Summer Task 3 - Different social groups in films essay

In this essay I will be discussing the role that the media plays in shaping our views or opinions on any one group in society and if the representation of these groups is positive or negative.

An example of negative representation of a group in society is the way female companions are presented in the Bond films, especially the ones that were made in the 60s and 70s. This can be inferred from the lines that the Bond character says in many of the films; for example, in the 1974 film, ‘The Man with The Golden Gun’, Bond says: “Miss Anders! I didn’t recognise you with your clothes on.” This suggests that female characters in the early Bond films were portrayed as sexual objects. Moreover, the way females were viewed in a 1960s/1970s society massively influenced the way that they were portrayed in the Bond films. However, this is still the case in more recent Bond films such as Skyfall (2012) regardless of the fact that society has changed more dramatically in the past few decades. For example, in the aforementioned film, a female called Evie says “Room service” but Bond replies quite bluntly and rudely by saying “I didn’t order anything, not even you”. This suggests that there is still an influence of sexism from today’s society regardless of that fact of how much it has moved on in so many decades. On the contrary, it may also depict that the average male wants to aspire to be like James Bond.

An example of positive representation of a group in society is the way alpha males are portrayed in films such as the 300 (2006) and Fight Club (1999). First of all, 300 appeals to the generic male audience as it has gratuitous violence and gore, fight scenes and harsh language. However, it also depicts King Leonidas as a loving and caring husband and father regardless of the war that he and his men are in. This shows that any man regardless of what they do can still be a caring family man at heart.

However, there is negative representation of black people in the 300 scene, in which a messenger of black colour, is kicked down a well by Leonidas to his unfortunate death. It is suggesting that all Persians in that time period were black which was probably untrue, although we do not know that for sure.

Another example of positive representation of the alpha male is in the film Fight Club.  It may depict a fighting culture in a club environment, however, it teaches the people in fight club rules and values to live their lives by. It also encourages recreational fighting between the males but also teaches us about the problems that people have with insomnia, which is the mental illness that the main character has. It also convinces us that you can still love someone without a mental illness affecting the relationship.