Revision: Les Revenants

 As Humans targets a niche audience, Les Revenants' representation is atypical.



Stuart Hall argues that stereotypes reflects the ideology of the producer. Evaluate this theory of representation. Make reference to Les Revenants to support your answer 


Stereotypes refer to a widely held belief about a certain group of people, a place or an event. Producers typically use stereotypes to categorise groups of people, and to communicate meaning to the audience. However, Les Revenants subverts stereotypical representations in order to appeal to a niche audience. Les Revenants is a French supernatural drama, set in rural France, and produced by Canal+ and partly funded by the French Alps tourist board. 

One way in which Les Revenants subverts stereotypes is through its atypical representation of France. This arguably helps it to target a niche and more specific audience. The vast majority of French products that target a secondary international audience are set in Paris, as this is a recognisable and stereotypical French setting. However, Les Revenants is set in a rural setting in the French Alps, which is highly subversive. This complex and subversive representation is constructed through the calm and picturesque setting. Unlike typical zombie shows, there are many establishing montages of the beautiful French Alps covered in show. This MES constructs a uniquely peaceful atmosphere, which is highly atypical to the conventions of the supernatural drama genre. However, other locations are also depicted which form a binary opposition. For example, there are many shots of empty and abandoned concrete buildings and underpasses, which have clear symbolic connotations of death, loss and dull and disinteresting locations. Therefore, the representation of France is significantly more complicated than standard representations, and clearly is intended to subvert stereotypes of France as a beautiful and cultured utopia. This nuanced representation of France will be highly relatable to the target French audience who do not live in Paris, or large urban settings and can ultimately help the show become financially successful by targeting a number of niche audiences.

One character who subverts gender stereotypes is Julie

Another excellent subversion of gender stereotypes is the Lena and Simon, who both subvert gender stereotypes. The character of Lena is arguably a challenging representation of women. After picking up the attractive and mysterious Simon while drinking alone at the local pub, Lena chooses to walk Simon home through an eerie, abandoned, suburban setting. Lena is motivated by sex, and walking Simon home is a proairetic code, suggesting a future sexual encounter. In instigating a sexual encounter, Lena is breaking hegemonic codes and conventions that stereotypically surround young women. This is further anchored through her costume code. Lena wears a short dress and tights coupled with a baggy and oversized combat jacket, which clearly subverts the expectations of the male gaze. Lena is clearly hegemonically attractive, yet is coded through her rebellious personality, and she shouts out 'de rein connard' which clearly subverts stereotypical, conventional representations of young women. While Lena is atypical in terms of her representation, she is still highly relatable to a number of niche audiences, in particular middle class teenage audiences, who may well appreciate the feminist themes of the inclusion of characters such as Julie and Lena. 


However, one way in which Les Revenants is arguably completely stereotypical is in its unavoidable lack of ethnic diversity. This is an example of othering through exclusion


challenges the male gaze theory 
however julie is highly relatable to many of the target audience purely because she does subvert stereotypes 
Symbolic annihilation 
the sole inclusion of white characters, Les revenants unfortunately reinforces prejudices and stereotypical societal values towards race, and that in particular, non-white people are less important than white people.
atypical genre anchors atypical representations 
atypical soundtrack - postrock Mogwai - appealing to a niche audience 
reinforces the ideology of the producer