Jaime Murray
Jaimie Murray was one of the main characters from the TV drama ‘Hustle’ and played Stacie Monroe. As a stereotypical, young looking and attractive woman she would get a lot of attention. This is exaggerated even more as she is the only female member of the group. Also by being the only female it is highly important that her character is well presented at ALL times as this is what is expected by viewers.
Women at this age are portrayed as mature, ideal looking and perfect so that women can inspire to look like them. This is a typical media stereotype and can be seen on programs and magazines (models) alike. Her character is very glam and mature which shows she’s very successful. She is at the age where she has reached her achievements.
On the BBC website the character Stacie is described as follows...
‘The Lure’ Stacie has a cool head on her shoulders and is rarely flustered.Sexy, smart and glamorous, she often uses her feminine charms to ensnare unsuspecting marks: playing the 'lure' while another gang member targets the male victim.Stacie also has the role of the group's 'banker', and is great at playing the inside when she needs to.Like all great con-artists, she's intuitive, versatile and can think on her feet.
Most women would look up to this and want to be like her. Also people younger than her might want to be like her when they reach that age. She plays a proud character and this could have been influenced by the attention she gets as it gives her the power to control.
In the trailer we can notice that she’s in the middle of the car, with the men sat around her. Not only does she stand out by being the only women but because of what she’s wearing. It appears as though she’s wearing nothing! This shows a sense of ‘showing off’ and tells us that she enjoys the attention. As a character she represents how women that age want to feel and therefore fits in as a stereotypical representation of middle aged women.
What is Gaze?
The concept of gaze is one that deals with how an audience views the people presented. For Feminists it can be thought of in 3 ways:
* How men look at women
* How women look at themselves
* How women look at other women
Laura Mulvey quoted that "Film audiences have to view characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male"
The camera lingers on the curves of the female body and events which occur to women are presented largely in the context of a man's reaction to these events. Relegates women to the status of objects. The female viewer must experience the narrative secondarily, by identification with the male.
You can see examples of this in films, music videos etc...
One that we looked at was a music video 'She's so lovely' by Scouting for Girls where we analysed what the women and man were wearing and the colours of their clothes. Turned out the girls in the class knew more of the answers... Marjorie Ferguson (1980s) Ferguson identified 4 types of facial expressions on the front cover of women magazines Chocolate Box, Invitational, Super Smiler, Romantic or sexual
In today's lesson we showed our presentations to the class and made notes on each of the seven areas. These were being graded and were determining our assessment point grade.
AGE
A baby - we stereotype to be crying, cute and cuddly. Any images and adverts of babies tend to be cute pictures that will make us go 'aw'. The complete opposite to baby's is the elder people. We stereotype them to do nothing, be helpless and slow. However there are some similarities between the baby and elder person. They are binary opposites and have the symbolic code. Both are helpless and need looking after. Although in some soaps and films we can notice an opposite side to old people than the typical stereotype. Sometimes they can be the devious, sly person and can look after themselves, without the need of others.
REGIONAL IDENTITY the north- they come across more friendlier and funny. However they can also come across more miserable and tend to enjoy moaning about how hard their life is. Also the jobs associated with them tend to be poor, with rubbish pay. They also come across as the typical working class group of people. The word 'The' tends to disappear and turns into 'tu' which comedians tend to pick out. It is also a rural area. the south- the south is a lot more city like and we can relate programs such as 'Spooks' to it. The colours that we tend to associate the south with is grey, mono tone colours and this can reflect on people's moods and feelings of the city too. Also we associate London with the South, and relate it to business filled, fast paced lives. We can see this on programs such as hotel Babylon. countryside- Finally we have the country side. Our initial thoughts are farmers, colourful (green etc.), relaxed way of life, 'simpler life'. We can see the contrast between countryside and city life in the film 'HotFuzz' where the policeman goes from a fast paced, busy, violent environment to a slow, relaxed, no trouble environment.
