Explore how the representations of gender in the TV shows you have studied position their audiences[15]
1 - underline key terms
Explore how the representations of gender in the TV shows you have studied position their audiences[15]
Synoptic - pulls together everything across the full course of study. So, a representation question should talk about media language, and it can also refer to industry and audience. However, the focus should never stray from representation. So, keep going back to your underlined words!
2 - knee jerk reaction - what is your argument?
Yes, representations of gender clearly position audience, by using complex representations of gender, in particular women
Or
Yes, the TV shows I’ve studied present very complex representations of gender to allow them to appeal to a wider audience to ensure financial success
3 - Plan
MES
Stereotype
Unfazed and unbothered
MES
Setting
Bleak and empty
Low key lighting
Horror film conventions
Unconventional representations
Costume codes: baggy jumper, popped collar
Framing: victor stalking Julie
Lack of stereotypical maternal gestures
Julie: hegemonically unattractive?
Working class representation
Professional
Glasses
Gender performativity: blunt and no-nonsense
Theories of identity: what can audiences get from Julie?
A modern and complex representation of gender
Subverts stereotypes
Appeals to working class audiences
Intellectual
Horror fan
Never smiles
Eerie music
Stereotypically French
Complete lack of sexualisation
Single and lives by herself, atypical
Secluded dark setting
Julie’s costume is completely based on comfort as opposed to fashion
Is she motherly? A stern, atypical mother
“What’s he doing there?”
4 - DAC
Representation refers to the re-presentation of reality by the producer for the purpose of presenting their ideology. Gender refers to the often complex ways that we identify as, and over time, these gender identities have become rather more complicated. In this essay, I shall argue that the TV shows I have studied present complex representations of gender to appeal to a larger and increasingly diverse audience. In order to explore this idea I will refer to Les Revenants, a French horror TV serial produced by Canal + and shown in the UK on Channel 4, and San Junipero, an episode of the anthology show Black Mirror, a dark sci-fi TV show, first broadcast on Channel, but then purchased by Netflix.
5 - PEA
- Julie is completely unfazed by the situation she is in. The isolated setting and the composition of each shot reinforces that she is utterly alone. However, her sleepy and grumpy facial expression contradicts the severity of her situation. This meaning is constructed through intertextual references to the horror genre, where isolated women are represented as vulnerable. However, Les Revs continually and consistently subverts the expectations of the audience.
- The scary and intimidating setting is anchored through the heavily stereotypical use of non-diegetic music. The generically appropriate horror soundtrack situates Julie and the audience in the same position and confront s the audience with an eerie and threatening mode of address
- In terms of gesture codes, Julie never looks over her shoulder, and never hyperventilates. Ibn fact, she shows no sign of being scared. Even though she is isolated, Julie is confident and nonplussed by the situation. Van Zoonen argues that gender stereotypes are constructed through media language. However, Julie subtly subverts this stereotype, position the audience in a privileged mode of address, with the extremely effective shot of Victor looming behind her.
- Julie ‘escapes’ from the situation unscathed, and this seems to reinforce the ideological perspective that women are quite safe walking home alone at night
- Julie is constructed as being messy and unkempt. This representation is further anchored through her apparent lack of makeup, which potentially makes her look tired and older. She is constructed as being less prominent to the narrative. By casting a less hegemonically attractive actor, the producer has constructed a complex representation of gender. Julie is not defined by her looks, which means that she is refreshingly unsexualised, and this may position female audiences in a positive and receptive mode of address.
- Julie lives in what appears to be a social housing estate, which reinforces her status as a working class woman. The fact that she is working late at night reinforces her vulnerability, as she is forced to take public transport. In many ways, Julie is stereotypically working class, through her lack of means and her working class job. However, she subverts these stereotypes through the MES of the books in her flat, which reinforce her intellectual aspirations