1. Media Product Analysis – Gone Girl
Context
Gone Girl is a 2014 film, based from the 2012 book written by Gillian Flynn. The filmis
directed by David Fincher and adapted by the original creator, Flynn. Gone Girl crosses over
multiple genres combined into one, such as drama and mystery as well as being a
psychological thriller. To any fans of Flynn’s this would come as no surprise as ‘ sharp
objects’ as well as some of her other work is very similar. In a short as possible summary,
(with spoilers) Nick and Amy are about to celebrate the fifth year of what has mostly been a
fake marriage, abundant with lies, built on foundations of pretending to be people they are
not, particularly Amy. To put it lightly, their relationship goes into freefall, Amy disappears,
and husband, Nick becomes the lead suspect in the case. Unfortunately it is not as simple as
it sounds, as we find out Amy is faking her own disappearance/death, and framing Nick.
Honouring their annual tradition of Amy leaving clues for Nick on their anniversary, she
leads misleading clues to the police, which result in overwhelming evidence, suggesting Nick
has killed her, while highlighting Nick’s flaws and exposing his secrets, such as his affair.
Rather quickly, the story gathers pace, and the media, including news and popular talk
shows all turn on Nick and he is quickly America’s most hated man. After reaching out to a
former creepy lover, Amy resides in a remote country lake house in hiding, although true to
form, quickly murders him, returns home and in the end frames the same ex for her murder
and attempts to return to the dysfunctional relationship with Nick Simple.
The male protagonist of the filmis Nick Dunne, played by Ben Affleck, husband to his
missing wife Amy Elliott-Dunne (Rosamund Pike). The film is narrated by both characters.
Writer, Flynn has discussed her motivation behind the film since and mentioned how she
wanted to explore the dynamic of long term – relationships. With this context in mind it
could be thought that one of the reasons for Affleck playing this role could be due to his
relationship troubles and his divorce being in the public eye for so long, however that may
just be a coincidence. Originally another actor was cast to play the role of Nick, although
Affleck’s real-life experiences may have been a key factor in the director and screenplay
writer Flynn’s choice in casting Nick. Despite this information, although generic themes
such as love etc and many other themes you’d expect to be in a filmlike this, one of the
aspects I thought was quite important and prominent was how the film portrays media
outlets, I will discuss this in much more detail later on, although for now my point is this is
interesting due to the context.
The filmis based in America and written and directed by Americans, and although a rise in
media scandals and “fake news” has become a far more publicly spoke about issue in recent
years, there has always been media issues in America, so Gone Girl may be one way of Flynn
expressing her views on the media and how they portray certain things. Flynn highlights the
2. media’s power and influence on people throughout the film and I will mention this in more
detail later however due to context, one of the reasons I think this is highlighted through the
film could be due to circumstances in America at that time. A huge incident of note which
massively grabbed everyone’s attention around the time of the book and filmwas the Sandy
Hook school shooting. The media in America was very divided, and some politically right
leaning news outlets would refuse to pander to any type of gun control narrative. As this
was (and is) such a huge divisive issue in America this was heavily in the news, with outlets
using it to force their own beliefs and narratives on gun control. Flynn’s suggestions of the
media holding so much power and showing that these crime stories cause so much hysteria
could be due to events like Sandy Hook and it is an example of a real life scenario of outlets
jumping to conclusions and this may be one of many incidents as an American which would
inspire Flynn to reference the media and try highlight how much power the media have in
society and not only how some news stories can be fuelled by agenda, but also how the
public believe things so easily and follow anything they see, as well as target some people
sometimes and run with it, this is another aspect which can be mentioned later on in further
detail when I talk more seriously about themes and content. Something else which is
common in Flynn’s work which could be considered for more context is how she portrays
women. It is fair to say in most successful films, the lead female characters do not often
have psychopathic tendencies, Flynn however likes to be unconventional in this respect,
hence Amy. Flynn portrays female complicity in more than just ‘Gone Girl’. A more recent
project she is working on, named ‘widows’ explores this theme also as well as a more
famous piece of her work ‘ sharp objects.’
