LFTVD - Stranger Things: Representation Flashcards
How are historical contexts represented?
Through technology such as walkie-talkies, high performance radios and BMX bikes - suggest a more adventurous pre-internet age
How is the audience positioned in terms of power?
Rooting for the underdogs (Joyce and children)
How are parents represented?
Fathers are absent/insensitive/distracted, mothers are struggling to hold the family together
How are families represented?
A typical 1980s White Spielbergian family
How are the boys represented?
Fiercely loyal and masculine comraderies in the face of a hostile world
How is Nancy represented?
In contradictory ways: as a emotional girl but also good at Science (gasp!)
What are the main social anxieties represented?
Consequences of scientific experimentation and abduction of children
Why is the small-town American community used?
It has global recognition (link to positioning the audience as American) and is the embodiment of this symbol of the good life
What cultural tradition does Eleven represent?
Dangerous children in science-fiction literature
Why is ST not a true construction of realism?
It celebrates intertextuality so lacks realism
There is some realism in ST; how is this represented?
Through the mise-en-scene which constructs a clear sense of time and place
What is sterotyping?
A commonly repeated generalisation about a group, event or institution. (This is inaccurate because it is an over-simplification)
Why do LFTVD not use stereotypes very often?
Due to the narrative complexity and ambiguity, characters are well developed and rounded. Also, the multi-narrative strands allow for focussed character development
How are stereotypes used in ST? (6 ways!)
- Scientist - studious and dressed in a white coat
- Mike’s family - affluent, White, suburban, 2-parent family
- Nancy - teenage girl who likes gossiping and interested in boys
- Hopper - stereotypical police officer haunted by his past
- Agents - faceless, powerful and ruthless
- Mothers - holding the family together
How are stereotypes complicated in ST? (5 ways)
- The representations are deliberately stereotyped for intertextual effect
- Unusual representation of the scientist as fearful and vulnerable
The cultural context of science going wrong reflects a long tradition in literature for example which book?
Frankenstein
Why is there such complexity in the representations?
To reflect the contexts of the high expectations of LFTVD
How is power represented in the episode? (Political contexts)
- Anxiety about the power of the central state
- A shadowy world of possibly sinister enforcement agents, suggesting an all powerful state
How is the local police force represented? (Political contexts)
In a humanised way; good-natured but complacent until forced into action
The representations are deliberately stereotyped for intertextual effect to create what type of reading?
Polysemic reading
How are economic contexts relevant to representation?
The complexity of characters and representations are due to economic pressure to create quality flagship programming
What groups are under-represented in the protagonists?
Old people, people of colour, people with disabilities, working-class people
What sexuality are all the protagonists?
Heterosexual and cisgendered (assumed at least in Episode 1)
How is the patriarchal society represented?
Through science, the family, the state - but all are deeply flawed
How are pro-family and liberal feminist viewpoints represented?
Through Joyce and the gang of boys
How is the audience positioned in terms of race?
As non-racist (although the one Black character could be seen as tokenistic)
