Evaluation: Question 2

I believe that our product adheres to and challenges the dominant ideology concerning many areas of representation.

One of the main themes explored in the film is the representation of gender.
The dominant ideology in this theme is that women are weaker and less dominant than men. Our product both agrees with and challenges this idea.
One way we adhered to this dominant ideology is in the clothes that the character wears. This is because they are very sexualised and also give the character a sense of vulnerability. Also, the neutral colour of her main outfit could infer a sense of weakness as white is not a strong colour. White is als considered a virginal and innocent colour. This adheres to the dominant ideology that women are weak.

I believe the typical representation of women being weak and vulnerable is the reason that they are so often cast in horror films. I personally feel that their percieved weakness makes them seem constantly vulnerable. This would make the audeince feel constantly at risk and this in turn would make them feel uncomfortable. Film makers like to play with this ideology and shatter the perception that women are inferior by making them the leads and they are often the only character to survive. Our film also adheres to this genre cliche. One way we achieve this is that she is the only character to be shown in the title sequence, which could represent her as being strong and independant. It could also be inferring her feelings of loneliness and isolation, thus hinting at the themes prevalent in the rest of the film. Another way we present the character as strong is in the performance. This is because the character doesnt look fearful and weak, her facial expressions look dark and brooding, almost suggesting that we should fear her.

The subject of age is also represented in our film. The dominant ideology is that teenagers are all troublemakers and criminals in the making. Once again we both conform and challenge this ideology. One way we conform to this idea is the performance from the character. She looks almost evil and reinforces the fact that people should fear teenagers. I believe the burning doll could represent how society has made her that way and destroyed her innocence, thus showing the only reasons teenagers rebel is that they have had an improper upbringing. This shows how society is making its own problems in the modern age.