Despite ‘Gone Girl’ being a huge hit, Flynn does not really have any other work that has hit
quite the same heights, however after doing some research it came as no surprise as that
lots of her work has many similarities. One of the main tropes I have recognised is that there
is very often the theme of the protagonist being an ‘anti-hero’ and they are usually,
(unconventionally for a protagonist), unlikable as well as deeply flawed and morally
ambiguous. Another common aspect of her work is how there is always a common theme
of some form of a dysfunctional relationship, and abuse, however I will discuss themes in
more detail later also. Gillian Flynn grew up in Missouri, which is relevant contextually as in
lots of her work, including ‘Gone Girl’ Missouri is one of the locations these films/books are
set in. In the film Nick and Amy’s relationship was supposedly at its best when they lived in
New York, however Nick’s mother falls ill, leading themto move back to Missouri, this is
where the relationship takes a turn for the worst. Flynn left Missouri and moved to Chicago
later in her life, this was also the time her writing career began to take off, so to her
Missouri could be associated personally with being quite provincial and somewhere where
she doesn’t associate with the best times of her life, so she uses it as a setting to
foreshadow misfortune. I also found it interesting that the main characters in her novels/
films are often writers, which may not have a lot behind it, it could just be a small way of
Flynn trying to get a bit of herself into it to make it easier to write about the characters.
There is also a lot of context to be considered about the characters, one of the first
characters who’s backgrounds I am going to look at is Amy. The initial portrayal of Amy is
the typical of image of many people’s dream girl or the ‘all American girl’ she has a strong
3. personality, she is intelligent, funny and attractive. As the film begins and introduces us to
Nick and Amy, Amy is immediately a very compelling character and, in many ways, she
appears to be either very relatable, or someone who has got a very admirable life, yet it is
one which also seems normal, realistic and achievable, unlike many famous female idols in
the real world such as the Kardashians. These factors draw the audience to her quickly and
make her very likable. Her relatability becomes even more realistic as the story of the
fictional character “Amazing Amy” is referenced, - a huge successful book about a child
(named Amy) who does everything right. This book was written by Amy’s mum. This
highlights how Amy feels she has flaws too and there is always someone better than her, it
also shows how Amy has so much indirect pressure on her to live up to this fictional
character her mum created. Amy also mentions how every time she failed at something,
‘Amazing Amy’ always did the same thing with only success. The pressure to live up to this,
and competing with someone who does not exist, while trying to make her parents proud,
could ultimately be the key factors in moulding Amy into the manipulative and quite frankly,
psychotic character she becomes later in the film. Not feeling good enough, and always
trying so hard to impress her parents and live up to something that is not possible may
appeal to some American women, which makes them feel like they can identify with her. As
we find out later, Amy is nothing like what she initially conveys herself to be. Although it
isn’t conveyed in the film adaptation, the book highlights further how in Amy’s background,
she comes from a very successful literary background, and Amy feels she has failed to come
up to the high standards that were expected of her, as she is only writing small online
quizzes. It is also interesting to note that Flynn
The next character I am going to look at and explain some context on is Nick Dunne. Nick is
what can be described as an ‘unreliable narrator’ this means he as a character is narrating
the film, and for whatever reasons which become apparent, can not necessarily be trusted
and what they say may not hold a lot of credibility. In this case for example, Nick is exactly
like that, mainly because while narrating throughout the film, he is defending his own
innocence in fairness so for the first half of the filmit is more than reasonable to doubt him,
especially with the amount of evidence stacked against him. Not only is he the prime
suspect in the case of his potentially murdered/ missing wife, but his actions haven’t helped
him either. It is revealed that Nick had been having an affair with a much younger girl,
which to anyone makes the character look incredibly immoral and unpleasant. This would
be even further intensified to the American audience, where they are a very patriotic and
religious country, and cheating on his wife, is even more frowned upon then it is in England
due to the religious context. In terms of being an unreliable narrator, Nick can be compared
to a character from another one of my favourite films- Shutter Island, which is also a
psychological thriller, the character I am referring to is Teddy Daniels. Similarly, to Nick, at
first Teddy seems likable and early on there is no reason to doubt Teddy, however as the
story unravels and we learn more, we find out there is much more than meets the eye, and
we are given very strong reason to doubt Teddy. One of them being, one of the residents of
the island he is investigating, is supposedly the man who murdered his wife, suggesting
Teddy has an ulterior motive for being there, rather than just being a detective. There are a
lot of twists in Shutter Island and ultimately your view on whether Teddy really Teddy is is
4. down to you and there is no conclusive evidence to whether he is what we first thought.
