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The Returned Rep - Coggle Diagram
The Returned Rep
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Claire is represented as domestic, caring, maternal and emotional
Women are also represented in a very emotional and vulnerable way as seen through the crying and breakdowns
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Men are shown patronising women, not believing them until they see it themselves
Lena is shown in a sex scene with Frederic. Sexualisation of women/ teens may be due to Frances more open and liberal approach to sex on screen.
Lucy is shown receiving money for sex by Jerome. This represents women as sex objects and men as using women for their own pleasure
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Men are often shown as emotionally detached and more reserved which is typical in media representations of men - toxic masculinity. For example Victor's absence of any emotional response and even Mr Costa just burns his wife and walks away showing men dealing with their problems physically rather than emotionally
Some men show an aggressive side such as Mr Costa, Simon and Serge
Some adults are shown as responsible, mature and dependable however adults also seem to be the ones who lose their tempers, act violently and are less stable
We typically expect adults to be able to help and know what to do but none of the adults can offer any answers or solutions and so the audience sees them as helpless which adds a sense of fear for the audience.
Teens are shown quite negatively within the episode, reluctant to do school work, truanting, having sex, drinking which suggests a rebellious and angsty attitude
Some characters view children e.g. Victor as innocent and vulnerable nut the audience is shown a slightly more ominous side to the children. Perhaps this reflects the horror supernatural sub genre where children are increasingly shown in scary ways opposing typical representations which creates enigma for audience
The show lacks any obvious ethne diversity perhaps reflecting the rural French setting where there is little diversity in real life. Could also reflect the way the media often fails to represent ethnic minorities by casting predominantly white actors in roles
The dead/ 'returned' characters are 'othered' in the series as a whole (Stuart Hall). Later in the series the dead characters are segregated contained and hunted. The dead are feared and shunned. This binary opposition between the living and dead is less obvious in the first episode as they look and act the same as the living characters which adds to the messages about difference and normality and how we judge others
There were rumours that the writers wanted to use the show as an allegory and chose to represent the dead as being so disturbed and the living as being so discriminatory as an allegory about refugees
Calais in France is a hub for asylum seekers and refugees where they were often kept in camps, guarded and feared much like the 'returned' later in the series. This resulted in a moral panic in the media about the refugee areas, stirring up fear and xenophobia among the public. This may explain why the dead characters are represented as ominous outsiders with the living shown as fearful