How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our sequence made representations of certain social groups through ethnicity and gender. One of the most evident representations in the sequence is how black people are mainly portrayed in unfortunate circumstances. For example, our main character (Carter) is a black male who is shown as a thug and an individual who is linked to trouble. The is representative of real life because the media sometimes represents black males (particularly teenagers) as troublemakers and we have portrayed this element of social realism in our sequence as Carter is seen as a troublemaker. In the sequence the only person who displays the most dominance is a white male - the interrogator (an authoritative figure who is tall and has a deep voice). We felt that it was appropriate to portray a white male character with power because in society the majority of those with dominant roles are usually white while the majority of ethnic minorities have less dominant roles. Although, it's true that the most dominant character is white, there is another character who is an ethnic minority and displays some form of dominance - this character is the individual who restraints Carter as he lashes out at the interrogator. This individual displays his form of dominance through his ability (e.g. he is able to push Carter straight back down to his seat with relative ease) to prevent Carter attacking the interrogator.



As for the gender aspect of the representation we decided to use the female gender. Our reason for this decision was that it was stereotypically easier to do so. In society females are often seen as weak and inferior to men. We portrayed this element of society through the victim character of our sequence. This character is shown as battered and almost lifeless. Although the audience is never able to get a good look at her, her weakness and injuries are shown through her actions. For example, we see her staggering and we also see her reaching out her hand for help.