final compare representation essay

8/11/2019 Final Compare Representation Essay

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Compare how teenagers are represented in the action/fantasy genre looking at The Hunger Gamesand The Amazing Spiderman.

In this essay I intent to compare how teenagers have been represented in the two films- TheAmazing Spiderman and The hunger games. Focusing mainly on the most prominent characters and

the scenes they feature in.

Both these films are in the genre Action Fantasy, in which you would expect to see two maincharacters, often a boy and a girl. A romance is usually seen developed throughout the plot, which isthe stereotypical storyline of an Action Fantasy. The male in the film is nearly always represented asa strong, heroic individual; there to save the day and sweep the girl off her feet in the process. Fastmoving action sequences are always present in this genre, with large amount of movement featuredin the scenes. The genre of Action Fantasy is fast paced, thrilling and has the intention of keeping theaudience on the edge of their seats. Both the Hunger Games and The amazing Spiderman push theboundaries of this genre, especially the Hunger Games, which has a bold female lead as opposed to

the stereotypical male.

The plot for The Hunger Games is; in the dystopian nation of Panem, after a long, blood filledrebellion, the country was split into 12 districts. Each year 2 tributes from every district is chosen tofight to the death in their annual Hunger Games. When Katniss volunteers to save her sister, sheand her male counterpart Peeta are whisked away to the capital and thrust into the arena. Aftermuch hardship and heartbreak Peeta and Katniss are crowned victorious.

In The Amazing Spiderman, when Peter Parker begins to uncover clues regarding to the untimelydeath of his parents, he is led into the unknown. When faced by an old family friend known as Dr

Curt Connors, Peter sneaks away. He is bitten by a scientifically engineered spider, which gives himunimaginable powers of strength and agility. In an attempt to cure himself of a missing limb DrConnors is changed into a huge, man eating lizard, wreaking havoc across the city. Peter takes itupon himself to bring him down, and after some help from his love interest Gwen, is successful.

Katniss, the feisty lead role of The Hunger Games is represented as no ordinary female. Wit h astrong mind, and a will to succeed, she breaks the preconceived idea of women being the weakersex. With a wild protective attitude towards her sister and Rue (a tribute comp eting alongside her inthe games), she has a maternal, caring side to herself.

Katniss is portrayed as a hard, unloving individual, who has always had to fight for what she needs.She shows are particular skill with a bow and arrow; proving this many times when she is forced tohunt in the woods to prevent the starvation of her unbearably poor family. Resourcefulness isanother quality she is represented to possess, as she has the intuition and intelligence to tie herselfto trees, and make fires using the bare resources she can scavenge. Katnisses fiery temper andopinionated tongue prove that she is a force to be reckoned with and should not be crossed withoutcaution.

Katnisses abilities and heroic actions are not the expected characteristics of a female teenager in anAction Fantasy. She would be predicted to be weak, girly and in need a strong man to protect her,but Katniss proves she is just as much a heroine as any man.


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Pe ter the main character of The Amazing Spiderman is represented as a socially awkward geek witha difference. Unlike the conventional nerd, he is willing to stick up for what he believes in. He defiesauthority, and has a charming, but quirky sense of humour. He is not in possession of an athleticability, and is often taunted by school bullies, but unlike a normal geek, he is not afraid to speak hismind and fight back if necessary.

The normal male character of an action fantasy is a masculine, self-assured man, brimming withconfidence, but peter is a twist on this, as he is an unsure, self-doubting teenager trying to findhimself and rediscover his past as he goes. He has no notable strength of heroism to his character,but still wins over the audience with his sweet, innocent temperament.

Both the Main characters of The Hunger Games and The Amazing Spiderman, put a spin on thestereotypical teenagers expected of this genre, but there are still noticeable differences. Peter isrepresented to be full of hesitation, and a lack of self-belief, whereas Katniss is fully faithful in herabilities almost to the point of arrogance. Katniss is skilful and has learnt most things the hard way,

but Peter has had a relatively sheltered life, receiving everything he wants.

Katniss represents teenagers as older than their time, and fully comfortable with themselves, whichis not necessarily the overall trend within real teenagers; she is very much the exception. Peter isrepresented as a more relatable character, which teenagers may see parts of the selves in; hisuncertainty and nervousness and more like the average teen. Despite this, Peter and Katniss stillshare similarities, including the urge to fight for the underdog. Both display these qualities whenprotecting a more vulnerable person than themselves against a bully figure. This is a characteristic inthe vast majority of Action Fantasy films.

