Media Gender Rep

In the Wire in the Blood clip, the representational issue is gender.
During the clip at 0-36 seconds a hand-held camera is being used, which is presenting a medium
close-up through an over the shoulder shot. These techniques are used to present the intensity of
the situation. It also shows the female characters anxiety, and how she says I need your input
implies the female is anxious and slightly reliant on the male protagonist. This presents the
stereotype of women, and how women need men for reassurance and comfort in situations, since
women are typically seen as being very prone to strong emotions and being driven by them. This is
clearly a stereotype as not all women would almost beg a man for his support in a situation, because
not all women struggle to balance their emotions in high pressure situations.
Further in the clip at 0:40 1:16, the focus is on the male protagonist, using jump cuts and varying
shots from point of view shots, medium close ups and medium long shots. A hand-held camera is
being used again to present how the male is focusing on the work he is doing, however as it is a
serious issue the effect of the hand-held camera adds to the emotion and tension of the situation
that the male protagonist is trying to get to the bottom of. The use of the jump cuts presents the
idea of time passing, which shows that the male is doing his work for long periods of time outside of
the office. This is a typical stereotype of a male, because it presents how men are often dedicated to
their jobs. Their typical role in society is to work hard and provide, whether its for themselves or for
the benefit of a family they need to provide for. Also, the fact that the male protagonist is talking to
himself presents a typical view of confidence from males. The protagonist is talking to himself in a
very causal and confident way, which accurately portrays the stereotypical man, because it shows
how men are often the ones who provide because they are typically better at working. He is doing
extra work outside of the office and is doing it intensely, whereas a scene similar to this is never
shown for the female characters, implying it is only expected that men could be this dedicated to
their job.
From 1:16 1:52 in the clip, mostly medium close ups are used. This is because, in this scene, the
intensity is much less. The female is presented with her child, typically telling her son to clean up
his toys that he has left around. The fact that the female protagonist in the clip is the only one
presented with a child continues with the stereotype of females, as they are the ones who typically
raise the children while the men work. The fact that she is trying to ask for a babysitter who she
doesnt know that well, however, contradicts the typical female stereotype, because it shows a lack
of maternal instinct to be so willing to give her child to someone she doesnt know so well in order
to go to work. This is presented by how the female protagonist has to introduce herself before
asking the babysitter to come over. Plus, since she is asking last minute, it implies that she is not very
organised, which again contradicts the stereotypical idea of a female, as they are usually associated
with organisation and efficiency. The fact that the male protagonist then shows up at the female
protagonists house is presenting the typical idea of the man coming to the womans rescue. When
he arrives and she explains that the babysitter is unavailable she asks him to babysit for her, which
implies that she needs him to help her in order to do what she needs to do for her job. Since he
showed up at the right time and agrees to help, it presents the stereotype of men being the ones
who take care of women and will be there for them as their heroes in times of need.
In the clip from 1:53 2:37, the clip cuts to a long shot of a large house which has a car that pulls up.
This sets the scene for us to know we are being introduced to a new setting with new characters that
we havent seen before in the clip. The clip then consists of a variety of medium close ups of the
various males in the scene, as well as a quick cut scene to a man who is looking very distressed and
has a red light shining onto him. The fact that the hand-held camera is still being used in these
medium close ups implies how the scene has a lot of tension between the male characters in the
room. This tension differs from the one previous tension portrayed earlier in the clip by the variety
of close ups. In this scene, the shakiness of the camera as well as only using medium long shots
implies that the tension is not fuelled by emotion like it is when it is presented between the male
and female protagonist. This tension is between a group of males who all want to be the dominant
ones. However, the first one we see who arrives at the house and bursts in on the group of males is
clearly portrayed to have the most dominating power over the others, since when one tries to
answer him back, he hits the mans head into the wall in order to assert his authority. This gives a
stereotypical and extreme idea of what a group of males who are all in completion behave like,
because it is a stereotypical idea that men assert their authority and power over another male
through acts of violence, and when one has caused significant enough damage to the other he is
seen as the stronger one.
Finally in the clip from 2:38 3:36, which is the end of the clip, the original male protagonist is
presented as a much light hearted and fun character, compared with the female character. The
two times the female character is presented, there is a lot of anger and frustration present in her
voice and facial expressions. Meanwhile, as is highlighted in this scene, the male protagonist has a
much light-hearted view on life. The hand held camera is still used, simply to present how the
scene is much more relaxed than the others seen so far. The use of mainly medium close ups and
close up shots presents how the scene is almost emotional, as it is the male protagonist talking
about children with the female protagonists child. The fact that when the child asks him if he has
kids he responds by saying he needs a girlfriend in order to have kids implies that he doesnt have
time or the desire to find someone and settle with them to start a family. This is a stereotypical idea
of a masculine attitudes to relationships and children, because he doesnt mention that he would
like a child, he just points out that he cant because he doesnt have a girlfriend. Because of how he
says this like its not a big deal to him reflects the male stereotype of how they are more focused on
keeping to themselves and being self-motivated with work, while women stereotypically have strong
maternal instincts and want to have a good balance with their love life and their work life, and even
sacrificing the work life for the chance to have a child instead.

Media Gender Rep

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Media Gender Rep

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Media Gender Rep

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

In the Wire in the Blood clip, the representational issue is gender.

You might also like