Question 2 - How does our media product represent particular social groups?

A social group being represented in our sequence is sexuality. This is shown by the use of a homosexual protagonist and other characters. The fact that the protagonist of our sequence is homosexual challenges common conventions of films. This is because only a very small minority of films feature homosexuals as the central character. Few examples of films that do have LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual) protagonists include: MILK, Brokeback Mountain and Philadelphia.

However, a large part – if not the main part in all of these films is the character’s sexuality. Alternatively, the character’s sexuality does not have much (if anything) to do with the plot of our sequence. This shows another positive representation of the LGBT community that our sequence creates.

When homosexual characters are portrayed in films, they are shown as being promiscuous. The character Wallace Wells in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Wright, 2010, US) demonstrates this stereotype as he flirts and sleeps with many characters throughout the film.

The film Blitz, similarly, contains a character that is both a homosexual man and a policeman. This character however is not the protagonist and also, his sexuality is a part of the storyline. This is because the film shows the character being ridiculed for his sexuality by the other policemen.

Another example is the character is the character Zed in Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, 1994, US). This character is shown as sexually perverted as he attempts to rape 2 other male characters with the help of his similarly perverted friend. This is a negative reinforcement of the stereotype that homosexuals are promiscuous.

In contrast to this, our protagonist was in a committed partnership with his husband prior to the events of the film. This challenges the stereotype that homosexuals are promiscuous as the relationship that Markus had with Finch implies that they would not sleep around.

Another common stereotype about homosexual men is that they are feminine and well/eccentrically dressed. This representation is commonly shown through media such as film and tv shows as shown in the examples below.

The protagonist of our sequence, however, is dressed poorly - wearing only basic clothes to emphasise his lack of care for his appearance. This idea is reinforced through the character's overgrown hair. This challenges popular stereotypes about homosexual men.

The protagonist of our sequence was a policeman up until the point that he lost his civil-partner. This creates representations about the police. Our sequence portrays the time Markus spent in the police as being the most positive part of his life. The clues of his past life (such as the newspaper and wedding photo) are demonstrated as being the positive part of his life.  This contrasts with how Markus is represented as very negative in present day. Therefore the representations made about the police here are positive as the sequence suggests that being a member of the police force lead to Markus having a happier quality of life.