Representation Theory

Gramsci's Hegemony

In mainstream media, dominant ideology is perpetuated to conform to modern society's expectations. The dominant ideology of traditional representations is presented the most, making it likely for people to believe. This causes representations to be unequal. Applying this to the narrative of our short film, we made a focus on the mobile phone. The prop is used to support the belief that all teenagers are technology-driven, enhancing the reality of the short film for the audience. This is counteracted by the character’s love of books.

Stan Cohen - Moral Panic

Cultures are subject to Moral Panic when a group of person has become defined as a threat to social values or interests. Representations within the media can focus on social issues and debates, this is clear in the short film 'Break Free' (2014) by icon Ruby Rose. The piece focuses on 'gender roles, Trans, and what it is like to have an identity that deviates from the status quo.'

With regards to our short film, the idea of the protagonist overdosing on pills displays the maturity of her knowledge as she is aware of the effects and makes a 'grown-up' decision to take her life. This goes against Stan Cohen’s theory of moral panic, as this character becomes defined as a threat to herself rather than to social values or interests.

Gary Giddens (1991)

Giddens claims that mediated experiences make us reflect upon and rethink our own self-narrative in relation to others. This theory is applied to our short film as we aspire to achieve cyberbullying awareness as well as suicidal awareness with the product.

Gauntlett (2002)

Gauntlett believed that media messages are diverse, diffuse and contradictory. Rather than being zapped straight into people's brains, ideas about lifestyle and identity that appear in the media are resources which individuals use to think through their sense of self and modes of expression.

Berger & Laura Mulvey

Berger's famous quote is 'men look, women appear'. The theorist believes women are present in media solely for the objectification of men, linking with Laura Mulvey's theory of the male gaze. Mulvey states that films are shot from a male's perspective. This is evident in Piranha 3D (2010).

bell hooks

bell hooks theorises that skin colour is a code; lighter skinned women are considered more desirable and fit better into the Western ideology of beauty. For instance, black women are objectified and sexualised in hip-hop, reflecting the colonialist view of black women. This is why we have chosen to cast a Caucasian female as our protagonist, conforming to this Western ideology as this draws the audience to the product.

Richard Dyer - Star Power

Dyer speculates institutions use stars to attract a larger audience to the text. Going against Richard Dyer’s theory of star power, we didn’t cast a star (famous person) as this takes the actuality and normality away from a short film.

Tessa Perkins - Stereotypes

As Perkins theorised, 'stereotypes are assumptions we make based on groups of people'.

An archetype is a character or person that manages to tick every box within a stereotype, such as 'Peg' and 'Joyce' from Edward Scissorhands (1990). A countertype is the opposite of this. The narrative of a film omits the idea of a character abiding by stereotypes related to their appearance, making the actor/actress counteract this ideology in their performance. An example of a countertype is 'Dylan Sanders' in Charlie's Angels (2000).

Perkins believed;

• Stereotypes aren't always negative - displayed in our short film as Lucy Merrill is portrayed as an intelligent young woman due to her love of books.
• Stereotypes are not always about minority groups.
• Stereotypes can be held about your own group - e.g. your age, sex.
• Stereotypes are not always false, allowing the audience to identify with the character.
• Stereotypes can change.

Our narrative omits the idea that women are dependent as the character makes her own decision to end her life in a way that she doesn't rely on anyone to resolve her issues for her.

Richard Dyer - Stereotypes

Stereotypes are always about power; those with power stereotype those with less power. An example of this would be the old vs the young. The older generation constantly build stereotypes for the youth while they have power over them.

Hebdige - 'Fun or Trouble'

Hebdige is a theorist that believes the media either represents the youth as 'fun' or 'trouble'.

The 'fun' aspect being that some youths are kind, respectful, and help their community, while the 'troubled' ones are constantly mischevious. This links to gang culture, where gangs are thought to be devised by young people, threatening members of the public and causing mayhem in their hometowns.

Thankfully, in society, there are troubled youths that are being recognised for their wrongdoings and are guided by non-profit organisations such as Community Links.

Biklen and Bogden - Disability

These theorists believe that in media the disabled person is shown as;

• Pitiable and pathetic.
• An object of violence.
• Sinister and evil - e.g. the main character of Split (2016), 'Mini-Me' in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999).
• Something that draws curiosity - e.g. the history of disability in American Horror Story: Freak Show (2013).
• A super cripple - e.g. 'Professor X' from the X-Men film series, people displayed in the Paralympics adverts.
• An object of ridicule.
• Their own worst and only enemy.
• A burden.
• Asexual.
• Incapable of participating fully in community life.

This theory supports the medical model, assuming that the abnormal behaviour of a person is due to their problematic physicality, as opposed to the social model of disability which states that disability is caused by the organisation of society rather than a person's deterioration.