TASK TWO: How does your product represent particular social groups?

Throughout life we see particular social groups and stereotypes which all seems to begin at high-school/ secondary school.

We see this in such films as “Mean Girls” (produced by Paramount Pictures and directed by Mark Waters).

This idea that we must belong to a certain social group is prominent in society, especially in youthful years, as teenagers are trying to find their identity.

Two of the social groups listed in “Mean Gils” which relate to the character of the swimmer in my thriller sequence are;

-JV Jocks (a person who actively and competitively competes in sporting events)

-Varsity Jocks (a person who represents a university/college in a sports team)

However, the character of the swimmer in “Immersed” is a female obsessed with sports. This is therefore subverting the stereotype of the male obsessed with sports as the gender stereotype is reversed.

An American television drama series, Make It or Break It, focuses on the lives of teen gymnasts who strive to make it to the Olympic Games (Directed by Steve Miner and produces by ABC Family). This program is centered on females who aim to be in the Olympics. This is the same social group which is representing in my product.

People like Rebecca Adlington, the first British swimmer to win two Olympic gold medals since 1908, began swimming aged 4 and competing aged 10.

The social group, where such people as Rebecca Adlington belong is the social group which I am representing in my project. A group of girls who, from a young age, are committed, determined and obsessed with sports and hope to peruse it as a career.

As the main character in my sequence is a so obsessed/immersed in swimming she is distracted. She is therefore vulnerable.

This is also quite stereotypical, as the girl who is isolated, distracted and alone is shown to be vulnerable. We see many examples of this in adverts to warn teenagers to pay attention while crossing the road as they are usually listening to music on their IPod or texting on the phone. This stereotype of teenagers being distracted, unaware and vulnerable is also present in my product.

Below is video of this representation in tranpsot for london's advert for road safety where a girls dreams are "shattered" as she "dies before she lives" as she is unaware and distracted.