Identities and Film: blog task

"The media we choose to watch says a lot about us as people – it helps to construct our identity."

1) Read Media Factsheet 142: Identity and Film.

2) Complete the Twenty Statements Test yourself. This means answering the question ‘Who am I?’ 20 times with 20 different answers. What do they say about your identity? Write the 20 answers in full on your blog.

1. I am Indera
2. I am a visual artist
3. I am a human
4. I am mixed race
5. I am 18
6. I am happy
7. I am tired
8. I am a Sagittarius
9. I am into star signs
10. I am not interested in sport
11. I am running out of things to say
12. I am 5 ft something
13. I am a movie buff
14. I am not a Twitter user
15. I am one that enjoys my own company
16. I am an art student
17. I am not mathematical
18. I am an only child
19. I am an adventurous person
20. I am an extrovert according to my personality test

In regards to my identity - I think that one would view my answers as descriptive and visual, outlining my character - the things I do and don't like, with little describing my aesthetic. 

3) Classify your answers into the categories listed  on the Factsheet: Social groups, ideological beliefs, interests etc.

Social Groups - 
2. I am a visual artist

3. I am a human 

4. I am mixed race

5. I am 18

Ideological Beliefs - 
9. I am into star signs
Interests - 

6. I am happy

7. I am tired 

8. I am a Sagittarius

10. I am not interested in sport

13. I am a movie buff

14. I am not a Twitter user

15. I am one that enjoys my own company 

16. I am an art student 

17. I am not mathematical 

18. I am an only child

19. I am an adventurous person 

20. I am an extrovert according to my personality test

4) Go back to your favourite film (as identified in the lesson). What does this choice of film say about your identity? Are there any identities within the film (e.g. certain characters) that particularly resonated with your values and beliefs?

My favourite film is 'The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015) - It is an independent film and is hyperealistic with comic book animations appearing over the 70's setting narrative. The film reflects my quirky identity through my extreme interest in the non-mainstream text. Also, the design and cinematic qualities that ultimately engage my overall love of the text, reflect my artistic identity. The protagonist is one that I don't reflect directly with in terms of narrative, but her creative interest is one that I can see element of myself to be similar too as she has similar attitudes revolved around freedom to me. 

5) Watch the trailers for the five films highlighted as examples of gay/lesbian representation in mainstream film. How are LGBT identities constructed in the trailers and how are audiences encouraged to respond to these representations?

Wilde (1997, dir. Brian Gilbert)  

LGBT identities are constucted within the trailer for 'Wilde' as something that should be forbidden - a social mockery, which was accentuated through the laughter which subsided the medium long shot of the narrator introducing "This is Oscar Wilde". This 'laughter' initially is unclear, as there was nothing comical occurring, however, the laughter is repeated in an additional part of the trailer, highlighting the laughter to be associated with him. Also, the hair style that drapes upon the protagonist's hair is unusual and different to the other characters, so it was clearly not a fashion statement for the time, and it instead exaggerates LGBT in contrast with the other heterosexual cast. 

Philadelphia (1993, dir. Jonathan Demme) 

The trailer presents homosexuals, through the character that has aids, played by Tom Hanks, as worse than black people - through the black lawyer, who was initially reluctant to even take on his care. In regards to the social hierarchy, the represenation within the trailer illustrates LGBT as an identity that is towards the bottom of the social system and one that audiences should fear, as they are more prone to disease (narrative circulating around aids).

The Wedding Banquet (1993, dir. Ang Lee)

The trailer presents LGBT as something that within different cultures is something that should be hidden and a lie that subsides some people, shown through the protagonist who ends up marrying a women, when his heart is really with a male. The scene directly after the two males in bed, captures the chinese cast running out a door in fear, screaming - highlighting the social fear placed upon homosexuals and passively injecting into audiences that LGBT is hidden upon us and is something that we should worry. 

The Kids are Alright (2010, dir. Lisa Cholodenko)

The presentation of LGBT is arguably more liberal through the vibrant American aesthetic presenting the beautiful California lifestyle, parallel to the narrator stating "Two Kids.. Two Mums", echoing a sense of mundane and normality associated with it. However, LGBT and 'lesbians' specifically are arguably sexualised, through the male character stating "I love lesbians", which not only objectifies them as a concept, as it too detracts all sense of their humanity and character as it instead merely labels the couple as "lesbians". In particular, one of the two females (in the relationship) has a stereotypical butch appearance, in contrast with the other who appears to be more girly, which highlights the stereotypical LGBT convention that one of the lesbians is more manly than the other - which isn't factual and is dominant imagery that is conveyed to an audience. And specifically, the final part of the trailer concludes with a medium close up of one of the women, pulling down a males trousers and gasping "Oh hello!", implying the idea that lesbians are missing out on something, when not with men. 

Pride (2014, dir. Matthew Warchus) 

The dominant representation within the text is the fact that gay and lesbians are marginalised and sepereated from the norms that exist within society, and as they enter the village, one must be aware that "the gays are here", resonating old fashioned alien-like imagery. There is a strong moral panic and deviancy associated with homosexuality and subsequently is something that is detested within society - in terms of the films narrative - as shown through the medium long shot of a can smashing the glass shop that had a group of homosexuals standing inside of.