Q2.

HOW DOES YOUR

MEDIA PRODUCT
REPRESENT PARTICULAR
SOCIAL GROUPS?
By Elena Middlicott

GLUE- PLOT SUMMARY

A local boy is found dead face down on a farm, in the mud under the wheels of the tractor. The night
after they had been taking drugs and placed dares on each other in the grain silo. In a small and
compact, farming community, his friends are forced to release their hidden secrets. The 14 year old
boy is Cal Bray, who is from a travelling background and its just him and his brother, as there father
is in prison and there mother dead, but Cal is gay which his brother finds out and struggles to come
to terms with. They then find out him and other friend within the group were having a relationship and
planning to leave together to start a new life. But they all have their own secret, the biggest one being
who actually was the killer, which was his own brother. He couldnt get round the fact that he was
Gay, losing it and killing his brother in rage. He blames his lover for his death and takes him hostage
before finally getting arrested .

The cast-

TINA FALLON- GLUE

Tina is 19 years of age

Her fashion style

involves bright
colours and
sunshine but her life
style and current
situation is far from
this idea.

Tina is unconventional
and dangerous as she
has been in trouble
with the law before and
becomes in trouble
with the law again.

Sometimes her
emotions and
personal life
become merged,
causing confusion
for the character.

Tina is a character which is very popular within her friendship group. She is aspiring to use her love
of horses to become the female jockey to win the Derby. Her love life however is very confusing with
her finding out her boyfriend cheated in a one nigh stand with Janine who they find to be an imposter
and is actually manufacturing ketamine with her real name to be Elizabeth Marshall, she ends things
leaving him in love with her but her and Eli (Cals brother) falling in love, unaware that he is the killer
of his own brother. At the beginning it is clear to see that there is a connection but they dont pursue
each others love until further on. Tina has her own secrets with finding out that her and Ruth share
the same father, which she never knew. Her personality is very with drawn but becoming fiery when
needed, she only feels safe in the arms of Eli or even just the arms of men. She is very open with
her emotions and crying at various points throughout, sometimes very openly but other times
secluded from the rest of society.

CHARACTER PROFILE
17 years of age
Loves to accessories
to assess her dark
fashion sense.

She is dangerous
and unconventional
to herself.

Hides in the
shadows of
others.

The protagonist in our thriller is very withdrawn from society as she has no support from friends and
family. She is suffering from schizophrenia alone. She herself and the rest of society as the enemy.
She is very open about her body, but private too in not being about to confide in anyone about her
emotions and feelings. She is very secretive and the worst enemy that she as is actually herself. Her
clothes and fashion style are very dark and grunge like, mainly including black, grey, khaki and
brown. Her moods are very sudden and change continuously. Her past is very much unknown to us,
and we can tell her only friend is her subconscious. She lives a very normal life-going to sixth form
and on to further education. She is very keen on music and very talented to say the least. She isnt
really into animals but she doesnt hate them altogether either. She is trapped in her own destructive
cycle that she cant seem to break and explore reality. Her only friend is her mind, but her only
enemy is also her mind.

SIMILARITIES/ DIFFERENCES
Tina Fallon/ Tia Avey
Both female protagonists.
Both have complex, emotional
issues.
Both in adolescence years
Both dangerous and
unconventional.
Both involved with pills.
Both in touch and open about their
bodies being seen- showing skinboth of a healthy weight- rolemodels.
Both wear minimal make-up.
Both their own enemy at times.
Both have similar personalities.
Both put up a front but behind
closed doors break down.

Tina is bright and floral in clothingTia is dark and grunge hipster.

Tina fair skinned with long ginger
hair-Tia is slightly tanned and short,
brown hair.
Tina emotional- Tia is schizophrenic.
Tina has support in friends- Tia is
alone and isolated.
Tina is 19 years old- Tia is 17 years
old.
Tina is in a love triangle-Tia has no
love from others (independent)
Tina takes recreational drugs- Tia
takes prescribed medication.
Tina has involvement with animalsTia shows no involvement with
animals.
Tina has been in trouble with the
law- Tia has never been in trouble
with the law.

