We first see a man on the phone, and a man in the background cleaning up. I/we don't know why he is in such a rush to clean but it may refer to the car pulling up infront of the house. Cleaning is usually seen as woman's role, however a man is doing it when usually they'd be seen doing nothing or something more manly. We then see a woman walking into the kitchen, her costume is very laid back and approaches more of a 'relaxed, house-wife' look. The kitchen is the first room we see her in which could possibly relate to the stereotypical thoughts of 'women belong in the kitchen' therefore are given a lack of power, however, this is then contrasted with another woman walking into the kitchen who pulls the hammer back on the gun and points it at the woman. This is a contrast because Debbie (gun holder) shows power and dominance over the other woman who is scared. It then zooms to the 2 men who were seen at the beginning cleaning, they speak about Sookie (scared victim), the man on the left is worried as he says "Sookie!"in which the other replies "F*ck Sookie!" and reassures him of her actions. However, the other runs out as soon as a gun shot is heard and gets captured.
1.27 onwards I find interesting as a woman enters the house, she is dressed in a tight, black outfit with red lipstick and hair tied back which is 'men seducing'. She is presented as a very sexy, sophisticated person which is supported by her accent and her posture which is hands on hips and leant to one side. Her comments are also very sarcastic, possibly adding to her dominant, bitchy attitude: "I can't be the only one whose noticed she's missing half her head now can I?"
Her ignorance when Sookie asks to change the dead girl also supports her bitchy and her 'hard to get' sexual attitude. When Sookie says "I'll owe you one" the woman immediately changes her mind, giving women of her kind a selfish personality. As she compromises her, the previously captured man is put into the car boot which shows the masculinity of men whereas stereotypically it would be women who are weaker.The woman is shown again this time sitting on a chair with her leg up to the wall. This is a superior and sexual posture.
The retrieval of blood is extracted from her wrist that she bits into, she then pours her own blood into the dead girls mouth. This is done differently/less sexually to how it would be done if it was a man; supposedly including a lot of physical contact.
From 5:20, injured men are shown on the floor in pain in which another ma/vampire approaches them with a gun and says "who wants to die first" at this point the men are too weak to retaliate and are saved a female vampire who stabs the other guy in a back. This suggests that the women has more power in this scene as usually women are seen the victims.
The man and woman then walk towards each other and kiss passionately. Her hair is scrunched up by the man. The man physically treats her as a sexual object as they continue kissing.
Humaira, you have made some good responses here to an extract that from a TV show you have never seen, which will give you good practice for the exam as you will be asked to answer a question on an unseen extract. You make some good observations on the performances and costuming, while also making some good observations on how women and men are traditionally presented in the media and how this is subverted in the Vampire genre.
ReplyDeleteEBI: You need to place more of a focus on the technical aspects of production such as muse-en-scene, cinematography, sound & editing, and how representations of, in this case sexuality and gender, but also age, race and class, are made in TV programmes and films.
You should also be prepared to discuss how particular genres of TV Dramas are able to challenge or reinforce representations, social perceptions and stereotypes through their manipulation of conventions, themes and technical devices.
So for example in the case of the vampire genre, how do they use the conventions of the genre to challenge the common representations and stereotypes of sexuality and gender.