How does your media product represent different social groups?
The representation of social groups is based on the fact that the action could take place in any suburban neighbourhood. Private investigators are not normally considered as being modern film characters, instead being somewhat old fashioned, as is the whole film noir genre. We nevertheless chose to make our protagonist a private eye in keeping with the conventions of film noir, but while being easy for a modern audience to approach and respond to.
Our protagonist is a white male, in his twenties/ thirties, a regular, everyday person, able to blend in. In classic film noir, the hero is always a white male, such as the characters played by Humphrey Bogart, e.g. in "The Big Sleep" (Howard Hawks, 1946). Females are relegated usually to the role of "femme fatale," with their status of "baddie" or "goodie" often questionable. Apart from this, the hero needed to be realistic in the role of private eye and action hero, wielding a gun. A man is better suited to this than a woman. Nevertheless, women often have strong roles in film noir. The youth of the private eye also suggests the possibility of action, shown in the events of the opening sequence.
Our protagonist is also shown to be endearing in his disorganisation, making him approachable in his imperfectness. Examples of this disorganisation include:
- His cluttered desk.
- His dishevelled appearance, sleeves rolled up and tie loosened.
- His unshaven stubble, his unkempt hair.
- His mugs of coffee, a visual indication of his tiredness.
- His paranoia, checking outside and double- locking the door.
- His apparent living alone, showing that he shuns company to concentrate on other matters.
This chaotic existence is representative of the flaws and imperfectness of the ordinary person. His house suggests that he is lower middle class, as many suburban house-owners consider themselves. In other words, our protagonist is representative of the ordinary person, while still being exciting and dangerous, and enigmatic for this reason.
Our Antagonist gives no sign of his everyday vocation, but the audience is shown that he is a skilled killer. We chose to present him as neat and cultured, dressed in a suit and overcoat, contrasting with the private eye's messy attire. This serves to further distance him from the film's protagonist, using Levi-Strauss' theory of binary opposites in narrative to provide conflict. His smart attire suggests that he is middle class, dressing smartly, considering killing a serious business, making him a serious threat to be reckoned with. This smart, cunning persona is what many foreign audiences consider a typical British character, his neat attire: clean shoes, neat suit, smart hat, going a way to the "posh" characterisation that an American audience would consider a quintessentially British person, the type of character popular in America.
We showed that he was no fool by various examples of cautious behaviour, not insulting our audience by making him seem foolish;
- Glancing behind him as he leaves the house.
- Checking his watch.
- Loosening his tie, a nervous gesture, showing that he knows enough to know that he is not safe.
A clever, charismatic villain can often prove extremly popular, and making him appear suave and sterotypically British will appeal to audiences. One example of an actor typecast into the "charismatic villain" role in classic film noir is Dan Duryea, appearing in films such as "Criss Cross" (Robert Siodmak, 1949).
Both of our characters featured in the sequence are white males, of similar ages; in their late twenties/ early thirties. This makes them able to blend in, and be everyday people, while capable of entertaining action. We also, however, made them quite different in their behaviour and features, although both are cautious and a little paranoid, though for good reason. They represent to an extent what sort of people could be lurking behind ordinary citizens' appearances.
No comments:
Post a Comment