Gwen Stacy is the female love interest of Peter parker. She is represented as a well-educated, cleveryoung woman who has been raised in a well off, stable environment, much like Peter. With a sharpmind, and a knack for science she shares this as a mutual interest with Peter. Stacy began to proveherself, after acquiring a renowned apprenticeship with Science research facility Oscorp. There is acertain air of mystery surrounding her, which attracts and intrigues the male characters andaudience- especially Peter. A witty, confident science of humour, she has far excelled her classmates,sometimes singling her out and causing her to feel isolated.

She is represented throughout as the non-stereotypical geeky girl. Not like the normal females ofthis genre, who would be unintelligent, passive, pretty girls; put there to look nice. Just like the other

characters in these films, she breaks the mould. When Peter is in trouble, she does not think twicebut steps in to help him, displaying a clear disregard for her own wellbeing in an attempt to helpanother. The represents her as a heroic teenage girl, not the norm for and action/fantasy film.

Peeta is the second tribute to be chosen for the games alongside Katniss. With s long burning lovefor her, he is represented as a slightly nave but well-meaning teenage boy just beginning to learnhow to be a man. He has many hidden talents, such as abnormal strength- which he demonstratesduring training where he throws an enormous weight across the room. This variety of abilities he hasacquired gains him some respect and admiration from other opponents.

Another feature Peeta is represented to have is selflessness. One example of this is when he tellsKatniss to take his life so she may win; he does this because he believes she is far more important


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than his own life. This kind of self-sacrifice if often seen within this genre, and follows a pattern oflove that knows no bounds.

Both these characters display a willingness to help others in danger, but as with Katniss and Peter,the female is clearly the stronger character mentally. Whereas Peeta is still growing into the person

he will become, Gwen is already mentally mature and has clear goals. Peeta is represented as a lostsoul, unsure of what the future may hold for him, he is willing to do nearly anything to save himself;but Gwen sticks religiously to her principles without any thought of the possible repercussions.

Cato is a prominent male character in The Hunger Games. He is represented as a blood thirsty ,aggressive and ruthless killer. He has a distinct lack of humanity, and is often depicted as feeling noreal emotions. His thirst for blood and unstoppable mental state make him a source of terror to theother contestants. In comparison, Flash from The Amazing Spiderman is represented much thesame to Cato, but not to such a severe extent. He possesses a bullying, nasty streak, showing a lackof restraint towards his victims. Like Cato he struggles to control his anger and finds fun in

intimidating weaker victims. These two characters represent the evil side of teens and fall into thejock category. Characters in this category are portrayed as athletically gifted, strong but most of all

superior over anyone else.

The Mise en Scene in each of these films appears generic, and obvious, but every tiny detail hasbeen meticulously planned out to represent the teenagers and their surrounding in a certain way.The teenage extras in these films have been used to emulate the attitudes and characteristics of thegeneral population of teens- which we know is not what normal 13-19 year olds are actually like.

In The Hunger Games, camera angles such as birds eye view are used to represent the insignificance

of a character. This is used as Katniss is walking across the vast landscape in the arena. This displaysthat despite her rebellion and clear disgust at the game makers, she is still and always will be a pawnin their sick game; she has no escape and this shot demonstrates this in a powerful way. Whereas inThe Amazing Spiderman shots such as close-ups are used a great deal, to show the pain and emotiona character is feeling. One example of this is the scene where Gwen and Peter are in the roomtogether. A look of pure love and admiration is painted across peters face, and this is shown to theaudience through a close-up shot.

The costume worn in The Amazing Spiderman is quite dull and the majority of teenagers are styled indark denim, toned down colours, with the occasional burst of yellow. This makes the groups of

people appear to blend and match with each other, representing them as one large class of people,all similar and boring. Peter wears dark greens, blues; all earthy, neutral colours, this highlights aneffort to fit in and not to stand out from others. Although the clothes he wears are simple, they arenot what you would expect to see on your average geek (you would imagine him in socks andsandals, button up tops, braces with flat hair), so consolidating further the message that he isrepresented as no ordinary book worm.

In the Hunger Games the costume worn by the characters are very different from those seen inother action/fantasy movies. The style is recreating th e 1930s era, where a war was on and moneywas scarce. The girls are clothed in powder blues, greys and beige dresses, all in the same loose

fitting, tucked-in-at-the-waist design. Their make-up is minimalistic and hair is always plaited andpinned up. This 1930s look represents the teenagers as poor and old -fashioned, causing the whole


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district to appear out-dated and stuck in the past. These outfits contrast dramatically with thevibrant colours, excessive styles and bold make-up donned by the Capitol. Thus showing yet again

just how poor District 12 is.

