Exam Practise Essay

	Homeland ep 1	Trapped ep 1	What does this show us about representation in these countries?
Gender Bell Hooks: “intersectionality” creates, “a white supremacist capitalist patriarchy” (representations are sexist/race/homophobic/classist etc. To keep white male’s superior in society).	Carrie - Carrie breaks stereotypes as she is a main character but she also fits stereotypes since she is blonde and pretty so she fits stereotypes. Carries sister – she’s a mother figure. Brody – Brody is emotional so he breaks stereotypes but fits them since he has been in the forces.	Hinrika – She breaks stereotypes as she is a is powerful but she breaks them since she is not the top police officer and her boss who is the person above her is male. Dagny – she is a victim. Andri – He fits stereotypes as he is the top police officer so he is boss and he is also a main character but he breaks stereotypes as he is depressed and has not got his life together.
Race	David -	There is a black chef on the boat who is first a suspect but then her ends up not beginning suspect and helps the police.

Why do long form television dramas from different countries offer different representations? Homeland and trapped are both crime dramas set in different countries to each other. Homeland is set in America whereas Trapped is set in Iceland. As they are both made and produced in different countries to each other, it has a big impact on the content of them as they need to appeal to the audience, which will be people of that country. Van Zoonen believes the media portray images of stereotypical women and this behaviour reinforces societal views. The media does this because they believe it reflects dominant social values and male producers are influenced by this. This is a patriarchy (a society ran by men for men) which dominates and oppresses women.

In terms of gender representation for males Trapped gives a positive representation of males in episode 1. The main character Andri is shown to be emotional and caring towards his family like when his ex-wife asks why he is still wearing his wedding ring, when she has moved on and it has been a long time. Andri is also shown to fit stereotypes since he is the top police officer, so he is boss, and he is also a main character. Andri being emotional and breaking stereotypes shows males in a different light to what they are stereotypically seen as dominant and strong. I think this shows that Iceland is much further ahead in terms of equality as the representation of genders is breaking stereotypes whilst also fitting them.

Long form television dramas from different countries offer different representations since gender representation plays a huge part in Homeland and Trapped in episode 1 as women are objectified and made to appear as sex objects. The first scene is of Jessica having sex with Mike in Homeland, which is very similar to Trapped as the opening scene is of Dagny having sex with Hjotur. Both women are shown naked which proves Bell Hooks’s theory is correct, that women are used as sexual objects or in other ways like keeping white men happy. This would appear as appropriate for the American audience as women are generally seen as inferior to men and are extremely stereotyped negatively, therefore appealing to their audience.

Iceland and America have very different cultures in some ways as proven for representations of gender. But other representations such as for teenagers are very similar. In Trapped the opening scene is of Dangy and Hjotur having sex and smoking/taking drugs, which is similar to Homeland when Dana does drugs with her friends. Both representations of teenagers are negative and very stereotypical as they are showing the audience that teenagers are rebellious and risk takers. This is going against Van Zoonen theory that meaning changes with culture and historical context as it is not changing and the representation of the teenagers remains the same for both countries.

In Trapped there is a slight representation of discrimination against a certain race since there is a black chef on the boat who is the first to be accused when they find a dead body with no limbs but then he ends up not being guilty and therefore helps the police which proves that they were wrong to accuse him just because of his skin colour.

There is also more gender representation in Homeland Carries character breaks and follows several female gender stereotypes. This fits Hall's theory is a number of ways, firstly in regard to Hall's idea of 'anti- stereotypes,' Carrie being the main protagonist who excels, and outsmarts, males seem to show the preferred reading is that women should be seen as equal to men. However, Carrie having a mental illness and fitting the stereotype of, 'object of desire' (Mulvey, 1975) as she is, young, blonde and sexually attractive, means multiple meanings can be read by the audience as this could also connote that women cannot handle the same pressure as males and are more likely to succeed if they fit attractive stereotypes. This also fits Gauntlett's theory that representations of gender have moved away from traditional stereotypes to more 'open' representations.