The snippet from this episode of 'Skins' entitled 'Naomi', shows how a friend views Naomi's character and tells us that she is political and opinionated but not outwardly confident as people may think she is. She also mentions that the way she is described makes her "sound great!"This shows that perhaps Naomi is not quite comfortable with who she is and that she has clear insecurities.
The example of this is at:
6:22 - 6:44
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeATdLvL06k
"What a girl wants"- Media Studies Project
Monday, 26 March 2012
'Skins'- Naomi Campbell
The
UK TV show ‘Skins’ portrays many different teenage female characters with
different representations and one of the more notable is the character Naomi Campbell.
Naomi is represented as an idealist teen and is both passionate and political.
She
is often always talking about how she wants the world to be a ‘better place’ with
equality and freedom, etc. She is quite witty and independent as well as being
very opinionated. The TV series stresses her independence as a teenager living
on her own in the UK, drinking and partying whenever she desires and attending
school at her own free will. Throughout the series we see a lot of character
growth with all the characters and with Naomi particularly it becomes clear
that she ‘puts on a front’ by always being the tough, strong-minded young woman
and is in fact ‘afraid of being close to others’ at the risk of being hurt. The
series also reveals Naomi’s true character by showing her insecurities and
confusion mainly about her sexual orientation and whether she is in love with
one of her best friends, Emily Fitch or her other friend, James Cook.
The
character of Naomi is somewhat of a counter-stereotype as at the time that this
show was made, the idealistic teenage girl who is also interested in politics
and opinionated, strong-willed, etc was not a common character in the media. I
believe, however, that women characters more often portray the common ‘idealist
character’ and the ‘realist character’ is usually a male character. So although
Naomi is not a stereotypical character it is still a representation that is
quite common in the media, mainly film and television.
This
is a representation that I believe has been formed by the media through mediums
like film and television and is more common now days then in previous years.
The politically passionate aspect of Naomi’s character representation is
particularly recent with women being able to vote equally with men in the late
1920’s and most teenage men and women in the 2000s especially now are more
interested in politics than past generations.
Saturday, 17 March 2012
'The Breakfast Club'- Claire Standish
This scene from the film shows Claire's differences to others in the group and also suggests that she tries to be sophisticated and lives a somewhat wealthy lifestyle. It also shows her relationships with the group (particularly Bender) and backs up the stereotype she has by having her eat a meal that (during the 80s) is not a common "school lunch".
This example is at:
0:00 - 0:48
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3mupIlFIYQ&feature=related
This example is at:
0:00 - 0:48
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3mupIlFIYQ&feature=related
'The Breakfast Club'- Claire Standish
This clip is from 'The Breakfast Club' and shows Bender harassing Claire about her family and home life and his comments clearly hit a raw nerve.
This example is at;
1:10 - 2:23
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsZkkqLDFmg
This example is at;
1:10 - 2:23
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsZkkqLDFmg
'The Breakfast Club'- Claire Standish
The stereotype of the misunderstood “Princess”
character, the girl who has everything because of her family, is a common
representation of the teenage girl in the media.
Claire Standish in the 1980s film ‘The
Breakfast Club’ is a prime example of this representation. Although we don’t
get to see her back-story or home life, we are shown and told through other
characters that Claire comes from a wealthy family and is popular at ‘Shermer
High School’. The teenage “criminal” character John Bender, is the main source
of this insight into Claire’s life, as he continuously mocks and harasses her,
saying that she is “spoiled” and that “the school would probably shut down” if
she wasn’t there. ‘The Breakfast Club’ is notorious for showing character
growth throughout the film and having the main message of “not judging a book
by its cover” and this is seen especially in Claire Standish.
At the beginning of the film we see Claire as
being particularly “conceited” and not wanting to communicate with any of the
other four misfits (other than Andy “the athlete” who is in the same clique as
her). She even goes out of her way to ask their principal, “Excuse me, sir. I think there's been a mistake. I know
we're in detention but I don't think I belong here.” This quote suggests that
she doesn’t think she should have to spend this time with the other teens in
detention and that perhaps it isn’t fair for her to have to be there. However,
towards the end of the film, as the group open up to one another we begin to
see that Claire despises who people think she is and hates being seen as the
“princess” that gets anything and everything without doing a thing to deserve
it. In a particular scene where the teenagers are sharing a joint, Claire (in a
high-state) says, “Do you know how
popular I am? I'm so popular, everybody loves me so much at this school.
Do
you have any idea how completely gross that is?” With Claire declaring this to
the rest of the group, it shows that she is not at all oblivious to her status
in their school but it doesn’t mean she is particularly happy with it.
In the same
scene that all five teens are opening up about themselves, Claire shows that
much of what she does and says is a result of peer pressure when Brian, “the
brain” calls Claire “conceited” to which she replies, “I’m not conceited! I
hate it. I hate having to go along with what my friends say”. The breaking
point for Claire is also within this scene when Bender gets very frustrated
with Claire’s attitude toward the rest of the group when she says that she
wouldn’t be friends with them back at school and he tells her to, “Stick to the
things you know! Shopping, nail polish, your father’s BMW and your poor rich,
drunk mother in the Caribbean!” This comment obviously hits a raw nerve for
Claire and also reveals to us
that there is much more to Claire (as well as the other characters) than the
stereotype she has been labeled with.
Sunday, 11 March 2012
'That 70s Show'- Donna Pinciotti
(L-R) Donna, Kelso, Eric, Hyde, Jackie & Fez |
(L-R) Donna, Kelso, Hyde & Fez |
Donna Pinciotti dresses as many feminist women did in the 70s, with a comfortable and natural style and her costume in 'That 70s Show' is very fitting to her character. The second photo that I have posted shows Donna with her male friends and demonstrates the similarities of her style and the men that she hangs out with, which is fitting as Donna always seems to be treated as "one of the boys" with the exception of a couple of episodes where she is referred to as being "Hot" and even has a radio alter ego called "Hot Donna".
Thursday, 8 March 2012
'That 70s Show'- Donna Pinciotti
This is an episode of 'That 70s Show' that shows the examples of Donna's insecurities about being feminine that I referred to in the previous text.
The particular examples are at:
2:15-2:41
and
15:46-16:09
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtFc5MlyY3s
The particular examples are at:
2:15-2:41
and
15:46-16:09
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtFc5MlyY3s
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