REPRESENTATION

OF GAY BRITISH TEENAGERS
IN OUR OPENING SEQUENCE

AND A COMPARISON TO EXISTING
REPRESENTATIONS IN REAL MEDIA

CRAIG

Craig is an introverted teenager who doesn't socialise well with other people his own age. He dislikes any social interaction and prefers to write in his notebook or go for walks in the park. It was important to us that his sexuality did not affect his personality as many gay characters in films or TV shows that we researched were defined as 'that gay guy', such as Damian from Mean Girls or Kurt Hummel from Glee. We wanted to stay away from the typical connotations of gay as being camp or over emotional or feminine.

GAY + TEENAGER + BRITISH

Connor from How to Get Away with Murder is represented as a player and was suspected to be a 'sex addict' by Oliver, which is a negative representation of gays, but he has positive traits such as being outgoing, smart and ambitious.

Damian from Mean Girls is represented as sassy and very camp. His main role in the film is to be the comic relief character with his sarcastic one-liners and hilarious antics.

Kurt from Glee follows the typical conventions of a gay character in media. He enjoys performing arts and gives makeovers and relationship advice to girls, which are some connotations of gay men in media. A negative representation is that he is shown to be vulnerable and emotional; especially when he is being bullied by a closeted gay, Dave.

Charlie from Perks of being a wallflower is a stereotypical teenage boy who feels like he doesn't fit in. He tries to make friends in high school and he chooses not to participate in English class because he doesn't want to get called out by his peers

Oliver Tate from Submarine shows a very realistic portrayal of a British teenager, despite his quirky behaviour. His aim to lose his virginity before his virginity before his 16th before is relatable to male teenagers. There is negative representation in his actions when he bullies Zoe in order to win the approval of the girl that he likes.

In Weekend, Russel and Glen show positive representation of British gay men. Their relationship, which starts with them meeting at a gay bar on a weekend, is shown in a positive light as they go through typical events that occur in romantic dramas.

COSTUME

Craig's costume represents the typical British teenager. Craig's personality means that he tries to blend into the background so as to avoid the attention of his peers who may potentially bully him. He dresses like a typical British male teenager - skinny jeans, vans and a long rain jacket and therefore is relatable to the audience. We took inspiration from Oliver Tate from Submarine and Jim from Just Jim.

NARRATION

In the voiceover, Craig states that "I don't know what I am yet, but I know that I'm not like everyone else"

This is the major representation that I want to pick up on. Like many members of the LGBTQ community, Craig is unsure of himself as he is at the age where teenagers are trying to understand where they fit in the many labels and social cliques. As he is a closeted gay, he questions whether he should come out because he may get bullied by his peers who already call him a 'complete freak'. Many people in the LGBTQ community would be able to relate to his uncertainty and how uncomfortable he is.

BEHAVIOUR

In one of the first scenes, Craig puts on a vinyl record. This is a signifier of Craig's indie/hipster personality as he doesn't conform to the usual teenage stereotypes.
He uses very little use of technology which is unlike most teenagers who usually cannot be parted from their phones. This immediately implies that he is not your average teenager.  This is similar to Oliver Tate from Submarine who also listens to vinyl uses a typewriter, which is unconventional. 

ACTION

Craig draws and writes in his notebook a lot. This represents his contemplative nature.

Craig's habit of drawing is similar to Pim's in North Sea Texas, where Pim is in love with his male best friend, Gino but Gino does not always reciprocate it. Pim tends to draw when he feels isolated which is similar to Craig's solitude character

GESTURE

Craig is timid and shy which could be a result of him being victimised by others in society. This is a representation of teenage members of the LGBTQ community who are bullied. This is evident when he hides his notebook which is very personal to him and curls back into himself when the bullies walk by.

MISE-EN-SCENE

The bedroom is a key representation of our character. It shows his musical and artistic personality. It is a typical teenage boy's bedroom as it is painted blue and is quite messy. The use of props suggest that Craig is a hipster/ indie. We were inspired by the use of mise-en-scene in Submarine which reveals a lot about Oliver's character.

SETTING + CAMERAWORK

We took long shots of Craig in the lake setting to emphasise his solitude character. He appears smaller in a large space and so he looks reflective and disconnected from the rest of the world. This could be representing how members of the LGBTQ community feel insignificant in societies where some sexualities are not acknowledged.

IN CONCLUSION

I think that we have represented British gay teenagers in our film opening to the best of our ability. While our character Craig may challenge some stereotypes of being gay, he conforms to other stereotypes and genuinely represents British teenagers in a positive light.

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