Task 1 - Textual Analysis. . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhJrN3B6J1M

I will be writing about the clip shown above which is a clip from the movie 17 Again. This is a movie that looks at teenagers which will be a film that will allow me to look at how teenagers are being represented in Hollywood movies.

At the beginning of the scene, the audience is shown Zac Efron and his friend (Alex) and they are shown in the canteen. This creates the atmosphere that it is based on typical teenagers at school having their lunch. There is a long shot at the beginning of the scene which shows Zac Efron and Alex from a distance. The purpose of this long shot is so that the audience can see the environment in which the two characters are as they are in the school canteen which is full of teenagers. The scene begins of with allowing the audience to be familiar with the two characters personality as the teenagers begin talking about their parents knowing each other. This then follows on to Zac Efron saying to Alex "we should look after each other" which connotes that teenagers need support within school and do not prefer to be alone as they would prefer someone to be there for them. This is the first stereotype that is created of teenagers within the scene that shows how teenagers are. Alex then responds by saying "next time you can get there before they tape me to the toilet". This connotes that Alex is being bullied within school and instantly shows his position in the film which is a "geek". This shows that teenagers in Hollywood productions are being split up in to the "popular" group and the "unpopular" group.

While Alex and Zac Efron are having lunch, they are shown in a medium shot which allows the audience to see what a typical teenage lunch is like. Zac and Efron begin to talk about a teenage girl who is called Nicole. When Alex refers to her as "the head cheerleader", he shows the audience clearly that the head cheerleader cannot be seen as a "geek" like him. This shows that within Hollywood films, teenagers are being separated in to groups of what then characterises them for the whole time that they are in school. This results to bullying and not being popular in school. This relates to the issue and debate of representation and stereotyping as it shows that teenagers are being in a way discriminated against due to their position within school. It also connotes that Hollywood productions are stereotyping teenagers as having a set of groups of teenagers which consist of jocks, cheerleaders, geeks and the popular teenagers. This is usual in Hollywood films as Alex is dreaming over Nicole the head cheerleader when he knows that he stands no chance of being recognised by her.

This looks at the audience theory and shows that this specific scene is attracting the audience as they can then relate to what is happening as this is common between teenagers. This also means that the people that may watch this film that are not teenagers would then be injected ideas about how teenagers are viewed which will relate to the Hypodermic Needle theory. This shows that due to the way in which teenagers are being represented in Hollywood movies, it has resulted in teenagers being seen as a group of people that are in "certain" groups. For example, the "geeks" may result in being stereotyped as hardworking by the audience whereas the "jocks" may be stereotyped as negative and always causing problems. This connotes that by the different roles in Hollywood films, it has taken an impact in the way that the public view teenagers.

As the scene progresses, the "jocks" are shown to the audience from a long shot to a medium shot as it shows them walking in as if they own the place. This then stereotypes them as trouble makers as Stan the "lead" jock is shown in the middle of the group and grabs a sandwich out of someones hand and gets away with it. This then results to a pattern in Hollywood films as the jocks are mainly represented negatively as causing problems and assuming that they are better than everyone else in the film. Zac Efron then gets in to a fight with Stan for just making eye contact and Alex also warns him and says "don't make eye contact with him". This gives the impression to viewers that jocks are so frightening that they should do what they want and everyone else should sit back. This results to a further stereotype of teenagers being represented negatively in particular due to jocks. This represents them as causing trouble and being too arrogant and think too much of themselves which is a representation that is commonly created through Hollywood productions.

Overall, this shows that by looking at this clip it shows a range of ways that teenagers are being represented in Hollywood productions as they are being represented in many different groups such as the geeks, the jocks, the popular teenagers, the unpopular teenagers and etc. This has resulted to this typical representation of teenagers occurring in Hollywood productions which is shown in the clip of 17 Again as in a four minute clip, all these representations of teenagers are being shown. This shows that teenagers are being represented in a slight negative way in Hollywood productions as they are firstly divided in to different groups and they are then seen to be getting in to fights and causing trouble.