The first shot of the trailer is a black screen establishing location, 'in a small Welsh mining village', then an establishing shot showing the misty Welsh land, then another black screen saying 'deep in the valleys' which is how Wales is often referred. Further shots of Welsh countryside, shown to be misty and grey. Then we see some interior shots of the community hall where the people eat together and all appear to know one another, a stereotype of small towns. The gay group are shot from a worm's eye view to show the power they will have over the destiny of the mining community. The reaction shot of the elderly lady shows this town and its residents are unused to trendy gay people, which points to the stereotype of small rural towns as being old-fashioned and conservative. The gay group members' own apprehensive faces show that they are ware of the possibility of awkwardness between the conservative villagers and their group. As a member of the LGBT+ community even today, entering small villages full of elderly people is intimidating, so in the 1980's this would have been more pronounced. The next shot of the silent community hall full of stone-faced villagers looking at the gay group shows the divide in this country between metropolitan trendy forward-thinking LGBT youths and older more traditional conservative types. The next sequence of the main characters in the kitchen is further reinforcing this, as the villagers stand on one side of the kitchen and the gay group stand on the other. This is when the difference in their mode of dress is obvious, as the villagers wear earthy shades and corduroy and have sensible, natural hair, whereas the gay group have styled hair, some dyed and they wear more trendy clothes. This use of mise-en-scene makes it easy to differentiate groups, even for someone unfamiliar with the characters.
There is then a letterboxed shot of a white background with red text telling the audience that it is based on a true story, which would make it more interesting for a British (especially Welsh) person to watch, as they may be unfamiliar with the story and will want to find out more OR they could remember the events and wish to relive them via the media of film.
The rest of the trailer serves to show off funny parts of the film to draw in audiences and plays on stereotypes of the British gay scene in the 1980's being vibrant and fun, as the old Welsh women seem to have a rollicking good time dancing in the gay club. This segment also plays on the stereotype of the British gay scene (and British people in general) being very chilled, as the elderly village women seem to have no qualms with being surrounded by men in bondage gear.
When the characters return to go to bed, the young women and the elderly women share bed space and laugh together about sex toys, which comments on the tendency of women being more open with one another about personal matters, while the men are downstairs wishing for some peace and quiet.
The large, eye-catching headline juxtaposes 'jihadi' with 'labour' in order to back up the feeling shared by most Daily Mail readers that the Labour party are untrustworthy & dangerous. The use of the large photograph of Ed Miliband with the runaway's father is the main photo above the image of the actual runaway himself. He is the one who left for Syria & was arrested, yet his father is placed above him & larger as he is the one with Miliband. The Daily Mail loathes Miliband & Labour in general, so they would take any opportunity to tarnish his name & reputation. For a casual viewer who glanced at this cover, the headline & the image could give them the idea that Miliband was complicit in the young man's trip to Syria, which is most likely ridiculous, so their convictions that Labour were bad news would be reinforced. The mode of address is semi-formal, as if they were trying to educate you but had ended up screaming angrily instead of remaining objective. Instead of the refined image Tories like to show the world, the Daily Mail are more like screeching, ignorant, racist grandmothers & if I were a Tory, I would be ashamed. This newspaper is aimed at similarly screeching "I'm not racist BUT" types who are from 35-70, mostly male, upper working to lower middle class.
This Daily Mirror cover contrasts hugely with the Daily Mail, as Mirror are Labour supporters so portray Miliband in a very positive light. His face takes up almost half of the page, his expression is friendly but earnest but determined & the lighting makes him look serious & ready to act on his pledges. It is a very flattering image, as Miliband has a rather unusual face which can easily look sinister (see Mail cover above) & his Muppet-like face is often a source of mirth for non-Labour supporters, so the use here of a very flattering photograph shows that these media producers support him & take him seriously, so they use this kind of imagery to encourage their readers to take him seriously too. The use of a quote from Miliband himself makes the reader feel as if he is talking right to them & the use of eye contact with the camera makes it feel more honest & thus, more positive & personal.
The Big Bang Theory Raj in TBBT
In The Big Bang Theory, a popular American sitcom, the only main Asian male character is shown to be unattractive to women most of the time & hopeless with romance. This is a negative stereotype perpetuating Western media; the unattractive Asian man who could not possibly be good enough for a woman, especially a white woman. Studies have shown that Asian women are often sexualised in the media as an object to be coveted by a white man from an Asian man, who is always shown to be either abusive towards the Asian woman or inept as a partner, with the white man effectively 'saving' her from the useless/nasty Asian man.
