Key assessment one November 2024
- Time allowed: 60 minutes. This time includes time allowed to analyse and make notes on the unseen material.
- In this question, you will make reference to the unseen material, the UK DVD front cover to the 2011 vampire feature film Breaking Dawn Part 1. You will also make reference to the poster for Kiss of the Vampire which you have studied
- This is a comparative essay. Values and attitudes refers to beliefs and ideological perspectives.
1. Compare how the representations of gender in this DVD cover for Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 and the theatrical poster for Kiss of the Vampire convey values and attitudes. [30]
In your answer you must:
• consider the similarities in how representations of gender convey values and attitudes
• consider the differences in how representations of gender convey values and attitudes
Generic feedback
This question is a representation question, and therefore should focus on representation. The opening line should be a definition of what representation is, and then your introduction should briefly outline why the representation of gender is particularly important. Given that this is a representation question, you should focus on representation theories. Because this question asks you to comment on the representation of gender, Van Zoonen and hooks are the most important. However, Hall and/or Gilroy may also make an appearance. To access the highest grades, you will need to have a definitive and well-argued point of view. This may sound strange, but it is important to surprise the examiner, and give them a point that they may not have previously considered. Finally, given that both things you have been asked to analyse in this exam relate to the vampire genre, you should ideally refer to how the genre has fluidly evolved in the sixty-odd years that separate these films. This can and should be linked to how representations have evolved (or not!)
• Here are a few examples of indicative content, i.e. things you could have talked about
• The sexualisation in KOTV and the lack of sexualisation in Breaking Dawn
• The subversive representation of women in KOTV and the straightforward representation of women in BD
• Gender hierarchies: the composition of both images construct men as being more hegemonically powerful than women…
• Both images use images of hegemonically attractive men and women to appeal to an audience
• Gender stereotypes
• The lack of representation of people of colour (Gilroy and/or hooks)
Mark scheme
We used our patented 'universal mark scheme' to mark your essays, rather than using the standard mark scheme. The reason for this is basically because it's impossible to give grades to shorter mock exams. This system gives you a blunt indication of what grade you are working at, and the general qualities of your response.
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A*
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18-20
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Exceptional. Clearly beyond the expectations of a
KA5 student. Everything from the below description, but more so. Surprising
and thought provoking.
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A
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15-17
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Excellent. At the top end of what could be expected
on a KA5 student. Detailed, confident, and with a sophisticated clarity.
Knowledge and understanding are excellent
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B
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12-14
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Good. A good candidate. Accurate, reasonable,
logical and appropriate. Knowledge and understanding are good.
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C
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9-11
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Satisfactory. Does everything a KA5 student should.
Generally accurate. Straightforward, but reasonable. Knowledge and
understanding are reasonable, satisfactory, sound.
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D
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6-8
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Basic. Below KA5 expectations. Descriptive. Lacks
clarity and structure. Examples are basic and undefined. Missing significant
elements. Knowledge and understanding are basic.
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E
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3-5
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Minimal. Very little to mark. Superficial and
irrelevant. Confusing and inaccurate. Knowledge and understanding are
minimal.
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U
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0-2
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No work produced or work produced is not worthy of
credit
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Teacher exemplar
DAC INTRO
Representation refers to how a group of people, an issue or an even are re-presented by the producer of a media product, using media language, to present their ideological perspective. Gender refers to a specific identity of an individual, for example, male, female, agender, and so on. Over time, representations of gender have become both more complex and more politically motivated. As such, the representations of gender we saw in the 1960s are now completely different from more recent representations of gender, as ideological perspectives have shifted significantly. In this essay, I shall compare how the representations of gender in the theatrical poster for Kiss of the Vampire (KOV) and the DVD cover for Breaking Dawn part one (BD) construct very different values and attitudes, despite both being in the same genre. However, there are some notable similarities that I will also outline.
