the woman is said to have suffered from a mental illness that has caused this to happen and is now being treated.
In this article a man who was in court due to alcoholism and violence claims, is labelled as mentally ill for his reasoning to why these claims are bestowed upon him.
The character of Jordan Belford from The Wolf On Wall Street suffers from a substance addiction. However the addicted is glorified even though it eventually leads to his down fall.
Representing fear - moral panics in the press and online
Moral Panic:
"an instance of public anxiety or alarm in response to a problem regarded as threatening the moral standards of society." A1
Jock Young
A condition, episode, a person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests A2 ways of coping are evolved or (more often) resorted to; the condition then disappears, submerges or deteriorates and becomes more visible. A3 the panic passes over and is forgotten, except in folklore and collective memory; at other times it has more serious and long lasting repercussions and might produce such changes A4
Erich Goode and Nachman Ben-Yehuda
includes a comprehensive analysis of the typical characteristics of many moral panics. Increasingly used as a frame for studying the phenomenon, this conceptualisation became known by some scholars as the attributional model, A5
1. Concern. There must be a measurable increase in the level of anxiety arising
from the conviction that a group’s behaviours pose a substantial threat to
society, a response seen by those who experience it as a reasonable reaction to a definite social menace. A6
2. Hostility. The source of the alleged social menace must be viewed with enmity
or resentment as a readily identifiable group independently responsible for the danger its behaviours pose to society. A7
3. Consensus. Substantial agreement that a threat to society exists need not
be achieved throughout society, but must be achieved within a segment of
the public large or powerful enough to defuse opposition to its preferred definitions or policies. A8
4. Disproportionality. The intensity of public concern over a perceived social
threat must be out of proportion to the measurable or demonstrable level of danger posed. A9
5. Volatility. Moral panics tend to arise suddenly and dissipate quickly,
sometimes leaving behind enduring social change" A10
"Reservoir Dogs has a non-linear narrative telling the story of a failed diamond heist."
"Another cut to a scene which at first sight is a little confusing (a feature of a non-linear narrative) of Mr White driving a car at some speed with Mr Orange in the back screaming in agony, blood literally gushing out of his stomach, where he has been shot."
Following conventions:
"Reservoir Dogs fits the tradition that gangster films are generally made on lower budgets"
"The scene then cuts to the opening credits, with the now iconic image of the gang, dressed mostly in suits and sunglasses walking in slow motion"
"In terms of conforming to the conventions of the gangster genre, most of the ingredients are in place. The look of the film or mise-en-scène conforms to the gangster genre; it has very naturalistic lighting, an urban setting, suits, guns, blood etc. The dialogue is realistic colloquial language, known to gangster films."
"Reservoir Dogs is an extremely violent film, again a convention that audiences have come to expect from gangster films"
The film Reservoir Dogs doesn't follow the conventions of ordinary narrative, therefore the film has a alternative narrative. This is because the film doesn't follow Todorov's theory of narrative - Equilibrium, disruption of the Equilibrium, recognition of disruption, attempt to repair and the Equilibrium or the re-instated Equilibrium - however the film does follow Todorov's theory to a extent. To follow the theory completely the invents that take place have to happened in chronological order like Todorov's theory but in the Reservoir Dogs the events are not in chronological order.
There are multiple different conventions Gangster films have to follow for the film to be considered as part of that genre. Reservoir dogs does follow a vast majority of those conventions, for example a key prop that is used throughout the gangster genre is guns, this is because gangster films usually involve a lot of violence. Reservoir Dogs follows these conventions by containing a large amount of violence, this is backed up by Tina Dixon in here article - "Reservoir Dogs is an extremely violent film, again a convention that audiences have come to expect from gangster films, culminating in Mr Blonde's torture of a young police officer. This is a scene that is excruciatingly painful to watch: the sight of a young police officer tied to a chair, begging and pleading for his life, whilst a cool Mr Blonde douses him in petrol while dancing to Stealers Wheel's 'Stuck in the Middle With You'. At the end of the scene he sadistically slices off the police officer's ear."
With reference to your own detailed examples, discuss how the same media text can attract a range of different responses. (16)
All texts are influenced by their target audience, the encoder of the text has to the target audience into consideration when encoding the text. The response from the audience however is influenced by the audience's experiences, situation and gender. The Uses and Gratifications model dictates that there are 4 four different reasons why someone would consume a text these are; personal identification, information, entertainment and social interaction. Therefore responses to a text will be based upon these appeals.
