GCSE Media - The Avengers - Representation

[0:00]Hello, and welcome to my easy-to-understand guide to The Avengers and representation. This video's going to be particularly relevant for you if you are studying OCR, GCSE, Media Studies. The current set episode for study is Series 4, Episode 2, The Gravediggers, so that's what I'm going to focus on here. The two main characters here are really represented in quite a lot of binary opposition, so two people represented very differently to one another. Steed, as the male protagonist, is represented in quite a traditional, old-fashioned, patriarchal kind of way. He wears a bowler hat, he carries a cane, his costume is quite traditional and nostalgic. It's very clear from this that he's quite upper class, and that includes the way that he speaks. He always refers to the female character as Mrs. Peel, never by her first name. It makes him seem very formal and respectful. The use of his costume, and the use of low and high angles helps to contrast him to the working-class grave digger. Several times in the episode, he references the fact that he fought in World War II, um, and that kind of shows that he's quite patriotic, he sees it as his duty to fight for his country. And obviously, this representation of a very patriarchal, traditional man reflects the fact that this was made quite a long time ago, in a society where gender roles were more stereotypical. Whereas, the more traditional representation of Steed, um, would have helped to target those more traditional audiences who still weren't ready for progressive ideas about gender roles in society, and they still wanted to retain some elements of, um, tradition. Men are represented in quite physically strong ways, doing lots of active roles in the narrative. We see them getting involved in scuffles, full-on fights, using a variety of weapons, including guns, and generally being quite violent. They're also shown quite stereotypically as being quite intelligent, being able to come up with complex ideas. The representation of Emma Peel is very contrasting to this, she is younger and much more modern for those times. She's a martial arts expert, she's a genius, she's clearly very confident. And this would have been seen as quite progressive and unusual in this decade. Women were much more commonly shown in quite domestic ways, being mothers, um, being housewives, not having careers of their own. So, having someone who fights, having someone who's quite independent, would have been seen as quite unusual. The slightly more independent, youthful, modern, progressive representation of Emma Peel would have really helped to target those younger, more progressive audiences, the women in the sixties who were perhaps starting to embrace ideas about feminism and who wanted a bit more independence outside of the home. Despite the fact that she's shown as quite modern, she is still quite sexualized. She wears quite revealing, skin-tight clothing, her cat suit was quite iconic. And this representation really does objectify her for a primarily male audience. And it represents the fact that this sexualization of women was far more common in this time period. Although Emma Peel is quite independent, she does tend to follow Steed's instructions all the time. It reflects the fact that she's quite obedient, um, and so there is still this representation of men being at the kind of top of the hierarchy in society, and women following their instructions. Women are shown in fairly typical careers for the 1960s. So, for example, we see the female characters as nurses. And this was a common career path for women at the time. By contrast, the male characters are doctors, suggesting that men are more suited for those kind of higher status medical roles. Although it is clear from the difference in costume, body language and attitude that the matron has more power than the nurses. So, there is a hierarchy of power within the female medical team. Again, fairly stereotypically, um, it's Emma Peel that is kind of kidnapped, tied up, and ends up being the damsel in distress that needs rescuing by a male character. And women portraying victims is quite a typical role for them in the media. It's a very British representation, the bowler hat, the cane, um, the very RP accents as well. It creates a very British image, um, and this would have been quite popular, not just for British audiences following the kind of World War II, wanting to feel patriotic, but it also would have appealed to, um, global audiences as well, who would find Britain, um, quite exciting and exotic. Sir Horace Winslip is represented as a very wealthy, incredibly odd, eccentric character. Who has the power to have these kind of incredible fake train type sets available to him. It's obvious that he's kind of living in a world of his own, um, based on his fascination with trains. There's obviously, um, a lack of representation of things like alternative sexualities, so we're not seeing any gay or lesbian characters, for example. Um, it's very kind of heteronormative in that respect. And that reflects the fact that this was the 1960s, and sexuality, heteronormative sexuality was seen as something traditional, um, and other sexualities just really weren't shown or acknowledged in the media. This also explains why there is no ethnic diversity in the episode. Although the UK in the 1960s was becoming increasingly diverse, we were getting more immigration into the country. It still wasn't something that was being represented in the media really, and um, a lot of our media products were still very traditionally focused on white protagonists. The unnamed, mysterious British intelligence agency that Steed and Peel appear to work for is represented as quite high-tech, futuristic and modern. This is done through the use of flashing lights, shots of radar, satellites, another high-tech style machinery. So, that was my easy-to-understand guide to representation in The Avengers. Don't forget to subscribe to my channel for other videos that might be relevant for you. And if you've got any questions that you would like, or any videos that I don't already have, leave a little comment below, and I'll see what I can do.