Life On Mars - Representation - Component 2 Flashcards
What is life on mars?
- Life on mars is a hybrid tv Sci-Fi/crime drama produced in 2006, but set in the 1970s.
The show tells the fictional story of sam tyler (played by john simm) serving within the greater Manchester police as a DCI (detective chief inspector) - After being struck by a car in 2006, Tyler wakes up to find himself in the year of 1973, and finds himself working for a predecessor of the GMP - the Manchester and Salford police force, at the same station and location as in 2006.
- Early on in the series Tyler eventually becomes aware and realises that he is now became a detective inspector which is one rank lower than his previous rank in 2006 as a DCI
He then finds himself working under DCI gene hunt as part of a criminal investigation
Who produced life on mars?
- Life on mars was produced by the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) in 2006 who have been notoriously known and have a strong reputation for making popular TV crime dramas
- Such as doctor who and peaky blinders
What is stereotyping and representation?
How does the stereotyping in LOM suggest inequalities of power?
- Male characters dominate Life on Mars and fulfil all of the positions of power within the police profession.
- This is typical of the 1970s and the patriarchal dominance that was still at large.
- In order to create a convincing and accurate picture of this era gender stereotypes are created via inequalities of power.
What did Gaye Tuchman write and discuss about how women are represented in the media - remember the terminology?
Gaye Tuchman wrote about how:
- Historically women appear less frequently on television than men and that they are usually given less prominence, she referred to this as the symbolic annihilation of women.
- Symbolic annihilationis a term used to describe the absence of representation, or underrepresentation, of certain groups in the media
This is often relevant to gender, age, ethnicity or sexual orientation.
Reflect on the episode and identify how Annie is objected to sexism?
Annie is objected to sexism through a number of ways such as:
SEXUALLY/PHYSICALL OBJECTIFIED:
- Dialogue such as ‘trot along sweetheart’ is sexist and derogatory language. This objectifies the character based on her gender.
“get down to the striptease”
“I think about your lips every night, Cartwright”
TREATED AS THERE TO SERVE:
Annie is seen helping Tyler with his injuries and taking him home, this nurturing and maternal representation suggests that the characters purpose is to serve.
CONSIDERED INFERIOR DUE TO GENDER:
The dialogue “Lady Policemen – no life for ‘em is it” and “The women’s department” identify women as an inferior gender who are unable to meet the challenges of police work.
TRIVALISED:
Annie’s qualifications are trivialised, together with her role as a female police officer.
She is represented as ‘intelligent’, which emphasises her link to the content analysis of post-femininity.
What are the typical characteristics of masculinity in TV crime drama?
There are 4 main typical characteristics of masculinity:
- Hyper/toxic masculinity
- New modern man
- Alpha male
- Traditional masculinity
However the typical ones we see in TV crime dramas are ones of traditional and hypermasculinity.
What form of masculinity does tyler conform to?
However in LOF we see Tyler reject the sexist attitudes of his colleagues and the traditional role and projects a new modern man identity
Study the “morgue scene” and analyse how Sam Tyler’s masculinity has been constructed?
- During the morgue sequence Sam’s masculinity is in a state of crisis.
- Via performance Sam becomes agitated and loses control of his emotions.
- His authority is questioned by his colleagues due to his state of emotion and vulnerability
- All of these attributes suggest a crisis of masculinity.
What form of masculinity does hunt adhere to?
In LOF we see hunt adheres to a hypermasculine/ toxic masculinity construction.
Study the “interrogation scene” and analyse how hunt’s representation has been constructed in LOM?
- During the interrogation sequence Hunt loses his temper quickly and displays aggressive behaviour.
- His exaggerated aggression is reinforced as he throws the iconography of the table across the room.
- Via technical codes (two shot), Hunt is positioned dominantly to the left with a higher eye-line (patriarchal oppression) linking to his importance as the dominant character.
- All of the above is used to construct a toxic/hyper-masculine representation of Hunt.
How is bell hooks’ feminist theory applicable to Annie and LOM?
- This is applicable to LOM as we see that their is not only a lack of gender diversity in the roles,
- as more men are in more dominant positions of pwer such as DCI Hunt,
- but also overall there is a lack of ethnic diversity
- as all the women casted in LOM are of white ethnicity
What is gender performativity and who is the theorist?
Gender performativity by Judith butler is the theory that anything you to express you gender, which is not innate but is the result of human cultural ideas of gender - you are performing your gender>
How is gender performativity applicable to tyler?
- Gender performativity is also applicable to tyler
- Loses a title that decreases his masculine persona and impacts his positioning in Hunt’s patriarchal ‘world’..
- This leads to the loss of control and constant physical abuse from Hunt, putting him into a state of crisis, where he often displays a loss of emotion.
- His rejection to sexist attitudes and using his contemporary attitudes to solve crime, projects a new modern masculine identity.
How is gender performativity applicable to Gene Hunt?
- Gender performativity is also applicable to hunt
- Gender performance shown through hyper-masculine characteristics.
- He idolises protagonists from cowboy films, Gary Cooper (typically masculine genre),
- this helps shape his own persona as the masculine sheriff, ‘king of his kingdom’ and the ‘guv’nor’.
The performance comes through harsh dialogue, sexist ideologies, aggressive and physical violence.