For example in the TV show 'Skint' provides the audience with a form of entertainment and also social interaction as the show is heavily watched by a mass audience, they could respond by discussing with others as they themselves are watching how others live. The show may also give a sense of escapism as the audience get to watch someone else's life in the happening. Therefore a media text can gain multiple responses as it fulfils multiple needs.
Situated Culture >>> Another text that may give a sense of escapism is the film The Avengers as the film is set in a different World with superheroes, etc. The film also uses a lot of CGI and relies on that, the use of CGI and other special effects give the audience a new cinematic experience, an aesthetic sensation. In the right environment the audience would take a Preferred Reading and enjoy the movie as a spectacle - however a negotiated reading might be taken if the film were experienced on a small screen and if the viewer were constantly distracted.
The video game Call Of Duty would cause audiences to respond by interacting as the audience themselves are the ones in control of essentially what happens. However some audiences would take a oppositional reading and have a negative response, for example gender can play a part with the game itself being based around a male audience with the choice of players being male. A male audience would be able to personally identify with the game as they share the same gender as the players involved and they may look up to them etc. Also the actual sport the game is about is stereotypically male. But a female audience to take a oppositional reading as the game itself has been encoded for a male audience and the sport is stereotypically male.
The first text is a internet article about a group of students who tried to enter a night club, but they were told no because the club had a rule on the amount of black people who were in the club on a single night. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3090699/Student-claims-bouncer-barred-friends-nightclub-black.html)
The article compares the incident to the treating of black people during the 1960's, from a quote from one of the victims Kosi Orah; "It was sickening... it was like the kind of incident you heard about happening in parts of America in the 1960's". The comparing of the incident to extreme racism in the 60's helps put the audience into perspective about how serious and offensive the incident was for the offended. The text also includes a video of the incident with the bouncer of the night club giving his reasons for not allowing the group of boys to enter and also quotes from the incident.
The article has highlighted that the police are issuing an arrest pending further investigation, showing how racism isn't tolerated in our modern society. The seriousness of how the incident has been handled shows how racism is not accepted anymore and more people are becoming aware of how it needs to be obliterated.
The paper (encoder of the text) has took a serious approach to racism showing they are against it as they are outlining the mass negative it is, along with this incident the internet article has links to other articles that are based on a similar subject.
Another text that wants to obliterate racism is a video from the European Football Federation UEFA - https://youtu.be/VZ-63TwoL1g.
The video published on UEFA's official YouTube account, involves a series of different iconic footballers (male and female) with their own ethnical backgrounds and faith all sharing the same ideology, that racism needs to be kicked out of football. The video wants to get the message across that as a sport football should take on the responsibility to help stop racism
Different peoples ethnicity and background effect the way they are shown throughout the media. For example, in the film The Green Mile the character John Coffey by Michael Clarke Duncan represents coloured american in the films setting the 1930's.
The character of John Coffey is arrested under the accusation of murdering two young girls, however during the course of the film Coffey is found to be innocent and is not to blame, the blame could potentially be down to his colour as during the time of the film African Americans were discriminated because of their skin colour. The appearance of his character is that of the stereotypical black american, with a huge physic and muscular build.
However his personality and behavior do not align with his size and ethical background, for example he is scared of the dark. This goes against his appearance which stereo typically would cause him to be brave, aggressive, etc. His actual part in the film is a central part as most of the narrative is based around him, however he doesn't speak as often as possible.
The white characters in the film like Percy speak down to John and often use racist language towards him, this is a reflection of the time of the film as many people were against coloured people at the time and often viewed themselves as above them, however in recent time that is not the case.
The video game Mafia 2 is set in the same place America, however in a different time zone. The game follows a linear narrative involving an Italian Vito Scaletta (an Italian immigrant) who travels to America after the second World War. He represents what a lot of people did during the back drop of the second World War and that is to go to America to live the so called 'American dream' by having a; home, family, steady job, etc. However his story doesn't plan out this way as he eventually leads a life of crime by joining the Mafia.
