For this post, let us first look at three particularly important theories of representation:
Judith Butler: gender performativity - gender is a performance, and is reinforced through a series of acts we carry out every day. However, it doesn't stop here: our gender performance affects the world around us in significant ways. This is called gender performativity
bell hooks: 'feminism is for everyone' - hooks is an intersectional feminist, and believes that the representation of women isn't just related to a gender binary, but many other factors, including race, ethnicity, disabilities and social class. Additionally, hooks argues that feminism is for everyone, not just women. The stereotypes and labelling that dominate the lives of women also reinforce what is acceptable and unacceptable for men too!
Paul Gilroy - postcolonial theories - The United Kingdom conquered and colonised much of the world, but as years have passed, we have lost these colonies, and have become a small island in a vast world, and our influence diminishes year by year. Despite this, there are still subtle (and not so subtle) representational differences between non-white people and white people in media products, which point to long held racial prejudices and hierarchies of power
Next, let's apply these theories to some key scenes from the first episode of Humans. These notes have all been taken directly from students, with just a little editing here and there. Cheers guys!
Key scene - Leo in the brothel - hooks and Butler
- Leo demonstrates his gender performativity by telling a passer by to " Keep moving" which shows his hegemonic masculinity.
- The mise en scene of her Niska lingerie constructs her as a stereotypical representation of a sex worker. Furthermore, the mise en scene of her dancing and movements are very sexualised.
- The mise en scene of the colour red represents danger and sex.
- The low key lighting outside shows that the streets ( where only the male characters are seen) is symbolic of a tough, rugged, hyper masculine lifestyle
- This scene is included to make the audience feel uncomfortable. It's preferred reading is to place the audience in an uncomfortable position, and force them to question the ways in which women are represented in our society. This further reinforces Humans' status as an allegory
- Niska is clearly putting on a performance, and slips between two personalities: the performed sexual object, and the relaxed human. Once more this is highly allegorical of the notion of gender performativity itself: the notion that we perform our gender, and the ways that his influences the world around us.
- The mise en scene of the glass boxes that women/synths are imprisoned in shows the audience that Leo is in control of the situation which is a clear example of both gender performativity and patriarchal hierarchical hegemony
- The close up of Niska shows that she is hegemonically attractive and that she is not comfortable in there. We see a close up shot of Niska body of her touching her breasts. The intention is to both arouse the audience and to make them uncomfortable, which demonstrates the power of gender performativity
- Cross cut from Niska's dance to Leo's worried face. While Leo may be a hyper masculine stereotype, he is clearly uncomfortable with seeing his friend forced in to sexual objectification
- The mise en scene of Leo's costume shows him as rugged and masculine and rugged compared to Niska. A clear gender binary
- Niska's line "I was meant to feel" is the most telling example of the feminist leanings f this TV show, drawing attention to the notion that women must essentially adopt two separate identities and personalities every day in order to function within our society. Niska realises that despite not being 'human' (OR IS SHE), the metonymic signification of a woman is to suffer and to feel pain due to their position in a patriarchal and hierarchical society.
- Additionally, the pain receptor is an example of science fiction iconography
- Raises an ethical issue is it possible to rape a robot
- POV we are positioned as a heterosexual man as Leo
Key scene - Anita at breakfast - Gilroy
- The mise en scene of Anita's costume somewhat resembles a maid outfit or a nurse's uniform, but it's much more sparse and straightforward. Anita is not a maid, she's a slave, and her costume lacks any sense of personality at all. Therefore, There is a binary opposition between Anita and The Hawkins family, who all all dressed in individual styles
- Blue that is on Anita's costume is symbolic of blue collar work.
- Binary opposition between Anita and Laura and their costumes: Anita's pristine blue 'sack' and Laura's scruffy suit
- The mise en scene of Anita green eyes reinforces how different and foreign she is. Anita is not just East Asian, but she is made even more 'foreign' and 'other' through her unnatural eyes
- The mise en scene of Anita cleaning up everything on the table to get rid of all the imperfections such as the spilt coffee shows that Anita is weird and is programmed to be perfect.
- The Hawkins family are middle class, and totally stereotypically so
- Gemma Chan ( actress for Anita ) she has also been in Crazy Rich Asians where she is seen as perfect and hegemonically attractive. She is frequently typecast in this very specific role, which really reinforces the notion that East Asian actors can only be cast in certain roles!
Key scene - the ending montage
- Leo and Max are staying in a car place with dark and gloomy lighting which would be a stereotypical 'manly place', whereas Nishka is staying in a brothel with bright pink lighting and Anita is serving as a housewife, which are stereotypical jobs for women, even when they are hiding they are conforming to gender performativity
- At the beginning Matty is watching an interview about synths, which we see through an over the shoulder shot, this is not typical for her gender as computers and tech are stereotypically male interests
- Matty is not a stereotypical girl, she is not sexualised, she has a fairly deep and aggressive voice and she is rude a lot of the time
- Nishka is also wearing very feminine clothing, whilst Leo is wearing stereotypically masculine clothes
- Anita is domestic
- Anita is the Madonna and Nishka is the whore
- We cross cut between a number of story arcs
- Positions the audience in a particularly uncomfortable mode of address
- Leo is seen throughout this episode in a series of very stereotypically masculine locations --> he is hyper-masculine
- Laura looks at Anita as if she is a monster --> possible intertextual reference to scene in alien 3
- Leo is binary opposite to Matty as he is roughing it outside, whilst Matty is comfortable in bed
- The man in Nishka's rape scene presents the man as a very stereotypical man who uses prostitutes
- This scene is also an allegory for sex slavery as she doesn't want to have sex with this man
- The close up shot of Nishka's face when she's being raped makes the audience uncomfortable as the audience knows she doesn't want to do this
- The preferred reading of Nishka's assault in the brothel is to feel deeply uncomfortable, anchored by the lingering use of an extreme close up
- Leo is a knight is shining armour as he goes into the brothel to save Nishka, however he doesn't save her and she is sexually assaulted --> this is a subversion of the stereotypical fairy-tale
- He also can't save Mia, however she saved him when he was younger
- Sophie prefers Anita as a mother and her gender performativity threatens Laura
- Anita is East Asian and the Hawkins family are a stereotypical, white, middle class family
- In the Swedish version Anita is also played by an East Asian woman