Evaluation: Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups? - Miss Begum

Social Groups

A social group is a group of individuals with certain characteristics which allow for them to be included in this group. They may share interests and have things in common such as hobbies and lifestyle tastes. An example of a social group may be emo’s as they are seen as isolated and dark group of people who only prefer to be on their own or in a group as portrayed by the media. Another example of a social group is working class as they are grouped together by their financial status, occupation and lifestyle.. There are other social classes such as the ones I have mentioned the list could go on.

Representation

Representation is an important aspect of thrillers as it gives the audience a better understanding and insight on what the characters are meant to look and behave like, including characteristics. My media product has many different representations all mixed together to create a variety of elements. From the psychotic scene of the main antagonist to the more calm scenes in which he is telling his entrepreneur about their next job, they representations of something as the audience can look at this and get a better idea on what may be going on or the themes behind the plot.

Example of classic thriller characters

Anti-Hero - This is a prime anti-hero in the dark knight trilogies as he sees himself as the enforcer of law and justice through his own way. Similar to that of other anti-hero’s such as ‘Rorschach’ from ‘The Watchmen’ he doesn’t entirely hide away from society but still has his own way of making sure that no-one finds out his true identity or the man behind the mask. Living a double life almost. He is also presumably of a wise age around his 30’s or 40’s to maintain youth and experience and stands as a broad figure in his chosen role.

Protagonist - A classic example of a thriller protagonist is Liam Neeson in Taken, as he is chosen to represent majority of characteristics and skills that protagonists hold onto. He is however savage and brutally led by the fact that his prized possession of a daughter has been kidnapped from him leading him down the line of revenge and heroism to get her back. This character is around the age where he is not youthful but slightly aged and mindful of his surroundings and uses this to his advantage.

Antagonist - Often makes sure that their face remains hidden from the audience and the antagonist yet always leaving a hint to allow for tracing.  Just like some other antagonists he is a tactical antagonist and not one of brute strength as some people will want. However the more tactical antagonists are used as they make thrillers more of a thriller and less of an action film which is a great pathway to targeting a wider range in terms of audience and social group as keeping the antagonist and protagonist similar will attract more social groups.

My Character representing Social Groups of an antagonist

The social group I was trying to target were older, mature and experienced males who are wise yet curious to enter the outside world and master their surroundings. By using this specific character I have opened many conventions to what social group he could fit in, and in doing so he may represent the group of males who are silent and use their actions to speak for themselves.

Age: My male character is in his early 30’s and we have chosen for this specific age because we didn’t want him to be too young to be an experienced and wise antagonist or be too old to represent the less physical antagonists who retract from physical confrontations (like The Joker) and instead went for the age where most antagonists are without being too old or too young and instead just in the middle.

Gender: We chose for the character to be male as we felt we wanted to carry on the common convention of a male intimidating male antagonist instead of going for the unconventional intimidating female character as it would lead us down the path of possibly making her an assassin of some sort as portrayed in modern day thriller films whereas male antagonists in modern films are really smart but physically opposing characters with broad figures or even less just the brains.

Ethnicity: My antagonist challenges stereotypes in the sense that black actors in thrillers are probably one of the first to die or help a protagonist with his objective and rarely take the lead in thrillers so it kind of subsides from common conventions here also as by casting a black male as my antagonist I have shown that antagonists cannot always only be of one ethnicity and it can be different.

Physical Appearance: My antagonist is 6’3 and is of a larger broad physique which helps to ensure the audience see this character as a more savage antagonist rather than a more physically vulnerable character with the top brains and expertise at technical difficulties and tactics. Also with the dark clothes it helps as dark clothes instigate dark and psychological themes and move away from the sunny side of things and into the more evil agendas.

My Character representing Social Groups of a Victim

The social group I was trying to target with my victim was younger, vulnerable guys who felt intimidated by others who are much bigger and stronger than them but still have the potential to be as intimidating. Through my male victim I tried to represent the social group of quiet, introvert males who like staying at home and being quiet and by themselves.

Age: My male character is 16 and my group have chosen for him to be this young as he has been cast as a victim to be a potential antagonist. Audiences can look at this and relate it to other films where this has happened like The Dark Knight Rises.

Gender: I chose my character to be a male as it sets aside from the potential romance scene if it was a female instead. Also by making it a male we have created a new convention of male victims becoming what used to victimize them. Turning their nightmare into their dream, a sense of not running away from danger but instead running towards it.

Ethnicity: My victim challenges some stereotypes here as he is of Afro-Caribbean descent and becomes an antagonist through nurture and training. He does however, have essences of London with a casual North-London accent and can easily relate to the victim part of his ethnicity as stereotypical young black and mixed race kids are victims to knife and gun crime so him going from the victim to the antagonist is merely similar.

Physical Appearance: My chosen actor (victim) is 5”11 which is an okay height considering the antagonist is 6”3 so the height difference is still there. He is tall but he is quite small and less broad than the antagonist which supports his role as victim, and he represents the social group of males who can defend themselves but choose not to out of risk and intimidation of others.

Also the dress sense of my character is that of an innocent character and not one that is intimidating or scary, this is good as further helps the notion of my character being a victim even if he wears dark clothing instead of lighter clothing.

My Media product representing your particular social group through themes?

There are dark scenes in my media product which could reach out to social groups of which dark, and gloomy but interesting scenes are something they like or are into. For fans of unusual but expected twists in films then my media product is perfect for them. But the social group my media product reaches out to is young audiences who like seeing others their age go from being the ones who suffer to the one who gets rid of or causes the suffering. Similar to ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ audiences will see this young male character slowly gain his rise to becoming the right hand man and assistant of the lead character just as Sgt John Blake did when he inherited Batman's Bat-cave at the end of the film.

That also shows a sign of care and respect in my product as our antagonist is trusting this young boy with the chance and responsibility to carry on his legacy while also entrusting him with his life work without getting him too involved or destroying his young days. However This cannot be perceived from just the opening scene which will result in our audiences being curious as to what might happen and how it came about to be this young, curious and vulnerable character who shows fear in his eyes yet has the ability to stand up and protect himself which enables him to hide that fear relating to the small minority of society that feel as if there is something holding them back from being successful but they still feel the need to resist that blockade.

My Media product representing your particular social group through narrative

The narrative in my thriller product as I have mentioned in the slide before is of this young boy who is entrusted by an experienced man to take over his position and continue his antagonist legacy through many years of training until he can finally say he is ready to lead the line and be his own antagonist without having to feel as if he is not worthy enough to make it to the top as somebody’s greatest enemy. 

Through nurturing with a bit of nature this reaches out to the social group of young boys with a male father figure in their life as they would one day like to be stated as the man of the house and have more than a little say in what goes on in and about. The narrative relates to this specific social group as even though the antagonist is not the victim’s father he could still be seen as a father figure by his actions and his ambitions for this young boy without having to have that father-son bond. With this narrative my group can go down many paths of common conventions in thriller films where there is a main man with a much younger assistant or young character eager to be involved in his motives and what he gets up to.