Disability in the Media


The Canadian Association of Broadcasters report found that disabled “individuals are viewed as the objects of pity and depicted as having the same attributes and characteristics no matter what the disability may be.” Similarly, the Web site Media and Disability, an organization advocating for broader representation of people with disabilities, points out that “disabled people, when they feature at all, continue to be all too often portrayed as either remarkable and heroic, or dependent victims.”


“wheelchairs tend to predominate… since they are an iconic sign of disability.


VICTIM
Perhaps the most common stereotype of persons with disabilities is the victim, a character who is presented as a helpless object of pity or sympathy.
Tiny Tim in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol or John Merrick in The Elephant Man are examples of disabled characters whose disability is used by the author to earn sympathy from the audience.
The victim stereotype may also be used for comedy, using characters’ disabilities – such as Mister Magoo’s blindness or Forrest Gump’s intellectual disability – to place them in humorous situations.


HERO
“Supercrips are people who conform to the individual model by overcoming disability, and becoming more ‘normal’, in a heroic way.
While at first glance this may seem like a better image than the victim, a positive stereotype is still a stereotype. 

• It focuses on the individual who “succeeded” in overcoming her disability, rather than the many others who must live with theirs.
• It presents disability as a challenge which the character must overcome in order to be “normal”
• It makes audiences feel better about the condition of persons with a disability without having to accommodate them, reinforcing the notion that disability can be overcome if only the person would “try hard enough”
• “Hero” roles are nearly always played by non-disabled actors, presenting a false picture of disability (compare Daniel Day Lewis in My Left Footto the real Christy Brown)

VILLAIN

Throughout history physical disabilities have been used to suggest evil or depravity, such as the image of pirates as having missing hands, eyes and legs. More recently, characters have been portrayed as being driven to crime or revenge by resentment of their disability.

Mental illness is often presented as a motivation for villains: Media and Disability points out that “some disabilities receive particularly poor representation. Mental illness has all too frequently (and disproportionately) been linked in programmes with violent crime, even though there is no evidence to support this mis-portrayal.

Representation of Age in Bug's Girl Power






angles/shots
High angle looks down on little girl - condescending, pompous
woman is sitting higher than girl - 


mis en sceneee
posh voice and posh clothing (older man)


editing
master shot


sound
diegetic
non diegetic


This clip represents age in a variety of ways through angles, camera shots, mis en scene, editing and sound. The clip starts off with two men and two women walking. The men are wearing suits and the main man  who is eldest of them all speaking is talking with a posh accent perhaps representing his superiority and power. A shot reverse shot is then used to emphasize the conversation between the man and woman. Again, the older man is represented in a way of having power over her as he tells her what to do and looks down on her at a high angle. At the end of the conversation when the woman walks away, the man raises his eyebrows as to say that he is expectant of her to do things his way and is disappointedly surprised. A point of view shot is used to emphasize the woman looking in the window to see the girl with the music narrowing and becoming almost spooky to portray the sympathy felt for the little girl - "she's a mixed up kid". The reference to a 'kid' makes the 12 year old girl sound almost younger than she is. She is looked down upon as insufficient and being have to looked after.
Another shot reverse shot is used between the conversation between the younger woman and the posh man "how did a teenager manage to break in' with a smirk




   

Worksheet explaining camera angles and editing CLICK THAT!

The camera itself accompanies the movement of an object during a following shot. A track, crane, or hand-held shot can lead a moving figure into space, pursue a figure from behind, or float above, below, or alongside. Intricate following shots may be motivated by the movements of more than one figure.

Because of its ability to reveal or conceal space, camera movement often participates in the creation of suspense and surprise. In Strangers on a Train (1951), a point-of-view editing pattern places the viewer in the optical perspective of Guy (Farley Granger) as he approaches a dark staircase to warn a father of his son's murderous intentions. The director Alfred Hitchcock (1899–1980) then varies the editing pattern by craning up from Guy to disclose a menacing dog waiting on the landing above. The independent camera movement informs the viewer of an obstacle unknown to Guy, raising the question of whether he will be able to reach the father—thus heightening suspense.

