HomeLand And Representation

First Impressions

From the poster we can see that these two are the main characters, in the front is the male and slightly behind is the female. This connotes that are both important but also that she could be following him and looking over his shoulder with out him knowing, it could also suggest that she may stand in his way at some point in the television series. The women has blue eyes and blond hair which suggests that she is the stereotypical 'blond bimbo' it also suggests innocence but she also has a serious look on her face which suggests that she could be considered to be a Strong character.

The male has half of his face blurred so he is an enigma to the audience as we can't see all of his face. This suggests that there are two sides to this character, possibly the old part of his life and the new part of his life. It could also suggest that he is now leading a double life, this is shown through the use of the picture being made to look like a TV image being distorted which also tells the audience that there may be a contrast between the media image and reality. He is wearing an American military uniform which connotes his power and strength to the audience. It also reinforces that America is his homeland and his responsibility to protect it.

The white typography stands out against the dark background and it also suggests that there will be conflict between the two characters as she has a hunch that he isn't what he seems, it also gives the audience a clue what that the genre of the TV programme is action/drama. The yellow typography also stands out against the background and also connotes happiness or optimism however black is slowly creeping up the letters which connotes that the happiness and normality will slowly be taken over or over shadowed by a treat, possibly terrorism. The 'E' in Homeland is also backwards suggesting that he doesn't consider America to be his homeland anymore and could possibly want to return to the place he has just been.

Pilot episode - Carrie

In the first scene there is an establishing shot of Baghdad, it is represented as a very busy place and is in stark contrast to the shot of America after it says 10 months later as the shots of America are calm. we are then introduced to a woman called Carrie who is in Baghdad speaking on the phone and driving, she begins to shout on the phone and get frustrated. We then find out she is speaking to her boss David who works in the government, in this scene we see her to be very argumentative and even though he is her boss she goes against his orders. This goes against the stereotype of a woman usually in an action or drama because she is in a different country and normally the woman in a government position would be behind a desk and would not be in a place that could be considered dangerous. She then enters a prison without permission from David and speaks to a prisoner as the guard pulls her away to leave she reacts in quite a violent way towards him, this also suggests that she is not the stereotypical woman and that she is persistent and will get her own way in order to find out the truth. When she talks to the Prisoner the audience also finds out that she has the power to save the mans families lives which is not stereotypical as this is such a huge responsibility for someone to have especially a woman. The audience is also positioned from her vision, we see the narrative through what she does and her actions, this makes the audience feel like she is reliable to trustworthy. When Carrie is back in America we see her rushing into her house, in this scene she could be see as an object of the desiring male gaze as the camera shows her undressing but is quickly shown that she is not only a sexual object when she starts cleaning and getting ready as she is now seen as a normal person and we now respect her for her intelligence and work again instead of her looks. The audience also has a voyerist view of Carrie when she is undressing, we know this because we can see the door frame in the shot and as she moves to the bathroom we follow but are not in the same room. This gives a sense that we are looking into her private life and seeing something that is not normally seen by anyone else making us feel like we are spying on her, this also follows the narrative as she is watching Brody's every move without his knowledge. In the bathroom she controls the gaze and where the audience looks. The music in the scene gives the impression that she is hurrying to be somewhere and her movements also symbolise this. We see that her house and her room are not stereotypical as the walls are blue and it is very simplistic and everything is in boxes and although this could show that she is unorganised they all have labels on them which shows she is but she doesnt have enough time to unpack them. this could connote that she has just moved in or she spends alot of time at work and does not have a very good social life. This is also emphasised when she is sitting in her room watching brody's life for a whole day. We also see that the relationship between Saul and Carrie is a contrast to the relationship with david because Saul and Carrie have a very respectful relationship and he also seems like a father figure to her, he also refers to looking after her as 'babysitting'.

Stereotypical representation of women in film or TV

• Damsel in distress
• Weak
• Always the side kick or love interest never the main character.
• Sex object
• 'Blonde Bimbo'
• Dependant on men
• Dilemma (Create the problem, men save them e.g. Horror films)
• Irrational (emotional)
• Home makers
• Motherly
• Cowardly
• Obsessive

Feminist film theory is mostly concerned with representation and sexuality. It also argues that society is dominated by male power structures and suggests these power structures extend to media productions and that films are constructed by men for men.
Claire Johnston is one of the earliest writers of feminist film theory and published 'Women's cinema as counter cinema' in 1973. She claims that women have been largely absent from films and any woman in film is a male vision of women not a real woman.Johnston explains that 'Woman as woman is largely absent'.
Laura Mulvey's theory of the 'Male Gaze' from the paper 'Visual pleasure and narrative cinema' written in 1975 discusses the patriarchal viewpoint of the cinema. The pleasure gained from looking (scopophilia) is the male pleasure because the view is controlled by males and only directed at females. A voyeuristic view is sexual and a narcissistic view is idealised versions of ourselves.