Ethnicity clothing- The first thing we look at to make us judge a person is appearance. We associate black teens wearing hoody's as unapproachable such as Thomas from Skins. However in Hollyoaks we look at the person in a whole new way. How we see and judge people depends on their facial expression and clothing, making us decide whether they're approachable or not. Indians- We normally picture them wearing their traditional clothing, however this varies on different TV programs. Some programs may have religious family's in it however they could be dressed casual. We also judge the marriages to be arranged by parents making us think that they are very controlling. Setting and camera angles- Taking 'This is England' as an example, a lot of the camera shots are looking up at the characters. The common stereotype we have for people similar to the characters in the program is lower class, ignorant, white people, rough, skinheads, council estates, run down and intimidating. Personality traits- Sometimes in programs they question our typical stereotype for different people. For example you might not expect a black man to be a policeman and helping out the community. Usually we associate them as lazy and yobs. Plots- In Eastenders one of the story lines was an Indian man realising he's gay. As we already know, this is against their religion. It is also against the traditional beliefs and expectations so the plot really tested the viewer's judgement.
Sexuality clothing- We stereotype gay men's clothing to be tightly fitting and female like, however with various different styles that tend to stand out. Women usually have a 'butch' image if they are gay and are stereotyped to look manly, usually with short hair and sometimes rough looking. Their clothing never tends to be 'ladylike' or 'classy'. Its usually similar to men's clothing that adds to the creating of their male image. settings- Some of the obvious settings that we all tend to stereotype and associate with gays are the 'gay parades and clubs'. However this is not completely true. camera angles- In many tv programs or images that are trying to represent a gay character, you can notice that the camera angles tend to be close ups on the clothing so that we focus and notice what the character is wearing and judge the character using our initial stereotypes. voice- The way the characters talk in programs tend to be quite high pitched and dramatic (drama queen). You rarely have gay male characters with manly, tough voices as this isn't stereotypical. Also the characters are not normally associated with sports as this co-notates manliness and sports is usually associated with the 'popular male characters' in films/programs. So if gay males are playing sports this completely reverses our idea of the typical stereotype in most films and programs!
On TV programs the plots are usually similar to each other. You start with the build up and the discovery that a person is gay...then the 'telling of people' (whether its kept a secret or if a person is honest)...then the reactions of other people...and finally the whole dealing with it all. Heterosexual- We don't pick up on this, nor do we have a certain typical stereotype. These characters can do anything they want with their appearance.
I think TV producers HAVE exaggerate the clothing, the camera angles and the way the character acts and portrays themselves so that the audience know exactly what they producers are trying to show them. The producers make it so obvious so that the audience is completly convinced and 'in the know'.
Ability and Disability disabled- We judge people with a disability as vulnerable. clothing- 'Housewear' with little effort. You can notice this in Little Britain with the disabled man in the wheelchair. setting- untidy and dirty. camera angles- looks down onto the disabled person with the helper always in the frame/picture with them. Characters talk to them as if they were childlike & they bend down to their level. The focus is usually exaggerated onto the disability rather than the character. personality- stupid, evil, helpless, funny.
Gender male- dominant character. associated with fights, strong, short hair, more money, work (traditional) - which links with the patriarchal time period. They are the supporter and the stoic. female- housewife, dresses, long hair, crying, over reacting, restrained by men. etc...
Representations of MEN across all media tend to focus on the following :
*Strength (physical, intellectual)
*Power
*Sexual attractiveness and physique
* Independent (through thought and action).
Representations of WOMEN across all media tend to focus on the following :
*Beauty (within narrow conventions)
*Size/physique ( " " )
*Sexuality
*Emotional (as opposed to intellectual)
*Relationships (independence/freedom).
Status and Class
THREE MAIN CLASSES
Upper class – royalty, lords, dukes, millionaires. Middle class – everyday people, (majority of us) Lower class – homeless people, chavs.
We associate the upper class with things such as wealth, ‘posh’ sports e.g polo, cricket, fox hunting, mansions, expensive jewels, posh smart clothing. Afternoon tea and biscuits. Butlers, Bentley’s and so on. In the Media, the higher class are portrayed as the upper status with the dominant, controlling role.
The catorgy of people who fit in Middle class are people we associate with as ‘normal’. They live a working class life with a less standard lifestyle than the upper class. Things we associate with middle class is, semi detached houses, people who go out doing daily things e.g shopping. Have jobs such as teachers, bankers and have a typical, average sized family.
The people we associate as lower class are people who have a ‘rough’ image, e.g. chavs. They wear things like caps and live in council houses. The way they speak is colloquialism and some could have a cockney accent. They come across in programs as ineducated, gobby, with less wealth.
In todays lesson we learnt about the 2 types of Narrative. These are OPEN and CLOSED. They are compared to a ball of string.
*Open meant something being unravelled in a lot of different ways. E.G. soaps *Closed meant there's only one obvious thread to pull on. E.G. detective programs
In order to get an open/closed narrative you need a NARRATIVE CODE between it. This leads onto the 5 codes...
