1. Explore the ways in which your chosen texts reinforce or challenge typical representations of gender.
...remember that this question could also be about:
Ethnicity or Nationality or Age or Issues
However, Slumdog Millionaire has lots of different representational issues and if you’re theory
knowledge and your notes on the film are good then you should be absolutely fine!
Things to write about...
• Appearance, dress codes, cultural signifiers
• Characters, attitudes, dialogue
• Stereotypical, traditional, challenging representations
•Theoretical perspectives e.g. Gauntlett, Lacey, Mulvey etc
Things to consider...
The three main characters are Jamal, Salim and Latika – what are the roles of each character? In
particular, how are Jamal and Salim juxtaposed?
How important is Latika’s role? Is she a passive or an active character?
How does this film consider different stages of youth? How are older characters represented?
Does this movie give a new perspective of ethnicities and nationalities that are usually underrepresented or
stereotyped by mainstream Hollywood cinema? Is it important that mostly Indian actors were used and
that the film was shot on location?
Are any groups stereotyped and if so, is this a problem? Is it done for comic effect, to move the plot along
or as a shortcut - or is it more problematic, are the stereotypes derogatory?
FilmRepresentation