True Detective and representation

When considering True Detective from either a text, audience  or industry perspective, it is impossible to get away from issues of representation. Representation, as stated by Dyer, is a way of ordering things, of making sense of the world for the producer and for the audience. Taking this idea further, the ways in which people and places, events and issues are RE-presented can tell us much about the following aspects:

• The target audience
• The ideology of the producer
• The dominant ideology of the society where the text is from
• How the text has been marketed
• How the text could affect its target audience
• The impact on the group, issue, place or the perception of the event that is being represented in the text

In short, representation is very serious business. Regardless of if your question is on industry or audience, it could very well be essential to make reference to representation

Representation of gender in True Detective

Read the following articles, one at a time:

True Detective Does Have a Woman Problem. That’s Partly Why People Love It

Female Bodies and the Philbrosophy (sic) of "True Detective"

Questions for debate

• What do you think about the representation of gender in True Detective?
• Is it necessary for a show that focusses on issues of masculinity to represent women either sexual conquests or simple plot devices?
• Is True Detective misogynistic or simply myopic with representations of women?
• What impact does the representation of women in True Detective have on women in society?
• Sam Adams in The Slate elaborates on the appeal to True Detective's target audience: "Sure, there are the windy monologues delivered by Matthew McConaughey’s Rust Cohle about fourth-dimensional perspectives and the recurring nature of evil, but don’t worry: It’s also got tits".What is the function of female nudity in True Detective for the target audience? How does it advance the narrative, and for whom?
• What are the issues with simultaneously representing women as sexual rewards and naked, deceased victims? 
• What assumptions are made about men in True Detective? What ideals should men live up to? What is the dominant ideology of masculinity? How could this effect the male target audience?
• A previous exam question is "[d]iscuss the audience appeal of your three main texts". How is the female body represented as being appealing to the target audience? What is the dominant ideology regarding the role of women in the society where this show takes place?