Question 2How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Social GroupsA social group is identified as 2 or more people of whom have interaction with one another and share similar interests, characteristics and collectively have a sense of unity. Among the vast types of media products there will be a reference to a certain type of social group. All media products represent different social groups in different ways and can portray them as good or bad. Though having said this, publishers of media products must ensure that they carefully plan out and think about how they are going to represent the stereotypes of different social groups as they can either be challenged developed and/or accepted.

Social GroupsDuring our film opening we represented different social groups but only through two characters therefore was able to link different social groups together to make our characters stand out and individual. We portrayed 5 social groups within our media product of which consisted of;• Age• Gender• Social class• Mental state • Parental figures

Different Social ClassesThere are 4 different types of social class;• The lower (under) class is typically those in poverty, homelessness, and unemployment. People of this class

suffer from lack of medical care, adequate housing and food, decent clothing, safety, and a good education. The media often stigmatize the lower class as the underclass, inaccurately characterizing poor people as scroungers of the welfare state and having negative impacts on society and abusers of the system.

• The working class are those of whom are educated people who engage in manual labour with little or no prestige. Unskilled workers in the class may be underpaid and have no opportunity for career advancement. Skilled workers in this class are often called blue collar workers. They may make more money than workers in the middle class however, their jobs are usually more physically taxing, and in some cases quite dangerous.

• The middle class generally are white collar workers and have more disposable income than those below them on the social ladder, but less than those above them. They divide into two levels according to wealth, education, and prestige.

• The upper class divides into two groups: lower upper‐ and upper upper‐ . The lower upper class includes those ‐with new money or money made from investments, business ventures, and so forth. The upper upper class ‐includes those aristocratic and high society families with old money who have been rich for generations and ‐so have inherited their wealth and status. The upper upper class is more prestigious than the lower upper ‐ ‐class. Wherever their money comes from, both segments of the upper class are exceptionally rich.

Different Social ClassesThe 4 different social classes are represented very differently in media products, however are always represented stereotypically and in a particular way to ensure they stand out to signify the different characteristics of each class. In our media product we most certainly represented two different types of social class; under class and middle class. We represented both of these in certain ways. For example we represented the middle class with the costume for Bonnie as she wore a dress in which was quite bold and bright and showed a character to be well dressed. She was represented as a bubbly girl as can be shown by her casual skipping through the woods and her giggle. Whereas on the other the costume for Joel was dark coloured, reflecting his mood and the location in which was his ‘home’ was a long abandoned building therefore connoting his homelessness and so represented the under class. Joel’s mood can be seen to be quite delicate as he is easily lead to his fate after seeing what he appears to be his daughter and so he is also quite naïve.

Social Groups: AgeIn our film opening we have two very contrasting ages. There is Joel, the father of whom is around 35 years old and there is Bonnie, his 6/7 year old daughter. These different ages are always represented very differently. The older age is typically slower paced and not as energetic whereas the younger age is always full of energy and laughter. In our film we decided to follow these stereotypes however because of Bonnie’s middle class association she is typically less hands on and more calm as a child compared to others her age. Though not all is well because Bonnie leads her father to his fate connoting that children are sometimes wreckless, therefore having a strongly negative representation of children.

Social Groups: GenderDuring our film opening we both challenged and developed stereotypes when it came to gender. We portrayed Bonnie – the little girl, to be sweet and innocent which girls her age typically should be and are represented in other media products however her innocents left at the point the audience realised she led Joel to his final place. On the other hand we represented Joel as a typical male who descended from and was originally himself working class but changed to under class. His clothing represents his gender for his role as they are quite dark coloured and his appearance itself looks relatively scruffy which people of his class and gender would be. He has a facial piercing which is stereotypically is a male thing and of which is portrayed as a male accessory in different media products, especially if they are dated. Though we also challenged the male gender as it is usually presented as quite brash but in our media product the male gender is represented as naive and vulnerable.

Social Groups: Social ClassThe social class between the two characters is very mixed. Joel was originally working, border line middle class however is now significantly lower on the spectrum and is under class. This is shown by his appearance and where his ‘home’ is. The representation is quite negative because he’s isolated himself from society and is living rough however this may be considered stereotypical and a ‘normal’ representation among other media products. There is no light shone on homelessness and there is rarely a ‘good representation’ of homelessness in media products. However on the other hand Bonnie still acquires her middle class status and this is shown through her brightly coloured costume and appearance – despite the audience not seeing her face. We have challenged the stereotype of middle class girls being somewhat ‘snotty’ and full of themselves as she has not dialogue in the opening therefore the stigma goes without notice.

Social Groups: Mental StateMedia products tend to use mental state in a negative way, especially within the horror genre. For instance those suffering from having a mental state are portrayed as psychotic and lunatics whom sit in confined rooms day and night, secluded in the shelter of an asylum. This is because it’s easy to take advantage of this and for the purpose of ‘it makes for good television’ etc, film makers won’t stray shy to add this element in to their movie. We ‘hoped on the bandwagon’ and also used this within our film however wanted to show it in a less clear manner because most of those that suffer either don’t speak and hide it or they are ‘locked up’ therefore we wanted to have less stigma attached to it and make people aware that those who hide it are far worse off. To do this however we had to negatively portray it and therefore accepted some of the typical stereotypes.

Social Groups: Parent FigureA parent figure is somewhere who looks after you be it your biological parents, a relative or someone else (legal guardian). They raise you and have you as their own however we have challenged this as Joel was not a good parent figure to Bonnie. It may seem as though he was because there’s enigma surrounding why she’s running through the woods and it appears as though he is being caring and chasing her to make sure she’s safe and in his close eye. However the odds are very different and although this does not appear in the film’s opening, Bonnie’s image was only an apparition in Joel’s mind and so did not exist due to the fact she is dead and the audience realise this later on in the film. The reason for her death certainly challenges representations and stereotypes of a good parent figure as Joel is the one in which murdered her.

Stereotypes: Gender RolesTypically speaking within society the males are always dominant and in control therefore we have a patriarchal society. Though this is not 100% true due to the ever-changing world, our group has decided to replicate this within our film and have a ‘role-reversal’. Joel, the male of the film is seen to be weak and naive and so is easily led by his daughter Bonnie of whom seems to have complete control over him. This defies stereotypes and goes against the norms of society and shows that women can just as equally be in control as men.

Stereotypes: AgeIn the olden days children were always expected to be seen and not heard and to respect their elders. Though some children – if they’re ‘brought up right’ , still stand by these sorts of sayings there are many out in the world that disrespect others and do not comply by the rules of society. Both sides of the argument can be shown within our media product because Bonnie is always seen and not heard but also somewhat disrespects her father because she leads him to his fate and so almost makes a mockery out of him. Though it is in her best interest because this act inevitably brings them closer together as they will once again be united.

Conclusion The ways in which social groups and social classes are represented within my media product differ and have big variation however this is to make the film better and to show a variety of content that will show the genre and apply the genre. This therefore allows the audience to distinguish characters moods and emotions and allows them to establish their class as well as the genre.