Evaluation - Question 2

2. How does your media product represent particular social group?

My group and I chose to use Kenya as the villain in our film because she knows how to take on different roles as she has a GCSE in drama, so is able to portray a character as they really are.

She additionally doesn’t have hair that is typically seen amongst female victims, i.e. long blonde hair. So she stands out compared to the other characters. Furthermore we dressed her in black so that she looks sinister and the audience is aware that there is something suspicious about her. The audience can tell that because of her hair cut and dark clothing she is a rebellious and sly character. By doing this my group and I wanted her to be represented s the villain.

Kenya plays ‘Claire’ the working class girl who listens to no one and lives life the way she wants. Her character was inspired by ‘Rebecca Evans’ played by Leighton Meester in the thriller film Roommates .Similarly to Rebecca, Claire is represented as a psycho. In my opening sequence my group shows this through the voice over, where Claire speaks of the kind of girl she is. The audience hear that there’s something unusual about Claire. However both Rebecca and Claire are both countertypes because they are teenagers and female and it is the usual expectation for the villain to be an older man.

Similarities between the two characters also occur in the pictures above. Both characters are in black clothing. This represents the darkness they have within them and the fact that they are both evil people. This corresponds with the ideology that the villain is the person in dark clothing, as the audience are given the chance to identify this. In the photo of Rebecca we see her wicked facial expression and the audience can see that she is up to no good. However in the photo of Claire the audience do not fully see her face and this creates a mystery about what she is thinking. Claire’s body language also looks up right and superior; which could also represent her as the villain.

Having Kenya also matches Propp’s theory of character types, because we have included a villain. However the fact that Kenya is a girl is in contrast with the ideology that the villain is a man. Consequently she could be represented as maybe not as strong as male villains but the audience will be surprise to see how devious and dangerous she is in the rest of the movie.