Nick is similar in the fact it gets to a point where you can no longer trust him at one point,
however he eventually wins his trust back, whereas with Teddy, you get more confused and
doubtful the longer the story goes on, however I thought it was an interesting comparison
as they are both unreliable narrators. Nick had been through a lot of stress in his life, so the
reasons for him to be what people are accusing him of added up and would have made it
understandable, for example he lost his mother to cancer and had also lost his job, which
would put him under a lot of stress and pressure. These factors highlight the misfortune in
his life and show how he may vulnerable to turning into someone capable of what he is
being framed for.
Although Flynn herself has said it is not misogynistic and completely disagrees with this, a
lot of critics have stated how they believe it is in fact misogynistic for example, Nile Capello,
from ‘Huff Post’ had this to say “ or a book with a lot of female characters, it’s frustrating to
see each and every one so flat, one-dimensional and stereotypical. Even Nick has his
ambiguous morality, his internal conflicts, his multi-dimensionality and layers. Why are
women relegated to characters that represent such terrible female stereotypes?”
Themes
Unsurprisingly for a mysterious, psychological thriller, the common themes are not really
courage and spirituality, but instead more along the lines of lies and deception,
manipulation and revenge. It’s a shame Nick and Amy didn’t take up careers as professional
liars, that way their careers might not have gone so downhill and who knows, that may have
been enough for one of them not to fake their disappearance and frame their significant
other for murder. The theme of lies and deceit, to me, is potentially the one that stood out
the most, with lies being exchanged between Nick and Amy frequently, as if it is part of their
lives, and they don’t understand the consequences of lying. Although it isn’t quite on the
same scale as Amy’s fake pregnancy and framing Nick for murder, Nick’s affair is a real
catalyst for the downfall of their relationship. Despite this not being a direct lie told by Nick,
it’s a lie to the version of the good man he tried portraying himself as when he first met
Amy. Not only is he deceiving Amy, but he is also deceiving himself as he refuses to come to
terms with his own emotions and feelings. For example, when he mentions how
“somewhere down the lane things change” instead of facing up to the problem and
confronting it, he pretends to himself it is all fine, however he could easily have tried to
come face to face with the issues and resolved these issues. “Somewhere” particularly
stands out to me as it appears to Nick as if whatever went wrong and when is not even
important to him and it is as if he does not care either enough to try even pinpoint what his
initial problem was. This appears to be an entirely different version of the Nick we see early
on as we are shown how him, and Amy first met.
Like I said, theme of lying and being deceitful really is all over ‘Gone Girl’ and no character
more than Amy shares these traits. To start with, not only does Amy lie to Nick and the
police and other people around her, but she is deceiving an entire country. The entire plot is
5. based around Amy deceiving everyone. Amy’s deceitful plan was manipulative and
calculated and all started a long time before it was executed. She used her trusting
neighbour as part of the plan initially by hinting at stories of her and Nick’s unhealthy
relationship, this planted the seed in her head that Nick was not a nice guy, this combined
with the fact she was the only person Amy told she was ‘ pregnant’ which of course, she was
not actually (another lie) made Nick even more hated and Amy seen even more as just an
innocent girl as ‘ America loves pregnant women’ to quote Gone Girl itself. Not only does
this fit the narrative of Amy being deceitful but it also shows how it was not only the
audience that is fooled by Amy’s fake portrayal of herself but also the other characters such
as the ‘idiot’ neighbour as she easily befriended Amy and not only did she take the bait
provided to her, but she also was one of the main people responsible for adding to the piling
up evidence against Nick. The list of Amy’s lies continue, when she is in hiding initially her
new neighbour questions her and wants to find out about her, to which Amy flawlessly
changes her accent and makes up an entirely different background story, of course this
makes sense slightly more as she is supposed to be missing anyway, however it highlights
her deceitful nature and shows just how easy it is for her to lie. Amy is at her lying and
deceitful best when she returns into contact with her former creepy, stalker ex, Desi
Collings. Obviously, we, the audience are aware of Desi and Amy’s odd past, as Nick informs
us when he goes to confront him at his house, suspecting he may know something about
where she is. Although it is brief, we find out Desi could not handle their break up properly
and was obsessed with Amy all that 20 years ago. Then shortly in the future Amy has
contacted Desi in a bar somewhere, where she tells him how abusive Nick is etc. Desi then
sends her to his remote lake house, thinking he has the love of his life back. While on a talk
show Nick addresses Amy’s disappearance and after her getting away plan had failed, she
murders Desi after tricking him and returns home, telling the police Desi had kidnapped her.
