In our thriller opening we have attempted to represent those who live in poverty and are homeless through the storyline of a homeless man named Sam. Sam is presented as emasculated and vulnerable in order to highlight the rising problem of homelessness in the UK. Our thriller opening aims to portray homelessness as an issue that can affect anyone and show how homeless people are often victims of hate crimes. We also represent ethnic minorities as inferior through the protagonist Sam, who is Malaysian, being attacked by the white female character Norma.

1. In our thriller opening we endeavoured to challenge generic stereotypes
associated with character.
Representation of gender
Contrary to the conventional representation of male characters in the thriller genre; that they are strong,
dominant figures, such as the character of ‘Bourne’ in ‘The Bourne Identity’ and ‘James Bond’ in ‘Casino Royale’,
who is seen to use his power and status to violently attack another man in the opening; the male in our thriller
opening, Sam, is presented as being emasculated due to his insignificant role in society. In contrast, our female
character Norma does not conform with the conventional representation of gender either; being a female who
is portrayed as deviant and controlling.
Through research on homelessness, it became apparent that people of such a position would generally be
considered as insignificant and helpless, and so we decided that in order for our character Sam to be a realistic
portrayal of this social group, it would be justified for him to appear in such a way.
Though going against the generic stereotypes associated with gender within society, the idea of a deviant
female character is commonly explored in film noir productions of the 1930’s. A femme fatale, an attractive or
seductive woman who will eventually cause distress to a man who becomes involved with her, is a character
type who we made reference to in our thriller opening with the character of Norma.
Bond is a dominant and
masculine character in the
opening to ‘Casino Royale’
(2009)
Similarly, Bourne is presented
as a powerful and controlling
figure during the fight scene in
‘The Bourne Identity’ (2002)

2. No Place for a Woman:
The Family in Film Noir "Of
the three types of noir
women, the femme fatale
represents the most direct
attack on traditional
womanhood and the
nuclear family. She refuses
to play the role of devoted
wife and loving mother
that mainstream society
prescribes for women” -
http://www.lib.berkeley.
edu/MRC/noir/np05ff.ht
ml

4. In our thriller opening we have attempted to represent those who live in
poverty, and more specifically the homeless, through a storyline which
revolves around the life of a homeless person, whose unfortunate position
leads him to trouble.
Representation of those who live on the margins
Our thriller opening aims to highlight the increasing problem of homelessness which, as government
figures suggest, is a rising issue in UK cities. This is highlighted in the ‘rough sleeping in England:
autumn 2013' statistics from the 'Department for communities and local government‘. It concludes;
'The Autumn 2013 total of street counts and estimates in England was 2,414. This is an increase of 5%
from the 2012 figure of 2,309, which was an increase of 6% from the 2011 figure of 2,181'. We portray
the social issue in our opening fairly; our lead character Sam represents the idea that such an issue can
occur with any person at any given time. In order to give this impression we present Sam as a relatively
ordinary individual, he has a common unisex name and his costume consists of plain and functional
clothing, representing the reality that homelessness is affecting more people than ever before.
Amateur film maker Robby West’s recent work ‘Homeless in middle England’ gives us an impression of
the terrifying circumstances that such people suffer, and so we present our homeless character Sam in
our thriller opening as being emasculated and often seen of by others as a nuisance, eventually making
him the target of a hate crime. The representation that the homeless are commonly the victims of
crime due to their vulnerable position is supported by a number of recent cases in which brutal attacks
have been carried out on those sleeping rough. A report from ‘Huffingtonpost.com’ from 2012
highlights the findings of a 'National Coalition for the homeless' report which explains that '32
homeless people in the United States died as a result of violent attacks in 2011'

5. Representation of ethnicity
With our protagonist Sam being played by a
Malaysian actor, our thriller opening ‘Homeless’
represents ethnic minorities within British society
as being inferior to indigenous white British people;
an idea which is emphasised with the fact that the
attacker Norma is part of this large ethnic group. A
similar representation is constructed in ‘This is
England’ (2006) in which ‘Combo’ is seen to
exercise his racist views and antagonise those who
he sees as inferior to him, bearing a resemblance to
the character Norma in our thriller opening.
Later in the film, Combo is seen to violently beat
Milky, who is the only black member of the
skinheads gang. In ‘Homeless’ we make reference
to ‘This is England’ in the way that we represent
ethnic minorities in contemporary Britain as being
inferior to those who are indigenous British
people.
Combo violently attacks Milky in ‘This is England’
representing ethnic minorities in England as
vulnerable and overpowered by those who are
native.
Norma violently attacks Sam in our
thriller opening ‘Homeless’

6. Through research I have found that homeless people are considered as victims
and are vulnerable and at risk of violent attack. Recent news articles have
highlighted the issue; an article headlined 'Anti-Homeless Hate Crimes
Detailed In New Report' on 'Huffingtonpost.com' from December 2012
highlights the issue reporting that '32 homeless people in the United States
died as a result of violent attacks in 2011‘. Furthermore, people of ethnic
minority groups who are homeless are at an increased risk, with racist
attitudes that are stirred up in regard to immigration by newspapers such as
‘The Daily Mail’. The article headlined " Ex Secret report warns of migration
meltdown in Britain. A massive rise in immigration next year could trigger a
devastating crisis in Britain's schools, housing and welfare services, according
to a secret Government report leaked to The Mail on Sunday.” is a fine
example of this.