In the theatrical poster for Pretty Woman, the male character is constructed as stereotypically higher class. This representation is anchored through the MES of his full suit, which is connotative of wealth, status and power. This reinforces a dominant ideological perspective that power is attained through a sense of masculinity. However, Robert’s dress code forms a binary opposition with Gere’s. Roberts' character is a prostitute, and her role is constructed through the MES of the leather high heeled boots and her mini skirt. Roberts clutches Gere’s tie, which connotes formality. In doing so, this gesture code functions as a symbolic code, teasing not only Gere’s character but also presents a seductive mode of address, and suggests that her character is sexually promiscuous. This representation of women is in direct opposition to stereotypical representations of women being subordinate to men.
An unconventional representation of gender is contructed through Ken’s gesture code. The intradiegetic gaze of Ken staring at Barbie is highly unconventional, as Ken’s facial expression is stereotypically feminine and reinforces hegemonic expectations about how women behave. Conversely, Barbie is situated in the centre of the image, connoting her status as the protagonist of the narrative. However, Margot Robbie is noticeably hegemonically attractive, and has been digitally airbrushed to emphasise her stereotypical good looks. This this sense, the representation of gender in Barbie is clearly highly complicated.
On the theatrical poster for NTTD, a hierarchy is constructed to demonstrate the importance of every character to the target audience. Most important is Bond himself. The MES of Bond’s suit connotes a sense of power and financial success. This reinforces the ideology that men have authority over women in a patriarchal society. The secondary character directly addresses the audience, and clearly plays the role of the antagonist through the anchorage of the MES of his distressed skin, marking him as different to the hegemonically attractive Bond. Additionally, there are three representations of women on this power. In the bottom left, we have Lea Seydoux directly addressing the audience. However, while the antagonist addresses the audience in a menacing gesture code, Seydoux addresses the audience in a way that proairetically infers romance. Yet in the background, physically larger to Seydoux, we see Naomi, a woman dressed in military clothes and clutching a gun, a classic example of an action code. This unconventional representation of women forms a diametric opposition opposition to Lea Seydoux. As the only black woman in the poster, the fact that Naomi is clad completely in military gear and holding a large gun reinforces the stereotypical assumption that black people are dangerous
