Vampire Diaries Analysied:

Network: The CW Television Network - Vampire diaries:

The Vampire diaries show was created by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec.

The show is a supernatural drama about a love triangle between a high school girl Elena Gilbert and two vampire brothers Stefan Salvatore and Damon Salvatore. From personally watching the series several stereotypes of teen girls have been developed throughout the seasons. For example in this scene we see how a female blonde character is stereotyped as being a dumb blonde.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWHn12LEn_4

"Are you really that dumb or just naturally blonde?" From this dialogue we see how Rebbecca a blonde character in the scene is perceived as being stupid by another female character. This scene has an effect on teenage girls especially girls who have blonde hair as they are  seen by the Media as being unintelligent which makes them feel like they actually are dumb when they really aren't. This misrepresentation can cause self esteem issues for young girls who start to feel like they shouldn't voice their opinion as they may be considered dumb from what they might say. This negative pressure is generated by the media and it's felt by young teenage girls, who are consistently bombarded with these images of how a normal teenage girl should look, act and speak.T.V. shows like vampire diaries push young girls to be like these female teen characters on these shows.

A large age gap between an actresses age and their characters age is seen as the norm in the media industry, for instance Nina Dobrev is an actress who is 24 years old and she plays a seventeen year old high school girl in the Vampire diaries. Producers and directors of these teen dramas purposefully employee older actresses and actors to play these teen roles, as they want older people who will always have flawless skin and bring a certain maturity to the role, which most normal teenagers aren't able to do. I found this quite shocking as not only does the media misrepresent the image of teen girls by employing adults to act in teenage roles but they cause young girls to feel insecure with how they look as false images of what a normal teen looks like in the media, encourages young girls to develop eating disorders and confidence issues as, these teen female characters are stereotyped as always being beautiful and skinny. The Media industry manipulates societies perception or attitude towards young girls, who fall victim to the constant pressures of having to look and act older because of stereotypical characters on T.v. programmes like the Vampire diaries who look very mature for their supposed age.

http://media.screened.com/uploads/0/3924/610845-004.jpg

The image above of Rebbecca a main character on the show vampire diaries.

shows how a characters costume and makeup can alter their stereotype. For instance her top is quite revealing which makes us as an audience assume that she is a bit of a slut, she also is wearing quite alot of makeup and her hair colour is blonde these connotations reflect the media's view of teenage girls and impact the way society views young girls. Teenage girls are supposed to live up to these unrealistic character representations of themselves in these types of television shows.

 

http://depts.washington.edu/thmedia/view.cgi?section=bodyimage&page=fastfacts

 

I recently viewed these shocking statistics which prove how much the Media industry has affected Teenage girls worldwide as, being bombarded with images of impossibly skinny girls have contributed to thousands of

  health issues which young girls have to face as they try to live up to these characters like Rebbecca. The implications of these types of shows are contributing to the increasing number of eating disorders and body issues.

At the age of thirteen, 53% of American girls are "unhappy with their bodies." This grows to 78% by the time girls reach seventeen. This is an unfortunate epidemic spreading world wide as the media manipulates young girls into thinking they are not normal as unrealistic images supposedly representing them are displayed constantly. Therefore if the media continues to misrepresent teenage girls the number of eating disorders and mental health issues will rise dramatically, these kind of T.V. programmes like Vampire diaries may seem harmless in the beginning but the messages of being incredibly thin and wearing large amounts of make are the only way to be seen as beautiful in society.

 

 

Content Teenage Magazine analysis : Creme NZ

Content Analysis:

In class I analysed 'Creme' a New Zealand magazine that has a target market of 10 to 15 year old teenage girls. The cover girl of this Magazine was Selena Gomez, her image makes us think of when she was a sweet innocent Disney star, who is famous for dating Justin Beiber and being best Friends with Demi Lovato.

 Selena Gomez was wearing bright youthful clothes which makes her seem more young as she was not showing any cleavage or skin. Cremes cover girls often have white complexions who are very pretty and skinny. They carefully choose their cover girl as they know the front page of the magazine has to attract their target market. When choosing the perfect cover girl the editor of the magazine looks for a celebrity who still has an innocent 'girl next door' image. The reason the magazine is so picky is because, most of their readers make their parents buy the magazine for them and if the parent does not think the celebrity on the front cover is appropriate for their child to be reading about, then they wont buy it for them. This means a large amount of time is required when choosing the cover girl of the magazine.

