Mini mock

Mini Mock

Compared with the past, David Gauntlett argues that in the media today ‘we no longer get singular, straightforward messages about ideal types of male and female identities.’ Evaluate the validity of this claim with reference to the set episode of Humans and Les Revenants

David Gauntlet’s theory of identity encodes the ideology that audiences are not passive and that media products allow audiences to construct their own identities by using the ‘pick and mix’ idea. Within the media today, there are no longer straightforward messages about the types of male and female identities in order for the producer to attract a larger audience and make more money. In the past, a lot of the messages that were given to the audience about male and female identities were stereotypical beliefs that didn’t represent everyone.

In Les Revenants, during the scene where Lena is walking Simon home to see Adele, she comes across as an assertive character. This is reinforced when she doesn’t get what she wants so calls him a ‘dickhead’ which shows she is an atypical character. The Low-key lighting from the scene increases the intensity and mystery of two young people being alone in a French town at night. As well as this, the mise-en-scene of Lena’s red hair and her short red dress, presents Lena to be a rebellious and aggressive teenager who doesn’t stick to the rules. Lena is also clearly the more dominant character within this scene, asking Simon questions and getting angry when she is left alone at the end making her a complex character who is a subvert from the stereotypes and isn’t the ideal type of character. Whereas, in Humans, the cyborg Anita is a stereotypical representation of a women as she is bought and used for sex but she is also presented as a hyperreal version of a human due to the fact the daily tasks she completes are done perfectly. The mise-en-scene of Anita’s hair and makeup is hegemonically attractive due to the fact she is a robot and in order for her to have been purchased she would have had to attracted men and women. The Madonna Whore Theory can be applied to Anita as she is represented as a Madonna, a nurturing and loving woman who doesn’t answer back, yet also a whore as she is a sexualised character and does end up having sex with Joe. The Madonna side of Anita is a past stereotype that would have been seen in many other TV shows which follows Lizbet Van Zoonen’s theory of the male gaze, suggesting that women are placed in TV shows for male satisfaction. Humans clearly presents sexist stereotypes but isn’t a sexist show, it is simply presenting Anita like this in order to challenge the stereotypes.  This shows that the ideal type of female isn’t a singular and straightforward representation as Anita is a complex and hyperreal version of a human but with a large amount of traits of a stereotypical representation and from this the audience will be able to use Gauntlet’s theory to decide whether they think a woman should follow the stereotypical roles that Anita has to follow or be more rebellious like Lena. The pick and mix idea could also allow the audience to choose how they want to identify.

In Humans, Leo is a very masculine and aggressive character which is shown through the mise-en-scene of his khaki green coat during the scene where he is stood outside the brothel. This encodes the idea that he is in the military or army which further reinforces the idea of him being a stereotypical male who is an assertive and dominant character. Also through the mise-en-scene of the location of a back street, it functions as a proairetic code due to the fact it’s a typical location for crime to take place which also shows Leo is a stereotypical lower class male. The representation of Leo suggests a straightforward message of how men should act. In Les Revenants, Julie is a complicated character where many messages are presented of an ideal women identity this is because she is an atypical and typical character. Through the mise-en-scene of Julie’s oversized jumper and lack of makeup it makes her look more masculine which is a subvert of the stereotypical idea that all women have to wear makeup and wear elegant clothes to look pretty. Yet, Julie is a nurse and ends up looking after Victor. During the late night scene where Victor is following Julie, Julie doesn’t scream and cry when she sees victor outside her window and then outside her door, instead she allows him into her apartment and looks after him which shows she is a polysemic character and doesn’t just have a straightforward message regarding who she is. As well as this, Julie’s home is a dark grey concrete building which symbolises crime and has connotations of a horror film which functions as a proairetic code, yet Julie doesn’t seem worried about where she lives and seems very comfortable with her surroundings which also shows how she is atypical.

During Nishka’s sex scene in Humans, she is sexualised and presented as a whore for being a prostitute, which wasn’t her choice. The close up and slow zoom into Nishka’s face ,which has a dead and painful expression, acts as a direct mode of address to the audience, making them feel uncomfortable, empathetic and helpless for Nishka, which allows them to identify with her. This is further anchored through the lexis that the punter uses which is both unloving and aggressive showing how Nishka is being forced to have sex with him. This complex message shows how the audience are able to identify with Nishka because of the direct mode of address. This represents Nishka is being sexualised because of the mise-en-scene of her blonde hair and blue eyes which makes her hegemonically attractive. The sex scene in Les Revenants with Lena and the seemingly lower-class boy is a binary opposition to Nishka’s sex scene due to the fact it is loving and meaningful yet it also reinforces the idea that Lena is a rebellious and atypical character. The birds eye view and close up of Lena and her boyfriend positions the audience with them, making them feel uncomfortable and this is further anchored through the use of low-key lighting which connotes intimacy and privacy. Because Lena ‘pulled a sickie’ to stay at home and have sex, it allows the audience to identify with her as some may be able to relate to what she is doing. Lena’s boyfriend looks stereotypically low-class through the use of costume which further reinforces the idea that Lena is a rebellious teenager as she is middle class and very different to the rest of her family.

To conclude, David Gaunltlet’s idea that there are no longer straightforward messages about the identity of male and females in media today is true to a certain extent because in some scenes, stereotypical ideologies were encoded into the way the characters acted yet in other scenes in Humans and Les Revenants, characters were subverts of their stereotypes which represents how the identity of male and females are changing to allow the audience to identify more with certain characters.