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

The main representations we focused on were:
Gender - representing males as having emotions and issues rather than the stock 'jock' character
Age - representing youths as quite intelligent and positive rather than rowdy, rude and unpleasant
Mental health - representing our character



(Prezi above: Created by Audrey)

Gender:
The video below talks a bit about how we wanted to represent gender

Notes on the video above:

Charlie from Perks of Being a Wallflower:
- Has clearly represented mental health and emotional issues

We made our character go against the jock stereotype by:

• Having OCD/Social anxiety issues
• Dressing him in clothing that is quite smart, rather than sporty.

Bright, but not overly eccentric colours

Age:

The video below talks a bit about how we wanted to represent age

Notes on the video above:

We tried to change the stereotype by having a character that was quite reserved and shy, as well as quite smartly dressed.

Misfits - An example of the angry, rude representation that we want to challenge

Mental Health:
The video below talks a bit about how we wanted to represent mental health

Notes on the video above:
In order to represent young people suffering with mental health issues as capable and reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness, we decided to use the routine shots, to:
1) Highlight his OCD, the close framing showing the clinical nature with which he implements his OCD habits, while the voice over states his OCD without making it sound over-dramatic or negative
2) Show that he is capable to look after himself, rather than the typical mental health stereotype of depending on others, or being very violent, i.e. the Joker from Batman, 'Me, Myself and Irene'

The Joker - 'a schizophrenic clown'

Hank Evans (Schizophrenia) - Angry, Rude, Violent