Exam practice exemplar

Stuart Hall's theory on representation succinctly summarises the complexity of representing women in the media. Representations of women in the media have never been 'simple and straightforward' they are too influenced by the politics, social ideas and power struggle between genders that surrounds and constructs them. Some may argue that representation of women in historical media texts such as Folger's coffee advertisements are 'simple and straightforward'. The denotation of a stay at home wife/mother who is reprimanded by her working husband for making bad coffee and for not having the foresight to buy a better brand appear to be simple; woman are less intelligent than men and are constrained to the domestic environment. However, modern representation and future representation of women reflect woman's changing role in society and changing position in the power balance between men and women. In BBC 1's 2015 TV Drama Dr Foster and Smoke House's 2015 dramatic film August: Osage County it is clear to see that representations of women, in their many different roles, are hugely complicated and complex.


BBC 1's Dr Foster presents many different roles for women. The main protagonist Gemma is a professional, a GP holding down a medical practice, a marriage and fulfilling the role of mother to her son. Throughout the 6 episodes of this drama, this one character is represented as: a competent GP; an unprofessional and unethical GP; a loving wife and a revengeful seductress willing to use her body in order to manipulate her husband Simon's, demise; a kind and nurturing mother and a deranged mother willing to let her husband believe she has killed their only child in order to force a confession. Through this one very complex character it is clear to see that it is increasingly difficult to represent the myriad of personas/personalities and roles that a modern day woman can inhabit. We also have 'stock' characters such as Kate, the young, simple-minded seductress willing to believe Simon's every promise and ends up pregnant with his child, but they seem to have been included in this TV drama as an anathema to Gemma's tragically-flawed heroine. The 'gaze' here is clearly one that is perhaps 'feminine' or pro feminist. Perhaps Charlotte Moore, BBC One's controller, clearly understands her complex female viewers, the TV drama was aired at 9pm on a weekday perfect for an adult female audience desiring complex female characters to explore the complicated identity of what it means to be a woman in a modern context. Suranne Jones won Serial Drama Performance for National Television Awards 2016 for her portrayal of Gemma again highlighting the appreciation for a complex representation of what it means to be a professional working female, whilst still fulfilling the more traditional roles of wife and mother.


Smoke House's representation of women is no less complex. The all female Weston family are lead by a powerful matriarch Violet, held together by a powerful, aggressive and forthright eldest sister Barbara, softened by younger sister Ivy's compassion and shyness and in positioned in contrast to Karen's overt sexuality and desire to fulfil the role of wife.