2. Our thriller explores a range of different
representations of gender and age. Some of our
representations are progressive whereas some
characters were created based on stereotypes. Our
thriller also explores the binary opposition that is
created between men and women.
3. GENDER - WOMEN
Our thriller includes both complex and simplistic representations of gender. For example, our
representation of women is complex. This is because it goes against stereotypes, such as the damsel in
distress, and instead presents women as being powerful and intelligent. This is progressive as despite
constant development within society women are still mistreated by the media. An example of this is
Cat-woman, from 'The Dark Knight Rises', even though her character has both the qualities that we
applied to our femme fatale, she is hyper-sexualised. We didn't do this to our characters, instead we
wanted to represent our characters similarly to how Irene Adler is presented in 'Sherlock'. She is
incredibly intelligent and sophisticated but still has the classic femme fatale seduction abilities. This
presents woman as strong, capable people who are confident in expressing their sexuality.
Alternatively, The fact that our femme fatale is alluring could lead to outdated views towards women,
this is because traditionally the femme fatale was a prize to be one by the male protagonist and
nothing more than a sex object to the antagonist. This is regressive because it supports negative and
obsolete views of women. However, our femme fatale is seductive not sexualised. This means that
whilst her body language is alluring she is not objectified. This gives our character a form of
empowerment because she is using her body as a weapon and therefore is in control of how it is
perceived. This is progressive because it emphasises the fact that women are, and should be, in control
of their bodies. Our female character is quick witted, sly and seductive. This is a progressive way to
present woman because it implies that not all women are weak and passive as the ‘victim’ and ‘damsel
in distress’ stereotypes suggest. However, our femme fatale, as well as our other two female
characters, could lead to misogynist feelings. This is because they are untrustworthy and lead lives that
has been overtaken by crime. This could suggest that woman can’t be trusted and that they are
immoral people. The femme fatale archetype was reinvented after women’s assistance during World
War 2, this independent and commanding archetype could be a reflection of the power they gained by
doing this. The femme fatale rejects the idea of marriage as well as traditional domestic ideals. This is
still relevant today because it reinforces the fact that women don’t have to conform to the pressures of
society.
4. GENDER - WOMAN
It could be argued that our other two female characters are also progressive representations of women.
This is because they are both in positions of power and aren’t relying on men to save them or to solve their
problems. The enigmatic woman/controller is clearly in a superior position to both our male and female
assailant because she is the one giving orders. This implies that woman can reach positions of power and be
in charge. However, this could be considered regressive as the only way she could reach this position of
power was by turning to crime. This suggests that there’s no room in society for woman in legal superior
positions. This could be very relevant to many woman today as it is far more difficult for a woman to reach a
manger position than it is for a man. It is also made clear that our controller is very intelligent, as she has
made her way to the top of the hierarchy within the antagonist’s ranks and is now the person making
important and calculated positions. This presents women as intellectual people who shouldn’t be
underestimated which is very progressive as typically women are presented as being stupid when in
relation to the male characters.
Our female assailant could also be considered as a progressive presentation of woman because she is
authoritative and dangerous. This challenges stereotypes of woman being weak and submissive, as it is
implied that she would be able to capture our protagonist. Her body language is intimidating which implies
that she isn’t afraid of the criminals she is surrounded by, therefore putting her in a position of power.
However, the fact that she’s dangerous and that its implied that she’s done this kind of job before could
imply that she is cold hearted and cruel. This a very negative way to present women as it implies that they
can’t be trusted and have malevolent motives. Although, her motives aren’t made clear, meaning she could
be redeemed later on in the film, this would challenge the audience’s interpretation of her character and
suggest that you shouldn’t judge people before you know them. This would be a progressive representation
that would be very relevant to today’s society as during a time of social struggle people are becoming more
and more judgemental and prejudice without giving people a chance.
