Representation

in films
Representation

 Watch this clip and

write notes on how
a) Men are represented
b) Women are
represented
 To consider how
certain types of
groups are
Aims & represented in
groups
Objectives
How
stereotyping
can affect the
way we think
about groups of
Representations

 Representation is how media texts

deal with and present gender,
age, ethnicity, national and regional
identity, social issues and events to
an audience.

 Media texts have the power to

shape an audience’s knowledge
and understanding about these
important topics.
Task 2
Stereotypes

 What is a stereotype?
 What types of stereotypes exist?
 In groups, list all of the main stereotypes
for gender that you can think of
 Males

 Females
Gender
Stereotypes
Theory: Laura Mulvey ‘The Male Gaze’

Representations of women are often

defined by how men see women or by
how society expects women to look and
behave
Laura Mulvey called this ‘The Male Gaze’
She said that the audience are always
positioned to look at women in films like
men would look at them – that we objectify
them
 Why might this be?
 https://youtu.be/yl2Eh8swrEs
 Analyse how gender and sexuality are
being represented in this scene from
Gender in films Transformers https://youtu.be/u0LVDsV7w0E
How does this conform to Laura Mulvey’s
theory?
 Representations of men have changed over the
past two decades - 'new man' or 'metrosexual’
The focus is still on the traditional idea of
masculinity which is strong, heroic, with the
ability to outsmart life's problems and survive
against all odds e.g. ACTION FILMS
Gender in Sometimes this heroic representation of
masculinity is challenged in action-adventures.
films E.g.: In Skyfall, we see an ageing James Bond, a
more vulnerable hero. This is a more realistic
representation of masculinity and age.
Can you think of any other films that subvert
male gender stereotypes?
Age in films
Now consider how age is represented.
Read through the article by the Independent and note down 3 main
points.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/goodlife/living/were-tired-of-these-
stereotypes-of-older-people-in-the-media/
b) Now watch this clip of Up and discuss how age is represented.
https://youtu.be/XubM62q9nlw
 What else can we analyse?

Age – young people, old people,

children
Race (defined by biology relating to
characteristics such as skin colour)
https://2ser.com/black-panther-representation-film/

Ethnicity (defined by culture, national

customs, language or beliefs)
National identity (a country’s culture,
politics, traditions etc.)
Regional identity (based on
geographical area within a country) –
northerners vs. southerners etc.
  Media texts (including films) are very powerful and
reach a large amount of people
 We need to be concerned with the way in which
representations are made to appear ‘natural’
 All media texts are constructed representations –
however real a film may appear
Why do we  Representations which become familiar through
constant re-use come to feel ‘natural’, accepted
analyse and unchallenged
They tell us a lot about the filmmaker’s
representation?

opinions/messages/values – they may choose to play
on existing representations or change the way
certain groups are represented
 The way certain groups of people are represented
can have a huge social impact
 We can find out whether or not the filmmaker’s are
conforming to or subverting dominant ideologies
Analysing the intro to 28 Days Later

 Apply what you have learnt from today and

analyse the intro scene
 Stereotypes?
 Codes and Conventions?
 https://youtu.be/n8FbMY-quW4