The representation of women and the representation of cyborgs

 Representation - to show again

Ask yourself; what is the function? what is the purpose? what is the ideal? who does this impact? 

Think about both the target audience and the group being represented.

What roles do women/synths adopt in humans?

• Motherly role; Anita acts like a mother to the children
• Sex workers
• Stereotypical female role - ie; cooking, cleaning
• House cleaners/maid type roles/butler
• Worker [unpaid labourer]
• Caregiver
• Prostitute 
• Friend
• Slave
• Rebel

Narrow, traditional and simplistic roles

Madonna/whore complex

Sigmund Freud developed a theory to explain men's anxiety towards women's sexuality, suggesting that men define women into one of two categories: the Madonna (the woman he admires and respects) and the whore (the woman he is attracted to and therefore disrespects).

The Madonna is typically virtuous, nurturing, saintly and sexually repressed.

The whore is sexualised, sensual and desirable without purity.

VAN ZOONEN - KEY THEORY 12

"There is a depressing stability in the articulation of women's politics and communication... the underlying frame of reference is that women belong to the family and domestic life and men to the social world of politics and work; that femininity is about care, nurturance and compassion, and that masculinity is about efficiency, rationality and individuality."

She argues that:

Gender is constructed and meaning varies based on cultural and historical context. She argues that gender is performed, and you learn how to be a particular gender

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS - PURCHASING ANITA

• The mise-en-scene of the sales associate's costume is a suit, connoting the idea of professionalism. Stereotypically staff in expensive stores will wear suits, this emphasises Anita's high price and her exclusivity. 
• Joe's costume binary opposes that of the sales associate; as he is wearing a regular brown jacket and dark navy shirt which is slightly unbuttoned. This creates the narrative that Joe is an untidy person and is in-need of Anita. 
• The setting demonstrates stereotypically SciFi conventions, with 'pod' like holders for the synths, positioned behind Joe. This anchors the idea that this show is of the SciFi genre.
• The colour pallet of the lab are the colours grey, a warm white and blue.
• The high-angle camera shot which looks down on Anita's feet (as the only thing Joe and his daughter can see before the purchase) allows the audience to feel immersed within the scene, as if they are stood with the purchasers due to the angle of the shot. The focus on the feet further emphasises how the duo are unaware of what they are purchasing, and are only buying her due to her functions opposed to her appearance. This is further demonstrated through the lexis of the dialogue, when Sophie hopes 'what if she's not pretty? can we change her if she's not pretty?'
• When the sales associate removes the 'packaging' for Anita, the shot is taken purposefully from behind so her face is not shown. This creates suspense regarding her appearance, and represents Anita as something worth getting excited for.
• The close-up of Anita's face demonstrates her confidence, as her face is shown closely for the audience to see, reinforcing the idea that she is attractive to a hegemonic standpoint.
• The mise-en-scene of blue contacts in Anita's eyes represents her as being unnatural, reinforcing the SciFi genre conventions.
• The lexis of the dialogue "There she blows then, your brand new synthetic. Unique styling, one of a kind, standard domestic profile installed... that'll cover all your basic housework. I'll leave you to crack on." The direct address of the word 'your' represents Joe as the owner of Anita, and shows how he is in charge of this woman. This links into outdated stereotypical perceptions of women, that they belong to men.
• Sophie says, "That mean's she's ours! Yay!" The lexis 'yay' combined with the excitement within her tone, exposes how Sophie does not see anything wrong with owning Anita. This line has polysemic meanings, either representing Sophie as innocent or as being heavily exposed to the concept of slavery, and therefore being widely accepting of it.
• The binary opposition between the physicality's of Joe and Sophie, and those of Anita's when walking shows the differences between humans and synths. The natural movement of the biologically human characters helps to represent them as normal and natural, whereas Anita is clearly represented to be unnatural and strange.
• Synths are repressed as being treated as sub-human, this is highlighted by the jobs they perform. Within this scene the 'posh-synth' (as described by Joe) is filmed cooking and cleaning whilst wearing a stereotypical maid costume. The lexis "Look, Soph, that's a really posh one," mimics the type of language expected of people onlooking a zoo animal, presenting the posh-synth as sub-human.
• Anita is represented as being sexualised, due to the close-up shot of her backside when walking alongside Sophie. This is arguably supposed to be from the perspective of Joe, as the shot is taken from behind, where he is standing. 
• Hermeneutic coding is created through the binary opposition of the modern synth store and the standard looking carpark, as the audience question why some parts of the world are more developed than others.
• The mise-en-scene of other vehicles within the carpark scene are old. There is a 2005 BMW, a 2008 Vauxhall Corsa and a 2015 VW polo. This further creates hermeneutic coding, as the audience wonder why synth technology has progressed, yet the cars look standard/slightly outdated, particularly considering this is supposed to be a futuristic show. The colour pallet of the cars is black and silver, acting as symbolic coding for misery and darkness, perhaps foreshadowing the overall mood of this modern world. There are also a few red cars during the wide/birds-eye view shots, perhaps acting as symbolic coding for danger.

OVERALL 

• Sophie is represented as being innocent, as conveyed through the use of lexis during her dialogue, where she wishes for the synth to be 'pretty', and does not question the idea of ownership of the synths. The mise-en-scene of her costume being yellow, acts as symbolic coding for happiness and demonstrates her to be a positive, childish character. Her hair includes a clip, showing she is well cared for by her father, despite his need for a Synth.
• Joe is represented as being a man trying to do the best for his family, yet also having his own underlying motives. This is anchored by his voyeristic gaze when watching Anita walk ahead. He clearly spends a lot of money on Anita, as suggested by the luxurious setting and the mise-en-scene of the sales associate's costume. This shows he cares for his family and is willing to make sacrifices for them.
• Anita is represented as being attractive to a hegemonic standpoint, as evaluated through the close-up shots of her face, which demonstrates her confidence within her appearance and gives the audience a pleasant mode of address, as they are satisfied to see her attractive face. Anita is shown to be sub-human, as other synths are referred as being 'that one', opposed to the stereotypical language expected of one who looks human.
• The sales associate is represented as working a job with wealthy clients, as exampled through the mise-en-scene of his suit costume, and the use of lexis within his dialogue, which demonstrates a wide knowledge of the product.
• HUMANS - Satisfy their own needs, and make themselves happy at the expense of others. Humans as a group, are represented as being shallow and vain, valuing other beings due to their physical appearance and roles within society, opposed to their personality and capabilities.
• SYNTHS - Synths obey humans and lack rights. They spend their lives making humans happy. They are represented as caring for others, but only due to their programming and not their own thoughts and motives.