Q2

How does your media product present

particular social groups?

Christopher
The Father

The father has his

arm around the
little girl in a
protective way. He
is wearing a hoodie
the same way
Christopher is in
ours again adding
to the portrayal of
an easy going
person. He is a
single dad and is
conveying his kind-

Christopher our male parent is

supposed to be around 30 years
old. He represents the average
single male parent. He is wearing
a hoodie to give the idea of an
easy going man. It is white to
suggest a morally pure character
who is a good influence over the
daughter as a responsible single
father. His relaxed attire
conforms to the stereotype of a
single father being relaxed and
not bothered about looking
smart. It also conforms to the
stereotypes of being responsible.

In interstellar we can see

this stereo type of a caring
father in relaxed clothes,
he is clearly the protector
through the way he is
holding her. He is at a
higher level than the girl
portraying his dominance

When Christopher says Come on

Elizabeth, Come on inside, its
going to get dark soon it again
reinforces the stereotype of him
being protective, wanting her to be
in the shelter of the home. There is
a point at which he steps into the
light, highlighting his goodness and
he takes up the entire shot. This
conveys his male dominance as a
typical guardian or protector.

Elizabeth The
Daughter

Elizabeth is an 8 year old

girl, daughter of Christopher.
She is dressed in black to
symbolise that she is the
next target of the demon,
acting as a black mark.
She has long auburn hair.
The length conforming to
the stereotype of a girl
being much like a doll in her
appearance connoting to
her fragility and
vulnerability. The auburn
colour of her hair signifies a
warmth and kindness in her.

This typical representation

of children is repeatedly
used due to societys view
that children are innocent
and societys awareness of
the dangers outside in the
world. In this film the
danger is metaphorical of
other potential dangers
therefore we see the
metaphorical message
giving it realism and
therefore higher
entertainment value.

We used high angle shots of her so that her vulnerability was

portrayed and to signify her lack of power and control over
the situation. This conforms to the stereotype of children in
horror films being helpless. However when she is exploring
the attic it shows her to be curious and even though it is pitch
black she is not daunted and does not call out for help
questioning the original stereotype that was first portrayed.
She only says one or two lines throughout the opening, she is
quiet, well behaved conforming to the stereotype of a perfect
little girl.

Examples of
children
portrayed in an
innocent way
In the orphan, the girl
in films

is dressed with neatly

tied hair and wearing a
cute dress a very
stereotypically girly
outfit with bows
however the colour of
black contrasts with
this girly idea the same
as Elizabeths black
dress does. This gives
the impression of
danger. She is
presented with very
pale skin in the same
way Elizabeth is

The innocent victim (the son)

in Insidious followed some of
the same patterns that we
found in our work. He is
surrounded by warm colours
suggesting his personality is
kind like Elizabeths hair
suggested. In contrast, like
Elizabeth, his skin is pale to
suggest innocence. He is at a
low level like when Elizabeth is
sat on the floor suggesting his
vulnerability and the idea that
The
girlsare
here
are
children
weak
and fragile.

dressed up in a
particularly feminine and
girly way with frills the
same way Elizabeths top
had extra trimmings on
it. The middle girl has
slightly auburn long hair
and the other too have
warm colours. Again like
Insidious, the girls from
Woman in Black have
pale skin hinting at purity