Vito represents Italians on a whole as his appearance follows that of stereotypical gangster/Italian, with a smart suit and tie, black slicked back hair and a fairly tanned skin tone. In other media texts like the film The Godfather - which is also about the Mafia - the characters have a similar appearance to Vito and other characters in the video game.
The final text is a Daily Mail story named 'Saudi Arabia advertises for eight new executioners to carry out public be-headings after increase in number of death sentences'. However the text doesn't represent Saudi Arabians truly as the text has gone through the process of mediation, the selected images are of the Arabian executioner holding a huge sword, this is done to focus the audience on the idea that Arabians are cold blooded killers who take pride in killing and want to show off their choice of weapon which they use to execute. The images create a stereotype as they and the story are a representation of Arabians.
The person in the images is dressed like the generic Arabian with a white shirt, white pants and a scarf on his head, this is how people from the East stereo typically dress in media texts and this text is no different.
In the media old people are represented as feeble and fragile and often un able to cope with modern technology.
The comedy Scottish TV series 'Still Game' involves numerous old people including the two protagonist characters. The series represents old people in different ways, for example feisty, depressed and wise. However the different representations are exaggerated for comical purposes.
The text represents old people as feeble as when ever they come up against teenagers and the younger generation they don't stand a chance. The text also represents old people as feisty as some of the characters use blasphemy and taboo language which goes against the stereotype that the older generation don't do those kind of things because in their day it wouldn't have been aloud. However the text goes against the stereotype of old peoples behaviour of being feeble and warn out as the characters in the show act child like and take part in acts, which represents them as anything other than old and warn out. The appearance and costumes the characters wear follows that of stereotypical old people as they wear scarfs, flat caps, etc.
The text follows the dominant ideologies of how old people are viewed, they are represented as vulnerable and weak. The series also goes against the dominant ideology that old people should be protected and looked after but instead the people in the series who are not old are actually disrespectful and mean to the older people, however this is done in a subtle but funny way to appease the target audience and reach the texts purpose to entertain in a comical way.
The film Harry Brown, also represents a old person as the main character played by a ageing Michael Caine. The film involves Michael Caines' character confronting a group of criminal teenagers in a fight to end the destruction and violence they cause and to get revenge for his friends death.
The text goes against the stereotypical representation of old people as instead of being weak and vulnerable Harry Brown is in fact the complete opposite. In the film the character takes part in violent acts, for example torturing and killing, this is something that stereotypically old people wouldn't do as they would be seen as too weak to do something like that, but the character takes part in these acts for a good reason. The character however does follow the stereotype of how old people are morally intact as he does have a morale compass and only uses violence as a last resort to stop the crimes which effect his and others lives.
In contrast to the previous text mentioned Harry Brown stands up against the younger generation and holds his own, this yet again goes against the stereotype old people have of being taken over by the younger generation and are often too weak to fight back.
The final text is a article from The Telegraph, about old people learning to use the internet and it gives 10 ways to help and encourage them to do so, so they don't fall behind with the times - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/11200872/10-ways-to-help-older-people-use-the-internet.html
The text follows the stereotype that old people are wary of using new technology like the internet and often cannot use it as it isn't for their generation, as the text states that old people often view the internet and technology as 'a young person's game'. The text also follows the ideology that old people are falling behind with technology and they need help to 'keep up', the help which comes from the young generation.
The selected image is a mid-shot and focuses on the women on the right as the others are blurred out and she remains the focus, she alines with stereotypes old people often have like drinking tea and needing something to support their ageing body like a walking stick. The others that are in the image are playing a card game, playing with cards is massively outdated as the biggest form of entertainment is in fact the internet, therefore this hints that old people are furthermore outdated.
Referring to your own detailed examples, discuss how different media texts can appeal to audiences.
Different medias can appeal to different audiences depending on their appeals and the audience’s responses, for example the video game ‘Skyrim’ is appealing to the explorer audience type due to its own unique reasons.
The main appeal of the game ‘Skyrim’ is the sense of escapism it offers the audience by transporting them into a World very different to our own. Instead into a fantastical World of Dragons and wizards.
The game allows the audience to work their way through a narrative, however the game is set in an Open World (or sandbox) meaning that the audience are free to roam where they choose and participate in the narrative when they choose, this challenges narrative conventions and may appeal to the audience’s need to explore and discover.
