Media Evaluation Question 2 - Anissa Daud

Question 2 : How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Considering that our target audience was aged  15-20, we thought that they would be able to relate to some extent with our protagonist, who is a young school girl.
In our Final Piece, we have adhered to some stereotypical representations of one or two social groups, we have also tried to challenge some of these representations within our Project.


1. The Kidnapper:

Conventionally, kidnappers are seen to be the most elusive and ostracised member of society. They often choose their victims spontaneously and follow them for quite a period of time before actually abducting them.

We have tried to portray the Janitor in a similar manner, through introducing him only partially and never revealing his entire face, until the end of the opening. We have also challenged this representation, as this character is not wholly "bad" - he is a shaded character, which we feel would be something a little unexpected for our audience to witness.

 

 

2. Students & Teenagers:

 

Typically, when teenagers are presented in the "victim" role, they tend to be portrayed as weak, vulnerable and small. We have adhered to this representation by casting someone who fits this description reasonably well. This representation would also enable our audience to feel sympathetic towards her as these events take place.

 

In these two shots, the vulnerability and innocence of the young girl is emphasised.

 

 

3. The Janitor

 

Conventionally, Janitors are quite underrated within films. The only "breakthrough" roles of a Janitor can be seen in The Breakfast Club, where the other characters and the audience realise that he knows a lot more than he lets on.

 

'I look through your letters, I look through your lockers...I listen to your conversations, you don't know that but I do...I am the eyes and ears of this institution my friends.'  - These lines are quite fitting to our character as well, because although he does not say much, he does, in fact, know everything that goes on within the school.

This kind of a representation would be surprising for audience, as such characters are not shown that often in films.

 

The Janitor in The Breakfast Club

 

4. The Bullies | The Victims

 

Teenage bullies typically represent the "bad" side of teenagers; i.e. the violent, cruel, harsh and rebellious kind. Our bully fits in well into this representation, as she is tormenting Sophie for no valid reason. What little of her clothing can be seen shows that, unlike Sophie, she is not wearing the correct uniform, with a leather jacket.  

                    



The look of our bully takes inspiration from this character, from Waterloo Road

 

 

The role of the victim is stereotypically that of them being meek, easily intimidated & as having a much smaller frame & physique as compared to the bully. We have adhered to these representations, as our protagonist is quite small and looks quite fragile. Additionally, the fact that she is wearing glasses adds to her image of "innocence".

 

We feel that these representations are something that our mostly-teenage audience would relate, or sympathise with.