Teenage Girls

As the main character of our short film is a teenage girl, I decided to research into various female teenagers and their portrayals in film/ television. By doing this, we can then define our character further using the codes and conventions of other characters. We can then decide which conventions we want to follow or challenge.

You Got Served: Liyah is quite a traditional representation of a teenage girl. She takes pride in her appearance and also helps around her house. She cares about her family which is a very traditional portrayal of female. Even though she is dominantly a traditional female, she still has modern factors such as she is quite rebellious and also dresses quite provocatively.

Save The Last Dance: Sarah is a very modern representation of female and teenager. She is very independant, rebellious and dominant. She is very interested in studying but is also quite modern in the sense that she likes to go to parties. One of the most traditional factors of Sarah is that she thoroughly enjoys classical dance and wishes to be a ballerina, which is a very typical feminine dream. She is also very caring but can be quite fiery towards people she does not get on with. She also talks in a very well-spoken way but gradually uses some slang, this makes her slightly more relateable by the target audience of the film.

Kidulthood: Becky is a very modern representation of a female. She is very promiscuous and doesn't tend to hide this fact. This makes her slightly masculine in a sense. She also openly takes drugs and sells her body. She isn't very caring and is extremely selfish when it comes to other people. She doesn't seem to have much of a relationship with her mother or any other close family members. Even though she isn't very traditional, she still takes pride in her appearance when she attends a party.

Kidulthood: Alisa is a slight mixture although she appears more traditional than modern. She seems very caring and likeable making her easier for the audience to relate to. She isn't very promiscuous and has one long-term relationship, which she seems to care about alot. She also seems quite close to her mum and they seem to have quite a good relationship. Although, she is dominantly a traditional representation, she doesn't take much pride in her appearance even when she is going out.

The Wire: Snoop is one of the most modern representations of a female out of the others on this page. She dresses and acts very masculine to the point of being mistaken for a male at times. Her friendship group consists completely of male drug dealers and gang members, who she often helps to commit crime, etc. She talks in a very masculine way with alot of swear words and slang. She also carries herself in a very masculine way in general, especially when she walks. This is a very unusual representation of a female character, especially one involved with drugs and gangs.