Representation of Women

Representation of Women

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'.

Samantha Lay

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=QdN0mhkEmK4C&pg=PA105&lpg=PA105&dq=women+in+social+realist+films&source=bl&ots=8zayyyfw5X&sig=yN1DmtMUq0d3SqwM4AwvCDSpydc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=T0OaVdPBLMGs-QHhh4H4BQ&ved=0CF8Q6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=women%20in%20social%20realist%20films&f=false

Daniel Chandler's Genre Theory

The word genre comes from the French (and originally Latin) word for 'kind' or 'class'. 

Contemporary media genres tend to relate more to specific forms than to the universals of tragedy and comedy. 

Realism and Representations of the Working Class in Contemporary British Cinema

https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/2086/4720/SOCIAL+REALISM+AND+REPRESENTATION+OF+THE+WORKING+CLASS+IN+CONTEMPORARY+BRITISH+CINEMA.pdf?sequence=1

"Loach‟s work has never primarily been about visual style: at the core of all

his films, are political statements about people marginalised economically or

politically within British society."

"His main concern is the social system; supposedly

designed to help people in a predicament, but which nevertheless works in the

opposite manner to further oppress the people and create misery."

"The concept of 'social realism' is rather complex, since although it is not 

something like genre, which has collective characteristics on style and mode of

narrative, it has been treated as one."

"With a specific subject (working class lives), filmic treatment (naturalism), political orientation (leftist) and iconography (industrial city, council estates etc.), these characteristics hold a range of films together under the name of social realism"

"The British New Wave was one of the major phases of social realism in the United Kingdom; it binds a number of films produced by young British directors between the late 1950s and the mid 1960s."

"Set in real locations of industrial towns, most of these films have young working-class men as the main characters, who, unsatisfied with their life, are seeking escape."

"The subject-matter of British New Wave films is significant in terms of the representation of the working class, in the time of economic affluence. The British New Wave films repeatedly employ characters with a desire for escape (such as Arthur in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning), or climbing up the social ladder (like Gerald in This Sporting Life or Joe in Room at the Top). Alongside the representation of their open sexuality (and sometimes issues of abortion), this tendency characterises representation of the working class."

"According to Higson, at some point the shots such as 'That Long Shot of Our Town from That Hill' become picturesque images of an industrial town, rather than gritty reality."

"As a result, place in the British New Wave films signifies something more than a narrative motivation, and leads to another important discussion of the incoherence of viewpoint"

"BBC‟s single play programs such as The Wednesday Play and Play for Today became another platform for the presentation of social issues."

"Social realist films in the 1980s, or „the state of the nation films‟ as stated by Sargent (2005) and Hill (1999), reflect the drastic changes in society and show obvious hostilities towards Thatcher herself. "


"Compared to the British New Wave which focused on the representation of the white working-class male, films in the 1980s provided a new terrain of diversity in terms of gender and race."

"The works of Ken Loach display consistently sympathetic eyes on the people on the margin of society, the people who are trapped in a predicament and not be able to escape from it."



"Dedicated to the use of an observational shooting style, the camera keeps its distance from the characters or objects, while the use of an occasional hand-held camera adds a documentary feeling to the film."




  
 

BFI research

"In the years following World War I, it was widely felt that the key to a national cinema lay in 'realism and restraint'."

"Britain's contribution to cinema in the 1930s lay in a state-sponsored documentary tradition that would feed into the 1940s mainstream."

"Balcon, in his position as head of Ealing Studios, would become a key figure in the emergence of a national cinema characterised by stoicism and verisimilitude. Combining the objective temper and aesthetics of the documentary movement with the stars and resources of studio filmmaking, 1940s British cinema made a stirring appeal to a mass audience."

"Films like Passport to Pimlico (1949) and The Titfield Thunderbolt (1952) reiterated gentler patrician values in the face of growing corporatisation and 'Americanisation'. To see Ealing's The Blue Lamp (1949) alongside a contemporary Hollywood film noir is to witness the growing cracks in the postwar consensus."

