Evaluation question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The stereotypical teenagers of today

The media today views teenagers through a negative stand point. This is done by pushing the negative events that can occur in teenage lifestyles in to the limelight. Examples of this are: stabbings, shootings or crimes in general. This influences the public’s opinion and makes people believe that all teenagers behave in this way. Furthermore the media tends to only present male teenagers in this way as the majority of teenage crimes are committed by males

Social groups in my Title sequence

Throughout my title sequence social groups don’t tend to play a factor in categorising different characters. However race is the major factor, which separates different characters in to different categories.

The representation of white teenager

In my title sequence the protagonist is a white teenager who is presented as passive to the audience. This is indicative through his actions such as: he doesn’t seem to have any friends or family and he tends to appear unhappy. This is also further reinforced through the high angle shot on the left. This shot shows a black teenager holding the protagonist’s college ID card. The use of the high angle shows that the protagonist is in danger, which indicates that he is the victim. This also follows the stereotypical viewpoint of the media that white teenagers are less violent than black teenagers.

Representation of black teenagers

Throughout my title sequence black characters are presented through a positive and negative viewpoint. Firstly black teenagers in my title sequence can be seen as a positive influence in society. This is done through the character of a black detective finding some of the protagonist’s missing items. This suggests that the protagonist has gone missing and the black detective is going to carry out an investigation to find him. However black teenagers in my title sequence are also presented through a negative viewpoint. This is done through the character of the black antagonist. The over the shoulder shot on the right shows the black antagonist watching the white protagonist in the distance. This shot suggest that the black antagonist is going to harm the white protagonist. This follows the media’s stereotypical viewpoint of black teenagers which is that black teenagers are aggressive and violent.