Representation Homeland - gender, race, class, sexuality.

TV Drama Representation Theory & Homelands Revision

Episode 1	Gender Theory Bell Hooks	Gender Theory SCREEN SHOT OF THEORY
Carrie	Carrie's character gives females in the audience a largely positive role model that helps the feminist movement because she;works successfully in a masculine environment, is strong and intelligent. However, because she is, white, American and middle class her character/casting does not completely disrupt Hooks' theory because she still shows that the media favours supporting the ideologies of a 'white supremacist capitalist society' , that discriminates against 'otherness' , (Medhurst, 1998).
Brody	Brody's character gives gives White men a mainly negative role model. Brody works for the forces, this could be seen as good as he is showing that he would support his country. After his return he shows to be a good father but all of this is put to one side as he shows to be a terrorist and has very violent tendencies.
David	David's character has a high paid and high class job which is good because he is a black american and because he has a good job this means that it will give black people a better representation. he is also Carrie's boss and Carrie is a white female so that is good that he is higher up then her.
Saul	Saul's character fits this theory because he is a white, middle class male but because he supports Carrie he is sort of a feminist but because he is still Carrie's boss he still is higher up then her. Saul has also converted to Islam so he doesn't completely fit this theory because he may be looked down upon because of this.
Jessica	Jessica's character gives females in the audience a negative role model because she; doesn't have a job, is pretty, stays at home with the children and can be easily dominated by her husband.
Abu Nazir	Abu Nazir's character does not give a positive view on Islamic people. Abu would be classed as a very 'stereotypical terrorist' and so are many of the other terrorists in the season. This could be seen as very racist as he is also the main leader of the terrorist group.
Narrative/themes
Mise-en-scene (locations/settings)

Feminist Theory - Bell Hooks

Feminism - a movement to end patriarchy sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression.

Intersectionality - The social categories that overlap feminist theory, they can also be applied to other areas where oppression occurs e.g race/class/sexuality/ethnicity.

'Intersectionality refers to the intersections of gender, race, class and sexuality to create a, 'white supremacist capitalist patriarchy (Hooks) whose ideas dominate media representations'. 

In short, like Marxism, Hooks is arguing the media is controlled by, "straight, white, middle class males" (Andy Medhurst, 1998), who normalise, "white supremacist capitalist patriarchy (Hooks) to keep control. It can be argued therefore that the media is racist, sexist, homophobic and classist at times.

Hooks argues that "Black women should develop an, ' oppositional gaze' , that refuses to identify with characters - the 'gaze' is political for Black Americans, as slaves were punished for looking at their white owners."

In short, Hooks is arguing that black women should stare down media producers and demand fair representation/positive role models in terms of, gender, race, class and sexuality.

15/1/18
How does media language in Episode 1 Season 1 of Homeland construct representation of gender?

The media language in Episode 1 Season 1 of Homeland both supports and disrupts the gender theories of Hooks and Butler in a number of ways.

P1:Detailed analysis of opening.

• Camera work
• Mise-en-scene.
• Editing.
• Sound.

P2:Pick out relevant scenes to support arguments we started in P1.
P3:Detailed analysis of ending.

• Camera work.
• Mise-en-scene.
• Editing.
• Sound.

Conclusion:Link to question and reaffirm your 3 arguments one more time. 

• camera work.
• sound.
• editing.
• mise-en-scene.
• scenes where you see the characters again.
• stereotypical women.
• gender roles.
• use the theories.
• pick out scenes i'm interested in about gender and how it can fit in all the theory.
• start with the arguments in the into.
• look for evidence to support what i'm saying.

High angle shot of Jessica so the audience is looking down on her so the audience could be judging her. Looking down on her because she is having sex with Brody's best friend.

The angle of Brody before is a straight eye view giving power.

Parallel editing is increasing the drama because he wants to call his wife but then it cuts to that scene.

Dark lighting showing she is a sinner and that the audience is more judgemental of females.

Sound-diegetic dialogue throughout the episode connotes Carrie breaks some gender stereotypes as her idea make her seem more intelligent than male characters but her delivery and some camera works reveal a binary opposition as she appears to show signs of madness. in terms of gender representation this makes her follow some stereotypes as women are seen as weaker and mental illness can be viewed as a weakness because the male characters do not have it.

Jess is being a stereotypical women when she is packing lunches and doing stereotypical mum things.

Parallel editing shows jess being a stereotypical female and then Carrie not being stereotypical. 

Carrie wheres a wedding ring but isn't married to stop guys hitting on her.

The episode opens on an establishing long shot of Baghdad City, in terms of gender this connotes the viewer is watching a place where Hook’s Theory should be applicable because woman’s rights have not developed here yet. The second shot reaffirms this as it is a crowd shot showing no woman and the low camera angle gives the power to the males in shot.

The diegetic background sound/ambient noise adds to this as the viewer only hears male voices. Non-diegetic sound, a voice over of Carrie on the phone disrupts Hook’s theory because you hear an assertive feminine voice in this masculine dominated environment. This turns into Diegetic sound as the shot changes to a low angle close up of Carrie driving. Mise-en-scene and camera angle disrupts Hook’s theory and supports Butlers Theory because the low angle gibes her power (breaking gender stereotypes) and her costume shows she is not following the stereotypes/laws of the country she is in. However, the close-up shot does reveal she fits many western stereotypes of women in the Film/TV because she is, young, slim, blonde and attractive meaning she does not completely disrupts Hook’s theory. Parallel editing takes us to America where it shows us a low angle medium close up of the boss which supports Hooks theory showing that males are in charge and powerful, but also disrupts Hook’s theory as the man in charge is not white. The scene in Baghdad ends with Carrie being beaten by men guards and then jumps to a high angle shot showing that Carrie has lost power. There is Diegetic dialogue which is Carrie’s character threatening a male character.


Parallel editing takes us to USA Washington, 10 months later then there is a low angle shot of Carrie taking her clothes off which is sexualising her and there is no need for it, following Hooks theory but also there is a high angle to take power away from her to sexualise her to the males.The background music behind the scene of Carrie is not very powerful so it also makes her look less powerful, supporting Hook's theory. Carrie is wearing a low-cut top which is sexualising her and taking her power away, making her look weak. David is looking very muscular and dominant, fitting Hook's theory since her is a stereotypical male but also disrupts it since he is not white. When Carrie first sees Brody  she has more power than him since she is seeing him from a high angle video. First time we see Saul and Carrie, Saul looks more dominant since he is the foreground on the shot making him larger, supporting Hook's theory.