EARNEST - Representation Theory

EARNEST is a 1 minute 40 second opening of a modern remake of Oscar Wilde's 'The Importance of Being Earnest.' We modified the story to make it modern by adding catfishing via Facebook, at the hands of two teenage boys who feel restricted by the rules set down by their parents. They lie to their parents, and to the girls they're trying to date in order to feel more in control of their lives. 
I'm now going to be analysing EARNEST against several Representation Theories to gain a clear view of how we presented certain characters.

The actual story we based EARNEST off was originally written with the sole purpose of making fun of rich people with too much time on their hands, so it would be impossible, or at least redundant, to create a remake and not even consider how to present class. In EARNEST, the boys, though good natured and upbeat, are presented as entitled and selfish, thinking only of themselves as they plan how to deceive the girls they wish to date. It's worth noting however, that the girls are just as, if not more, rich as the boys and equally as vapid and conceited. 

We began creating EARNEST by first selecting what we wanted to include form the original story and from our own modern world. We only had two minutes of film time, so we also had to decide what to omit what wouldn't be included, such as the Lady Bracknell character. Then, taking what we had, we constructed an upbeat tone, using codes we had analysed from professional rom coms. Some of these included quick cuts, cheery music, bright colours and a casual script.

These three steps are vital to establishing any narrative, as media texts are not reality, but are 'versions of reality' created by the directors and producers. It's impossible to create a film without bias, so according to O'Shaughnessy and Stadler, representation is 'the ability to draw upon features of the world and present them to an audience, not simply as a reflection but as constructions.' 

The concept of stereotypes were helpful to us when we were shaping our characters into a more modern shape than the original characters. EARNEST wasn't designed to be an overly complicated story, it's meant to be light hearted and silly, a feel good movie, so we decided early on that our characters didn't have to be overly complicated in the opening two minutes. 
All four characters embody various negative traits often associated with teenagers, dishonesty, vanity, selfishness, but also seem to have the same happy-go-lucky attitude akin to wealthy characters. 

Despite the negative traits hinted at, the boys aren't presented as necessarily 'bad' characters, just teenagers. Ultimately, it's up to the audience to draw their own conclusions. 

We used some denotative codes to further illustrate the wealthy status of the boys during the opening credits. The opening shot is that of a large red brick house with a garden, and the majority of the actual piece is spent watching the boy's get ready to leave the house. These subtle hints allow us to represent rich teenagers as vain. 

The use of two first person narrators helped us both explain the story quickly and set up the boys' self obsessed natures.

I feel that Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze Theory is very applicable to EARNEST - there are no female speaking roles, and the only time we glimpse the girls is through the eyes of the boys. Although a personality could be gleaned for them form analysis and knowledge of the original story, to a first time viewer the girls' have no personality of their own, and could easily be replaced with a sexy lamp, with no changes to the story. 
The male gaze is prevalent throughout EARNEST as Gemma and Chelsea exist only through the boys' perspective, so the audience never gets to see them present themselves, only how they are perceived. 
Of the three modes Mulvey has suggested exist in the Male Gaze Theory, I think that Gemma and Chelsea fall under the fetishistic category as they are 'unreachable madonnas' who exist as a goal for the male characters rather than having goals themselves. 
All the characters conform to gender roles, with the girls made up and well dressed and the boys 'mischievous' and playing active roles in the story.
Through EARNEST we represented gender as two rigid divides, with the boys telling the story and the girls passively accepting it. This could be influenced by the hegemonic ideologies of our own society.If we were given the opportunity to extend EARNEST, I would have liked to have flipped this by the end and allows the relationships to be founded on mutual trust and respect, for a true feel-good ending. 

The Spectator's gaze is the main form of gaze used in EARNEST, with the audience watching Jay and Ali and passing their own judgement on them. The goal was to get the audience to find them a bit spoilt, but not necessarily nasty, as we tried to represent rich teenagers as having a bit too much time on their hands. The Intra-Diegetic gaze was used when Jay and Ali spoke of Gemma and Chelsea, presenting the girls are attractive and 'difficult to obtain.'

Dick Hebdidge's definition of a subculture could possibly be applied to the characters in EARNEST - a subculture is a 'A group of like-minded individuals who feel neglected by societal standards, and who develop a sense of identity which differs to the dominant on to which they belong.'
Jay and Ali are unsatisfied with their lives because of the restrictions set in place by their parents, who could represent social expectations, as they focus their concerns on the boys' grades and public reputation. They create a new identity in the form of 'Oscar' to attempt to find a way out of their restrictive positions, fulfilling the second aspect of the definition.
Ken Gelder listed six ways to recognise a subculture, some of which are applicable to EARNEST:

1. Often have negative relationship to work - Ali has been punished by his parents because of his poor grades, implying he's lazy. Algernon, the character he's based off, is renowned for his laziness. 
2. Negative or ambivalent relationship to class - Not applicable, all characters are very happy with their wealthy status. 
3. Their associations with territory ( The street, the hood, the club) rather than property - Possibly, as we used City Hall as one location and Finaghy Train station as another.
4. Their stylistic ties to excess - Applies heavily to the boys as a large section of EARNEST is dedicated to their beauty routines. It's also applicable to the girls, who are well dressed and heavily made up. 
5. Their movement out of home into non-domestic forms of belonging (social groups as opposed to family) - The boys reject their parents and the rules they set down and band together to find a way to enjoy themselves. 
6. Their refusal to engage with they might see as the ‘banalities’ of life - They catfish the girls they wish to date rather than be honest with them. 

It is possible to argue that EARNEST is a post traditional narrative, as the older generation are not seen on screen, but the flippant, rebellious teenagers have no regard to the rules set down by them. The whole plot is set into motion because Jay and Ali need to find a work-around from the restrictions set down by their parents. 


In conclusion, EARNEST is primarily a representation of upper-middle class teenagers that, despite the buoyant mood of the piece, shows this social group as careless and vain.