The choosing of narrative links to another key appeal of ‘Skyrim’, this appeal is interactivity as the audience has control over their own character and makes their own decisions. The interactivity the audience can have with other characters in the game provides the player with choices of what to say, this provides the player with autonomy over the game which mat be an appeal.
However the film ‘Stand By Me’ has different appeals, the main appeal of the film is the sense of nostalgia you get from watching it. The films itself is from a childhood memory from the writer when he and a three other friends went on a journey to find a dead boys missing body, the plot of the film is not the appealing part it is the sense of nostalgia that is gained from watching four friends going on a journey together, this is because the audience in their childhood would have friends of their own, so this film is a link back to the audience’s childhood past.
This links to another appeal, which is to personally identify with the text, the audience would be able to personally identify with the characters as from the very beginning of the film they follow a small set of characters.
The film may also be appealing due to how it follows Todorov’s theory of narrative; this is from the equilibrium being the four boys on a normal day, the disruption being the boy dying, the recognition being the boys going to find the body and the final step the reinstated equilibrium is the boys returning home after choosing not to take the body with them. This simple following of narrative would reach the audiences expectations, however the entire film doesn’t follow these conventions, as the very end of the film is a flash-forward to the main character when they’ve grown up and they’re reflecting on the story of the film, this therefore challenges the audience’s expectations which may also be an appeal.
The final text is the ‘Time to change - Schizo movie advert’, this advertisement challenges audience’s expectations as it follows the conventions of the horror movie genre but challenges them to reveal the hidden meaning of the advertisement, for example the advert builds tension through the same way horror films do with low key lighting and fast pace non diegetic orchestral music. The advert however challenges the audiences expectation when the door is opened to reveal a ordinary looking man with high key lighting and no sound.
The message of the advert is that people who suffer from schizophrenia are not psychopathic killers that are the film schizo, but instead regular people like everyone else.
Across all media different age groups are represented in different ways, for example; new born babies are represented as innocent and cute, teenagers are represented as anti social and the older generation like pensioners are represented as weak and vulnerable due to there ever ageing body.
However no media text can show a true reflection of age due to the encoders ideologies and experiences affecting each text. For example in this NSPCC charity campaign the child is represented as sad and vulnerable look on her face, her eyes are directed at the camera as if she is looking at the audience through the lens of the camera.
The photo is a CU with a wall taking up just over half of the shot, the use of a CU causes the audience to focus on the girls eyes as that is the encoder of the texts purpose, the confided space the child is in connotes that she is trapped and isolated on her own with works well with the tagline 'Don't turn away' which is as if she is asking the audience for help which is the purpose of the advert.
The advert wants the audience to feel sorry for the girl by challenging their need to nurture, it is aimed at the mainstream audience who would follow the dominant ideology to have children.
Teenagers are represented as anti social and vandals in this story from the Daily Mail - http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/every-parents-nightmare-drunk-teenagers-5409582. In this story 'every parents nightmare', drunken teenagers destroyed a woman's home after her daughter told them no one was home, there is a selection of images to go with this story showing the teenagers, the damage they caused and the aftermath of what they did.
The selection images is used to draw focus to the damage the teenagers have caused and how it has effected the mother, this follows mediation as the selection of images draw a light to a the issue of teenagers and keeps the focus on them by showing the damage they caused.
This representation shows teenagers as vandals as that is the focus of the story, it also shows them as inconsiderate as they destroyed a woman's home for no good reason. The story also states that the people who took part in the vandalism wont take the blame as they believe they were invited, which highlights how inconsiderate the teenagers are as they wont even take blame.
The following text is a warning to teenagers on drug use and how teenagers from ages 11-18 are most likely to 'dabble' with illegal substances - http://www.theguardian.com/society/2009/feb/16/cannabis-mental-health.
The text serves as a warning to 11-18 year olds who are vulnerable to drugs and may considerer taking them, the main ideology of the article is that if you mess around with drugs it will mess around with your mind. The article uses damning statistics like 'smoking cannabis increased the risk of schizophrenia by at least 40%' to get the ideology across.
The article represents teenagers as vulnerable to drugs and inconsiderate of the effects drugs have on mental health.
Men are often represented in many different ways in the media for example; as the bread winner in the domestic household, they are often represented as a father figure who their children look up to, they are also represented as strong and heterosexual, however no media text can represent men completely some show men in a similar way due to following traditions and stereotypes.