"Documentarist Humphrey Jennings had been responsible for consensus-building works like Listen to Britain (1942) and Spare Time (1939), which, looking at the British at play, forged a 'new iconography', influencing the 1950s Free Cinema documentary movement and the 1960s British New Wave."

"Related to, though independent of, the commercial mainstream, the New Wave was fed by the 'Angry Young Men' of 1950s theatre, the verisimilitude of Italian Neo-realism and the youth appeal of the French New Wave."

"British 'auteurs' like Karel Reisz, Tony Richardson and John Schlesinger dealt with prostitution, abortion, homosexuality, alienation and relationship problems. Here were factory workers, office underlings, dissatisfied wives, pregnant girlfriends, runaways, the marginalised, poor and depressed."

"Identified with their directors rather than with the industry, the New Wave films tended to address issues around masculinity that would become common in British social realism."

"The New Wave protagonist was usually a working-class male without bearings in a society in which traditional industries and the cultures that went with them were in decline"

"Ken Loach and Mike Leigh assessed the impact of the consumer society on family life, charting the erosion of the welfare state and the consensus that built it."

"The breakdown of the collective consensus in postwar Britain seems to be captured in the tragicomic exchanges of Mike Leigh's Life is Sweet (1990), Naked (1993) and Secrets and Lies (1996). In these films, Leigh examined the fractures in domestic and social life wrought by divisive Thatcherite policies in an increasingly fragmented and multicultural Britain."

"If the New Wave short-sightedly blamed women for the blighting of British manhood, women in Loach and Leigh are often complex and powerful individuals"

"Responding to the moralistic entrepreneurialism of the Thatcher years, 'Films on Four' My Beautiful Laundrette and Letter to Brezhnev (both 1985) followed characters from the margins as they attempted to stake a claim in the new order."

"As the funding environment grew more precarious, by the 1990s a formulaic 'triumph-over-adversity' narrative combining the streets and cityscapes of traditional British realism with the feel-good vibe of Hollywood individualism answered the challenge of reiterating a national cinema amid spreading multiplexes."

Fish Tank poster textual analysis

The film Fish Tank is a British social realism film directed by Andrea Arnold starring Kate Jarvis as Mia, a 15 year old, working class girl who lives on a council estate with her single mother and sister and dreams of becoming a dancer. Like most social realism films, the narrative focusses around the problems and emotions of the protagonist who is trying the find their way in and oppressed society. This is evident through visual codes in the poster such as the image of birds flying outside the window. Birds have connotations of freedom and hope, they are able to fly openly where they choose without limitations which is something Mia aspires to do, signified by her longing stare out of the window into the distance. The typical social realist film focusses of the 'chav' stereotype, visual codes allow us to determine that Fish Tank will too. Although not over the top, Mia sports a gold necklace, and iconic signifier of the 'chav' who is usually sporting heavy amounts of gold jewellery for fashion. Mia stares outside the window of which is presumably her home, where we see a typical british council housing estate such as ugly tower blocks and rural housing. This suggests that Mia too lives in council housing on a council estate, another stereotypical representation.

Media Diary week 2

American Horror Story

American Horror Story is an American TV show that started in 2011 and is approaching season four soon. America Horror Story is a strange series in that every season is a different story with different characters and a new location although the show does tend to use the same actors. Prominant in the show is Evan Peters, Jessica Lange and Sarah Poulson along with a few others.

Season one is titled 'American Horror Story: Murder House'. When a new family, Vivienne, Ben and daughter Violet, move into a new house, they soon realise that the house has a dark past which migh add to the reason why it was so cheap to buy. During the season we meet Tate Langton, a troubled teen patient of pyciatrist Ben who, strangely has made a lot of of young female viewers swoon, maybe because the show depicts him as a character who is vunerable but dangerous at the same time. We also meet next door neighbour Constance who seems to know more about the house that she first lets on.

