Evaluation Task 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The key character in my opening two minutes is Alice, a Caucasian teenage girl, similar to Cher, the main character of the 1995 romantic comedy Clueless. Both of these characters represent girls as image conscious, as they are shown getting ready in the morning. This is the audience's first impression of the characters, and therefore straight away presents them as effeminate, because they are applying makeup and choosing clothes, both stereotypical tasks that females carry out in their daily routine. Both are also shown changing from their night clothes to day clothes, Cher changing her mind several times, which represents their social group as indecisive and foreshadows the rest of the film, in which both of them, stereotypical of characters in romantic comedies in order to create drama, will have to choose between love interests. However, Alice represents teenage girls as more studious, as her school notepad is shown during the titles, whereas Cher is not shown even packing her bag for school. This will appeal to my target audience of teenage girls, as the majority of them will be at school and will identify with the character, according to the Uses and Gratification theory. Another difference in the two characters' representations of their social group is that Cher's clothing is more revealing, especially her pyjamas, whereas Alice's day outfit covers her arms and legs, which represents teenage girls, in contrast to Cher, as reserved. This is another aspect which would allow my audience to identify with the character, as she is a very realistic and relatable character, the unique selling point of my film. The location of my film also contrasts to the Clueless opening, as it is an average teenagers bedroom, whereas Cher's house is luxurious and would allow the audience to escape (again, using the Uses and Gratifications theory) while watching it.