Amy is clearly a sociopath so not that this needs reinforcing but her deceitful ways,
particularly in relationships were emphasised also when Nick meets another one of her
former lovers, who explains Amy had tried framing him for a serious crime also and got
away with it. One of the reasons Amy may be this way is because she is so used to lying to
herself, although there is also clear history with former lovers too, so it is mainly just down
to the fact she is a psychopath. Despite this, with Nick, Amy admits to herself that she was
not the real Amy, and even thinks this ‘cool girl’ version of women doesn’t even exist, this
could be Flynn projecting her views on women today or it could be because of something do
with her own past relationships. Nick loved ‘cool Amy’ something she is not actually but
wanted to be and tried being for Nick. Amy’s realisation of having to pretend to be
something she is not, other than the affair and other complex things, could potentially be
one of the reasons she became so natural at being so deceitful, as ultimately, it was far
more than just lying, but it was an actual way of life.
Although we found out Nick wasn’t responsible for kidnapping Amy, it doesn’t change the
fact he is also quite a horrible person and was also prone to lying. Firstly, he holds things
back from the police and lies to them on several occasions, including telling them he went to
the beach the morning of Amy’s disappearance, when he didn’t. We also find out he not
just deceived Amy, but also his sister who he is very close with, by not telling anyone at all
6. he was having a long-term affair. He also suggests to Andie (the girl he has the affair with)
that it is more than just an affair and something serious could happen between them. These
actions lead to even his own sister, Go, doubting him, and hinting at asking the question of
‘did he murder Amy?’. The fact him and his sister are so close with each other and even she
had some doubt in her own brother, truly outlines how deceitful Nick could be. Nick also
goes live on air on a talk show to not only defend his innocence but to send a message out
to Amy in front of millions of viewers and lies after calculating exactly what to say almost
word for word beforehand, this defeats the point of having a heartfelt message to try show
the nation he is a kind and genuine person, and although his motives behind this are fairly
reasonable it still highlights how deceitful he is as he is lying to the nation more or less and
pretending he cares about Amy. Lastly on the theme of lies, something else I found
interesting is that when I researched it, I found out; ‘the colour of lies’ - “there are shades of
white and what we tell ourselves are white lies are often tending more towards grey than
pure white. “I personally don’t associate these together, however if the people creating the
cover art for the book and film did, they considered this as the main colour scheme for the
cover is a grey/ white type colour. There are also grey clouds on the cover, which gives
connotations to me of a lack of clarity as you cannot see what is ahead, and something not
being clear, this can be compared to both Nick and Amy as they have been proved to be
deceitful so it is hard to really know what is true or false in their lives.
Another theme I have noticed is the theme of the media, technology and modernisation
and how Flynn is trying to convey not only how they have a negative impact on society but
also how to an extent they control society. This can be seen by how society, as a result of
the media react towards the case and towards Nick. The public see Nick and Amy’s
relationship as one of the biggest factors in the case and the way the media portrayed their
relationship is one of the key reasons Nick is scrutinised so heavily, this is further
emphasised by how when it is revealed to the public that Nick had been having an affair, the
public’s perception on him really intensifies and this is as a result of the media’s agenda on
him and the way they try portray him in such a negative way to make it seem like he is the
person responsible for Amy’s disappearance. By this logic, the media has portrayed that a
cheating husband equals a murderous husband. Similarly, once Amy's pregnancy is
announced to the press by her neighbour (which is not just a coincidence but part of Amy’s
calculated plan), Amy then gains the place in the public’s eye as the innocent victim of a
lying, evil husband. Stories about relationships and domestic violence often deal with being
judged heavily by the public, but in ‘Gone Girl’ it feels particularly modern because it’s made
in contemporary times and public opinions are immediately shared through platforms like
Twitter and Facebook, and these same platforms are even used by Amy to spread her
misinformation and lies in order to strengthen the case against Nick. Amy does not just want
Nick to suffer privately, but to be publicly shamed and, as a result, she exploits the media
and how the public perceive things to her own advantage. Whether or not Nick is guilty, he
seems guilty and this is shown to be more important than the truth. The importance of
media suggests that opinions and quick judgments can be used to manipulate people and
reveal the importance of carefully assessing a situation.
