Fish Tank Analysis - Clip 4

How typical is your chosen text of its genre?

Social Realism as a genre is usually a form of allowing an audience to feel empathy for a protagonist that is underrepresented by contemporary mainstream media, due to her being a underclass teenage female. In Fish Tank, we are led to feel empathy for our protagonist Mia by the way technical and narrative conventions are used to portray her situation. 

In this scene, the narrative is essential to it's contribution to the Social Realist genre as it presents taboo themes in a completely real and unglamourised way; the shots are not cut to avoid taboos in the slightest and we see every second as somebody in the room actually would, leading us to feel uncomfortable having to face the realities of taboos in a way that is normally avoided. 

Technical codes such as the lighting contribute to this as the slightly darker atmosphere (as opposed to the rest of the film), from the beginning of the clip foreshadows the coming taboo scene positioning the audience in a state of anxiety and dread during her dance routine. 

However, in the rest of the film, Mia subverts the traditional role of a Social Realist protagonist, by being represented in a negative light. Mia is masculinised by her actions, showing aggression towards both strangers and close friends and family. She would not be considered a 'hero' by a passive audience due to this, but, as Social Realism is a genre aimed at a niche audience primarily, it is possible to see past this as an active audience.

The stereotype that Social Realist films present women negatively is accurate to this film as although they dominate the cast, they are reliant on the lead male antagonist and unable to escape this, despite his actions towards them.

'Most texts today mix genres' How true is this of your three main texts?

Commercially, genre mixing is a common and well used process throughout prominently mainstream contemporary media today. Accordingly, my three texts are shown to diverge to conform to either mainstream or niche media standards. The use of a polysemic narrative allows for the text to reach a much larger audience as it can appeal to both a passive and active audience. Most obviously, this is clear in District 9 due to the obvious parallel to apartheid in South Africa. This is shown throughout the mise-en-scence and iconography that parallels historical elements such as the 'HUMANS ONLY' signs, that could be read by a passive audience as meaning little or by an active audience as maintaining a deeper level of empathetic parallels, furthermore allowing the text to appeal to two audiences. The merging of sci-fi and documentary genres also allows the text to reach a larger audience as it allows for social integration between fans of both genres as opposed to segregating one. 
Another clear example of genre mixing in District 9 is shown within the integration of real footage and stock footage that is shown in the film. Stock footage is a typical documentary style convention that clearly indicates the constant surveillance of society that could lead to the dystopian view presented to us. Revolution occurs due to the lack of hegemony provided by the dictators disallowing a equal democracy for all citizens on the basis of race. This could also be shown as a warning to the contemporary audience of the cruelty and immorality of faceless corporations that influence society. A clear example of the influence of these corporations is the constant referencing to MNU, in a 6 second shot that appears to be focusing on Wilkus, there is four logos in the foreground and background of the scene. The camera puts them slightly out of focus so although they do no immediately meet your eye it is clear they are always there. This is a subtle indication of the power possessed by media in western culture that is relatable to the films audience as it is something that is constantly occurrent and relevant in terms of mass influence. District 9 could also be seen as a parody of a marxist-capitalist society where the aliens represent the underclass and the white male middle class maintain control, just as they always appear to have done throughout history. It shows that the naturally advantaged will take advantage of their power and this is something that will never change.

characters

CORRUPT PRIVILEGED MALES

FISH TANK - Connor O'Reiley

SIN CITY - Roark Junior

SIN CITY - Kevin

SIN CITY - Cardinal Roark

SIN CITY - Senator Roark

DISTRICT 9 - Piet Smit

MASCULINISED FEMALES

FISH TANK - Mia

SIN CITY - Miho

SIN CITY - Lucille

FEMME FATAL

SIN CITY - Goldie

SIN CITY - Gail

CYNICAL PROTAGONISTS

SIN CITY - John Hartigan

DISTRICT 9 - Wilkus 

FEMINIST SCIENCE FICTION

Deals with womens roles in society
Can have LGBT themes

"However, feminists have also created science fiction that directly engages with feminism beyond the creation of female action heroes. Television and film have offered opportunities for expressing new ideas about social structures and the ways feminists influence science.^[14] Feminist science fiction provides a means to challenge the norms of society and suggest new standards for how societies view gender.^[15] The genre also deals with male/female categories, showing how female roles can differ from feminine roles. Hence feminism influences the film industry by creating new ways of exploring and looking at masculinity/femininity and male/female roles.<sup>[16]"

