This document discusses how the main character Cassie Wilson subverts stereotypes in three ways: 1) As a blonde woman, she subverts the stereotype of being unintelligent by being both the protagonist and antagonist of the story. 2) She subverts the stereotype of women being housewives by having a career as a police officer, a traditionally masculine job. 3) Her antagonist personality subverts expectations by being dressed in dark clothing and portrayed as a shadowy, demonic figure, unlike her normal self in light clothing.

1. Part 5 I think there are many ways in which we represent different social groups.

2. I think the main Character Cassie Wilson, definitely subverted her character type, as her image seems like a stereotypical victim of murder/assault. Cassie ’ s iconic long blonde hair automatically tells the audience she maybe a bit slow, as ‘blonde women being dumb’ is an immense stereotype. Our character however subverts this since she both the protagonist and antagonist, which would drift away from the audience expectations. Women were also seen as housewives in common ideologies; however Cassie subverts this by being a police officer, which may seem like a stereotypical masculine job. Her job role has taken effect on the editing, as the first few shots, are quick shots of Cassie Running, alongside her talking into the camera, it shows that she has a hectic and busy lifestyle, and maybe imply that she has a lot on her mind, even though this is not a closed narrative.

3. The audience may also first believe that she is a Princess Character from Vladimir Propp ’ s Stock Characters, but their expectations again change since she is a Police Officer, which ideologically may seem like a Hero character. The greater Thrilling aspect is that although our audience see Policemen as their Protectors or protagonists, having them as an antagonist would make them more afraid since they may think there is no one to turn to for help. Also since a police officer is seen to be well educated, this would subvert the audience’s view of blonde women. Sound is also a key factor, as the opening music is upbeat, with drums and electric guitars which again may go against the ideology, that stereotypical women listen to more feminine songs, particularly Pop/Radio music such as Capital FM which targets a Mainstream audience. This differs to the Rock/Metal Music, since there are only a few radio stations which target this audience, such as X Fm. Extreme Head banging is also related to this genre music, in which a feminine princess character wont be associated with, as she would heavily contrast. So it shows that the film is subverting stereotypes as it is showing women differently than the ideologies put forth.

4. The titles also add to the antagonist mental state of mind, since she writes rough and rigid, and from the scene edited and quickened, it adds to her character type. This is similar to the film Se7en , as during the opening sequence there is someone writing, we don’t know who this is, and what they are writing so this sets up the enigma. I think from the antagonist being Asian, it definitely shows that this is not a Hollywood film, as Asian people hardly play big roles in Hollywood film. It may also give Asians a negative representation, as the character is seen as the antagonist, when the main characters state of mind changes, which is not usually seen in Hollywood films.

5. The antagonist is dressed in dark clothing as this creates enigma, since it’s almost like a shadow, through her hair in front of her face. It also links to Hitchcock’s Idea of ‘anticipation towards to bang’ as the audience anticipation would be in what the antagonists face really looks like, therefore their imagination plays tricks on them. This is similar to the antagonist in Grudge as the antagonist’s hair is always in front of her face, so she seems faceless and demonic. The antagonist is also seen as a dark figure in some of the shots, this is very similar to Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘ Psycho ’, movie as when the antagonist comes closer to the bath screen, it is seen as a blurred dark figure.

6. The dark color signifies Cassie’s State of Mind, as when she is normal, she is in her everyday light clothing, however when she is in her split personality, she is seen as a dark demonic type figure. A common hegemony is that daylight is safer than nighttime, so by having her clothes change, it connotes her safety. Also maybe by Cassie being white and the antagonist being Asian, it may show she is more pure, since darker colors usually connote negativity.