Representations in ST essay

How are different social groups represented in the sequence you have analysed? What role does the use of media language, signs and signifiers have in constructing and presenting these representations as real?  

In the first episode of Stranger Things, there are plethora of social groups represented such as teenagers and the working class. For example, the typical angsty teenager stereotype is challenged by the introduction of Jonathan Byers. In this scene, he can be seen cooking breakfast and is responsible for waking up and looking after his younger brother. This is atypical as a 17 year old boy would generally not be taking up the duties of a parent, as his mum Joyce Byers is seen as unorganised and all over the place. This type of social group is under-represented in the media as this depiction of this family lay out is more common than portrayed in media. Jonathan is wearing dull, basic clothes in a dull basic 80's style home decor which suggest he find his life as being the caring support system for his family is hindering him from living his life. This is further insinuated by the change in Jonathan's personal change when he is with Nancy, as he becomes more of a shy teenager as he fancies her. This is also shown but the camera angles and shots used as when he is being hospitable and caring, the shots are long, middle angle and repetitive to show the mundanity. However, when he is with his friends, he feels a little more teenagery as his quoy side comes out, making him feel the emotions he is supposed to. TheSHOTS ARE FAST between CONVERSATIONS AND often zoom in on the characters faces in different angles, this is important as it shows the new emotions and sideof Jonathan the audience is being introduced to. The lighting is also high key as it shows how his life is brighter away from being the domesticated son who the family relies, coming back into the social norm and what is mainly represented of teenagers.

 Lucas, Dustin, Mike and Will are represented as nerdy and unpopular. Media language is imperative when it comes to enabling the audience to create this suggested representation of the boys through the use of mise-en-scene. The boys are all wearing clothing typical to the 80's and their personalities and riding bikes known as 'choppers' which were extremely popular amongst pre teens in the 80's, giving the episode a cultural zeitgeist, and have a real passion for the game they are playing, one that doesn’t appear to be played by the rest of the characters or teenagers, which divides the boys apart from the social norms.. The boys use derogatory terms to one another, such as “pussy”, which further communicates their age, as this type of language is not used by other characters in the first episode as well as signifying a close comradery between the characters. When to boys are confronted by the bullies, the shots are edited to make them longer to allow the audience to understand what is going on and how important the dialogue and facial expressions of the characters. This is then contrasted to short, close up shots of the bullies which insinuates how unimportant those characters are to the major characters. In addition, the use of the word “pussy”, used by Lucas, could support a stereotypical representation of the social group of teenagers as offensive to one another, yet as we see later on the episode, they actually support a representation of teenagers as loyal and faithful to each other as they drive the force to find Will.