The colours used on the front cover of the magazine were Purple and Yellow these are bright colours which attract its target market. They choose these bright colours because they have to compete with other teenage magazines like girlfriend and dolly. If the magazine is not attractive to their target market it will not be sold and therefore not gain a profit. The only image on the front cover was the famous Selena Gomez.

What stories, features are adveritsed on the front cover?
The stories or 'Features' were mainly about celebrity gossip music and boy bands e.g. an interview with fallout boy was advertised on the cover. Also an interview with Selena was promised hinting that she will talk about Justin Bieber and Taylor swift. This shows how the magazine contains articles about celebrity gossip, beauty, music and boys. These articles show how the media industry already knows what their readers are interested in.

 How many adverts were inside the magazine are the products reasonably priced?
The number of adverts Advertised  in the Magazine was 21. These ads were made up of makeup, hair products, clothing and technology. The price of these products were quite expensive for the target market to purchase for instance not many 13 yearolds could afford $40.00 lipsticks so retailers rely on teenage girls pestering their parents to purchase these products. It was quite shocking of how many double ups of ads were found in the articles as they were hidden beneath Beauty columns, which genreate remakes of celebrity looks that promise the reader if they buy these products advertisted they will be able to look like a celebrity.

What is the main focus of the articles contained in the magazine?
Beauty - Makeup advice, Style tips etc.
Celebrities - Musicians, actresses inside gossip
Remakes of celebrities appearances
Advice for relationships (friends and boyfriends)

The articles published in this magazine encouraged young girls to look like celebrities as beauty articles focused mainly on makeup and fashion remakes of a celebrity
look. Acompanying the article were beauty products that could help you achieve this celebrity look advertised in the article. The articles were mainly focused on beauty and they encouraged girls to try and be like these celebrities. I  believe these articles are ruining young teenage girls self esteems as these unrealistic photoshopped images try to be repliced by these readers who will not succede in recreating these impossibly perfect images of celebrities. This image of unattainable beauty makes young girls feel insecure which will in turn cause them to go out and buy these advertised beauty products that will supposedly help them achieve their desired celebrity look. The articles about Boys gave the young readers advice about how to deal with a crush or first kiss in relation to the opposite sex. These types of articles often ommited same sex relationships which are becoming increasingly common, this shows how the Media stereotypes all teenage girls as being the same for instance the same white complexsion, blonde or bruneete hair colour and a straight sexual orientaion. Some young girls may feel like they are not normal as they do not fit the media's criteria of how a normal teenage girl should look or act like.

http://www.isubscribe.co.nz/images/covers/NZ/94/7248/large/CremeMagazine1551391736.jpg

I think this Magazine is relatively quite tame in contrast to other magazines like Dolly which publish sexual questions and health advice. Which is reassuring as the ages of their teenage market are quite low, so these types of topics would be very inappropriate for them to be reading. The idea of being beautiful and skinny has been quickly introduced throughout the magazine as these articles encourage girls to try and achieve the desired look of what the magazine expects of them as they portray the perfect girl as looking like  Selena Gomez. These unrealistic images of how a girl should look can result in a high number of eating disorders and mental illness diagnosed as young girls try to be like these stick thin celebrities these pressures are caused from the media.


What stereotypes of teenage girls are presented in the magazine?
The common stereotype is of a blonde or brunette who is skinny and has a white flawless complexion. This type of stereotype is regularly published within the magazine. No other ethnic groups are included apart from white skinned woman in the magazine. This kind of stereotype has a negative effect on teenage girls as they feel they have to live up to this image of what they should look like. Most readers of the magazine will not fit all of the requirements of this image, so they will feel like they are not seen as 'normal' as they don't  look like the cover girl who is portrayed by the magazine as being a  'normal' teenage girl. Therefore these stereotypes make young girls feel like they don't belong in society as they do not look like these skinny beautiful white girls who are portrayed by the magazine as being 'normal'.