Sometimes camera movement positions the viewer as an objective witness to unfolding events.

Very slow camera movements within long takes focus the viewer on the passage of time and build narrative expectation. When this happens, the camera movement situates the viewer as a curious inhabitant of the narrative world, linking simultaneous events in adjacent spaces and integrating the protagonist's preparations for death with a joyous celebration of life.

Camera movement can also be used to illustrate a character's subjective experience. This is used very effectively in ‘Friday 13^th’ when Michael climbs down the stairs in his ‘fancy dress’ having just murdered his sister. The framing is classically framed by the outline of Michael’s face mask.             

 

 White Girl


The snippet from White Girl uses some types of representation of age in it's programme. For example, at the beginning, the bike portrays the youngness of the girl riding her bike - the bike is pink with streamers on and she is wearing trainers which light up. This shows that she is still in her childhood - probably a girl of 12 or 13. The different angles used when she is riding her bike also portrays the pace at which she is going and the youthness of her. The cuts are quick and short between the places she rides throw to show her speed. The camera is jerky with no static movement whilst she is moving, also, to portray her speed and age.  The weather shown also can be associated with the age of the young girl as it is a sort of idealistic view of a child in their childhood. The outfit of the girl is very plain, with hardly any make-up. This can portray the idea that she isn't quite a teenager yet (who stereotypically wear a lot of make up and try to be fashionable) and can show the vulnerability of her as she is just wearing a long, plain, grey dress and trainers. 


The scene is then cut to a high angle to look at the mother throwing things out of the window. White feathers are falling from the pillows thrown down and the camera switches to the young girl looking at the feathers falling. The feathers can show a type of innocence in the girl and have connotations of youth. It is though she is in a fairytale. There is a contrast with the dark grotty building and the white feathers which shows the innocence of the girl even more as the colours represent vulnerability and innocence. 
A low angle is used to look up at the mother to show the young girl looking up at her and her age. The music doesn't change at this moment when you look up to see the mother throwing things out of the window, maybe emphasizing that this is the norm. The feathers are then thrown down in the air and the camera goes to a mid-shot and then close up of the young girl to emphasize her innocence through the white feathers and maybe the idea of wanting to be in a fairytale. The feathers are also a contrast to the dark grotty buildings in the background which also can even more emphasize the idea of her wanting to be in a fairytale.


The next scene shows the older adults and the younger children escaping from their flat with the father(?). The little boy is carrying an xbox which portrays his youthfulness as you associate a young boy playing on an xbox. The little girl is carrying teddies and is being carried out to the car as though she is incapable of walking at a fast pace due to her age. A range of mid shots and full shots are used to show the pace at which they are trying to run away. 


Lastly, once the family get away in the car, it shows a close up of the little girl in the back of the car cuddling the dog looking back at her bike which is left behind. The bike in a way symbolizes the idea that the girl doesn't have to cling on to her youth anymore and is free from having to act as a child. In contrast, the mother is at the front looking forwards to signify her looking into the future and all the possibilities that could range.


To conclude, I think that there are a lot of portrayals of the young generation in this clip and the youth is shown in a variety of ways through camera shots, editing, mis en scene and camera angles.

Representation of Age

After gender and ethnicity, age is the most obvious category under which we file people, and there are a whole range of instant judgements which go along with that categorisation. Age is the easiest way to categorise someone as "other" than yourself —everyone you meet will be, to some extent, older or younger, a different age than you. And with difference comes... a tendency to stereotype.

Children are often portrayed in the media or films in negative or stereotypical ways. For example, based on an analysis by British 18-year-olds of British newspapers, students identified what they perceived to be seven stereotypes of children in the media:

Kids as victims. Cute kids sell newspapers. Little devils. Kids are brilliant. Kids as accessories. “Kids these days.” Brave little angels.