Antler: Evaluation of Representation of social groups in our media product

Representation of Gender

Our representation of gender in our film followed the stereotypical trail of male kidnapper and female victim. Our two main characters in our film are both females under the age of 18 and often teenagers are casted as the younger they are the more vulnerable they appear

With younger characters, the role of the ‘victim’ is then easier to portray as it is stereotypically presented in film that female characters are physically weaker than males so are less likely to fight them off, which we showed when Georgina gets kidnapped.

This stereotype can be taken from films that revolve around a kidnapping such as Rush Hour where an 11 year old girl is kidnapped. The victim is young and female just like the characters in our film. During the film, the little girl is dressed in her school uniform which stresses her innocence in the matter.

'Rush Hour' Child kidnapped

Generally a psychological thriller features a family with a key focus on the children as this pulls on the audiences heartstrings. Our film too follows a similar path as in our film the children are seen to be clearly the victim in the events that take place.

Representation of happy family life

Casting younger actors allow them to be presented as more likeable and innocent even though they can be troublesome children. Ellie (the younger sister) is a fairly conventional younger sibling as she has that ‘cute’ factor which comes from her youth. We might expect her to be kidnapped, as this seems to be her role - she follows the classic horror stereotype of being curious, rebellious, a bit of a nuisance. But then we twist this by making the older sister who has been working quietly upstairs the victim. This shows how representation and narrative are linked. Adorno suggests stereotypes operate as a shorthand for the audience - but because of this you can also surprise them when they think they know the role characters will take.

From the beginning of the film, we can see that the relationship between the two sisters appears to be more sibling irritation that dislike for another. This hopefully puts the female gender representation in a more positive way. The relationship follows Althusser’s theory in that the more frequently we see the ‘love-hate’ sibling relationship, the more it becomes real.

'New York Minute' - Representation of an annoying sister relationship

Our sibling rivalry

An example of a negative representation of sisters is the film ‘In Her Shoes’ which strongly focuses on the jealousy brought with sister relationships. This is negative representation of sisters yet this is done to make the audience feel sympathetic for one of the characters. At the end of the film though, the representation changes to positive one as the sisters settle their differences and become close. Our sisters squabble a little at the beginning but are close in reality as the photo of them shows.

'In Her Shoes' - Sister representation of jealousy/ irritation

Family photo

What is quite unconventional about female representation in our thriller is the role which the main character takes as it is not a usual plot for a thriller - she becomes a hero and therefore a stronger and more important character than you would expect. In a stereotypical thriller you would see this character killed or kidnapped and she might develop mental problems because of the trauma. This helps perpetuate a stereotype of women as being weak; both our characters stand up for themselves and fight back.

In the film 'Out of Sight' we see that a woman is ambushed by two authoritative men, picked up and forced into their car boot. This shows a negative representation of woman as they are stereotyped as being the weaker sex. The men ('villains') are both dressed in dark clothing and appear to know each other and are breaking men out of prison. The location of this kidnapping is outside a prison by the wired fence which is quiet but not the prison guards main focus.

Kidnapped -'Out of Sight'

Forced into car boot- 'Out of Sight'

Another film 'Man on Fire' shows a young girl getting kidnapped due to her association with someone. This too shows the negative representation of women and this girl is female and of a young age which makes her more vulnerable and easier to kidnap. The location of this kidnapping is on an avenue of houses which has been blocked off by the police.

Child being kidnapped -'Man on Fire'

Our take on a kidnap follows a similar path as other films that feature an abduction. Georgina (a young, female teenager) opens her own front door to be attacked and dragged out the house. This happens in broad daylight just like in the film 'Man on Fire'. The location of this kidnap takes place on an avenue of houses, on a quiet road where you would least expect a kidnap. As women are most often the victims of domestic abuse, this taps intoa common fear that the home is not the safe place it should be.

Georgina getting kidnapped in our film 'Hide and Seek'

We tried to make sure that the audience would feel more sympathetic to the two girls due to their age and innocence even though at the beginning, the older sister had a more negative portrayal through her bossy older sister role.

When originally casting our villain, we all agreed that it was necessary to have an actor that came across as strong and overpowering. In stereotypical thrillers, the villain would be aggressive quite robust and male. Yet this stereotype is a negative representation of women as it implies that they are all easy to kidnap and are always the victim. Our chosen villain was taller than Georgina and with the use of mise-en-scène we created an appearance of a bulkier man by wearing a dark jacket which enhanced his shoulders. This could stereotype men negatively as the aggressor.