POST #45 - HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT REPRESENT CERTAIN SOCIAL GROUPS?

"Age:
Usually, the media portrays teenagers in a more negative light. Although many more 'teen-orientated' television shows and films have been created (such as 'Skins' and 'Misfits'), these shows may not present teenagers in a positive light. They are usually full of drama, and have deep themes and hardships that make the audience question the characters motives and choices. Although this seems ordinary to some teenagers, it is quite a dramatization of the life of a majority of teenagers in Britain, and many people of this age may not feel represented by this stereotype. Moreover, to an older generation, these portrayals of teenagers are rather negative, as they are shown smoking and drinking, and generally negatively impacting society. 
This is quite a common convention in film, as many films portray teenagers in a way that strikes true with real teenagers, but may be looked down upon by the older generation. This mirrors real life, as many members of the older generation feel out of touch with the younger generation, so may disapprove of their decisions and their life. This idea is shown throughout our opening:

The opening is rather subjective, and it doesn't show teenagers in a good or bad light. Our character only has a few lines: "That was the most heinous nightmare. Who is Alan Hamlin? Wait, where am I? More like when am I? Bogus". In our target audience, this may seem normal or funny. It may be a little annoying to an older generation, as they probably don't recognise this slang, and may find it unusual and irritating. Because of this, the representation of this social group totally depends on the audience. This is common in existing films of this genre. 

Gender:
Our opening only has male actors, and therefore only represents male social groups. However, typically, in television and film, male social groups are portrayed in a very stereotypical way. Men are usually presented in a typically masculine way. For example, in 'Misfits' (which is a portrayal of modern day teenagers), there are three male characters. Each character is quite 'strong', and typically 'masculine'. They typically find themselves in bad situations and take it upon themselves to save everyone, and to be the strong person. This is the stereotypical view that most media productions portray. This is common in film. 

However, in our opening we focus solely on male characters. Overall, our representation differs from this norm as it presents male characters less masculine and it uses less stereotypes than usual. However, there are still a few scenes that perhaps show this stereotyping, as the main character is seen gaming, and skateboarding, which are very typically 'masculine'. Moreover, our characters don't interact with anyone else, so it is difficult to interpret how they represent male social groups. Overall, I think that our representation of males is a more realistic representation than in many films and games. 

All in all, our representation of teenage males is ordinary. We have decided to keep the characters as ordinary as possible, as this will allow for people to relate to the characters more. I fully believe we represent teenage males in a more realistic way than if we were to mimic pre-existing films. "