Representation

Find a YouTube clip from film or TV and complete the same activity we have just done in class:

1) List the different people/groups represented in the trailer (men/women/Americans etc.)

2) For each group, decide whether the representation is a dominant or alternative portrayal.

3) What stereotypes can you identify in the trailer?

This clip is from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, the last film in the franchise. In this clip we see the group of rebels lead by Katniss trying to get to President Snow through the sewers, and their trek is interrupted when they are attacked by mutts (3:51).

The different groups of people mostly represented in this clip are:

-Men

-Women

-Soldiers

I think that the male characters in this clip are portrayed both dominantly and alternatively. For example, some stereotypical character traits that men are supposedly meant to exhibit include: strength, control, power, leadership the ability to save others (women in particular) and some of the male characters in this clip do demonstrate these traits, specifically Gale and Finnick (who ends up dying after ensuring everyone else's safety) yet Peeta's representation appears to be an alternative portrayal as he is the one that constantly needs saving by the other characters.

There are only three female characters in this clip and all three I think are portrayed alternatively to stereotypes that would suggest otherwise. One of these women (Jackson) is the first to be killed by the mutts however she is shown beforehand to be the leader of the group, a role that would usually be assigned to a male character, especially in a situation where the males outnumber the females. After she dies, Katniss and Cressida - the two other female characters - display behaviour that would not usually associated with femininity. For example Katniss, although sometimes needing to be saved herself, frequently saves Peeta from the mutts, killing as many of them as she can when usually we would expect the roles to be reversed so this challenges are immediate assumptions we may have had on the roles of men and women. Cressida's character also continues to challenge our preconceived thoughts on male and female characters as she too exhibits valiant, fearless behaviour that one would initially assign to a male character. She runs in firing a massive machine gun, shouting at the others to go, letting them escape before her and putting herself in danger.

A number of the characters in this clip are soldiers and there are a number of traits/qualities that one would usually expect a soldier to have. One of these is that a lot of people would naturally assume soldiers to be male, so this film tries to challenge that stereotype by including a number of female soldiers that end up performing just as successfully as the male soldiers. Another trait typically expected of soldiers is being brave and chivalrous and sacrificial and there is definitely a dominant portrayal of these stereotypes in the clip.