Representation - Theories

Representation -  in depth analysis of 27 dresses

In the trailer of 27 dresses the male protagonist is represented as a dominant portrayal as it reinforces the stereotype that men are portrayed as powerful and dominant in the media. They are also seen with high jobs which in this case the male is seen to be the boss of his business. However, another male is presented in the trailer too. This male character tries to write a negative article about the female character, but then eventually falls in love with her. In my opinion, i think he is represented as an alternative portrayal as he is seen as the weak one. This is because, the female is in love with her boss (protagonist) however, the other male character is in love with her making him look like a reject. The representation theory that can be applied to the males is Andy Medhurst. He suggested that stereotyping is a shorthand for identification. This means that we use stereotyping to tell audiences a lot in a short space of time. This occurs in the middle of the trailer where the second male character shows the audiences, discretely, that he is beginning to fall in love with the women he has to write a negative article about. This tells the audiences, the more time you spend with someone and think negatively about them, the more you're start to produce feelings for them. Moreover, the female character is represented as a dominant portrayal in the trailer as it reinforces the stereotype that women are portrayed as weaker than men and are usually the ones that take on creative roles in society such as a wedding planner. Men being dominant in society tells us that women are seen as less powerful than them and that men have the authority to give orders from people below them.  In addition, you can instantly tell that the female is a wedding planner. Also, you can tell that she is a confident and outgoing person due to her bashful personality. You can also tell that she loves and respects her sister as she allowed her to date the man she loves. In this case, the representation theory that can be applied to the female character is Laura Mulvey. She came up with the idea of 'female gaze'. This is where females gaze upon men due to their attractiveness. In the trailer, this occurs in the scene where the female character looks at the man she is in love with, with an expression which tells the audience that she is really into him. Furthermore, another theory that can be applied to the trailer is Tessa Perkins. Her theory is that some stereotypes can be positive or partly true. This occurs in the trailer as the male protagonist is seen as powerful and dominant as he is the boss of the company. This is a positive stereotype and is partly true. In addition, this is intentionally what the director has given us to create a character in our minds of what we think the characters in the trailer are like.