For example in this Coca-Cola advert https://youtu.be/xgimZUJp5FM, in this advert the man who is working as a gardener is forced to take his shirt off after is it soaked by a can of Coke which the women in the advert give to him.
As he takes his shirt off he is shot from a low angle in slow motion with high key lighting behind him, this is done to highlight his physic especially the lighting which is shone from behind him highlighting his stomach and arms and the slow motion emphasises this.
This advert represents men as having a strong and well built physic which is stereo typically needed to appease the opposite sex, which is shown in the advert, this also links to the stereotype that men should be heterosexual as is shown in the advert with the man trying to impress the women which is traditionally what is expected of men. This also effects the representation of women who are shown as the ones who are attracted to men rather than it being the other way around.
This Maxi-milk advert supports a similar ideology to the Coca-Cola advert about men needing a muscular physic to impress, this advert shows a man rock climbing with no kind of support and hanging by just one hand, this suggests that he is fearless as he doesn't feel the need to support himself and is strong enough to hang off a mountain with just one hand.
The image shows a cloudy sky full of darkness and looks dim but the man is brightly lit which makes him stand out more and also gives a sense that the encoder of the text wants the audience to admire the man and look up to him which is traditionally correct as men are represented in the media as admirable. In the advert the man's body is the main focus which can be recognized by it being in the centre of the image.
The strap line 'Milk for real men' connotes that the man in the image is a real man and looks how a man should due to the protein he drinks after the masculine exercise he takes part in.
In the film War Of The Worlds the main character played by Tom Cruise is a father who is trying to take care of his children during potentially the end of the World, but instead of fighting against the aliens and saving man kind (which is stereotypically the masculine thing to do in Sci-fi/Horror genre) he instead chooses to take care of his daughter and not fight.
This goes against the traditional representation of men in films as they are traditionally supposed to be brave and fearless. But instead of fighting against the aliens and showing his strength off and being fearless he chooses not to fight. Throughout the film Tom Cruises character shows fear as he doesn't want to attack as he doesn't want to suffer the consequences, this goes against the common male stereotype all kind of film, which proves this representation is untraditional and unconventional.
Women are represented in near enough the same way in all kinds of media, they are usually represented as the domestic worker in adverts and are sexual objects for the desires of men in films.
For example in the film trailer 'Focus' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxCRgtdAuBo) one of the protagonists played by Margot Robbie is shown in a number of shots wearing very little clothing, having sex with men and seducing men, this is because the male director has chosen so.
This happens in the trailer due to a theory called the 'Male Gaze', the director of the film has chosen to represent the female character this way because he believes that's the way they should be represented in his eyes, he believes women are a object that's only purpose is to satisfy men and the purpose of them in the film is to satisfy the Male audience.
A similar text that also shows women represented through the male gaze is this scene from Michael Bay's Transformers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6L3Ef1JCC8), in this scene Megan Fox is sexualised through the Mise-en-scene used, for example her revealing flimsy clothing and the camera which focuses on her body and womanly features. This has been done to appease the target audience, being male teenagers/young adults.
Other medias represent women in a similar, one media being advertising. Advertising usually relies on women's looks for example this lynx advert.
This advert relies completely on the models looks to gain the attention of the male audience it is aiming to advertise to, this and plenty of other adverts similar to it create the stereotype that this is what all women should look like, having a curved slim body.
This creates a image for women which they feel they have to achieve as it is their representation they have to live up to. The model in the advert is being completely sexualised by the encoder of the text to appeal to the target male audience.
However advertisement also represent women in another way being the 'domestic house woman' who's purpose is to stay at home and do the cleaning up and house work. This is shown in this GTECH hoover advert (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVtb7h3Wccs) which shows only women because it is traditional that they're the ones who do the cleaning in the home. The advert is completely based around the sexualisation of the woman and relies on her looks to sell the product.
Women in the news are represented in a similar way in the News, if they are an anchor they usually have to be younger than the Male presenter and fairly good looking. This is done because it is believed that is the way women should look and the only way for them to become important is to be good looking. This is shown through all the medias I have mentioned as the media itself is what creates this image women feel they should live up to and the media is what reinforces the stereotype that Women should be domestic house wives who's soul purpose in life is to serve the dominant male sex.
