How does my media product represent a

particular social group?

Character Analysis

• In the genre of physiological thriller / horror movies, there are various examples of characters in my chosen film genre that echo elements or qualities similar to that of the main character of Take My Soul Away.

• Examples of these films include Jenifer’s Body, Black Swan, Affinity, Changeling and The Lovely Bones. These films portray young women who are either struggling with physiological disorders or illnesses or are haunted by images of similar to these frightening concepts which people have to live with their whole lives.

• All three films, Black Swan, Jenifer's Body and Changeling portray the issues surrounding mental disorder – to the point of portraying actual mental asylums in both Jenifer's body and changeling, directly presenting the idea of mental disorders and a variety of different examples. This is a key link to the main character of Take My Soul Away, frequently visiting the doctors for medication.

• Similar to this, the main character of black swan also suffers with this confusion of reality with her erotic, psychotic imagination taking over her life, muddling fantasy with reality. This concept of being haunted by desire, lust or internal anguish is also used in films such as changeling and affinity, with the character of changeling being almost driven to madness in the hope to finding her son and the character of affinity being driven to suicide due to her unfulfilling life and Sapphic sexual desires. The character of The lovely Bones, similarly to the rest of these female characters, lusts for a life that she will never have and is haunted by disturbing scenes of her murder and psychedelic scenes of heaven.

• In relation to the main character of my film, my main character shares a certain amount of similarities between each of the characters that have already been portrayed in the media, be it haunted by scenes of self destruction and confusing reality with fantasy and suffering to control her inner feelings that lead to her eventual suicide.

Black swan

Jenifer's Body

Affinity Changeling

The Lovely Bones

Take My Soul Away

• Producing a general analysis on the character of Boo, The 2 films Black swan Jenifer's Body portray perfect examples of characters that display very similar qualities as the character of Boo. In Jenifer’s body, a demonic character named Jennifer Check where a spirit took over her body and unleased a monster.

• Similarly in Black swan, The physiological condition of the main character creates two alternative characters of her friend who is named Lily in the film. Throughout the film her psychotic nature surrounding the role of being the swan queen creates a massive defences over completion. This develops a mental disorder that the previous swan queen developed, creating a demonic character within her best friend, when in fact it is actually herself and it is all within her own mind.

• These examples of demonic characters with supernatural qualities and abilities are perfect to compare with that character of Boo who also portrays these similar abilities with her performing supernatural like movements and apparitions within the opening sequence and the rest of the film.

Freaks And Outcasts – The Social Divide

• In popular culture various types of social groups are portrayed where stereotypes are used to fix people into certain categories of social ability and status. In film and especially in the media teenagers are normally put into a collection of different groups, these normally include : The popular girls & boys (who are normally stunningly attractive), The geeks or freaks and finally Goths or Emos.

• Especially in American film, these social divides are fixed and people belonging to each group very rarely stray from their stated group. Films such as Mean Girls, Carrie and The Breakfast Club are perfect examples of how this ridge social system is set in the setting of a high-school or teenage environment, using each example of each social group being personified by a particular character.

• There is always the same cycle of the popular people bullying those or being jealous of those who are different to them or less popular and as a result, people like The geeks and freaks (or outcasts of the school) suffer under the control and harsh behavior of the popular boys and girls.

• What I loved most about creating the concept surrounding my opening sequence is that the main character suffers with a split personality disorder, meaning that she can possess qualities of both the popular people or the outcasts and as a result, she is able to be diverse enough to mingle in and out these ridged social groups, which is very rarely seen in the genre of teen film. Hannah is a troubled, tormented but normal character, (and is a very similar character that is portrayed in the film entitled Carrie) focused on school and studies and the few friends that she owns, but Boo is a completely different character.

• Boo doesn’t care about school studies, she just wants to go out and have fun, party, listen to loud music which eventually will see Hannah being lead astray down the wrong path to evil. Because of these two very different characters in fact being the same character portrayed within Hannah, this idea of subverting the stereotype of the freaks and outcasts is emphasized by Hannah’s ability to change appropriately to her surroundings and the people within it.

Conclusion

• The characters portrayed in my opening sequence are typical to that of the film genre.• They both portray different elements of “normal” teenage life or demonic -

supernatural qualities that fit with the theme and concept of the story. • There are innumerable amounts of examples in the media and in the genre of

physiological film of characters that echo qualities of both Hannah and Boo with Black Swan and Jenifer’s Body being 2 of the main examples.

• My film represents a particular social group by subverting the stereotype of freaks and outcasts that are normally portrayed in the media.

• Usually being persecuted by the “popular people”, My film allows this particular social group a chance to be seen within a different light, with the main character being able to mingle between each of these social groups due to her split personality disorder, possessing the qualities of two completely different people.