2. Sophie Hayles
Sophie is dressed in an outfit both she and I feel best suits her personality.
Her hair is dyed in a faded red colour. Red is very a vibrant, eye catching
colour which holds connotations of fire and passion. When associating this
with a person it may mean they are loving and/or courageous, which are
definitely traits Sophie portrays. However, her hair is also in a muted tone
which could suggest that she is perhaps more introverted than initially
thought. As the word muted suggests, Sophies soft red hair colour may
reflect the issues and barriers she as a homosexual could face in society -
like not having a voice or opinion which is perceived as valid by the
decreasing homophobic population. She may consequently feel as though
she cannot express herself fully due to drawing unwanted attention and
subsequently an unlikely risk of hate crime or discriminative behaviour.
On the other hand, she does wear a statement t-shirt, which reads ‘sounds
gay I’m in’. The term ‘gay’ has gone through pejoration (what once meant
happy/content is sometimes negatively used by the younger population to
describe objects or people they do not like). Despite not wanting to draw
attention to herself with a brighter hair colour, Sophie is not afraid to
positively reclaim the term ‘gay’ by making a slight joke about it in a
positive light by saying that whatever it is that ‘sounds gay’ she would
actually like it since she's a homosexual. Mary Lambert’s merchandise
shop has t-shirts which are similar to the one Sophie is wearing – which is
where I got my inspiration from when planning her props and costume.
3. Sophie wears these LGBTQ+ pride sunglasses when overcoming the disruption of the
equilibrium [Todorov] in which another actor gives her an impolite look for how she
dresses, since its not stereotypically girly or on trend. When she then puts them on, the
sunglasses communicate the meaning that Sophie is proud and sees the world more
positively - making her a much happier person (like the original meaning of the term ‘gay’).
Sophie’s Props
4. Sophie’s Props
To emphasize Sophie’s pride, she
will wear a rainbow wristband
which features in the visual
elements of the video when she
gets ready to go out and face the
girl who gave her a rude look for
the way she dresses.
Sophie also wears a sword
earring in one of her ears. This
communicates the ideology that
she is a fighter or warrior who is
battling homophobic and
discriminative behavior that has
been displayed to her in a public
setting.
5. Tia De Souza
Tia is dressed in plain black clothing to connote the
mean personality she portrays towards Sophie in the
music video. Although her costume is plain and simple
with a cropped vest and leggings, this is still a trendy
outfit which is ‘socially acceptable’ for a girl to wear.
Tia’s hair is straight and long which is again a common
stereotype for a girl to have. It is also brown which
helps anchor the unkind and dark personality she will
illustrate in the video. I chose Tia in the casting stages
due to the fact that she is what some would call a ‘girly
girl’ as opposed to a tom boy like Sophie. This will help
me to compare and contrast the binary opposite
personality traits and appearances both Tia and Sophie
depict.
6. TiaDeSouzaCostume
Tia will wear this coat with the black top
and leggings in the scene where Sophie
becomes confident. This is to suggest that
the time of the event is happening on a
different day. The cream colour is used to
suggest Tia has gained a new shell; while on
the inside she has homophobic views, she
is trying to become a new person and be
nice to Sophie despite their differences.
7. Tia’s Props
In the scene where Sophie
overcomes the disruption of the
equilibrium, Tia is talking to a friend
on her phone – the mint green
iPhone 11. This again helps to
reinforce the idea that Tia conforms
to the psychometric identity of the
‘mainstreamer’ [Young & Rubicam].
If someone is a mainstreamer they
hold the VAL (value, attitudes and
lifestyle) characteristics of needing
to seek status, as well as being
someone who likes to be part of a
large group (which is the opposite of
what Sophie's VALs are). The iPhone
11 is something many people either
have or want due to the fact that its
from a highly commended brand,
Apple, which many mainstreamers
would have bought products from.
