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ARFA SHAH Candidate number: 4739

REPRESENTATION OF SOCIAL

GROUPS IN OUR MEDIA PRODUCT

GENDER

AGE

ETHNICITY

+ A G E Teenagers are generally portrayed as being violent, unsociable and

trouble-makers by the media. In our final product, both our main characters are 17 years old therefore we decided to portray them positively in order to avoid causing conflict and negative experiences for our audience.

In our final media product, we have presented teenagers as being independent, active and enthusiastic. For example instead of making Horatio wear a hoody and jeans which sends out a negative message, we decided to dress him in a crisp white shirt, maroon tie and black trousers in order to present him as a sophisticated, unique and independent 17 year old. Also, the fact that he’s an ardent newspaper columnist for “Graveney Express” also reinforces his enthusiasm for work and discredits the negative social image teenagers are commonly associated with..

Also, the fact that Horatio is writing about Mia and describing her as “smart” and “level-headed” represents the facts that teenagers are diverse and friendly.

Typical representation of teenagers

Our representation of a teenager in our final media product.

The article in which Horatio describes Mia as “level headed and attractive”.

+ E T H N I C I T Y In the media, black people are usually

depicted as being violent, loud and have a negative impact on society whereas white people are portrayed as being upper class, elegant and eloquent.

For Mia, we did use the stereotypes because we wanted to portray her as being a popular, high achieving, elegant and enthusiastic about her social life and education. Her clothing- red scarf, black skirt and a black cardigan to portray her as being a relaxed, middle class and elegant teenager.

In our final media product, we used the stereotypes however we did not portray Horatio as being violent at first because we did not want to reveal too much of the plot. We filmed Horatio stalking Mia in order to present him as being obsessive but not violent just yet. Also, we wanted to give subtle hints to the audience about Horatio’s nature therefore he wore a maroon tie in order to suggest danger about his persona. Mia represented

as being middle class, young and elegant.

Horatio is intelligent but with underlying obsessive tendencies. His maroon tie highlights the darkness within.

+ G E N D E R We introduced a male and female character in the

opening of our film “Neurosis”.

Males are usually portrayed as being assertive, dominant and powerful whereas women are usually portrayed as being subservient, vulnerable and the ‘victims’.In our media product, Horatio is

portrayed as being sinister, dark and creepy with his obsession with Mia. Also, the fact that he’s following her, which means he is behind her, reinforces the usual presentation of males being powerful because Horatio could do anything to Mia because she won’t be able to react on time therefore the portrayal of females being victims is reinforced. Non-white males usually face deep personal problems therefore they use violence as a form of expression. For example Horatio suffers from an undiagnosed condition called ‘psychoneurosis’ that leads him to stalk Mia and eventually kill her boyfriend in order to attain her.

+ G E N D E R continued… In the media, females are portrayed as being victims,

weak, subservient and objects of desire.

Similarly, in our film Mia is portrayed as being a victim and an object of desire. Mia is a victim because she cannot do anything to stop Horatio’s obsession furthermore the fact that’s she’s unaware of his obsession in the beginning also portrays her as being weak and passive. Horatio has various pictures of Mia suggests that he has followed her various times and the fact that Mia is unaware of Horatio’s obsession indirectly makes Horatio more dominant than her, he has the upper hand and can control what happens next.

The pictures above and Horatio following Mia reinforces male dominance and the idea of females being victims.