Representation Analysis

In the trailer for pink panther, there are different types of groups represented in the clip. For example, there are the french, women, police officers and detectives. There is a mixture of a dominant and alternative representations for these groups. For instance, the French had an alternative representation because usually they are represented to be classy and romantic however Jacques Clouseau was the opposite as he was clumsy and wasn't dressed very classy. On the other hand, you can say that the French men had a dominant representation because most of them that were in the clip had a moustache and a french accent. This can be linked to Perkins theory that some stereotypes can be positive or partly true and in this case, the fact that in France it is extremely common to see men with facial hair particularly a moustache makes the representation partly true. For the representation of the French having a sort of amusing French accent, Medhurst theory links with this because even though the representation tells the audience in a short space of time that the characters are French and that the setting of the clip is based in France, it still can carry a negative view for the representation on French people. They would be stereotyped to having a funny accent when they talk and that they are unable to pronounce some words in English, especially words that begin with the letter H. Another group in this clip that was the women. This group also has a mixture of dominant and alternative representations. It is dominant because women are stereotyped to be attractive, wear make-up and dress seductively. Xania, the singer, was portrayed as exactly as expected. She wore seducing clothes and wore make-up and had the image of perfection. This links to Mulvey's theory of the male gaze as Xania was presented for men to look at since she was seen as the stereotype that men look for in a women. However, there was a hint of alternative representation for the women in the clip as, Jacques Clouseau's assistant, Nicole, was not really representaed as the usual stereotyped female. Her hair was always tied back and she wore glasses and it didn't look like she wore much make-up insisting a alternative view for women especially seeing that she was an assitant for a police detective and usually in these situations, the women would have been represented as attractive and would have worn seducing clothes. This is opposite to the male gaze and her character wouldn't really interested much men compared to Xania. Despite of this, it is worth noticing that at the end of the film, Nicole's character supports the idea of the male gaze because in the special event, she is wearing a revealing dress and she had her hair done up with make-up on and then Jacques takes off her glasses insisting that she looks preetier without them. Therefore, in a nutshell, Muvley's theory was clearly displayed in the film. The last two groups are the police officers and the detectives. Both seemed to have a dominant representation because they were portrayed as formal characters as they wore uniforms and were discreet whilst working. They more power than other characters in this clip due to their job and their authority and they can tend to stereotype those with less power than them which clearly relates to Dyers theory of stereotyping and power. For example, Jacques was an obvious alternative representation for a police detective due to his clumsy character and Charles, his boss stereotyped his clumsiness and viewed him as stupid even though he was intelligent enough to solve the case.