The show explores the stereotypical genre conventions of a horror film very cleverly, it does not just delve in to the nitty gritty blood and gore, it allows time to get to know the characters and establish a main plot, we as an audience begin to develop real feelings and emotions for the characters. This is partially due to the excellent writing by Ryan Murphy but also due to the absolutely incredible acting from the cast, in partiuclar, my favourite, Evan peters, who aswel as the others pprtrays each character with such a realness that it makes the show great.

Paired with the sensational acting, spooky staging and camera angles, and a chilling soundtrack, the show really gives off a creepy aura that compliments the dark humour in the show, making for an addictives and brilliant viewing experience. Plus, the fact that each season is never the same as the last keeps you constantly interested and allows the see the variety of roles the recurring actors can play. Season two is 'American Horror Story: Asylum' set in a 1950s mental institution, season three is 'American Horrow Story: coven' set in a modern day school for witches and finally, the upcoming season due to air 21st October is 'American Horror Story: freakshow', the plot is unknown.

I would saw that American Horror Story is aimed at teenage to younge adult females, 16-25 years old. I think it is aimed more at the indie type of girl because of the show's strange nature more likely appealing to those who enjoy the weird and wonderful. I stumbled upon this show after hearing about it on social networking sites from time to time and scrolling throught netflix. I think that problems such as self-harm, bullying, sex, violence, rape etc being tackled in the show sparks the interest of the younger generation as it seems to be very relavent in a lot of lives.

Some people may not like this show because, like i said, some subjects presented aren't very light hearted, the show does not tip toe around the more risque sujects, it goes straight into them which may put a lot of viewers off or even offend them. The show is not for the light hearted because of this reason and the fact that it is a horror show, with each episode being like a short horror film therefore can cause chills in the bravest.

Audience homework

A) The Mainstream
The mainstream is the category of society that takes solace in enjoying what everyone else enjoys and taking part in what everyone takes part in in order to feel 'safe' and 'secure' in society knowing that they fit in. The mainstream does not want to go against the crowd therefore would be most interested in shows such as Britain's Got Talent. This is because it is a family friendly show that can be watched in groups such as family or friends and is talked about nation wide a lot of the time. This assures the mainstream that they are not alone in society and do not risk the chance of being ridiculed for liking something different, they subscribe to big brand names as they feel they can trust these, they rely on other peoples opinions to make there own, for example, discussing favourites on Britain's Got Talent.

The Aspirer
The aspirer is the group of society that subscribe to a superficial and ideal image created by the media and society. They are vein, consumed by appearance and follow trends rather than set them. An example of this is through advertising.for many years MAC makeup has always been advertised as one of the best makeups regardless of whether it is or not. The aspirer would conform to these advertisements and go buy MAC makeup. This is also because it then allows them to tell people they use MAC makeup in order to impress them and gain a higher status for the most part. This is just one example of how the aspirer is driven by others perceptions rather than their own.

The Succeeder
The succeeder is the group of society that are very self confident and have a strong goal orientation. They are focussed and determined to succeed in what they want to do. They seek out brands that offer them the best quality of what they buy as they feel that is what they deserve. A media that the aspirer would consume might be a newspaper such as The Mirror, that informs them on current social/political affairs. They might consume these because they allow them to be 'in the know' about things around them and be fully aware of these situations, giving them control which is something they need in life.

The Explorer
The explorer is the group of society that enjoy straying from what the mainstreamer might enjoy in order to experience something new and exciting that offers them indulgence and instant effects. These are usually the people who start trends and new hypes. A media that the explore might consume would be music by small, underground musicians or bands such as The Humming Birds. The Humming Birds are a small indie-rock band that play small gigs in bars and clubs around Liverpool. The explorer might enjoy this because they have a rare and new sound that not many people have heard yet. As the band are not huge yet the explorer enjoys the sense of discovery while listening to them without the huge media buzz that comes from more popular artists. Discovery is a core need in their life.

