Stranger Things representation Essay

How are different social groups represented in the sequence you have analysed? What role does the use of media language, signs and signifiers have in constructing and presenting these representations as real?

Within the first episode of Stranger Things, there are a number of different social groups presented such as teenagers, mothers and the government. Some of these groups comply with stereotypical features whereas others portray themselves as countertypes as they don't fit the usual representation that we would expect to see.

A major social group that is presented within the first episode are teenagers. There are two groups of teenagers represented; the pre-teens (I.e. Mike's group) and the older teens (who go to high school). From the start of the episode, we see that the group of boys are typical nerdy type characters as they play the board game 'Dungeons and dragons,' a role playing game that includes quests, monsters etc. This signifies that they may not be the most popular kids at school as they would much rather stay in for long periods of time to play a board game rather than go out. Whilst playing the board game, we see how emersed they get themselves within the game by the slow moving panning extreme close ups of the boys facial expressions, completely concentrated in their role within the game. This representation is further shown with the boys knowledge of comic books, superheroes and sci-fi which are typically related to characters who are quite geeky. Stereotypically, a nerdy character is represented as quite weak and feeble however, the boys are portrayed as strong, confident and brave. Mike is portrayed as the leader of the group, making a majority of the decisions. For example, he is the game master, he is usually positioned in the front of the group when they go places (E.g. When looking for Will in the woods but find Eleven). Dustin is portrayed as confident as when faced with bullies, he stands up and defends himself. Will is also shown as brave when being chased by the monster, he goes straight to the shed to grab a shot gun to defend himself. All of these aspects of the storyline construct the representation that the boys are the protagonists of this story and will be at the forefront fighting the antagonists.

Another social group that we see a lot of throughout the first episode are the government and the police. Dr Brenner is the main portrayal we see of the government. When first meeting him, he is portrayed as quite mysterious, suspicious and authoritative. This is reinforced when he exits a car and the camera pans up slowly from his feet to his face therefore we slowly are introduced him but only see his face last. This also portrays him as quite important as it is a big introduction to him. There are also a number of low angle shots looking up to Dr Brenner representing his authority. Later in the episode we see that the government are portrayed as malicious and untrustworthy as we see that the kind caring social worker is actually from the government and kills Benny, an innocent humble man. We know that she is part of the government as we see Brenner walk in afterwards. They don't feel bad for murdering someone showing that they are villainous. The police force in the episode are portrayed as completely contrasting. To start with, they are portrayed as the stereotypical lazy cops who aren't good at their job. This is shown by their actions in the first scene, completely distracted by playing cards, dough nuts etc. Throughout the episode we start to see that Hopper, the representative of the police, is more caring and thoughtful that initially thought as we find out about his deceased daughter.