Representation in Media

Representation: What is used to show how people or groups of people are portrayed in the media. Different media institution will represent different types of people differently depending on what on their beliefs, values and attitudes. The audience of this media institutio will often have the same views and beliefs.

Stereotypes: A fixed veiw or image of different types of people or thing. For example the men are always the hero's ans women are the victims.

Archetypes: The biggest steroypes. For example sad, middle aged men are usually played by Will Ferrel or Adam Sandler.

Countertypes: This is when a person is shown to challege the stereotype that would usually be assosiated with that sort of person.  For example in Frozen where the main character, who is a women, ends up being the hero and saving the male characters life. This is unusual in films as it does challenge the stereotype that men are always the hero. Disney chose to challenge this sterotype as they have got a reputation of always making the women victims in their films.


Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom Stereotypes
All of the films in the Indiana Jones series supports alot of different racial and gender sterotypes. The female main character in this film, Willie, had every female stereotype that they could have possibly given her. She is portrayed as a streotypicall women in an action and adventure movie. She is represented as a pretty blond, who she seems to just be tagging along with the male main character. This shows her being inferior to him and (apart from some parts of the film) that he'd be better off without her. Her inferiority is also shown whenever Willie and Indiana are in the same shot he is either standing above her or infront of her, which show's her having lesser importants. Also in the film, she is shown to complain quite alot, whether this is down to the fact she's a woman and they therefore are supporting this stereotype or that it's just in her personality is up to the filmmakers. In most Action and Adventure films the main female character becomes the victim towards the end of the film, especial if the male character had built up a strong relationship with her, and in all tese types of films the male character ends up saving her. This representation of women is unacurate as show in quite a few new films where the female character is shown more equal or more superiror to the male character and that women in films can fight for themselves and aren't always the weak inoccent victims. The main reason this stereotype is constantly used in films is because that's just the way the audience expects to see a female character, less to do with actually keeping that veiw of women as its already there. There are now, however, a lot more films with strong female characters that challenge these stereotypes. Therefore i belive that it is not impposible for the media to represent people in the way that they really are and not just how people think they are.