B) I think that these categories are very useful in defining audience types as they cover most, if not all, parts of the media consuming society. Each type of audience is quite specific yet is accurate in applying to everyone from that group making it easy to create a text that would appeal to that group. The only downside, if you can call it that, is that some people fall in to two and even three different categories making it either harder for a media to target them because they do not know what they like or easier for a media to target them because they like much more.

C)  A typical audience member of One Born Every Minute would be a female aged 35 named jean. She would have three children, the eldest two being in high school and the youngest nearly leaving primary. She would work as a dinner lady but do some volunteer work when she could. Jean would be a white woman who lived in a primarily white are and would have a close group of white friends who she could discuss the show with. She would be an avid user of Facebook where she would post her thoughts and feelings about the show. Jean would enjoy watching soaps and sit-coms with her husband and would be a catholic but not devout. She would support the Labour party and would support the NHS and welfare state.

D) I think that the likely audience member for Britain's Got Talent would be the Groupie, i think this because the Groupie aspires to be accepted by those around them and in order to do this they must watch the television that the majority of people watch so that they do not differ from those around them

I think that the likely audience member for The Mirror newspaper would be Egoists. I think this because Egoists desire to get the most that they can for themselves out of life and they believe that in order to do this they must be fully aware of what goes on around them in order to manipulate and work around the situation in order to make it benefit them or prevent it from affecting them badly.

I think that the likely audience member for advertisements of MAC makeup would be Trendies. I think this because they desire the admiration of their peer group and in oder to do this they think they have to be on trend, fashionable, charismatic and the superficial image. They think that all of these things will gain them the admiration therefore they buy MAC makeup to impress their peers.

I think that the likely audience member for The Humming Birds would be the Innovator. I think this because the Innovator wants to make their mark on the world and for the individual, popularising and making an unknown band known, not necessarily purposefully, means that they have impacted many lives therefor making their mark.

I think that the likely audience member for One Born Every Minute would be the groupie. As the show is well publicised and talked about on social media, watching the shows makes you fit in with everyone else that is watching it meaning that you can be accepted by mainstream society.

Week 1 media diary - review

The walking dead

The walking dead is a relatively new American series that has continued to shock and surprise me since i began to watch it. The show revolves around a group of survivors led by Rick grimes, played by Andrew Lincoln, an ex-cop who after being injured on the job and falling into a coma, wakes up to the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. Now all he must strive to do and lead others to do is survive in a world where zombies are not the inly threat and humans to can sometime be more dangerous.

At first i was reluctant to start this show as i was afraid it would just be another stereotypical zombie thrilling with hardly any plot, bad actors and awful special effects, it sounded a lot like films such as 28 days later or Resident Evil,  but i was wrong. From the very first episode i was hooked and couldn't stop watching. The variety of personalities and backgrounds of Rick's group of survivors meant that if they weren't killing zombies or finding shelter they were facing much deeper rooting problems. It is interesting to watch people from all different walks of life having to come together to survive and witnessing the emotion toll the zombie apocalypse takes on their lives.

The writing for the show is outstanding and the actors really bring that writing to life, so much so that you become emotionally attached to each of them in some way or another and prey each week that a 'walker' does not kill them or something bad doesn't happen to them, and when the writers do decide to tug on our heart strings (which is quite often) i feel a genuine sadness.

The show is full of constant twists and turns, it always keeps you on the edge of your seat with anticipation. It never drags out unnecessary story lines and always, somehow, makes the zombie apocalypse seam realistic and creates situations that you could believe, unlike TV shows like Lost. The walking dead challenges and over comes the stereotypical conventions of a zombie/horror series to create something spectacular that, like me, has you binge watching episodes for several hours at a time until you realise that it is becoming unhealthy.

I highly recommend The Walking Dead to not only those who are horror fans, but to everyone else as well. A highly original and entertaining series.

