Representation

                                                                   Representation

For this task, we were asked to choose a film opening or poster which portrays a stereotypical depiction of a certain class, age, gender, ethnicity or sexuality. I chose the film poster of the 2008 film Choke as it clearly shows a stereotypical representation of male and females.

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In this poster of the film Choke, it is obvious to see how a woman's body is half-inserted into a man's mouth. This film is based on a man's addiction to sex who repeatedly fakes choking in restaurants in order to compensate for his mother's healthcare. Here we have two negative representations; the first is based on the objectification of women. In this poster, we do not only see the metaphorical image of objectification, we are also presented with a literal version of the message. This is because only half of the woman's body is visible and it is quite clear how the artist has chosen the bottom half as the man pictured only sees women as an opportunity for sexual pleasure. We all know that women are independent, strong and well-respected individuals which raises the question 'why do we only see her legs?'. This is because the man is pictured literally 'choking' on his addiction which in this case is the addiction  to women.

Although we see the objectification  of women, we also presented with the perception how men are seen as nothing but sexually-motivated monsters. The face of the man is a silhouette, therefore he is portrayed as a dark, shady character which in reality he may just be a man who wants to fulfill his task of keeping his ill mother comforted as much as possible with the best quality healthcare. Furthermore, notice how the man also has no distinct facial expression. This forces the audience to view men as emotionless people who do not care for any people but themselves as individuals. Quite clearly, the poster forces oppositional reading as the audience will immediately gain a vision of a vulnerable woman and a psychopathic man rather than the preferred reading where it intends to show a man's struggle with his addiction who wants to help his mother.

To summarise, both of the representations depicted in this controversial film poster are clearly false messages. Both of these representations are based on ideology from previous times therefore shows how society has moved on and equality between men and women has also moved on despite there being minorities of people who still think differently about social equality.