The document discusses how different social groups are represented in media products. It analyzes how the film opening represents five social groups: age, gender, social class, mental state, and parental figures. For each group, it provides examples from the film of how stereotypes were both challenged and developed. For instance, the two main characters represent a middle class girl and an under class man. Their costumes and living situations convey their social classes in stereotypical ways. However, some representations break stereotypes, such as the girl leading her father to his fate, challenging ideas of childhood innocence.

1. Question 2
How does your media product represent particular social groups?

2. Social Groups
A social group is identified as 2 or more people of whom have interaction with one
another and share similar interests, characteristics and collectively have a sense of
unity.
Among the vast types of media products there will be a reference to a certain type
of social group. All media products represent different social groups in different
ways and can portray them as good or bad. Though having said this, publishers of
media products must ensure that they carefully plan out and think about how they
are going to represent the stereotypes of different social groups as they can either
be challenged developed and/or accepted.

3. Social Groups
During our film opening we represented different social groups but only through
two characters therefore was able to link different social groups together to make
our characters stand out and individual. We portrayed 5 social groups within our
media product of which consisted of;
• Age
• Gender
• Social class
• Mental state
• Parental figures

4. Different Social Classes
There are 4 different types of social class;
• The lower (under) class is typically those in poverty, homelessness, and unemployment. People of this class
suffer from lack of medical care, adequate housing and food, decent clothing, safety, and a good education.
The media often stigmatize the lower class as the underclass, inaccurately characterizing poor people as
scroungers of the welfare state and having negative impacts on society and abusers of the system.
• The working class are those of whom are educated people who engage in manual labour with little or no
prestige. Unskilled workers in the class may be underpaid and have no opportunity for career advancement.
Skilled workers in this class are often called blue collar workers. They may make more money than workers in
the middle class however, their jobs are usually more physically taxing, and in some cases quite dangerous.
• The middle class generally are white collar workers and have more disposable income than those below
them on the social ladder, but less than those above them. They divide into two levels according to wealth,
education, and prestige.
• The upper class divides into two groups: lower‐upper and upper‐upper. The lower‐upper class includes those
with new money or money made from investments, business ventures, and so forth. The upper‐upper class
includes those aristocratic and high‐society families with old money who have been rich for generations and
so have inherited their wealth and status. The upper‐upper class is more prestigious than the lower‐upper
class. Wherever their money comes from, both segments of the upper class are exceptionally rich.

5. Different Social Classes
The 4 different social classes are represented very differently in media products,
however are always represented stereotypically and in a particular way to ensure
they stand out to signify the different characteristics of each class. In our media
product we most certainly represented two different types of social class; under
class and middle class. We represented both of these in certain ways. For example
we represented the middle class with the costume for Bonnie as it she wore a dress
in which was quite bold and bright and showed a character to be well dressed.
Whereas on the other the costume for Joel was dark coloured and the location in
which was his ‘home’ was a long abandoned building therefore connoting his
homelessness and so represented the under class.

6. Social Groups: Age
In our film opening we have two very contrasting ages. There is Joel, the father of
whom is around 35 years old and there is Bonnie, his 6/7 year old daughter. These
different ages are always represented very differently. The older age is typically
slower paced and not as energetic whereas the younger age is always full of energy
and laughter. In our film we decided to follow these stereotypes however because
of Bonnie’s middle class association she is typically less hands on and more calm as
a child compared to others her age. Though not all is well because Bonnie leads her
father to his fate connoting that children are sometimes wreckless, therefore
having a strongly negative representation of children.

7. Social Groups: Gender
During our film opening we both challenged and developed stereotypes when it
came to gender. We portrayed Bonnie – the little girl, to be sweet and innocent
which girls her age typically should be and are represented in other media products
however her innocents left at the point the audience realised she led Joel to his
final place. On the other hand we represented Joel as a typical male who
descended from and was originally himself working class but changed to under
class. His clothing represents his gender for his role as they are quite dark coloured
and his appearance itself looks relatively scruffy which people of his class and
gender would be. He has a facial piercing which is stereotypically is a male thing
and of which is portrayed as a male accessory in different media products,
especially if they are dated. Though we also challenged the male gender as it is
usually presented as quite brash but in our media product the male gender is
represented as naive and vulnerable.

8. Social Groups: Social Class
The social class between the two characters is very mixed. Joel was originally
working, border line middle class however is now significantly lower on the
spectrum and is under class. This is shown by his appearance and where his ‘home’
is. The representation is quite negative because he’s isolated himself from society
and is living rough however this may be considered stereotypical and a ‘normal’
representation among other media products. There is no light shone on
homelessness and there is rarely a ‘good representation’ of homelessness in media
products. However on the other hand Bonnie still acquires her middle class status
and this is shown through her brightly coloured costume and appearance – despite
the audience not seeing her face. We have challenged the stereotype of middle
class girls being somewhat ‘snotty’ and full of themselves as she has not dialogue in
the opening therefore the stigma goes without notice.

9. Social Groups: Mental State
Media products tend to use mental state in a negative way, especially within the
horror genre. For instance those suffering from having a mental state are portrayed
as psychotic and lunatics whom sit in confined rooms day and night, secluded in the
shelter of an asylum. This is because it’s easy to take advantage of this and for the
purpose of ‘it makes for good television’ etc, film makers won’t stray shy to add this
element in to their movie. We ‘hoped on the bandwagon’ and also used this within
our film however wanted to show it in a less clear manner because most of those
that suffer either don’t speak and hide it or they are ‘locked up’ therefore we
wanted to have less stigma attached to it and make people aware that those who
hide it are far worse off. To do this however we had to negatively portray it and
therefore accepted some of the typical stereotypes.

10. Social Groups: Parent Figure
A parent figure is somewhere who looks after you be it your biological
parents, a relative or someone else (legal guardian). They raise you and have
you as their own however we have challenged this as Joel was not a good
parent figure to Bonnie. It may seem as though he was because there’s
enigma surrounding why she’s running through the woods and it appears as
though he is being caring and chasing her to make sure she’s safe and in his
close eye. However the odds are very different and although this does not
appear in the film’s opening, Bonnie’s image was only an apparition in Joel’s
mind and so did not exist due to the fact she is dead and the audience realise
this later on in the film. The reason for her death certainly challenges
representations and stereotypes of a good parent figure as Joel is the one in
which murdered her.