In non-western media, this is a foreign concept, as can be seen in popular Korean drama Boys Over Flowers, where the female protagonist, Geum Jandi, has to cope with being enrolled in a snobby new school whilst fighting off the affections of Gu Jun Pyo & the stunning 'Flower 4' (the most beautiful boys in the school) & the jealousy of their league of female admirers. These Asian men are shown to be attractive, popular, socially charming & desirable in every way. The Flower 4 winning (& breaking) the hearts of every girl except 1
Hungry Like The Wolf- Duran Duran (1982) Music video by Duran Duran for Hungry Like The Wolf (1982)
This video was entirely filmed on location in Sri Lanka. The band are all young, white males which makes them stand out as they are culturally other from the Sri Lankan locals. The locals are shown to be poor & old-fashioned compared to the band members, as shots of beggars & hard-working market-stallholders are juxtaposed with the glamorousness of the band. The Tamil military presence is shown which would truly show a predominantly white British audience that Sri Lanka was a very different world, as Britain is not generally policed by military officers. The country is shown to have many mystical & mysterious properties & inhabitants, such as the snake charmer, the lush jungles that hide all manner of creatures (including an elephant) & the lead female dancer in the video. This video became hugely popular amongst young white people as it is a classic example of white wish-fulfilment adventurer fantasy, as the band (especially lead singer Simon LeBon) are shown to be intrepid explorers in an exotic land in the manner of Indiana Jones. This contrasts with the locals who are all getting on with their day-to-day lives, almost to comic effect as the melodramatic flailing of Simon as he 'hunts' the woman is aided by nonplussed Sri Lankan children who can tell he obviously has no idea what he's doing & is totally out of his depth. The woman he chases is represented as the stereotypical exotic black woman. She is painted in 'traditional'-looking warpaint & juxtaposed with images of a leopard, showing she is animalistic & mysterious like the endangered animal. The townspeople are shown to be hard-working in their bustling market in the middle of the lush green jungle, while both the jungle & the market are shown to be obstacles to the white man's conquest.
Paper Planes-MIA (1982) Music video by MIA for Paper Planes (2007)
This video by British & Sri Lankan singer MIA is a positive representation of a woman from an ethnic minority, as MIA is shown to be independent & optimistic despite working in a sandwich van (probably not a well-paying job) & hanging around in markets & subways. This video shows that she is optimistic & hard-working & does not let lack of money or status get her down. The lyrics reflect her social situation as she is not part of a wealthy elite but gets by on slightly illegal activities & personal enterprise. The song deals with themes of immigration, as MIA sings about VISAs & getting over borders, which can be read literally as immigrants crossing borders to become hard-working members of larger communities & also as immigrant people crossing personal & interpersonal borders (such as language barriers & being the subject of racism) with hard-work & a positive outlook. MIA is a rap star, but in this video she is working hard in a menial job, which shows how one cannot reach the top unless one is prepared to work really hard, especially if one is from an ethnic minority.
PERSONAL IDENTITY
The Rocky Horror Picture Show Trailer for TRHPS
I identify strongly with this film as Each character reflects a part of my personality, as does the general aesthetic of he film. Frank is fabulous & mysterious, as I would like to be; Brad represents confusion (I am often confused); Janet is eager to learn new things; Dr. Scott is wise (as I often perceive myself to be); Columbia is devoted to Frank like a fan to a celebrity & I take my fandoms & celebrities very seriously; Magenta & Riff Raff are under-appreciated & quietly bitter; Rocky is pretty & sometimes I think I am pretty. The castle is gothic, like me, but inside it is like a mixture of a theatre & a laboratory. TRHPS has a huge cult following as many people are able to identify with the pop-culture B-movie references, the characters who at first seem very basic but are in fact very complex & the music which covers a range of styles from rock'n'roll to Vaudeville. Some audiences take an oppositional reading to the sexual elements & the seemingly degenerate actions of the characters.
The first shot in this film pans from black to a midshot of the sleeping woman. The room is hers, as we can tell from the mise-en-scene of the floral, rumpled quilt which shows that she is comfortable here. The low-key lighting shows that the scene is set at nighttime. As the camera continues to pan, the mise-en-scene shows her personal effects in the room, including a framed photograph of her with a man, presumably her husband from how close they stand & how they smile.
Women are represented in this video as being determined & unafraid, as they are having to endure intensive sports whilst battling the ingrained & internalised negative body image all women are faced with from the day they are born. Many of the women in the video are plus-sized. Almost 57% of women in the UK are overweight, but the prevailing media representation for slim women, so larger women are often bullied & wrongly made to feel imperfect or not beautiful enough. This creates a vicious circle which means larger women are afraid to go to the gym as they would be more likely to receive unwanted attention, so the video is showing a large range of women of different sizes all exercising together, free from the judgement & hostile competitive nature often encouraged in the media, to encourage women, regardless of size, shape or level of fitness, to go to the gym or otherwise exercise in a way that makes them feel good. The video contains lots of close-ups of slow-motion legs & bottoms jiggling, as this is often a huge area of insecurity for women, but these shots do not show this in a negative light, rather as a proof that one is working hard. Slowmo closeups are usually reserved for the 'perfect' breasts & bottoms of models, so this technique shows that these different-sized women are all just as beautiful as models.