5. GENDER - MEN
Our male protagonist is a simplistic representation of men, this is because he is a typical broken hero,
implying that men are insolent, impulsive and aggressive. However, it could be argued that its a complex
representation because he becomes the victim in our opening. This suggests that men don't always have to
be strong or in charge, sometimes they are vulnerable and in need of help. Alternatively, we also included
the stereotypical bad guy. This is a very simplistic representation because it implies that men are thugs and
are only good for doing someone else's dirty work. This in turn could imply that men are violent people
who are unable to think for themselves. This is a regressive way to present men, however for our thriller it
is used for affect as part of our plot. It is used to construct binary opposition between our two male
characters. For example, our protagonist is vulnerable whereas the assailant is intimidating. This makes the
audience afraid of him whilst they fear for our protagonist. We, therefore, used this effect to make our
audience connect to our protagonist.
It could be argued that our protagonist is emasculated because he is unable to defend himself against his attacker. This deprives him of the power that is usually
applied to men because typically their dominance is created by their physical strength. However, our protagonist is weak because of his inability to function
without alcohol, this implies that men aren't able to cope with the struggles of life. This is a regressive representation but its very traditional of the film noir genre
which explores an unrealistically gritty and fragmented world. This could suggest that in our fictional world the issues that surround society are too destructive for
people to cope with. This could apply to all of our characters because they have all turned to crime or alcohol as forms of escape. It could also be argued that he's
emasculated because he is dominated by our femme fatale as she is in control of what happens to him next. This implies that our femme fatale is stronger than our
protagonist. This could lead to the negative representation that in order for one social group to gain power another has to lose it. Alternatively, because our
antagonist is also male, and in a position of power, it could imply that power has to be earned and is based on skill and intelligence rather than gender.
Our film presents men as weak, dependent people, however this is due to the circumstances the characters are in. For example, our assailant isn’t vulnerable
because he has gained a position of power, whereas our protagonist is feeble because he has fallen on hard times which have resulted in him becoming an
alcoholic. This is reinforcing the stereotypes of the film noir genre. The fallen hero became a very popular archetype because it reflected the pain and doubt men
in the 1940s were experiencing. This is still relevant today as people are still fighting wars around the globe and jobs are increasingly harder to find. This causes
many people to feel powerless and disillusioned, much like our protagonist.
6. GENDER – BINARY OPPOSITION
There is a sense of binary opposition between our two main characters, this is because whilst our femme fatale is in
a position of power, the protagonist is very vulnerable. This places the characters at opposite ends of a spectrum. It
also creates a sense of conflict between them because they both want differing things but only one character can
achieve their desires. This means whilst the protagonist wants to escape, the femme fatale wants him to remain her
captive. This could also imply that in our fictional world women treat men badly, established by the fact she has
stripped him of his power as well as his freedom. This could be because as a women she has suffered at the hands
of men and rejoices in the opportunity to enact revenge. This is typical of the film noir genre because the femme
fatale usually has a dark, mysterious past which leads her to violence and crime. We have started to explore this in
our opening and it would be developed throughout the rest of the film, exploring this aspect of the archetype. This
could imply that there is little equality in our fictional world because people have to fight for their respect and it
can be taken from them incredibly easily. However, gender isn’t an important theme during our thriller, this could
imply that no matter what gender you are you have to compete for the same things. This is emphasised by our
assailant who has to do someone else’s dirty work in order to prevent himself from being the victim.
7. AGE
Our thriller suggests that life for young people in contemporary Britain is very difficult because our two main characters, as well
as our secondary characters, have resorted to crime and alcohol as a means of coping with the hardships of life. This could lead
to a negative representation of young people because it implies that they are pathetic and incompetent. Alternatively, our
femme fatale and antagonists could suggest that young people are determined and resourceful because although they have
turned to a life crime they have used it as a means to an end and a way to survive in our ruthless, fictional world.
The young people in our thriller are portrayed as having a pessimistic attitude towards life. This is particularly evident in our
protagonist because he sees little point or meaning in turning his life around and improving his circumstances. This could imply
that the younger generation have little regard for the world surrounding them and are self-centred, which is a regressive way to
present them and reinforces damaging stereotypes. Although all of our characters have fallen on hard times and struggle with
the pressures that society imposes on them, our femme fatale comes across as being very authoritative. This is established
during our opening because she has influence over what happened to our protagonist next. This could create a positive
representation of both young people and women because it proves that they can rise to positions of power and have control
over a situation, even during times of adversity.
