Summer Project Research.

Media Representations 

·                     Who is being represented? In what way? By who? – The protagonists in the series, the 4 teenage girls are being represented as typical teenage girls are. The representation is dominant as it reinforces traditional stereotypes that girls are into fashion, gossip and boys.

1. A woman’s primary source of power lies between her legs; sex is a commodity.

The mother of one of the girls (Hanna) promises sex to a cop so her daughter won’t be prosecuted for shoplifting tarnish their reputations (“In a small town like this, what people think about you matters… I buy you everything you need to be popular.”) After delivering on her end, the cop sticks around without, it seems, Mom’s consent. For this show, the price of a misdemeanor is the loss of consent and autonomy.

2. Women are vapid, emotional creatures who can’t be trusted, young women even more so.

Aria, the show’s central character, has been harboring her father’s secret: He had an affair. When her mom demands an explanation for her and her father’s strained relationship, her father’s response is,

‘She’s a teenaged girl… they’re all moody and unpredictable.’                                                                                            

3. Bisexuality just means you’re confused.

Emily is questioning her sexuality. Her plight has the potential to be impactful, but the show employs a male-gaze-centric ‘girl-on-girl’ vibe. Emily will do anything–even engage in excessive PDA with her boyfriend when she’s uncomfortable with it–to not challenge the status quo. We are led to believe that Emily is either a lesbian or simply confused; the show does not (as of yet) give space to a narrative of bisexuality.

4. Bad girls should be punished.

Ali, the ultimate bad girl, the Queen Bee of the school and of her clique, is dead–the ultimate punishment. The other girls are now haunted for their secrets, all of which involve their own mistakes.

5.  A woman’s worth is the sum total of her appearance, social status and man on whose arm she hangs.

The opening credits are a montage of lip gloss, nail polish, eye makeup, hair curls and high heels. The show seems to almost be fearful of a loss of traditional femininity in our society, and it compensates by relegating all the characters to hyper-feminine roles.

girls have secrets. 

Most of the representations in these series of women are negative and they are shown in a bad light.

Some of these teens are represented as emotionally unstable or damaged.

·                     Why is the subject being represented in this way? 

The subjects are being represented in this way because they are stereotyped to be that way. It is to show the audience what society thinks of teens in this generation and the struggle they go through in their teenage years.

·                     Is the representation fair and accurate?

 Some of these streotypes are positive and could be seen as true (perkins). Even the negative sterotypes seem to have some elements of truth in them.

Media Languages and Forms 

·                     denotative and connotative of their actions/expressions

time spent on phone, looks uninterested and unbothered. Neutral expressions.

·         What are the non-verbal structures of meaning in the text (e.g. gesture, facial expression, positional communication, clothing, props etc)?

-      The non verbal structures suh a the acial expressions or gestures show us how the characters are feeling at certain points of the episodes.

   

props

·                     What is the significance of the text’s connotations? (importance)

In the episodes many events occur in which there are very significant connotations. There is a high significance of the connotations because they all ultimately lead to the final answer that everyone waits for throughout the series which is to find out who A is and to put a stop to it.

·                     What is the significance of mise-en-scene/sets/settings (CLAMPS)? (bedrooms, neat and tidy, very girly in  design.

·                     What are the dominant images and iconography, and what is their relevance to the major themes of the text? (Hannah shoots wilden, uses gun. There are many weapons used such as knifes, shovels, bats, guns – the themes

·                     What sound and visual techniques are used to convey meaning (e.g. camera positioning, editing; the ways that images and sounds are combined to convey meaning)?

Narrative 

·                     How is the narrative organised and structured? (disequilibrium at the end of each season turning into a new equilibrium – todorov ) 

·                     What are the major themes of the narrative? What values/ideologies does it embody? Small town – everyone has same beliefs

Genre 

·                     To which genre does the text belong? Drama/thriller

Media Institutions (abc family )

·                     What is the institutional source of the text? ( abc family )

·                     In what ways has the text been influenced or shaped by the institution which produced it? Abc family

·                     How has the text been distributed? Netflix/amazon tv/ abc family/ books

( Camera angles – aria and principle scene / high shot and low shot representation.. )

iconography of gun. Alternative representation, girl killing guy.