The clothing worn in both these films contrasts each other massively. In The Amazing Spiderman

the teens are represented as modern, relatively well-off individuals, who can afford basic up-to-datefashion, whereas The Hunger Games traditional costume represents the teenagers as people with alack of money, their priority is survival, not how they look. It has a more fantasy driven style,creating an alternative world; the costume element of this film is one of the biggest features thatsets it apart from the Amazing Spiderman.

In the Reaping scene of the Hunger Games, the setting is in a large empty space surrounded byfactories. The buildings are prison like, all grey, uninspiring and in need of renovation. The wholeatmosphere is of disparity, there seems to be no prospects in a barren place like that. Everything isdirty, shabby and industrial, the ground is dusty and there is no sign of care having been put into the

area for a long time. In comparison, in the School scene of The Amazing Spiderman the school looksclean, profitable, and an inspiring place to be. Brightly coloured lockers and dcor is all around, and asense of safety is felt by the audience. This is a huge change from the life-less, hopeless surroundingof the reaping scene. This represents the teenagers in these two films as being in very differentcircumstances, the teenagers in The Amazing Spiderman are raised in a positive, encouragingenvironment, surrounded by inspiration; in contrast the teens in The Hunger Games have been set

in a degrading, unstimulating environment.

In the background of the School scene, there are constant reminders of Peters lower social statues.Posters are strategically placed behind him, featuring images of clubs and organisations (such as

French club) traditionally associated with nerds/the uncool kids. This adds to the representation ofpeter as an intellectual science-lover, not a popular teenager.

In the reaping scene there is a distinct lack of music, the only sounds you can hear is the shuffling offeet and heavy breathing, through the absence of non-diegetic sound in the majority of the scene,the director of the film is trying to create the most realistic, lifelike scene. This is emphasising thesolemnity of the Reaping and the unenthusiastic, fearful attitude District 12 hold towards it. The onlynon-diegetic sounds are near the end of the scene when peter is selected as tribute. The music issolemn and is only played at a low level in the background; this non-diegetic sound has been used torepresent Katniss and Peter as teen agers who have come to the realisation that theyre going to lose

their life, the music raises the tension.

Whereas in the School scene there is a more prominent use of non-diegetic sound, it is upbeat andpleasant to listen too. However, the music is not what you would normally hear in the charts, it isnot mainstream and is unusual; this fits with Peter, who himself is neither mainstream nor the norm.The diegetic sounds in this scene are more overshadowed by the non-diegetic sounds; this is done toaccentuate the lively atmosphere.

At the point in the scene where a circle has formed around Peter and Flash, the vast majority ofteenagers are represented as bullying, harsh individuals with no compassion or regard for a persons

well-being. They form a classic bully circle, intimidating anyone willing to disagree with theirencouragement. With the use of this taunting, barbaric overview of teens it represents them as bad


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people, emphasising the good qualities in Peter and Gwen, who are the only ones not to followeveryone and bow down to authority.

In the Reaping scene the audience is shown how the crowds of teenagers are represented in a waywhich makes them look fearful and anxious. The general tone of the scene is on edge; set in a

hopeless place, where grave occurrences are about to happen, and not one has any control over it.The camera captures a medium shot of the girls awaiting the reaping. The girls have been sectionedoff into age groups, although their clothes are all almost identical. This makes a blur of dull dressesand sad expressions; this medium shot manages to acquire a small but powerful message of theoppression and the darkness surrounding these teenagers.

These scenes both show the unfeeling, ruthless side of teens.

In other action/fantasy films, teens are represented very differently from these two films. Forexample in Harry Potter, where the lead is a heroic male, who excels in everything he does, is

popular, and loved by everyone. The teenagers in this film are kind, self-sacrificing and show a greatdeal of devotion to a great cause , whereas in both the Hunger Games and The Amazing Spidermanother teens are represented as heartless, untrustworthy human beings. This shows the audiencehow these two films do not fit the mould for the stereotypical Action/Fantasy film. Compared withreal teenagers, these characters are not particularly realistic. Their heroic natures and disregard forauthority would only represent the tinniest proportion of real life teens.

To conclude, the teenage characters in these two films are both represented very differently fromone another. This is seen between all the different characters, and marks a clear difference in therelatability of the films. In The Amazing Spiderman the teens are more like what you would expect

of this age group, theyre also set in a time we can understand better than in The Hunger Games. In this film, the teenage audience would struggle to see a great amount of relation to themselves inpeople such as Katniss or Cato. In this film the teenage characters are more farfetched and lesslifelike. This is down mainly to the fact that it is set in a dystopian world, and not a world created tomimic our own. These two films share both large similarities, but also great differences which setthem apart.

final compare representation essay

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