Representation task

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Watch the trailer for Taken and complete the following tasks:

 

Create a new blogpost called 'Introduction to Representation' and embed the Taken trailer in the post.

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

 - Men 
- Women 
- American 
- Europeans 

2) For each group you identify, decide whether the representation is a dominant or alternative portrayal. Explain why you think this.

 Men - I think there is a dominant representation of males in this film because Liam Neeson is the main character and the 'hero' of the film. The fact that he is the hero in this film suggests that he is a strong fearless male character who will go to any extent to save the day. 

 Women - There is a dominant representation of female characters because they are seen as the 'damsel in disress.' The women are barely seen within the trailer and when they are they seem to be crying. 

 Americans - They are seen as the good kind hearted people and America is seen to be a quite calm crime free country which makes this a dominant representation.

 Europeans - This is seen to be a dominant representation of Europeans because the kidnappers are from Paris and they try to sell the daughter into the sex trade. Paris is seen to be a crime-ridden city and the Europeans are represented as the villains.

3) What stereotypes can you identify in the trailer? 

 Women are seen as the 'damsel in distress' and they are only seen to be crying and helpless. The females in the film are weak and inferior to the dominant male characters.

 The male figures are seen with more authority and superior compared to the women. The males are represented as quite strong where as women are represented as quite useless because they can't help them selves and need someone ( the male hero ) to save them. 

4) Why might the Taken trailer offend or alienate certain groups?

 Europeans especially those who reside in France would be offended because their home is being presented as crime central and that there is a lot of kidnapping and sex trafficking happening in Europe. This is a false representation of Europeans and France in particular.

5) Why do mainstream film and television texts such as Taken so often use stereotypes?

 The media use stereotypes because they are easy for audiences to recognise and associate people with. Stereotypes help the audience in figuring out what sort of characters are being portrayed and what other characters they may see.


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