Aisha Kemp: Evaluation Question 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Both Cassie and Jason in our film 'Locked In' portray the stereotypical representation of teenagers belonging to cliques. After our audience research and discovering that our target audience is teenagers over 15, we thought that the idea of having stereotypical characters would appeal to our audience as they would be familiar with the stereotypes. However, as our film is an independent film, the decision to portray stereotypes and archetypes wasn't very successful as it is usually mainstream films that would use stereotypes. Like the film 'The Breakfast Club' we wanted to introduce our characters in a stereotypical manor, yet, the rest of the film would invite the audience to question such stereotypes.

Cassie from our film 'Locked In' is very similar to the character, 'Regina George' in the chick-flick film, 'Mean Girls'. Both characters are very dominant and want to be followed by their peers. The two girls represent the type of character who would be the leader of a clique such as 'the populars' in a school. We tried to represent this character in Cassie through the mise en scene of her costume such as her pink lip stick and her studded boots. The action of Cassie popping chewing gum also highlights her bossy and 'I don't care' attitude and mirrors aspects of this cliche.
     

In 'Locked In' Jason is a stereotpyical representation of sportsmen. In the film 'The Breakfast Club' Andrew Clark is the schools jock. The popularity that he gains from his status is also portrayed in Jason. Like Andrew, we have dressed Jason in tracksuits to represent his cool, laid back and confident attitude. Both characters represent the role of brave and manly show offs.