7. Although this is not really confirmed it is just an additional personal take of mine, I think
another way Flynn portrays the media and technology in a negative light is because Amy
and Nick had both lost their jobs where they were working in print, like doing small quizzes
in newspaper sections. One of the reasons they both lost their jobs could be due to how it is
perceived that print is dying and as a writer Flynn may be aware of this and she is suggesting
how online news outlets are taking over. Another example of the power the media has is
how the film suggests that whether an individual is ultimately guilty or not, far too much is
decided by a naive and unqualified public jury. It’s telling in the filmwhen Nick’s lawyer
mentions that most of the case hinges on how the public views Nick, as this suggests that
the public’s opinions which are all influenced by the media, overrule the actual legal system
to an extent. The movie clearly details how the public perception on how likable a suspect
comes across in their press conferences/ through news outlets opinions can influence those
whose job is to find the real, objective truth in a case. One of the main investigators of the
case in the movie states that he believes Nick to be guilty, because “My wife thinks he’s a
killer.”
Another theme that is heavily in ‘Gone Girl’ is the theme of gender stereotypes and
particularly femininity. There is also a varied range of female characters who play a part in
the film. Although it is a smaller aspect, one of the ways gender stereotypes are challenged
is that one of the main police investigators is a woman. To me personally I don’t see this as
such a big deal, however generally it is a male dominated world, so to see a woman so high
up in that career it shows women in a much more positive way, arguably this is very
different to the rest of the story as some critics even labelled ‘Gone Girl’ as misogynistic.
Some of the key reasons to this being labelled misogynistic is because of Amy and her
actions. For example, she has lied about being sexually assaulted and she has manipulated
men to extreme lengths, including when she fakes a pregnancy. She also murders Desi It
portrays her and women as monsters to some people and it be just reducing the whole
message of the film to “women are crazy”. I disagree with this outlook anyway and it can be
seen in a way of it is a woman driving a narrative and despite her methods she achieves
what she set out to achieve and is clearly incredibly intelligent. Also, the fact she can fool
the entire nation highlights how she isn’t powerless, and she outthinks people due to their
predictability. The writer herself, would argue that this portray of Amy is not misogynistic.
Flynn told The Guardian. “For me, it’s also the ability to have women who are bad
characters … the one thing that really frustrates me is this idea that women are innately
good.”
I have not read the book, however after research I have found out that the book makes it
clear Nick's father hates and distrusts all women, and Nick has always been afraid of being
like him. He tries to form positive relationships with female characters like Go and Detective
Boney. However, as he realizes what Amy is capable of, and what she has done to him, he
begins to share some beliefs about the deceitfulness and cunning of women. Something else
I have found out through research which is not included in the film adaptation is that the
items Amy bought to look as if Nick purchased in order to frame him further is pornography.
The pornography that Amy bought with Nick’s falsified credit card, apparently described
violence. This creates an image of patriarchal society that both objectifies women and
8. validates sexual violence against them. Of course, these DVDs do not actually belong to
Nick, but they still convey an image of a society where patriarchal power is transmuted into
a consumable and media-driven form.
In contrast to Amy, Go is portrayal of a positive female character that we see in the
film/book. Nick’s confidant, twin, business partner and best friend, she sticks by him
through the saga of his wife’s disappearance, despite at one point showing very small albeit,
doubt. She also usually has fairly sharp and witty responses to some of Nick’s actions and
clearly never took a liking to Amy from the outset, who as we found out is a complete
psychopath, this highlights Go’s good judgement on people and it show’s she has a good
judgement of character.
Content
The image I am about to analyse comesfromthe scene where Amymurdersherex,Desi.Thisscene
escalatesveryquickly,anditstartsfromAmyseducingDesi. The scene,fromafeministpointof
viewinitiallybacksupthe theoryof the’male gaze’asit can be seenin a masculine,heterosexual
perspective thatpresentsandrepresentswomenassexual objectsforthe pleasureof the male
viewer.However,asthe scene carriesonas youcan clearlysee thatisnot the case,as Amypullsout
a blade fromsomewhere andmurdersDesi.Intermsof representationthiscompletelyjuxtaposes
the Amywe are firstintroducedtoas she firstcomesacross as an innocent,funnyandthe perfect
representationof the ’All AmericanGirl’. Somethingeveryyounggirl wouldaspiretobe like,
howeverasyoucan see fromthisresearchit isveryunusual forwomentobe involvedwithsuch
crimesand theyare stereotypicallynotassociatedwiththem, Ialsolookedatsome researchand
foundoutthat ” The trendresultsfrom2003-2012 showedthe vastmajorityof crimeswere still
committedbymenwitharound 88% of homicidesand 75% of all legal felonies.Accordingto
governmentstatisticsfromthe US Departmentof Justice,male perpetratorsconstituted 96%of
federal prosecutionondomesticviolence.”Thisshowshow unlikelyitisfora female tobe involved
inthese sortsof crimes.Also,Flynnhashadthisto sayduringa conversationonawebsite where the
title forthissectionwas”Womenrun the town,Womendothe badthings” - ” Men have always
crowdedoutthe spacesforwomenineverysingle strataof society.So,there’salwaysbeenthatfear
of reachingdownandhelpingup.”So,thiscouldbe a way of Flynntryingto portraya female
character doingsomethingthatwouldbe typicallyexpectedof aman.
