Evaluation of Representations of Men in Opening Sequence

Our Representations of Men

Theory Background

• Zombie genre makes analysis of representations of men interesting as predominantly male cast.
• This means that a range of representations are offered in the film.
• Some critics see competing representations as good (Perkins) - they prevent stereotyping from narrowing down ways social group seen in society.
• Thornham (feminist critic) thinks as men have strong position in society, does not really matter what their media representations are - hero stereotype will confirm social status and weaker roles played for comedy or overturned later.
• Coward argues against this - feels that male stereotyping is also significant and can be detrimental - even feeling forced into a hero role /alpha male role can be negative socially.

My Argument

• We create roles that suit our genre and narrative.
• As we have an all male cast, men naturally fill all these roles.
• Creates wider range of roles / stereotypes than Coward identifies BUT this is in absence of female cast members so necessity. Males take our weaker roles because someone has to play them to allow the story to unfold.
• I agree with Adorno - stereotyping necessary to create a narrative in a compressed art form like film. Our stereotypes / classic zombie roles help audience understand our film quickly.
• I agree with Thornham - our representations will not harm perceptions of men in society. Might reinforce some existing pressures to conform to 'hero' role however, but all narrative does this.

 

Our Male Archetypes / Roles

• In a typical zombie film, the hero of the movie is usually well-dressed, often in army gear or in smart attire like suits. This is done to show that the character is superior to the rest of the characters. It separates them from the rest of the group to make it easier for the audience to identify. 

• The picture on the left is taken from the movie Resident Evil, which fits our movie’s genre. The soldier is dressed in an army style completed with a gas mask and an assault rifle. This shows he is dangerous and has power. 

• The picture on the right is from our film and the character is Michael who is playing the hero/father figure role. We dressed him up in a suit to show his importance and he is also carrying a gun to show his power. Our editing will help to establish Michael’s character more as when he is first seen, he shoots the zombie immediately which saves the others. 



Stereotypical representation of alpha male in media / film



Alpha male representation in coursework

Kenneth Hall showing his power with his
 police officer outfit and shotgun.

David's grim expression showing his aggressiveness 

• The picture on the left is from the movie Dawn of the dead. It shows one of the main characters, Kenneth Hall who plays an ex-marine turned police officer. His character plays the aggressive leadership role and in terms of the actor, they have casted a well-built man who can fit the stereotypical aggressive man. 

• The picture on the right is David who plays the leader role in our film. To fit the role well, David is seen with a serious expression most of the time he is shown on the screen. This is so he stays in character which will help the audience identify him easier. 

• David’s dialogue is filled with commands and fierceness. In our editing of the opening sequence David leaves the frame as soon as he finishes talking to Rafael which shows his power among the group and where he stands to the audience. To be a leader in a typical zombie film, you need good physical abilities, so to show this, we gave David’s character sportsman’s clothing. 

• The picture on the left is taken from the movie Shaun of the Dead and the character on screen is Pete. Pete plays the short tempered and unlikable character. This is seen as he only has complaints to say to both Shaun and Ed. During his screen time, he can only be seen with a frown on his face. 

• The picture on the right is Conor Cid-Fuentes who plays the same role, when they were playing football Conor was positioned as goalkeeper and when he fails to save a goal his temper erupts showing his dissatisfaction. This will hopefully create a bad impression of his character, which is what his role is supposed to do. Conor does not have special clothing which highlights his role so we used how he acted to do this in the opening sequence. 

Glenn using his knowledge to make up a plan to
 escape the attacking
zombies.

Rafael preferring to read his text book rather
than playing football with his friends.

• The picture of the left is from the hit series The Walking Dead. The character shown is Glenn Rhee, who is one of the main characters in the series and also the intelligent character. Glenn shows off his intelligence when he is first introduced into the series as he saves the main character with his knowledge of the area which allowed them to escape the attacking zombies. 

• The stereotype that Asians are smart may have been added here because Glenn’s role is supposed to be the quick thinking character and the producers may have thought the easiest way for the audience to recognize him is to use this stereotype which almost everyone is familiar with. 

• In our opening sequence Rafael does not participate in the game of football, which is a sport loved by almost every young child in the UK. Instead he prefers to read his textbook in the side-lines. By doing this we establish him as the intelligent character and for the audience to easily remember him we dressed him up in smart casual wear with glasses. We added the glasses to his character because they commonly connote intelligence. 

Shaggy looking petrified and weak in the process.

Conor Fay showing his weak sports skills.

• In terms of appearance the picture of Shaggy in the Scooby-Doo movies, resembles the picture on the right who is Conor from our movie. Both characters have something in common and that is that they lack physically and do not seem to be good at anything. 

• In our film we used football to show Conor’s lack of physicality. Shaggy has long hair which shows that he is weak as men with long hair represents that they are more feminine. Conor has long hair on our film which is why we have decided to give him the weak/sacrificial role. 

• The big difference between them is that Shaggy is the main character and does not die early. In our opening sequence the opposite happens, Conor dies early and turns into a zombie. This is done so the characters in the film can know what is going on in their world. Another thing they have in common is that they are both tall and slender which again fits the weaker role.  

Summary

• Overall, we have used many stereotypes to help highlight the character's roles.
• Adorno says stereotyping is necessary to allow the audience to understand the plot line as well as the characters.
• Although stereotyping has its benefits for the movie it is used in, there are also drawbacks for using them.
• Our opening sequence uses stereotyping efficiently to establish plot and character and catch interest.
• We offer a wide range of male stereotypes which compete with each other and balance each other out.