Wednesday, 23 September 2015

Representation in Media Task

Example 1 - Hot Fuzz, Sandford


Hot Fuzz revolves around the tale of an exceptional London policeman being involuntarily transferred to a "quaint" English village named Sandford. The village itself is intitially a stereotype; it is small area where everyone knows each other and is very welcoming. It is established to be a very peaceful area due to its non-existent crime statistics and also the fact that an escaped swan is the greatest emergency that can be tackled in Sandford. 
When PC Nicolas Angel is on his way to Sandford, there are a three extreme close ups of his phone throughout his journey at varying intervals: the first shows full signal, the second half, and the last time, he has no phone signal. This is conforming to the stereotype that there is no such thing as a mobile phone signal in the countryside. 
The audience also learns on the journey that Sandford is a model village thanks to a sign that Angel passes on his way to the remote town; and it does conform to the idea of a model village. It is a close knit community that runs frequent fetes to raise money for the churhc roof, and is filled with people that know each other well and just generally seems overly fake. Sandford conforms to the stereotype in which its presented to such a degree that it does not feel like a real place.

Example 2 - Dolce and Gabbana, The One


 "Dolce & Gabbana presents the new uncut The One film, revealing the provocative yet effortless femininity of the eternal diva."
The advert above is for one of Dolce & Gabbana's many perfumes, and, in this case, it is being showcased by Scarlett Johansson. Throughout the advert you get the sense that the model is being presented as classy through the lace trimmed dress and the fancy updo, and this representation is therefore extended to the perfume: if you use this perfume, you shall immediately smell like an upper class lady, or, at the very least, an actress. Also, by using Scarlett Johansson, the perfume company are trying to convey the sexual appeal the perfume can bring to the wearer; the actress is a very beautiful woman, and no doubt desired by numerous people. They also talk about sex - "I do all my own stunts, even love-making" - to express this idea to the audience.
There is plenty of 'wit' from Scarlett Johansson to the 'reporters' during the advert, again this is to convey that wearing the perfume will make you appear educated and cultured and so fit easily within the upper classes. The actress is also presented in such a way that she seems both girly and educated; it seems to be attempting to challenge a stereotype about women, but it does not seem to successfully do so.

Example 3 -  The Big Bang Theory


The Big Bang Theory is an American comedy revolving around the lives of socially awkward scientists and how they develop over the years after their new neighbour moves in across the hall. The scientists, Sheldon, Leonard, Howard and Raj, are all highly educated people but are all incapable of interacting with the opposite sex successfully, whether it is due to long term disinterest (Sheldon) or they have selective mutism and so cannot speak to women (Raj). Much of their social awkwardness stems from the fact that they are nerds, and so have different interests to most people, like comic-con, and as such they are a stereotype of what society believes scientists and nerds to be.
Throughout the series, we meet at least three female scientists and all, unsuprisingly, wear glasses, another belief on what it takes to be a scientist or nerd. Whilst two of the female scientists, Leslie and Bernadette, seem perfectly capable of social interaction, the third, Amy, is completely new to the concept of friends and the term 'social life'. As such, The Big Bang Theory creates the representation that all scientists are nerds and that they are socially incompetent, as according to the stereotype society has created.

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