Evaluation: question two

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

One of the social group that our media product explored was criminals. Above I have created a collage, comparing the criminal in our media product to criminals from popular thriller films such as Silence of the lambs and batman.

Within our media product, our criminal is shown by just a hand, concealed beneath a black glove. We decided to represent our criminal in this light as it adds a significant sense of mystery and tension; hidden identity is a key convention throughout the thriller genre as it portrays the concealed character as being impure, with negative motives. We used a black glove because this colour is known for connoting death, mystery and evil. By using hidden identity to portray the criminal, we have represented this social group in a bleak and negative light; confirming the general stereotype of criminals; that they are menacing and dangerous.

This social group is represented very similarly in both of the films displayed above and is done using the same technique. Hannibal lecter - the criminal within the film " silence of the lambs" is also portrayed through hidden identity. Hannibal is concealed beneath a metal mask, the mask only shows his eyes; concealing his true identity and adding mystery to both the character and the film.

The joker within the batman films is also portrayed through hidden identity; the joker's face is concealed beneath a mask of makeup which hides his true identity, again creating further mystery for the viewer and causing the criminal to appear more sinister and menacing. The joker's hair is also dyed green - an unnatural colour for hair; this removes a sense of normality from the character.

I feel that our representation of criminals throughout our film is extremely clear and understandable; it is portrayed to the viewer by a common technique used throughout thriller films: concealing key features and hiding the criminal's identity in order to represent the criminal as impure and mysterious.

The main social group that our product focuses on is teenage girls. Above, I have created a collage comparing the main character within our film and two photos of the protagonist from the film "mean girls": a typical representation of  a teenage girl. The top two images capture the protagonist wearing pink high heels, a short pink skirt, a pink cardigan, and a top with a feminine slogan displayed upon it. All of these items suggest femininity and the colour pink is overused purposely as it is a known feminine colour which lets them conform to the typical representation of this social group that is often used throughout media.

 She also appears to be significantly made up; she is wearing a hot pink lip-gloss and a statement necklace, her hair is long and sleek suggesting that her appearance matters to her. Her hair is also blonde; implying innocence, purity and femininity. This stereotypical image of a teenage girl is used throughout many popular films such as wild child and confessions of a teenage drama queen.

Our product challenges these norms. Our female is portrayed as looking extremely casual; she is wearing dark blue ripped jeans and a white polo top: both of these colours are neutral and so neither of them suggest an overwhelming sense of femininity. None of the girl's body is exposed in the manner that is often seen throughout the representation of teenage girls, such as in the first image where the young girl is captured wearing a mini skirt that finishes just above the thigh; arguably implying promiscuity and profligacy.

Ripped jeans and a polo top are both unisex items of clothing, therefore our characters clothes challenge the norm of teenage girls wearing overly feminine clothing such dresses, skirts or skimpy denim shorts. Furthermore, our character isn't wearing any jewellery such as a necklace or earrings; again contradicting the typical image of this group depicted throughout the media. By dressing the teenage girl within our product in such neutral clothing, we are contradicting the idea that is reinforced so often throughout media products; that females must dress according to their gender.

Our character doesn't appear to be heavily made up, and her hair is hanging loose without a set style; suggesting that our character isn't overly concerned about her appearance. Many teenage girls within films are portrayed with blonde hair, because with this, comes a sense of beauty and femininity. We have again contradicted this within our product by selecting our protagonist with dark brown hair instead.

I feel that our representation of teenage girls within our product is extremely clear and understandable; our contradiction of the typical image of this social group translates well into our product and makes for a more interesting and diverse character.