SEXUALISATION
One very notable difference in the representation of gender in these products is the difference in sexualisation and sexuality. In the poster for KOV, the MES constructs a sexualised and even fetishised representation of women. Shown in long shot, the MES of the swooning, unconscious blonde woman is emphasised through the performance code of her body bent back unnaturally, emphasising the curve of her breasts and body. Van Zoonen argues that media language constructs women as a spectacle for heterosexual male audiences, and this is very clearly seen in the payout of this poster. This is reinforced through the binary opposition of a fully clothed male vampire, standing over her in a position that proairetically infers dominance and hegemonic power. However, the MES of BD could not be more different, with the female character here dressed modestly yet fashionably. There is no emphasis on her body, and since the image is a mid-shot and not a long shot, the audience are positioned to observe her face and shoulders instead. In fact, the MES of the male vampires is far more sexually revealing, with the man on the left’s shirt being undone, symbolic of sex and sexuality. While Van Zoonen argued that women are presented as spectacle for a heterosexual male audience, Twilight uses hegemonically attractive men to appeal to a heterosexual female audience (and queer men). This demonstrates a complete subversion of the ideologies of sexualisation that have slowly changed over the 50+ years that separate these posters.
HIERRACHY and POWER
However, while there have been changes in the use of sexualisation, there have been fewer changes in terms of hierarchy and dominance. Stuart Hall argued that stereotypes are used to quickly construct ideological perspectives for audience, and both posters present a stereotypical representation of men as powerful, and women as either less powerful, or simply evil. In KOV, the main female vampire screams in hatred and agony as she attacks an unconscious man. The MES of her twisted face is hegemonically unattractive. However, the costume code of her flowing nightdress emphasises her curvaceous body, once more sexualising her. It is a complex representation of gender and power that sees her being attacked by an enormous bat (a convention of the vampire genre), and therefore ultimately submissive. The colour white here is symbolic of purity, which makes it even more surprising that she is behaving so violently. Levi-Strauss argued that diametric oppositions emphasise meaning, and here the combination of media language only reinforces, ironically, that women are stereotypically seen as inferior. And, while the woman in BD is fully clothed and not apparently being victimised, the gesture code of her arm around the torso of a much larger man reinforces the stereotypical assumption that men are more powerful and should protect women. The composition of the image introduces a third character, yet another hegenomically attractive man, which proairetically infers a love triangle. Once more, this constructs a stereotypical assumption that women are to be fought over by heterosexual men, and are a prize, or a damsel in distress to be saved. Th9is highly conventional and straightforward ideological perspective infers that representations of gender in the more recent product may be more conservative than the historical one, and that values and attitudes may not have shifted so considerably.
KOV is SUBVERSIVE
In fact, it could be argued the opposite, that KOV is more challenging than BD. While the female vampire in KOV is sexualised through her costume codes, her arm is raised in a symbolic code of aggression, that suggests that she has agency. This forms a binary opposition with the male vampire, whose arm is drawn across his terrified face in a symbolic code of cowardice and fear, that subverts the stereotypical representation of men as being powerful and aggressive. Furthermore, it could be argued that the male vampire is horrified by the sexualised and attractive women collapsed at his feet. The audience may negotiate a reading were this vampire is regretful of his actions, which presents a non-stereotypical and subversive attitude to men at a time where awful behaviour towards women was often normalised. In BD, we see a far simpler arrangement of characters and identities. The woman is constructed as subversive and submissive through her body language. Further anchored through the white of her top, symbolising purity, a very straightforward representation of women is constructed, that is only emphasised through the extremely conventional representation of muscular, powerful, and stereotypically dominant male characters. This infers that in many ways, there has been something of a regression of values and ideologies surrounding gender. Twilight was a massive success with KOV was largely forgotten, and perhaps it is because of these conservative gender values that it ended up resonating with a largely conservative, mainstream audience.
