Representation theories: blog post

Person of interest

In this scene from Person of interest we see many representations. Most of them are universal ways of thinking/judging. An example is of the American gang that have the hostages waiting in fear for a hero to save them. Richard Dyer's theory would suggest the gangsters, especially because they are black, are violent and have/show no sympathy. The reason why black people are stereotyped in this way is because mainly white middle class males are able to portray them in this way because they have the power to create representations - through news or running the country. Although America have a black President (in power through running country), these representations haven't changed or been watered down. Therefore, this show has used a black gang to keep reinforce the representation of black people by putting the hostages in the vulnerable and unethical position they are in. However, Perkins' theory can also be applied here because of the stories we hear in the news about black people being 'gang affiliated'. So this scene could be partly true because although its not all black people that are heartless criminals there are some that are.

Another representation portrayed in this scene is created when the protagonist (in the suit) uses the information read out from the woman to escape from his capture and vulnerability. The representation shown here is of your typical intelligent and brave protagonist who is able to work under pressure. Medhurst's theory would suggest that this is a positive way of reinforcing the stereotype as we would expect a hero to be able to encrypt or decipher a message like the one given in the scene. Also, it would leave the audience wondering whether they would have been as focused as he was to figure out the message. In addition, there is another representation constructed within the escape when the woman indiscreetly reads out the message not considering it could be a trap. The stereotype here could possibly be of a black person not being as intelligent or educated as the protagonist or white people. Alternatively, the fact that it was one of the crew members instead of the leader of the crew could be another reason why she is represented as careless. This is because the leader of the gang may not have been as foolish to give away information without considering it's consequences. Therefore, I believe this representation can be linked with Medhurst because the audience are being shown a black female stubborn enough to read information out which could have dangered the crew. Also, Mulvey's theory would suggest that women would probably be better of being looked at instead of doing the hard work.