This document analyzes how social groups are represented in a media product. It summarizes that the main character is a 17-year-old male portrayed as a typical teenage boy. It represents teenagers as irrational, reckless, and potentially violent, conforming to stereotypes. It also represents males as more violent and aggressive than females, with the male character committing murder. Females are represented as weak and vulnerable, with a female being killed. The document notes the target audience is around the same age as the characters, allowing them to relate to aspects like clothing and stress.
2. Our Character
• Our main character was played by Max
Mayo-Dell, a 17 year old male.
• We aimed to make our character look like a
typical teenage male, tall and slim, dressed
in modern typical clothing, consisting of a
patterned sweatshirt, black jeans and trainers.
• This look could be comparable to the
character of Donnie Darko, from the thriller
film Donnie Darko.
3. How are social groups represented?
• Age (Teens) - Teens can be seen as quite irrational, reckless, vulnerable, violent and unstable.
This made a teenager an ideal character for our thriller opening, as although he can be seen
as normal, he can also be violent and unstable, conforming to the stereotypes of teenagers.
In our thriller opening we wanted to convey that teenagers can be violent and reckless,
however we also wanted to convey that they can be vulnerable and susceptible to stress and
mental disorders, leading to our character being psychotic. We also tried to convey the
stereotype of teens being associated with violence, gang culture and knives by having out
character commit a murder with the knife, which he seems to play with throughout the
opening, suggesting that violence is just a game to him.
4. How are social groups represented?
• Males – Males are stereotypically seen as more violent, stronger and aggressive compared to
females, leading to males seeming more dominant. We conformed to this stereotype in our
thriller opening by having our male character commit a murder within the first 2 minutes.
However we also challenged the convention of men being strong and violent, by giving our
character elements of being weak and vulnerable, which is connoted by the tear he shed.
Tear
5. How are social groups represented?
Females – Females are stereotypically seen as being weak and vulnerable,
and in need of protection. We have conformed to this stereotype by having a
female that has been killed within our thriller opening.
6. How does this link to our target
audience?
• The age range that we have represented within our thriller opening is
around the same age as our target audience, making the film more
attractive to our target audience due to cultural similarities such as
clothing and hair styles. The audience may be able to relate with our
character more at times, which may add a depth of realism, such as the
stress he is suffering from.
Typical teenage male
modern clothing and hair
style.
