Revision : Representation in KOTV and Free Guy

 





explore how the producer utilises media language to construct representations and make reference to ideological concepts. Make reference to the theatrical poster to the US comedy film Free Guy and the poster to KOTV you have studied in class. 

Kneejerk reaction:
The producers of both Free Guy and KOTV use media language to construct representations of gender and race in their theatrical posters, 

men and women are represented in a largely stereotypical way in both Free Guy and KOTV in order to appeal to a large and straightforward target audience 


Plan:
exclusion
symbolic annihilation - when a certain group are omitted from a media product
stereotypical representation of women - kotv victim, 
conventional action conventions 
stereotypical representation of white man - guy 
intertexuality
font 
colours
bright
lowkey
high production value 
american / british
iconography 
costumes 
sexualisation
leather outfit
hegemonically attractive 
proairetic code - explosions - something about to get exploded 
white male protagonist 
stereotypical representations of black people 
lisbet van zoonen
paul gilroy
z line rule 
type casting 


Black characters characters on the free guy poster are exclusively occupying comedic, side character roles. For example, the black cop is coded as being humorous through his exaggerated facial expression, the tag on his jacket ('Buddy'), and his larger frame. This reinforces many stereotypical assumptions about black people and their role in films, and may also be an example of tokenism, where a black person is included to tick off a box and to fulfil a representation

Manuel Alvarado argued that black people fulfil certain roles: sexual, funny, violent or exotic.

Jodie Comer's character is coded as sexualised and simultaneously nerdy and hegemonically unnatractive, which is a clear binary opposition

The poster constructs a clear hierarchy of importance, with certain characters being vastly more important than other characters. This explicitly communicates with the audience the producer's ideological intentions. Clearly the most important character is Ryan Reynolds, and this notion is anchored by his position top centre of the character hierarchy, his name being first on the cast list, his star appeal, and the representation of him being significantly larger. Under him are a range of side characters who are clearly encoded as significantly less important. However we must acknowledge that in this hierarchy white people are positioned at the top and people of colour towards the bottom. This positioning reinforces Gilroy's theory of postcolonial attitudes and othering, through constructing a literal racial hierarchy. 

Not evil racism - producer's assumptions are that these are the rules for financial success - target audience of white people, only watch other white people, post colonial attitudes. 



Introduction 

Representation is the re-portrayal of a group of people, an issue or an event by the producer to show their ideological perspective. In this essay I shall argue that men and women are represented in a largely stereotypical way in both Free Guy and KOTV in order to appeal to a large and straightforward target audience 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

les revenants

Image
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4msJoeYVUYE moody, green/blue. intense emotion  dull and moody music sets the theme. -- R.E.S.I.S.T.S Recurring aspects of genre    - the dead return/rise -meeting of survivors - or rather the returned -dam levels sink and power goes out occasionally Elements of plot/narrative -the 'return' from the dead as Todorovian disruption  -binary oppositions - living vs dead, past vs present -orpheus narrative archetype - deals with loss- the families of returned -denouement- alternate scenarios  -not really any narrative closure - lots of questions -enigma codes throughout - lots of questions Stock Characters or archetypes -eerie child (exceptional powers) -arrogant gung-ho (extremely or overly zealous or enthusiastic. -disrupted family unit - the character who cant let go - new 'family' community created  Iconography - stereotypical or unique imagery -blank stares -decaying flesh -blood -mist/darkness Settings -the mall or community...
Read more

08/11

 madonna/whore complex - women he admires and respects // women he is attracted to and therefore disrespects - sigmund freud - virtuous, nurturing, saintly and sexually repressed // sensual, sexualised and desirable without purity  comodity fetishism  gender performativity - girls and boys, toilets  conforming to expected roles  Gender performativity is a term first used by the feminist philosopher Judith Butler in her 1990 book Gender Trouble. She argues that being born male or female does not determine behavior. Instead, people learn to behave in particular ways to fit into society. The idea of gender is an act, or performance. Judith Butler -  theories of gender performativity  identity is a performance, and it is constructed through a series of acts and expressions that we perform every day while there are biological differences dictated by sex, our gender is defined through this series of acts. these may include the ways we walk, talk, dress and s...
Read more

woman and adbusters comparison

 comparing woman and adbusters there are only two kinds of audience question -  how does the audience respond to the producer? how does the producer target/position the audience Explore the different ways that Adbusters and Woman target their audiences through content and appeal? Woman appeals to its target audience with its "tips and tricks" that the target audience would have been interested in - such as makeup tips - "are you an a level beauty" - and improving their kitchens -" a present for your kitchen" - . Both of these pages are spreads - with lots of information on, so that their target audience would have to sit down to take in all of the information and content. - woman magazine and adbusters both use audience appeal to target their target audiences in radically different ways Adbusters appeals to its audience by showing shocking political messages encouraging the audience to sympathise with - showing a message that the audience already agrees wi...
Read more