How does you media product represent particular social groups?

I don’t feel that there are any particular social groups focused on in my media. The entire surprise party I would class as B or C1, meaning that they are Middle Class to Lower Middle Class. This is because they are from what seems like an average family home, nothing out of the ordinary, but a large enough house with wealthy enough possessions to be in the middle class, rather than working class.

I tried to get an age range of actors, particularly for the surprise party. I managed to cast a number of people around my age and a couple old enough to be parent, however I only managed to cast girls (with the exception of Harry – the burglar) as they were the only people available and willing to be in my film opening. I however feel that it still worked as if it was this girl’s birthday it could be organised by her closest friends, mum and her mother’s friend, which is how I hope it came over.

I wrote the Kat into my opening as I felt that I could possibly break the stereotype that only men are burglars. Male robbers and crooks are extremely prevalent in films all over the world and I felt that I could write it differently to try and break that stereotype as there is no reason as to why women can’t be robbers. I did, however go for the stereotypical robber outfits, black jackets, dark trousers and balaclavas, with torches and crowbars.

I also wrote the character Kat so that she was the dominant one in the pair, which I feel breaks another stereotype that men are the dominant ones and women tend to be the passive characters. Kat’s dominance is clearly shown throughout all of my opening, right from the start where she snatches the tools away from Sam and makes him stand elsewhere. Another moment of her dominance is when Sam asks “Kat. What was that?” and she replies quite harshly, “Nothing, no one’s in.” The way she is leading the way throughout the house and pushing Sam out of the house also shows her dominance as a character.