THE 5 CODES ->Action Code - applies to any action that implies a further narrative action.
->Enigma Code - refers to any element in a story that is not explained, therefore exists as an enigma for the audience, raising questions.
->The Semantic Code - any element in a text that suggests a particular, often additional meaning by way of connotation.
->The Cultural Code - any element in a narrative that refers "to a science or a body of knowledge". The cultural codes tend to point to our shared knowledge about the way, the world works.
->The Symbolic Code - Levi-Strauss, argued that narrative structures have binary opposites e.g. good Vs evil and the Symbolic Code creates a meaning between these two opposites that we question.
In ‘our’ eyes realistically, stereotypical teenagers are people who should be classed as mature adults, people we relate to being at school and people/students at an age where you work hard all week and go out at the weekend. Although in the American films we notice a divide in the groups of teenagers for example: the dumb pretty popular girls, the football crazed popular boys, the wannabes, the geeks, the emos, the indies etc...We see this in such films as Mean Girls where it focuses deliberately on the divide of each group. However this isn’t realistic.
From ‘some’ older people’s views, looking down at teenagers, we can sometimes be stereotyped as trouble makers and drop outs that care more about appearance and going out than important work. Although some opinions, such as ones from parents, want their children to be better than what they were and to improve socially, intellectually and be good in all areas, e.g. sport, education. However this is also not very realistic.
In the opening montage we get the impression that Max is the perfect parents child, but behind all the ‘window dressing’ he isn’t. Right at the start of the montage there is a close up on the book which has bee’s on it, linking to Max being a ‘busy bee’ and the ‘bees knees’ and the bee club shown later in the montage. He then turns the page onto a picture of himself posing trying to look ‘cool’ however, the hat, glasses and smart blazer speak differently. The shot then moves onto him walking towards us, ‘leading the way’ with his followers either side of him. This gives the impression that he has a higher authority or ‘thinks’ he has. However this clashes’ with the stereotypical American teenager, as the person that everyone follows is usually dressed more casually. He also seems to be instructing them with what to do and acting a lot older than his age. This then reflects in the second shot as he’s in a French class with younger people. This also emphasizes that he wants to act older than his age to bring upon himself more importance and authority. We also get the impression that he doesn’t have many friends his own age as he’s amongst younger people in a lot of the different clubs he does. It then moves on to the Model United Nations club where he’s sat proudly and confidently at a table with two ‘less bothered’ younger teenagers at his sides. Because the two younger ones are more slouchy and less alert it gives the impression that Max over exaggerates and takes things, like the clubs too seriously. He also uses his hands a lot when talking which also shows confidence. Then it moves onto him collecting coins and then after we have the debate team. What we can notice in the debate team is that the opposing team are two similar aged teenagers just like Max. However by Max’s side is a younger teenager. Not only does this emphasize how he doesn’t have many friends his own age, but also shows a sense of unconfidence. The younger boy is leaning over more, taking the dominant role of the ‘debate’ which is also more ‘threatening’ in a way as he’s less mature, more aggressive and argumentative.In the next shot we see him with the lacrosse team where we see a more American stereotype. Our first clear impressions of Max is a typical ‘geek’ and after seeing him being the higher authority in the first few clips we now see him fall back. The sport teenagers are usually the more popular ones and Max leans down whilst sat next to them. This could represent him having a lower status than the sports players as his body language gives a sense of bowing down.
The rest of his clubs give off the same impression as the first ones. Max is obviously trying to create a high status of himself to become popular, however from the eyes of everyone else he’s a typical geek. Another way to look at it, is that Max knows where he stands and may struggle with school so he uses these clubs to keep a fast paced life, keeping his mind focused on being a leader and looking after the younger children. Also as there’s so many clubs that he joins it’s almost as if he’s desperate for the attention and fits in as the American teenager ‘wannabe’ as he uses the clubs to get well known. So there is some links to the American stereotype. Also Max is wearing a blue blazor whereas the others are wearing brown coloured ones. This shows him trying to stand out and be different not just with profile but with appearance too.
In conclusion I think that in some ways Max is a typical teenager. For example, wanting a high status/profile, being in control and standing out. However the clubs that he does make him seem very unrealistic. Surely a person wouldn't have enough time to do ALL of those clubs and surely a teenager can't be capable of being good at ALL of those things.
