Stuart Hall Representation Theory
Stuart Hall’s theory of representation
summed up is the idea that media
language creates representations,
and stereotypes in media products
are used to assert power.
Representation is the process of
creating meaning; producers fix
representations, but audiences can
have their own views.
He argues that stereotyping, as a
form of representation, reduces
characters to a few simple traits or
characteristics.
Stereotyping typically occurs where
there is an inequality of power, and
subordinate groups are represented
as “different” or “other”.
Stranger Things: How it’s Relevant
- Stereotypes are used to assert power in
Dr Brenner. He is a stereotypical
powerful character (middle aged, white,
intimidating, well built).
- An abundance of white male characters
in the show; reflects the 1980s
patriarchal society.
- Lack of female or gay characters in a
place of power (Hopper and Dr Brenner
are the two with authority); female
characters mostly maternal or meant to
be attractive.
The Killing: How it’s Relevant
- Nanna is extremely stereotypical; young, -
defenceless female victim (makeup of
blood, scared/crying facial expressions)
- Patriarchy evident through Jan Meyer;
doubtful of Sarah Lund, thinking he can -
take the lead on his first day over her.
- Theis goes to search for Nanna, whilst
Penille stays at home, crying in the
kitchen.
Stranger Things: How it’s Irrelevant
- Eleven is technically the most powerful
character in the show; only one with
superpowers (eyeline match of stopping
fan)
- Joyce breaks stereotypes; not a typical
worried mother character; challenges
Hopper to get a move on in the search
for Will.
- Nancy is arguably not a stereotypical
“attractive” girl; she seems to be more
focused on her education over boys.
The Killing: How it’s Irrelevant
Sarah Lund breaks stereotypes of 2007
(when show was released); lead
detective, arguably the most powerful
character.
Sarah is not a maternal character at all;
doesn’t pay a lot of attention to her son
(scene in the car when she gets his
sports team wrong)
- Fits more with progressive stereotypes
of today’s media; women in more
powerful, authoritative roles.
David Gauntlett’s Identity Theory
David Gauntlett’s identity theory
summed up is that we use the
internet and other media to help us
create our identity, and that we now
have a larger variety of
representations to identify with.
He argues that the media provides
us with resources that we can
implement to construct our own
identities.
Whilst media in the past had a
tendency to convey singular,
straightforward messages about
ideal types of male and female
identities, the media today offer us a
more diverse range of stars, icons
and characters from whom we may
pick and mix different ideas.
Stranger Things: How it’s Relevant
- Eleven shows a diverse identity through
her appearance; gender neutral clothing,
wouldn’t assume she’s a girl or boy from
her outfit; shaved head, looks non-
binary; name “Eleven” doesn’t mean
anything; changed to “El” for the rest of
the show for femininity.
- Hinting at Will potentially being gay;
Joyce whispers to Hopper how the kids
at school call him a “fag”; shows how
homosexuality was a taboo topic in the
1980s; implies he is bullied for his
potential sexual orientation
The Killing: How it’s Relevant
- Sarah Lund is a female main character;
postmodern representation; strong,
capable, reliable member of the police
force.
- Racism is shown to be wrong; racial
slurs by Theis’ co-worker, Theis tells him -
to stop and consoles the shopkeeper.
Stranger Things: How it’s Irrelevant
- 1980s time period results in a lack of
diversity, particularly when it comes to
ethnicity (tokenism; Lucas)
- Goes against theory as it is shown on
Netflix, so it should be diverse in its
representations.
- Lack of homosexual references or
characters in the show goes against
theory; lack of variety of representation
reduces ability to create our own
identity.
The Killing: How it’s Irrelevant
- Lack of ethnic representation; two
Asian characters (teacher and
shopkeeper); reflects the Danish
society, lack of diversity in their
society.
Lack of strong female characters, very
patriarchal; Sarah is strong, but Penille,
Nanna, Lisa etc. are subordinate and
portrayed as weak).
- No references to any other sexuality;
overall very hard to create our own
identities from this show as it has very
stereotypical, oppressive representation
for the most part.
Van Zoonen’s Feminist Theory
Liesbet Van Zoonen argues that in
patriarchal culture, the way that
women’s bodies are represented as
objects is different to the
representation of male bodies as a
“spectacle”
Gender is performative; gender is
“what we do”, not “what we are”.
Gender is contextual; meaning
changes depending on culture and
historical contexts.
The idea that the display of women’s
bodies as objects to be looked at is a
core element od western patriarchal
culture.
Stranger Things: How it’s Relevant
- Nancy is viewed as an object by Steve;
bathroom scene where he’s kissing her
and not taking no for an answer when
trying to organise to meet her.
- Bedroom scene with Nancy and Steve;
starts to unbutton her top when he’s
bored of helping her study; he views her
as an object to be desired, oppressing
her and her own wants (she wants to
study)
The Killing: How it’s Relevant
- Sarah is initially sexualised in the scene
in her house, her outfit; low angle shot
shows her knickers, only wearing a long
shirt over it.
- Nanna is sexualised; first scene she’s
seen with a lack of clothing, discovery of
her underwear in the woodland where
she went missing, and is discovered
naked; shows she was oppressed by
men.
- Nanna lookalike naked in bed; shows
Oliver is promiscuous, desires women for
their bodies.
Stranger Things: How it’s Irrelevant
- Nancy stands up for herself in the
bedroom scene; signs she isn’t a typical
sexualised female character.
- Joyce isn’t sexualised in the show;
would devalue her character if she was,
meant to be somewhat powerful.