If our opening was developed into a feature length film we could begin to explore the conflict between generations and the
binary opposition that is created as a result of this. For example, our protagonist could have been neglected by his parents,
leading him to his current situation, and causing him to distrust the older generation . This could lead to his hatred of the police
and authority figures because they have continuously mistreated him. We could also explore the way older generations
disregard young people when they can no longer use them and get what they want out of them in our thriller. This could have
been the reason our characters turned to crime because the older generations never put any trust in them, therefore
preventing them from progressing and being respected.
8. AGE
The audience are put in a position that makes them pity and fear for our protagonist. This is because they are
presented with a young man who is unable to fend for himself or live a conventional life that is expected of him. As a
result of this they could pity young people because it could imply that they are all in the same situation. This is very
relevant today because it is becoming more and more difficult for young people to find stable jobs once they leave
education. Alternatively, they could also be made to dread coming into contact with young people because they
watch a young man attack our protagonist in what appears to be cold blood. This makes the younger generation
appear intimidating, dangerous and reckless. This could promote alienation because it suggest that young people
should be avoided in order to stay safe and protect one’s self. The representation of young people as delinquents
and criminals is very regressive but it acts to emphasise how broken and unforgiving our fictional world is because
young people who are meant to prosper and change the world have had to resort to corruption and violence.
9. CLASS
Our protagonist has a look that is reminiscent of the punk/rock
era, typically this look would make him an antagonist as there are
many negative stereotypes about this persona such as them being
aggressive and violent. By having our protagonist take on this
persona we are challenging outdated stereotypes about class and
showing our audience that anybody can become a hero and that
their social status isn’t important. This a very relevant message to
spread as we are currently experiencing a time of great social
change that is causing people to judge one another based on
prejudice and stereotypes. Our film also suggests that these
supposedly dangerous people can become the victim, this implies
that we are all the same and that we need to stop judging each
other based on appearances.
10. TYPICALITY OF THE GENRE
Our protagonist is very typical of the film noir genre, this is because he is lost and struggles to understand or cope with the
world that surrounds him. The broken hero was reborn after World War 2 as men returned from fighting abroad and were
haunted by the events they had seen as soldiers and resorted to alcohol and smoking as forms of comfort. We took
inspiration from Christopher Nolan’s interpretation of ‘Bruce Wayne’ in ‘The Dark Knight’ trilogy. This character is distraught
and antagonised by the state of the city he loves, this is reflected in our protagonist because he in unable to survive the
conditions of his surroundings, which become over run by delinquency, without the influence of alcohol. However, it could
be argued that we challenge stereotypes because our protagonist becomes a victim, implying that everyone has
weaknesses. We have also challenged stereotypes because typically the appearance of our protagonist would suggest that
he would be the one inflicting instead of receiving it. This could be progressive because it reinforces the idea that you should
not judge people because of their appearances.
For our femme fatale we took inspiration from ‘Black Widow’, portrayed by Scarlet Johannsson in the Marvel cinematic
universe. This character is deceitful but uses her feminine charms as well as her intelligence to win over the other
characters. These characteristics are evident in our femme fatale because she appears untrustworthy as she opens the
garage door but attempts to charm both the protagonist and the audience with her flirtatious body language.
Our assailants/baddies were inspired by the nameless men involved in the elevator scene in ‘Captain America – The Winter
Soldier’, these characters aren’t important to the main narrative of the film but they are used to help to progress the story.
These characters are a very common aspect of all thrillers because they help to add a level of depth to a film because they
make it clear that there are more people involved in the film’s fictional world than the main characters.
For our controller we took inspiration from ‘Nick Fury’, a character portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson in the Marvel cinematic
universe, although this character directs the heroes instead of the antagonists we used him for inspiration because he is
very intimidating and authoritative, much like we wanted our character to be.
11. In conclusion, our thriller opening includes a variety of
representations of both gender and age, some are progressive, such
as our presentation of women, and challenge outdated stereotypes.
Alternatively, others are stereotypical and regressive, particularly our
representation of young men.
