'Advanced' theories of representation

bell hooks

• Feminist theory, but significantly different to Van Zoonen
• Feminism advocates equal rights between men and women
• "Feminism is for everyone"
• But how? 
• Race, class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and a whole range of other factors are all tied together
• bell hook's theory is a far more inclusive theory of feminism 
• This concept is known as intersectionality
• The representation of women can also affect the representation of men, and the way in which they are treated in society. 
• For example, hooks argued that many huge responsibilities are placed on men by the stereotypical representation of women, 
• Words such as 'pussy' and 'sissy' and other gendered or homophobic language against men who show emotion may stop them from doing so
• Representations in media products are therefore all linked and extremely complicated!
• KOTV reinforces assumptions about men being dominant and women being sexualised, which in turn reinforces patriarchal hegemony

Paul Gilroy

• Postcolonial attitudes
• The British Empire as we know it has collapsed
• Postcolonial attitudes still exists
• There are still racial hierarchies in out society, where some races are considered superior to others
• Binary oppositions are used to 'other' ethnic minorities
• Othering is where a group is represented as being different from 'us', and a group is represented as being 'abnormal'
• KOTV only features white characters, which reinforces the notion of racial hierarchy 

Manuel Alvarado

There are only four representations of non white characters in media products

Humorous - this character is simply there to be funny. The comic relief. Buddy in Free Guy, detective Carter in Rush Hour, and Kevin Hart in everything. Also Jackie Chan.

Threatening - delinquent, aggressive, violent

Exotic - sexually attractive, sexualised, and sexually promiscuous 

Pathetic - pitied, vulnerable, requiring help

Revision: The Vampire Lovers (1970)

How does the producer use representations and media language to construct a version of reality? Make reference to KOTV and The Vampire Lovers (1970s)

Knee jerk reaction

Both of these posters use a commination and female empowerment and sexualisation to represent women 

Plan

Van zoonen

Colours 

Binary oppositions

Violence

Sex

Sexualisation 

Costumes

Revealing

Hegemonically attractive

Cleavage

Stuart Hall

Representation

Stereotypes

Font

Horror

Vampire

Genre conventions

Mise en scene

Setting

Intertextuality

Historical/period setting

Introduction

Representations reflect the ideology of the producer. When a producer constructs a media product, they are in effect reconstructing reality. In this essay, I shall argue that the producer of these posters uses a combination of sexualisation and empowerment in order to represent women. Ultimately, both posters present a stereotypical, straightforward representation of women . 

Content

• Use of bright pink has a feminine and stereotypically female connotations, which may indicate a more empowered and nuanced representation of women in this film. This is further anchored through the mes of the vampire women, who are not chained up, and are beating a series of hegemonically attractive men and women. This could indicate that this film is attempting to target a female audience
• However, the colour pink here could also have polysemic connotations. The colour pink could also be symbolic of naked skin, which is anchored through the lexis of 'lovers'. This promise of naked women may appeal to a heterosexual male audience
• The colour of the female vampires skin is an unnatural green blue, which is a typical convention of the vampire genre. However, it could also be a convention of the zombie genre. By combining multiple genre conventions, the film may appeal to multiple audiences
• The MES of the man cowering away from the woman creates a binary opposition between him and the hegemonically attractive woman towering over him, creating a position of power and female dominance. 
• There are many examples of fetishism and female domination (blimey!) in both of these posters, which may appeal to certain audiences . Sex sells, and is often a technique used to make films look more exciting than they actually are.
• Themes of sex are further anchored through the lexis of 'caution', which suggests potential nudity, and passion, which suggests explicit sex
• Women are consistently represented as sexualised, yet the representation may be a little more complicated. In many cases, we see women who are presented as demonic and threatening, which challenges gender norms and conceptions of being hegemonically attractive
• Audiences are also presented with a hegemonically attractive man in a highly sexualised position, with a big emphasis on the male victim's naked body. We can directly compare this to the representation of the male victim in the kiss of the vampire poster. Potentially the poster may appeal to a larger audience, including heterosexual women and also gay men

Revision: Hotel Transylvania: Transformia

How do historical contexts affect and influence representations? Make reference to the theatrical poster to Hotel Transylvania: Transformia (2021) and the Kiss Of The Vampire (1963) poster you have studied in class

Knee Jerk Reaction

Historical contexts influence representations and meanings significantly. Key historical factors that influence the representation of gender include greater equality between the sexes, and representations have therefore become significantly more complex