- Eleven is a child, can’t be sexualised.
The Killing: How it’s Irrelevant
- Sarah not sexualised beyond that point;
all of her other scenes she is in her work
clothes, and she is shown to be a capable,
reliable detective (doesn’t let Jan Meyer
oppress her); makes the audience respect
her, attractive to a postmodern, feminist
audience.
Bell Hooks Feminist Theory
Bell Hooks argues that feminism is a
struggle to end sexism, or
patriarchal oppression (prolonged
unjust treatment) and the ideology
of domination, a movement to end
patriarchy.
She believes that we should flip the
representations; meaning the power
would go to the women, ethnic
minorities and lower class people.
Intersectionality considers the
interconnected nature of different
social groups and identities living
through oppression (gender, race,
social class, sexuality, etc.).
Stranger Things: How it’s Relevant
- Dr Brenner applies to this theory;
intersectionality, the epitome of privilege
(white, heterosexual, upper class,
middle aged man), suit conveys
importance, physically strong.
- Hopper arguably; although not as
strong, he is a white, heterosexual man
in a position of power.
- 1980s time period; some
sexist/traditional gender roles (Mr and
Mrs Wheeler)
The Killing: How it’s Relevant
- Police department dominated by men;
scene of Sarah’s leaving party, she’s the
only woman.
- Battle for Mayor both men; current
mayor is a older, white man (privilege);
shows Denmark to be very patriarchal.
- Oliver; promiscuous man, oppressive,
views women as sexual objects.
- Theis goes out searching for Nanna, tells
Penille to stay at home; all she does is
cry.
Stranger Things: How it’s Irrelevant
- Eleven is the most physically powerful
character in the show, and she’s a little
girl; all main characters are young
children, we root for them, goes against
oppressive ideology.
- Joyce is a strong character, gives
Hopper the push he needs to do his job
seriously.
The Killing: How it’s Irrelevant
- Sarah is the main character and leads
the investigation despite Jan Meyer
trying to take over her multiple times.
- Eyeline match of family on bikes with
fishing rods; she manages to fit the
pieces together to find Nanna’s
whereabouts.
- Not maternal; scene with her son in the
car, gets the name of his sports team
wrong.
Judith Butler’s Gender Theory
Judith Butler’s theory looks at the
concept of gender performativity;
the idea that gender is created in
how we perform our gender roles –
there is no essential gender identity
behind these roles, it is created in
the performance.
Butler believes that gender and
sexual identity cannot be categorised
into simple binary systems. Any
feminism concerned only with
masculinity and femininity excludes
other forms of gender and sexuality.
This creates “gender troubles” for
those who do not fit the
heterosexual norms.
She is an influence on Queer Theory;
that which deconstructs and aims to
destabilise fixed identities based on
gender and sexualities.
Stranger Things: How it’s Relevant
- Steve and Nancy have stereotypical
gender roles. Steve is the popular jock,
oppressive (forceful for sex, Nancy’s
bedroom). Nancy is feminine, pastel
colours, wearing makeup, flowers in her
bedroom. Mostly always talking about
boys.
- Mrs Wheeler in charge of the kids, Mr
Wheeler doesn’t really care (“Do what
your mother says”), traditional gender
roles of the 1980s time period.
The Killing: How it’s Relevant
- Theis; hat and jacket is a masculine,
intimidating look. Tells Penille to stay
home, forces Oliver against a wall, using
his strength and dominance.
- Penille; most of her screen time she’s in
the kitchen, crying, shown as passive;
typical gender roles.
- Troels is arguably a womaniser; goes to
his wife’s grave, then tries to have sex
with his secretary, linked to Nanna’s
murder.
Stranger Things: How it’s Irrelevant
- Joyce is rather masculine in her
appearance, doesn’t wear feminine
clothing, looks frantic.
- Eleven; we question her gender from
her appearance, non-binary look about
her (shaved head, loose clothing).
The Killing: How it’s Irrelevant
- Sarah not maternal, but rather much
more focused on work; forgets her
son’s sports team name, implies she
doesn’t care or is absent.
- Stays in Denmark for work, to lead
Nanna’s investigation; shows she has a
lot of authority, powerful character.
Paul Gilroy’s Post-Colonial Theory
The history of colonialism continues
to influence attitudes to ethnicity in
western societies.
Postcolonialism suggests the ways in
which colonial history continues to
influence attitudes to ethnicity with
an assumption of the superiority of
white western cultures.
The idea that civilisationism
constructs racial hierarchies and sets
up binary oppositions.
He employs the notion of “diaspora”,
and how ethnic minorities, black
people in particular, do not totally
belong in Britain, but are also
considered to be “British”, but you
are also considered to be “British” in
your homeland (e.g. Caribbean).
Stranger Things: How it’s Relevant Stranger Things: How it’s Irrelevant
N/A
- Lucas is one of the main characters, part
of the group of children, yet still feels
subordinate in comparison to the rest of
the boys, and even Eleven.
- Racial bullying (bullies call Lucas
“midnight”); racial hierarchy in the 80s.
- Dr Brenner and Hopper both white men
in places of power, with a lot of
authority.
The Killing: How it’s Relevant The Killing: How it’s Irrelevant
- Dominance of white characters in the - Racism from Theis’ colleague is
show, any POC characters subordinate perceived as wrong by Theis, he argues
(shopkeeper and teacher) with him, and comforts the shopkeeper.
- Relevant to Denmark as a country; lack
of ethnic diversity, a majority of white
people (86.9%)
- Racism from Theis’ colleague against the
shopkeeper.