Armani advert homework

The David and Victoria Armani advert is an advertisement for Armani underwear. It depicts David and Victoria Beckham in the centre of the photo lounging on eachother wearing underwear looking very seriously and mysterious. The picture is taken in black and white and there is a use of shadows giving the illusion that there are blinds of some sort on a window that are slightly cracked open. The Emporio Armani name and logo is in the bottom right side of the advery with the words underwear below it and the words 'David and Victoria Beckham' above it.

This advert creates has quite a mysterious and seductive mood to it, this is because of the different techniques the photographer has used. The use of light a shadow is prominant in this advert, the lines of dark shadow that passes through the picture make it look as though there are blinds on a window that are slightly cracked open and it is now become morning after a night of them doing something that maybe they should not have, that thing being unknown to the audience. This give the audience the impression that wearing Armani underwear can make you somewhat rebellious and more of a risk taker.

The use of David and Victoria Beckham for the advert is a good choice as they can appeal to a wide range of people. As the Beckhams are now a family with children, they now have more responsibilities and less time for romance. This advert suggests that you can have a family and jobs etc but can still be sexy and mysterious at the same time which appeals to many mothers and fathers/ husbands and wives. The Beckhams are relatable. For young people, the Beckhams are still seen as a happy, sexy and in love couple, this adverts infers that wearing Armani underwear is a reason why, influencing people to buy this product. They are an iconic pairing.

The positioning of the couple is important as different aspects of their body are used for different reasons. Victoria is sat in front of her husband with quite a serious, menacing look on her face. This resembles a lioness fending off other lioness' from coming near her man,  as though she is marking her territory. This makes it seem like the underwear gives her courage and fierceness that she wouldn't usually have in her day to day life. David is lying calmly behind Victoria, his tattoos clearly on show. Tattoos have connotations of toughness and bravery suggesting that only the toughest men wear Armani and if you do you become tough like David.

The use of black and white in this advert makes it seem like the picture is not recent, it gives it an old 50s type of aura almost as though the Beckhames are timeless, and so is Armani underwear. Its makes the picture looks as though it weren't meant to be taken and it was a private moment, again creating mystery.

This advert is also an example of the rule of thirds, in nearly each third of the picture there is something significant to look at, for example, right in the centre is Victoria's face and in the top left is Davids. In the top right there is Armani underwear and in the bottle middle there is some more Armani underwear. This is so that that audience is bombarded with constant reminders to buy this item.

Photo Composition

This is and example of Rule of Thirds. This image shows a peace sign necklace directly placed in the centre of the image/the centre third. The necklace is in the position so the audiences is drawn straight to it and nothing in the background that may be distracting, it is the most important thing in the image.

This is an example of a cropped image. The aim of a this cropped image is the draw the audiences attention straight to the face. It looks like this is an advertisement for some type of makeup brand therefore the only thing the audience can see is the woman's makeup. It allows them to focus on the woman's flawless skin and believe the makeup is the reason for that.

This is an example of light and shade. The use of a shadow in this picture create an aura of mystery and danger, almost as though the woman is being followed by someone even though she isn't. The light shining down on the woman that she is walking in to might symbolise that she is safe now that she has emerged from the darkness behind her.

This is an example of a skewed image. although the building itself is not different, it is just a normal building, the angle at which the picture is taken at gives the image a psychedelic feel as if the building is distorted and elongated.

 This is an example of lines and shapes. The lines in this pictures create unusual shapes that catch the audiences eye and make the want to study it longer than they would necessarily looks at something else because of the usual dimensions it creates.

This is an example of foreground/background. although this is just a picture of a group of friends, it catches the audiences eye because of eiffel tower being in the background. The Eiffel Tower is one of the most iconic structures on earth and it is captured in the image because everyone that sees it will recognise it instantly, especially because it is right in the centre of the image which makes it the first thing the audience sees. 

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