Representation - Homeland

 In this crime drama, 'Homeland', the societal groups that are being represented are ethnicity and gender. The city in the middle east where this is filmed in is shown as being very cultural, supported with the mid-shot of the men in the streets wearing religious headwear such as the caps that belong to the Muslim religion. This would also allow the audience to assume from seeing this show that in the middle east the majority of the general public goes by the Muslim faith. How the country and specifically the city is being represented is as congested and polluted with dusty clouds taking over parts of the city. An over the shoulder shot is being used when showing the prisoner looking out through his jail cell bars and into the courtyard where the tools needed for his death are being prepared. The camera slowly moved down with his head and this is representative of how this man feels as though we are able to see his internalised thoughts through just the swift downward motion of his head. A majority of the shots taken in the middle eastern county are taken on a handheld camera and we can see this as most of the shots are shaky and the footage is filmed as though it is from the point of view of the woman. An example of this is when the woman was driving and on her way to the prison cell of the locked-up man, and as the audience, we can see the camera moving in coherence with how the car is moving on the road and this is significant as it allows the audience to feel as though they are there in that place with the characters, allowing them to move into the world of the movie, this effect overall heightens the emotional involvement that the audience has with the film. A high angle shot of the streets and roads of the place was used to really showcase to the audience how the country is and how normalised behaviour such as pulling out a chair and sitting right there on the road is. You can see that the country is not as concerned with health and safety with all the exposed wires and such. This all is important as when it is compared with how it is in America, it truly shows the cultural difference. This is supported by the mid-shot of the CIA/man of higher authority, in America where he is on a phone call with the woman in the middle east when the camera is focused on America, it is still and balanced, this is trying to suggest in a way that this is how America is, balanced and calm. In the same mid-shot, we also see that everyone is wearing black and white, whereas the Middle Eastern people are wearing clothes of all colours, this ties in with black and white combinations in clothes being associated with high-class status and luxury. The contrast between the atmosphere in the middle east vs, In America, is significant, as the middle east is clearly shown as being hectic and all over the place metaphorically and America is proper, calm and peaceful. A shot reverse shot is also used in order to allow the audience to see and translate the emotions and expressions that are shown on the faces of both characters that are involved in the conversation, and how they connect and react to each other.

The way in which gender is being represented is that females are weak physically but strong mentally, whereas men are strong physically but not so much mentally. This is shown through the scene where the woman is getting pushed out by the guards by force, as shown through a close-up shot of the chaos with three men's hands being on the woman at once. A way we can see that women are represented as being mentally headstrong is where the woman is being persistent as the guard that she bribed to let her be in there said "the Guards, they're coming" which was diegetic sound. Even after knowing that the guards are coming, knowing how dangerous they seem to be in this country, the woman regardless stayed and tried to listen to what the man had to say so that she could get the information from him, she persisted and was determined to stay there until she was physically forced off the premises. According to the Stuart Halls theory, this could result in a dominant reading from the audience, this is because the director may be trying to get across that women are headstrong and determined whereas the audience may accept that on one hand and on the other, think that perhaps the lady is overstepping her boundaries and shouldn't even be doing something illegal in the first place as if she had to bribe someone to be able to do something then perhaps the action isn't morally correct either. When showing the middle eastern country there was the diegetic sound of the people talking in the streets and being just the average