Working title:
Why are male characters in comedy films represented very immaturely in films like The Hangover?
Angle:
Does having that representation have an impact on men who watch films like this? So does watching films like the Hangover have a big impact on men, does it encourage them in any way to be like that or to act like that. I personally think it does have a big impact on men because men are mostly silly and want to act silly.
Hypothesis:
Films like that are encouraging men to act like that way. Men act like that because they think they would look great by acting that way. Comedy films are represented men very immaturely and this has a really big impact on ordinary men. It is damaging the male characters in general. It makes wanting to be like that.
Linked production piece:
I am thinking of making a comedy film trailer as I think that there would be a perfect link between my choice of topic and my critical investigation. Comedy trailers are hard to make, but I think that if I work hard I would be able to achieve it. The reason why I am thinking of doing a comedy trailer is because I think I would be able to cover all the aspects of male representations in the trailer. I would put trailer as my first thought but I might change it.
MIGRAIN:
Representation: from my text i am talking about male representation and why they are represented very immaturely. It is not fair that males are represented that way and females aren't. Males are most of the time represented very immaturely, in comedy films.
Form:
The denotation of men being represented in that way would be that men are just silly and they do act in that way. The connotation meaning would be that are all men like that, or is it just shown in films.
Narrative:
The narrative is slowly building as the films plays along. The narrative pulls in the audience with the film so it engages them with the film. They do this by many ways, for example they would show something funny or an immature scene then they would show something serious so that it engages the audience with the film. I think by showing men acting that way attracts the audience with the film and it builds towards the film. Villeins are created by doing something bad and heroes are introduced by doing the opposite of that. All of the other mise-en-scene builds the narrative. So if there is a stupid scene they would have stupid music playing in the back as well.
Genre:
The text that i have chose as my primary text is the Hangover which is from the comedy genre.
The main aspect of the genre is to make the audience laugh in an silly way, the have loads of humour in it. The actions are the things which make the audience engage with the genre and they also make them laugh, even if its something horrible. i think the Hangover does fulfill the audience desire for the genre and it meets the audience expectation and probably goes above it.
Institution:
The Hangover was distributed by the Warner Brothers, they are very famous as they been there for a long time and are the producers for most American films, music and other entertainment. The founders of the institution are Albert Warner, Sam Warner, Jack Warner, and Harry Warner.
Values and ideologies:
The values and ideologies are that men cannot do anything, they are cheap people who behave so childish. It gives that value to the audience about the characters in the film.
Media audience:
The film is targeted at 18's, but I think people younger sill have watched it. The target audience for the film is 18-32 mostly males. The demographics for the film I think is C1/C2/D/E. I think this is the right demographics for the film. The psychographics for The Hangover would be Explores, Mainstramers, and maybe struggler's. The audience would take in the text because it makes them laugh and it gives them freedom from their everyday life. I think the males would take in the text how it is because that's how they are everyday. The females might question that why are men so sick because of their actions.
I think their is loads of audience pleasure in the film for the audience. It makes them have an enjoyable time while their watching it. I think the film has power over the audience because the audience have a laugh with the film, that's why the film has power of the audience.
SHEP:
I think I could refer my film back to the social point because there could be a point raised that are all men in the society act like that? Are all Men like that in the society, people would argue that normally men are the people who are meant to be big in the society. Historical: I could quote that the comedy films are improving the representations and how men are represented. So it is improving than before but its quite still not there. Economical would not really go with my question, but political would go with my question because their could be political points that men are the people who females look up to or men are the main players in the society and the industry. If they behave like that how would they be the ones who people look up to.
Issues/debates:
The 4 that relate to my case study are representation and stereotyping, moral panic, media effects, regulation and censorship and changing tech in the 21 century.
My questions involves around representation of men in comedy films, that's why I think that the male representation is comedy films is getting worse and worse. The moral panic and media effects The Hangover creates why are men so disgusting and why are they being represented very cheaply. Is this effecting men in the society to behave like that? Regulation and censorship is also involved in the film because it has content which is interoperate. lastly the change in technology in the 21st century has an effect on the audience because it allows them to relate themselves with the film.
Theories:
Gender and ethnicity would appeal to my film because I could talk about how its always white people in comedies represented the immature way. I could also talk about how its always males who are represented that way. In comedies they always show males characters represented very immaturely, so I could raise the point that why are they represented that way.
Genre theories: I could refer back to my topic that its always in comedy films that male are represented that way. You won't seen males in action films represented very immaturely. So I could raise a point about that its always comedy films.
Audience theory: I could refer to audience theory because once people watch this film they are going to go and talk about it to others. They might even communicate about the film online on social networking sites.
Media text:
My main primary text it the The Hangover. the reason why i have chose this is because I thought their are loads of bits which i could point out about males being represented very immaturely. There are loads of scenes where males are represented very immaturely, that's why I thought of using the The Hangover.
Other text:
The reason why I have chose this as another text to back up my points for the opposite side of the questions, that are females represented immaturely in comedy films.
The reason why i have chose this as another text is because i can talk about the males being represented childish and stupid. Its like how two brothers are represented very childish and silly.
I could also talk about Grown ups and how the male characters are represented in that way.
I could talk about Ted and how the male character acts very childish and immaturely. They show him always drunk and partying. So I could refer this back to my question.
Academic books: Television and Gender representation by John Libbey. It talks about the gender representation and how different genders are represented.
Internet links: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/jun/12/film-review-the-hangover This is a link of the Hangover film review and the film was on its own.