 Plan

Bright vs dark

Binary opposition 

Sexualised

Colourful

Women and men

Fun

Goofy vs serious

Dramatic and relaxed

Antagonization

Male dominance

Fear

Juxtaposition 

Audience age

Stereotypes

Subversive

Modern

Hegemonically attractive vs TV ugly

Content

• Women are sexualised though the MES of their dresses, presenting them both vulnerable, submissive, and also a spectacle for heterosexual make audiences
• However, in HT, the sole female character is represented somewhat conservatively through MES, and is in no way sexualised, which challenges Van Zoonen's assertion that women are presented as spectacle. Her facial expression is smug, which is an atypical and complicated representation of women, and suggests autonomy
• However, HT still demonstrates a majority male cast, and the sole female character is presented as hegemonically attractive. 
• In KOTV, there is clear hierarchy presented between men and women, with men clearly in a position of dominance over women. This is constructed through the MES of......
• However in HT, through the positioning of the characters, we see that men and women are somewhat more equal. For example, the sole female character is positioned at top left at right, which suggests she is hierarchically more powerful than other male characters, and just as important as the male protagonist
• Differences in target audiences: KOTV adult male, HT younger female target audience

Revision: Free Guy (2021)

Explore how the producer utilises media language to construct representations and make reference to ideological concepts. Make reference to the theatrical poster to the US comedy film Free Guy and the poster to KOTV you have studied in class

Knee-jerk reaction

Men and women are represented in a largely stereotypical way in both Free Guy and KOTV, in order to appeal to a large and straightforward target audience

Introduction

Representation is the re-portrayal of a group of people, an issue or an event by the producer to show their ideological perspective. In this essay, I shall argue that men and women are represented in a largely stereotypical way in both Free Guy and KOTV, in order to appeal to a large and straightforward target audience

Plan 

Exclusion 

Symbolic annihilation - where a certain group are omitted from a media product

Intertextuality

Font

Colours

Bright

Low key

High production values

American/British

Iconography

Action genre

Conventional

Costumes

Stereotypical representation of white people

'guy' 

Sexualisation 

Leather outfit

Hegemonically attractive

Proairetic code of explosion

White male protagonist

Stereotypical representations of black people

Van Zoonen

Gilroy

Z line rule

Typecasting

Content

Free Guy

• Black characters on the Free Guy poster are exclusively occupying comedic, side character roles. For example, the black cop is coded as being humorous through his exaggerated facial expression, the tag on his jacket ('Buddy'), and his larger frame. This reinforces many stereotypical assumptions about black people and their role in films, and may also be an example of tokenism, where a black person is included to tick off a box and to fulfil a representation
• Manuel Alvarado argued that black fulfil certain roles: sexual, funny, violent or exotic
• Jodie Comer's character is coded as sexualised and simultaneously nerdy and hegemonically unattractive, which is a clear binary opposition
• The poster constructs a clear hierarchy of importance, with certain characters being vastly more important than other characters. This explicitly communicates with the audience the producer's ideological intentions. Clearly the most important character is Ryan Reynolds, and this notion is anchored y his position top centre of the character's hierarchy, his name being first on the cast list, his star appeal, and the representation of him being significantly larger. Under him are a range of side characters who are clearly encoded as significantly less important. However we must acknowledge that in this hierarchy, white people are positioned at the top and people of colour towards the bottom. This positioning reinforces Gilroy's theory of postcolonial attitudes and othering, through constructing a literally racial hierarchy. 

Revision: theories of representation and identity

 Liesbet Van-Zoonen 

• "men and women are represented differently in media products, and these representations are constructed through media language"
• "women's bodies are used as a spectacle for an assumed heterosexual male audience"
• "the typical representation of women therefore reinforces patriarchal hegemony"
• "even in products targeting women, women are still presented as spectacle, and presented as aspirational role models"

Example from Kiss Of The Vampire

Clearly sexualised women are a stereotypical example of women's bodies being used as a spectacle

John Berger 

• "men act, women appear"

Example from Kiss Of The Vampire

Facial expression of male vampire is intriguing and subversive, and pits him as the main character. His fear is clearly important to the story

Stuart Hall (representation)

• "constructed through media language, and use stereotypes to reflect the ideology of the producer"
• "stereotypes are an excellent of identifying and categorising groups, and ordering the world"

Example from Kiss Of The Vampire

The female victim is hegemonically attractive, especially by 1960s standards, and her blonde hair is is symbolic of vulnerability, submissiveness and hegemonic beauty standards

David Gauntlet 

• "Identities are constructed through a number of different factors, including values, past, personality, political views, ethnicity, language, food we eat, sexuality, clothes..."
• "audiences are not passive!"
• "audiences can pick and mix elements from media products to construct their own identities" 

Example from Kiss Of The Vampire

Straight women may be intrigued by the atypical representation of women in the poster, and may seek a challenging representation