Are their any omissions in the magazine? 
Curvy or healthy sized models were not shown in the magazine and no other ethnic groups were shown apart from Caucasian woman. Other sexual preferences were not mentioned either e.g. no gay or lesbian relationships were published in the magazine. It was reassuring to see that drugs, sex and alcohol were not mentioned in the articles of the magazine.

Which celebrities are offered as role models? 
Selena Gomez is the cover girl on this magazine, Demi lovato, Taylor swift these female celebrities are good role models as they have not had any bad press e.g. taking drugs being too thin. Demi lovato has recently criticised Hollywood for causing her eating disorder of Bulimia she now has rebelled against the traditional stick thin celebrity look. Demi has vented her frustrations over twitter "there needs to be more variety on television so young girls growing up don't feel pressured to look one specific way."These types of celebrities are appropriate role models for young teenage girls to aspire to be like as they all have good morals and are healthy weights. http://www.kovideo.net/demi-lovato-criticises-disney-for-making-fun-of-eating-disorder-news-demi-lovato-4705.html

What does the magazine portray as being normal?

The magazine portrays a normal teenage girl to be skinny, pretty and white skinned. This generalised view of a  teenage girl is misrepresented, as most readers will not fit into most of these categories which determine whether you look like a 'normal' teenage girl. The media's idea of normal is highly unrealistic for example the common barbie doll who younger preteen girls idolise this doll's figure is physically impossible to have for instance she would not be able to stand up because her body frame would be so unbalanced. These unrealistic ideas of how a girl should look are ridiculous as from the picture you see on the right clearly shows how much an average woman's proportions are not being used at all when Mattel designed Barbie. http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45543000/gif/_45543032_barbie_comparison466.gif

Does it provide a postive message about what it is to be a teenage girl today?
Yes and no as it does provide articles about self esteem but majority of them are about improving your looks and aspiring to look and act like Celebrities like Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift and Demi Lovato. Some of these celebrities are appropriate to show young girls that you can be pretty and curvy such as Demi Lovato who has started fighting against the traditional stick thin Hollywood look. But in contrast Taylor swift and Selena Gomez have unrealistic body shapes as they are so incredibly thin. I think that magazines like the one I have analysed focus too much on beauty as the articles are always telling young girls how they should aspire to look like certain celebrities e.g. Gomez. These messages of being beautiful have had a mixed reaction from young readers as some have used these images to feel more confidant and it has been worse for others who feel they can not live up to the high expectations of what the media thinks of them. Therefore I think if the media targeted at young girls was more restricted and controlled there would be less eating disorders and mental illnesses amongst young teenage girls.

My thoughts on the film 'Mean girls' directed by David Waterman and 'Something Borrowed' Directed by Luke Green field:

STEREOTYPES WITHIN FILMS:

In the film 'Mean Girls' directed by David Waterman there are a range of teen stereotypes shown for instance during scene 3 where Cady the main character is introduced to the cliques of high school and where these groups sit in the cafeteria. Through the use of dialogue and camera shots, Janis another main character tells Cady about the rules of high school when she mentions all of the cliques in the cafeteria "smart Asians, wannabes, burn outs, Jocks,  unfriendly black hotties and the plastics etc". A fast motion camera shot is used to show all of the cliques within the cafeteria with a voice over from Janis describing each of the cliques.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ_qXmxdgGM
This scene has an affect on how teenage girls view themselves and others as quotes like "unfriendly black hotties" display racism which encourages discrimination and bullying. This scene shows how an appearance determines what clique or group you will belong to for example the 'plastics' all appear to be pretty, white skinned and skinny.