Shot 1

Shot 2

Shot 3

TINA FALLON- GLUE

When examining the character I
remembered a series in which I
watched which reminded me of this
character in a bath sequence. She
is also struggle for breath like the
other character is within our bath
scene. The movements/motions
and actions of the character
replicate each other in a similar
way. In the screen grabs its clear to
see they are both gasping for
breath and struggling to gain breath
back. They have clearly left
themselves under the water for too
long, and the pressure on them
both has taken a strain, not just
externally but, internally. Which has
been replicated through these
shots. These shots all show the
same meaning that they are unable
to gain there breath as they are in
state of panic about what is actually
happening around them. The water
is showing them being drowned
from society and world that is
surrounding them. To conclude, the
water is being used as a metaphor
for life and society drowning them
emotionally.

Shot 1

Shot 2

Shot 3

Next door

OTHER CHARACTERS

Next door is based on a man John

who has been left by his girlfriend
Ingrid. However, the day that she
left him was the day that he allows
himself to be seduced into a
mystical and scary world, he
struggles to distinguish between
real-life and fantasy. John is very
much like our protagonist who is
struggling to tell between reality
and fantasy. But, he is seduced
into this world where ours is not.
He had some chose but our
character is struggling with her
Mental health.

Black swan

This character is much like ours with her

emotions beginning to destroy her. But,
the characters passion and obsession for
dance is her trigger, whereas we are
unaware of what is our characters trigger.
Black swan is based on Nina, a ballet dancer from New
York city ballet company, and her life is consumed by
dance. Nina however is chosen to replace the lead role in
swan lake. But, Nina has some competition, by new
dancer, Lily, who impresses too. wan Lake requires a
dancer who can play both the White Swan with innocence
and grace, and the Black Swan, who represents guile and
sensuality. Nina fits the White Swan role perfectly but Lily
is the personification of the Black Swan. As rivalry
continues they create a twisted friendship and Nina
becomes more in touch with her dark side, which threatens
to destroy her.

Requiem for a dream

The film looks at 4 drug addicts, which lead the characters imprisonment in a world of
delusion and reckless desperation, taking over reality and leaving them empty shells of
their former selves. Each of the characters having very complicated lives. The film involves
drugs, sex and Money. The film in a sense does replicate some parts of ours including
drug use, but ours in the sense of an overdose. However, they are portraying how drugs
affect their mental state and leads to an on-going, never ending cycle. Our character uses
prescribed drugs, whereas the characters in the films use much stronger substance which
is heroin. The effects of the heroin is very similar to the condition of schizophrenia,
therefore being a link between the film and our thriller opening. However, they are all
experiencing the same side-effects and there cause is self-inflicted. Overall, our thriller
and Requiem of a dream link in some ways such as having similar effects, but also subvert
in other ways too such as using illegal drugs for highs but ours to induce death, purposely.

GENDER/CLASS/ RACE
GenderThe way that gender has been portrayed in a very limited way, with a female only being showed
throughout. No male/transgender roles have been used or showed. This is mainly due to us wanting
to link directly to females, the best way to link directly to females is to use a female role to portray the
idea. This links massively to our target audience, as they are females, but the gender of the
character may also apply to males. This is because stereotypically boys are interested in girls, but
girls are inspired and look up to other girls. Overall, gender is limited to just our target audience to
relate specifically to them.

ClassThe class of the character I feel is working to Middle class, as her character lacks designer brands
draped all over her. She clothes are basic with just jeans and t-shirt, something most teens relate
too. She is wearing casual clothing and someone of higher class would be wearing more formal
clothing such as, suits and dresses. Her clothing is more high street fashion, as it lacks designer
labels. However, someone of a higher class would also have a much lavish bathroom rather than the
basic essentials. Stereotyping that she is unable to afford a new bathroom, but she can afford some
designer items as a treat. At her age, she is also less likely to earn lots of money even if she has a
job as she is under 18, therefore not entitled to minimal wage of an adult. Therefore, using the
money only on herself. The bathroom situation shows that her parents are of a working or middle
class, displaying that she has been brought up in a working class family.

RaceThe characters race is white, but she has some sort of descent heritage as she does portray tanned
skin. Showing a history at some point there was some foreign assenters. Although, she is white at
first glimpse, with closer inspection she is slightly tanned. We used someone of a white race as
society is largely white, relating heavily to our target audience as I believe that they were all white .
However, to expand our audience further we could of used someone of another race to extend our
audience group. Making it black and white teenage girls, not just white teenage girls. Showing less
racial prejudice as black people are equal in society too and supporting the rise of race in this
country. .