JOB ROLES IN LOST GIRL:</sup>
Female Doctor
Female Private Investigator
"THE ASH" Leader of the light fae always male
"THE MORRIGAN" Leader of the dark fae female
2 male detectives later replaced with one female and one male
Bartender male - not traditional male role
Unemployed female

Research resources

1. http://www.metacritic.com/tv/weeds
2. http://www.metacritic.com/tv/lost-girl
3. http://www.showcase.ca/lostgirl
4. http://www.sho.com/sho/weeds/home
5. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0439100/
6. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1429449/?ref_=nv_sr_1
7. http://andreaj06.wordpress.com/2013/03/01/artifact-analysis-1-lost-girls-bo-feminist-hero-or-man-made-hero/
8. http://blogs.cofc.edu/thelilitheffect/2011/04/10/drug-dealing-mommy-weeds’-nancy-botwin/

Research investigation

How are female protagonists represented in niche television programs looking specifically at Lost Girl and Weeds?

Despite women making up 51% of the population they are not accurately represented as this is television. According to the 2012/13 'Boxed In Report' by Women in TV (1) and Film only 43% of speaking characters and 43% of all major characters in television are female, which shows the lack of balance in representation. However, I am going to investigate how female protagonists and male protagonists are represented differently focusing on the characters in Lost Girl and Weeds which both contain strong female roles. 

Sexualisation is much more of a common asset attributed to a female character as stated formerly by Laura Mulvey in her Male Gaze theory

Programs airing on the CW featured the highest percentage of female characters (51%), followed by Fox and ABC (44%), NBC (41%), and CBS (39%). The CW was the only network featuring female characters in accurate numerical proportion to their representation in the U.S. population. 



1. http://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/files/2012-13_Boxed_In_Report.pdf


Females tend to be underrepresented in mainstream media today, however I am going to be investigating the extent that traditional roles of females are withheld in more niche television shows. Women in media are commonly represented in a household as the carer for their families and usually rely on a male character. Also, women can also have be sexualised which has been introduced by 

Both female protagonists are portrayed as strong independent characters in both television programs. The opening of Lost Girl (Series 1 Episode 1) shows the female protagonist Bo living alone on little income and still presenting her in a strong manner which we can see by the use of upward facing camera angles, showing her as the superior character whereas other cast members are looked down on. In Weeds, the lead female role of Nancy Botwin shows her from the start as the only source of income for her family and many other characters are shown to be dependent on her. Both these programs show women in a positive and dependable manner. 

Niche and Mainstream audiences

Describe Niche and Mainstream audiences with specific text examples

Niche Audiences

Fabric Of Britain This show is shown on BBC4 at 2.40am and is a program on the history of knitting. The timing of the show and the channel it is shown on make it unlikely that it would just be stumbled upon and is likely to be a program someone with an avid interest would record to watch later on. It is presented with an image of a countryside showing it is probably more aimed at an older audience also. This type of program may be used to gratify someones educational needs on a specific personal interest. 

Mainstream Audiences 

The Simpsons This show is shown every night on channel 4 at 6pm. This is prime time television and reaches a huge audience of all ages, it does this by having an ensemble cast that most people can identify themselves with one of the characters. The timing it is shown at means it is the sort of show families can watch together as it is easy to understand for all ages. It is very easy to access on catch up programs along with other places online. It is also shown on other mainstream channels such as Sky 1. As it is a Sitcom, this is one of the most popular type of genres with the equilibrium being restored at the end of each episode. You don’t have to have watched the previous episodes to understand what is happening in an episode therefore it is open to a larger audience. It provides escapism and humour.