 During the start of the film in scene 1 when we first are introduced to Regina a protruding camera shot is used when ever she is present in a scene this type of camera shot focuses only on her this shot is used as she must be the centre of attention. Therefore during the film she is usually always in the middle of a shot. This camera shot enables us as an audience to see how all the characters revolve around her,  during scene 2 we see how she is carried by several guys, almost like she is positioned on a pedestal. Another characters dialogue reinforces this idea when Damien refers to her as being "Teen royalty" hence the pedestal image which is created. This blonde mean girl stereotype is represented by dialouge and camera shots. This misrepresentation does have an effect on teenage girls as the mean girl stereotype makes them want to be like Regina George as they believe if they look and speak like her their life will become perfect. This misrepresentation of teen girls has caused an increase in bullying in high schools, as more and more girls try to live up to the roles of the mean pretty bitchy stereotypical blonde in order to feel cool. This thinking has caused the victims of this bullying to develop depression, suicidal thoughts and even eating disorders. This is all caused from the pressure of the media's interpretation of what you should look and act like based on your appearance. When we first see Regina George she is portrayed as being the queen bee of the 'plastics' we as an audience think this because a close up  slow motion camera shot is used of Regina being carried by several guys. This image shows how she rules the school. The two other plastics Gretchen and Karen both have very revealing costumes on as they try to gain as much attention as possible from onlookers. Regina's costume in contrast is not as revealing as the other two  because she doesn't need to reveal much in order for her to grab peoples attention.
. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHNp7J48JxE

I recently watched another movie called 'Something Borrowed' directed by Luke Greenfield it was a traditional Hollywood Romantic comedy.  Kate Hudson plays the role of a blonde spoilt character called Darcy we as an audience, see from her appearance that she is blonde and ditsy also her costumes are feminine and slutty. This Character is the antagonist in the film as she steals Rachel's true love Dex who she then becomes engaged with. During scene 2 where Darcy first meets Dex we are able to see how she is represented as the mean girl stereotype. Through the use of a protruding camera shot we see how the camera focuses on her when she takes her cardigan off to impress Dex who Rachel secretly loves. Darcy knows Rachel likes Dex and this act shows us how far she is willing to go in order to get what she wants. This blonde mean girl stereotype is similar to Regina Georges character in the film mean girls as both of these films have been directed by male directors. This therefore shows us how male dominated the media industry has become as a female input has obviously not been used when creating these characters. The reason these characters are so similar is because they both have the same stereotype  as males only have one perspective on how females should act and look. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuOY4W9QFNI

My thoughts on the documentary Miss Representation and other forms of media:

Last week in class we watched some of the film Miss Representation directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom. In the film we saw how woman are mostly portrayed as sex symbols e.g. large chested, skinny and beautiful females. This common stereotype is used in most media such as, TV programs and films.It was interesting to see how popular television programs such as the hills, gossip girl and modern family were all produced and directed by men. This means females such as, teenage girls are mostly portrayed as being skinny uneducated and pretty. This common stereotype is seen by a large percentage of females world wide which causes us as females to start comparing ourselves to these stereotypical images. These images are unrealistic ideas of what woman should look like and how she should act. The film also highlighted the low number of female producers and directors within the media industry. The lack of female input into the media industry allows males to generate the same old unrealtisic stereotrypes of females which are based on their vision of what a female should look like and act. After watching some of the documentry it made me aware of how badly we as females are miss representated in the media. For instance I was watching an episode of Modern family today and it showed three female characters all suffering from PMS (pre menstral syndrome)and they were seen by the male characters as being "menstral monsters" this genretaes a stereotype that when a woman is on her period she will be evil and horrible. This is oboviously not the case as near the end of that episode it showed the male character reflecting on his words he decides that woman are not really "menstrual monsters". This episode showed me how the media industry is slowly changing their attitudes to women and encouraging different types of woman to be shown on TV and films e.g. Amy off the film pitch perfect where she is seen as a larger woman who is very humorous. 

What is a Stereotype???

A stereotype is a generalised view of a group of people, stereotypes are largely based on appearances.

For instance a common stereotype used is the perception that blonde's are dumb bimbos. This stereotype was formed in the media by actress Marilyn Monroe in the 1950's when she played female blonde characters who were seen as dumb and ditsy. So how do we stereotype? well, we basically judge another persons appearance and presume based on their appearance that will be how they will act. Why do we do it?! well the media industry is mostly responsible for our stereotyping as they regularly show these stereotypes in television programs, magazines, films etc which we grow accustomed to seeing causing us to easily stereotype and discriminate against others. The media uses stereotypes to capture the viewers attention as we are shown them so often which enables us to understand a character.