GENRE ENCODING GENDER
Both films are vampire films, and we see representations pf gender and ideologies surrounding gender encoded into the genre conventions themselves. KOV is highly typical and even stereotypical of the vampire genre. This reflects the time in which it was made, 1963 (UK release), where conventional gothic horror fantasies still massively appealed to audiences. KOV is set in a generic version of Transylvania where everyone speaks English, and all the actors are either British or Swedish. This allows the producers to represent women in a stereotypically old fashioned and exotic way. The costumes worn by the women in this poster; long flowing nightdresses and vintage hairstyles is not simply included to sexualise them. It also constructs a very different world to what audiences would be used to. The sixties were a time of great political change, of changes in attitudes to sex with the birth control pill, and changes in attitudes to clothing with miniskirts and excitingly coloured, psychedelic dresses. Hammer chose to continue to make conservative, old fashioned horror films with stereotypical gender roles, which may have appealed to older audiences who were happy with the status quo. In addition to the conservative yet sexualised costumes, we also have a range of extremely generic paradigmatic features of the vampire genre. The iconography of dripping blood, the lexis of vampire, the bleak, eastern European setting and of course the MES of bats all suggest a simpler time where women and men had very specific sexual roles. Neale argued that audiences require a slight difference with their repetition, and the snarling fangs of the female vampire symbolically suggest aggression, yet the poster is weighted down with old fashioned vampire ideology. This would ensure the film’s financial success, as audiences could be very sure of the precise, sexualised representations that would get from this film. / However, BD fascinatingly chooses to omit almost all vampire iconography from the DVD cover of it’s release. There are no fangs, bats, or blood, and in fact, the pouting, hegemonically attractive ‘teenagers’ suggests a romantic tragedy story that will stereotypically appeal to teenage girls instead. The only clear vampire convention is the bleak setting, which symbolically infers horror, although the UK ‘12’ certificate ensures the audience realises that this is suitable for younger teenagers, and there will be no explicit violence (KOV was rated ‘X’). These shifts in genre conventions see gender represented in radically diverse ways. While KOV was old fashioned even for the time, presenting a gothic, 19th century ideological perspective of women to be looked at and to be sexualised, BD is clearly set in the 21st century when it came out. The costume codes are bland, straightforward, and identifiable, and allow the young target audience to identify with the subtle references to sexuality, rather than being something completely escapist and unnatural, like KOV. This suggests that audiences now seek more realistic and modern representations of sex and sexuality, and that gender representations that audiences can actually identify with are far more profitable for the enormous media conglomerate that actually produced BD.
ETHNICITY and GENDER
When hooks argued that the representation of gender is complex, she suggested that feminism is a political choice that seeks to further how all genders are represented. But she also argued that there are other factors that are essential in the representation of women, and one of them is race and ethnicity. It is very notable that out of the 7 people represented in both of these posters, all are hegemonically attractive, all are able bodies, and all are white. While KOV reflects the time in which it was made, BD has no excuse, and was produced at a time where more diverse representations were becoming commonplace. The inclusion of only white characters is highly problematic, as it constructs a world where not only white people are in charge, but black and ither people of colour are excluded completed. Gilroy argued that certain groups are excluded or ‘othered’ through postcolonial discourse. The images of the white, hegemonically attractive trio staring in to the camera constructs a representation of a privilege, white ideological perspective that suggests only white men and women are worthy of being main characters (it is likely BD has a ‘token’ black character, although they clearly are not important enough for the main cover). Once more, an attitude towards gender is constructed where only certain people are in charge (white men), and only certain people are the object of the gaze (white women).
Ultimately, there are both striking similarities and significant differences between the representation of gender in these two advertisements. And while there clearly has been a significant shift in ideologies surrounding gender in more than 50 years, in many ways, Breaking Dawn is more straightforward and stereotypical that KOV. This confusing mode of address suggests that Hollywood in particular and major film producers in general should be more inclusive, experimental and challenging when it comes to representations of gender, in order to appeal to audiences who may be alienated by these representations. If these representations are not addressed, then ultimately, audiences will seek more interesting and diverse representations elsewhere, which mirrors the eventual fate of Hammer Horror and their insistence on producing old-fashioned, sexist gothic horror films.
