Notes...

• Representations of women has changed from the due to - changes in society and certain historical events taking place

• Portrayed in the media as an object of the male gaze. Eg. naked or semi-naked women on covers of men’s magazines.

• Women are hardly seen as news reporters

• Sex objects, ‘blond bimbo’ stereotype.

• Eve blamed on why women are being objectified and stereotyped.

• Madonna - pure
  
  
• Whore - impure and sexuall
  

• Previously women limited to smaller roles in movies due to expectations and stereotypes before the second wave of feminism.

• After second wave feminism women were fighitng back against dominance of male gender and in movies women were getting more roles

• Men still the dominant gender in leading roles especially in television.

• Role of the woman has become more noticeable due to men now becoming more feminine with gays, heterosexuals and the portrayal of the ‘new man’.

1)Compare two examples, from different decades, of any media genre of your choice. Describe and account for the major differences and similarities between them?

• Introduction
  Introduce my two chosen texts. My two chosen texts will be the original Texas chainsaw massacre 1974 and 2003 Texas chainsaw massacre. I will talk about the general plot of the two different films and a few point on how they have developed over time.
  

• Paragraph One
  Whether the changes in the genre and films reflect the zeitgeist , and see what social factors could be responsible for the differences in the films.
  

• Paragraph Two
  How technology has adapted a lot since 1974 to 2003. How the mask of the leather face has changed more. Props used such as the chainsaw and the meat hooks.
  

• Paragraph Three
  Same generic codes used in both films such as both films have a final girl, Leather face the killer, same murder weapon, group of friends.
  

• Paragraph Four
  Difference in representation between the two TCM‘s, how the representation of teenagers has changed.
  

• Conclusion
  How the spirit of the age is responsible for the difference in the movies, and how they changed certain thing to please its audience.

2)Outline recent significant development in one genre of your choice. Illustrate your answers with example
(January ‘03 b)

• Introduction
  Which genre I have choose and explaining why I chose that particular genre over others.
  

• Paragraph One
  State that I will compare both Texas chain saw massacre as well as Halloween and Scream.
  

• Paragraph Two
  Talk about the mise en scene and make reference to what is going on in society at that particular time and how it reflects what is being shown in the film.

• Paragraph Three
  Use terminology we have learnt in class such as the audiences knowingness that separates post modern from the movies in the past that have come before it.

• Paragraph Four
  Highlight Scream making reference to scary movie. Talk about how they create irony and poke fun of the genre formula and set of rules that have been put in place by directors of past genre movies.
  

• Conclusion
  Talk about how the slasher genre has developed. Talk about audience expectations, censorship and updated zeitgeists and how producers have had to change their style to keep up with the changing times, therefore this is why the slasher genre and other genres change over time.

3)“Genres must adapt in order to survive” discuss
(June ‘04 b)

• Introduction
  Introduce the slasher genre, and how it has changed in order to survive.
  

• Paragraph One
  Changes in society /ideologies/values and representation. The era of feminism changed everything from being subservient and controlled in Psycho to the changed in Switchblade Romance. The final girl- needs phallic symbol to show her masculine side.
  

• Paragraph Two
  Talk about, audience expectations. Making reference to TCM.

• Paragraph Three
  Censorship and codes of conduct of TCM and how they have changed.
  

• Paragraph Four
  Technology and how it has changed to adapt.
  

• Paragraph Five
  Any other changes that have to occur to make the genre adapt.
  

• Conclusion
  Genres have to adapt because of society and their expectations. Talk about economical factors too.

TCM Essay

Compare the two versions of TCM. How and why are they similar or different, paying close attention to ideas/theories about the ways genres repeat themselves and the wider contextual factors that have influenced any changes.

Both The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (2003) are both from the slasher genre and therefore follow the same generic convention such as the final girl and the stereotypical male killer.

However since they have been produced in two different eras, they have different audience expectations and the film and plot maybe slightly different. The 1947 TCM would appeal to a target audience of males and females as they have both male and females characters, also the age group of their audience would be 18-35 class, c1, c2 and d. The target audience for the 2003 TCM would be male and females again but for the age group of 16-35 and their class being b, c1, c2 and d as the effect of he 2003 TCM are more interesting. Also both TCM’s will attract different audience types as the 1947 TCM was censored and as a result it was not as gruesome as the 2003 TCM.

Firstly there is a difference in the narratives in both the 1947 TCM and also the 2003 TCM. The 1947 TCM opens up of a dead armadillo and then is followed by a medium shot of the five friends, who are going to check on relatives graves in a cemetery. They pick up a hitchhiker man, who is crazy. Where as in the 2000 TCM, there are also five friends but they are on there way to see a Lynyrd Skyynyrd concert and instead the hitchhiker is female instead of being male and shots herself instead of slitting her wrist like the male does in 1934 TCM.
Secondly the beginning of both 1934 TCM and 2003 TCM is different. The 193 TCM opens with a narration, with word scrolling down the screen, the deep voice set the atmosphere for the audience. Then there are a lot of flashing shots of rotting hands and teeth followed by complete darkness and a corpse with a close up shot of the sun to set the scene of a hot summer’s day in Texas. The 2003 TCM, opens with black and white footage of police going through a house and again words are scrolling down like the 1934 TCM.

Moreover the 1934 TCM is different as Todorov’s theory can be applied throughout it, as there is a equilibrium at the beginning and a disequilibrium, and finally there seems to be a happy ending as there is a final girl. Where as the 2003 TCM has disequilibrium

The final girl must follow a theory of sex equals death. This theory is applied in the 2003 TCM as the couple die as they have had sex.
There is a visible final girl in both 1947 TCM and 2003 TCM, this gives the idea that they are seen to be more superior to males as they are the ones who survive. This goes against the stereotype that women usually stay at home and are seen as housewives.

Overall both 1947 TCM and 2003 TCM are two very similar and also different movies. The final girl in 1947 TCM had relied on someone to come in and distract the leather face, but the 2003 TCM Erin had gotten away on her own without being hitched hiked unlike the first movie she also got her revenge on the Sheriff in the process by running him over in his police car. Also the two movies were different as they represent women in two different ways depending on the zeitgeist in the 1947 TCM women were seen as weak, where as in the 2003 TCM they are seen powerful.