9. In termsof the mise enscene forthisimage one of the thingsI have noticedthe mostishow a lotof
the room includingthe wallsandthe bedsheetiswhite/creamthese colourscanbe associatedwith
innocence andevensafety,howeverthiscompletelyjuxtaposeswhatisgoingonandcouldbe done
to emphasise howmuchof a psychopathAmyisbyputtingherin the middle of suchan innocent
setting. The redof the bloodonAmygivesconnotationsof dangeraswell aspower,whichcan
relate toFlynn’sattemptattryingto create a strong,powerful female character.Pointingoutthe
obvious,italsoshowshowdangerousAmyisandthat she iscapable of anything.Somethingelse I
findinterestingaboutthisshotisthe lightinthe leftcornerand the lightinthe rightcorner. As an
audience we lookatthingsfromlefttoright,in termsof how thingsworkchronologically,andthe
lampon the lefthaslight,whichcan representlife,howeveraswe lookovertothe rightthe other
lamphas no light,thiscouldbe seentorepresentDesi andhow quicklythingschangedandhim
losinghislife.
The use of the camera here lookslike a‘lockedoff camerashot’Thiscouldbe done to show how
Amyhas control of the situationanditalsocouldbe to capture a specifickeypart,andthe waythe
camera entirelyshowsAmywithwhatappearstobe a small partof Desi’sarmconfirmsthatAmy
has killedhimandthatshe wasin control of the situation.
The music duringthisscene isverysinisteranddiscordantanditgivesconnotationsof the type of
musicthat wouldbe usedina horror film, itgetslouderandmore sinisterasthe scene goesonand
it reallybecomesnoticeable asshe cutshisthroat.It is like the filmJawswhere itbuildsupas the
tensionbuildsup.Thisagaincanbe usedas a reference tomakingAmyandwomenseemlike
monsters,whichcouldfitcertaincriticsviewsof itbeingmisogynistic.
Thisnextscene Iam analysingisfromthe endof the filmwhenAmyreturnshome afterframingDesi
for kidnappingher.The coloursonhere thatstandout the most isthe red of the driedbloodon
Amy.Nickisaware thatAmy wastryingto frame him, so he knew as didwe,the audience thatAmy
had likelymurderedsomeoneelse.Asyoucansee inthe backgroundthe crowdof people behind
themall have a lookof shockon theirface,thisshockisat the fact not onlyjustthatAmy isalive,but
more importantly tothem,Nickhadnot murderedher.Thiscan highlightanegative formof
representationof the mediaasitis suggestingthattheyexpectedthatNickhadmurderedAmyand
theyfedthisagendato the public,conveyingthatthe mediaignoresthe factsand focusesontheir
10. ownagenda.One man evenlooksangryanddisappointedatAmyforbeingalive andif anythingthey
wouldhave wantedNicktohave murderedher.Itcouldalsobe consideredthatintermsof
representationof gender,thatitisportrayingmen ina negative light,asIprovedearlierthrough
statistics,inAmericamencommitmostcrimessoitcould be showingthatthe mediawere shocked
at the factthat because of Nick’sgender,he hadnotkilledhiswife.
The camera angle inthisscene showsa lockedoff camerashotof Amylookingupat Nick,this
portraysNickbeingthe personinthe dominantpositionandhighlightshiscontrol inthe situation
and howNickhas the powerto have Amy’slife effectivelyendedasshe wouldbe arrested.The
soundat the start if thisscene isjustthe backgroundnoise andalmostsilence of Nickbeinginhis
house,howeverasAmyarrivesthe musicpicksup,inferringthatAmyhas returnedandthere has
beena huge change inNick’slife.The actual musicisverytranquil,whichcompletelyjuxtaposes
whatis actuallyhappeningastranquillityisthe opposite of whatisaboutto be inNick’slife asAmy
returns.
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