How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product, RDO, represents:• Males• Females• Different age groups• Americans + Britons

The two main characters in the opening of RDO are males. Post Apocalyptic genres often utilise males as their protagonists, thus showing them as brave, determined, and rugged. My group wanted to conform to the genre as much as possible and therefore tried to do the same.

The protagonist of our film, played by Martin, who we dubbed ‘the survivor’ represents men as quite rugged and strong. His strength is represented by the fact that he shoots someone. His bravery and ruggedness is hinted at by the fact he is a ‘survivor’, so we know that he has been living a dangerous life for some time. The mere fact he has a firearm shows that he is durable and survivable, and prepared to make hard choices. The fact we have a male as the main character shows males as the dominant character. The Survivor could compare to almost any male protagonist in a post apocalyptic film, but mainly I think, to Robert Neville in I Am Legend, as he is used to being alone and cannot believe it when he is contacted via the walkie talkie.

Males

The personalities of Robert and the survivor are similar, this shot conveys the strength of

the survivor with the angle.

The second male character is The Radio Host. He is seen as controlling and ruthless, with a dark sense of humour. In many ways, he is like the other side of the coin to the protagonist. He shows the darker outcome of a character put into the post apocalyptic scenario. He represents how males can be ruthless, deceptive and malicious. This shows a different kind of strength and ruggedness. He has made it through the apocalypse with deception and cunning rather than physical qualities or good will.

Overall, the male characters represent males as strong and formidable, despite differences in the way this is shown.

FemalesTraditionally, females have been presented as feeble ‘damsels’ in need of a strong male saviour. However, more recently films of all genre have had female characters who challenge this ideology, and often that of the male protagonist’s too. This can be seen in The Book Of Eli.

RDO could be seen as showing females as the weaker race due to the fact that we have a male as the main character, and the two males featured in the opening appear for longer and more frequently than the females. Therefore, RDO is representative of more traditional films.

The ‘expendable character’, who gets shot by the protagonist says a surprising amount for the representations of women. First of all, the fact that she is still alive shows her to be a survivor, almost as much as the males. However, the fact it is hinted that she is ‘infected’ shows she is perhaps, weak and could not resist whatever infected her. This represents women as not as strong as men. Furthermore, we show females with the stereotypical mother factor. The fact that the expendable character has a daughter highlights the differences between men and women, and represents women as loving, caring, and motherly. However, it could also be said that the absence of a dad from the expendable character and the daughter’s family show that they were more durable and resistant than males. Alternatively the father could have simply left, which represents men as uncaring and selfish. Never the less, the idea of the film was to have the protagonist caring for the daughter after killing her parent, representing women as people who need to be cared for.

Age GroupsRDO has 4 characters in the opening. Two 20/30 year olds, one eleven year old, and one 16 year old. Therefore, it represents a variety of different age groups.

The eleven year old appears briefly in the opening and is hiding in the woods. This represents young children as vulnerable, scared, and needing to be cared for. I think this is an accurate representation of young kids. However, often in films, the child does some heroic act of bravery which surprises the adult who is caring for them. This often involves saving said adult. Of course, we could not represent this element in our film as it is only the beginning few minutes. The child could compare to the one in The Road

or After Earth.The older pair represent an age which is between naivety and wisdom. They are streetwise but still do not always know what to do. They are also able to fend for themselves. This is mainly represented in the protagonist. He is forced to kill and we see that he is used to looting bags and bodies. But he also becomes confused and scared when he talks to the Radio Host. This representation is also shown through their costumes, as they wear mature outfits, unlike the pink coat worn by Summer and the nightgown worn by the radio host.

The Radio Host is played by Tom who was 16 when he played the role (Happy B-Day Tom for the 7 th). The way he played the role suggests that teenagers are troublesome, if not troubled and are unstable. The character also represents teenagers as malicious and to have a dark sense of humour. This also suggests that The Radio Host had a difficult childhood and struggled to make it through the apocalypse. We planned the character to be crazy because of his extreme loneliness, this conveys how teenagers crave social interaction with others.

Americans and BritonsMost, if not all, post apocalyptic films are American. And many American films have British actors as bad guys (Star Trek: Into Darkness, Batman Begins, X-Men, Star Wars). All the Characters in RDO are British, except for the radio host, though it isn’t clear whether the character is just putting on an accent like Tom was. Tom’s portrayal represents Americans as crazy and enforces the stereotype of the crazy hillbilly. This, in contrast, shows Britons to be sane and normal. The British countryside is represented naturally through the forest setting. The Radio Host could be compared to Moriarty from the BBC's Sherlock, The Joker from Batman, Golem from The Lord Of The Rings, and Radioman/Robert Darden from the game Spec Ops: The Line

ConclusionThe main representations shown in RDO are that of age, gender, and nationality. Overall, I think that it represents these in a positive light, challenging some stereotypes and conforming to others.