Homeland Representation Stereotypes
Principle Cast Members
Nicholas Brody
In terms of gender, Brody's character breaks and follows a number of male gender stereotypes.
Anti-stereotypes
- He can be emotional
- Being brainwashed into a terrorist
- Goes to counselling
Stereotypes
- He works in the forces
- Strong minded
- A family man
- Agressive
- Independent
Carrie Mathieson
In terms of gender, Carrie's character breaks and follows a number of female gender stereotypes.
Anti-stereotypes
- Her mental illness
- Intelligent (more than male lead)
- Often not caring about her appearance (from her mental illness)
- Business clothing
- Strong/collected
- She could be asserting her sexuality
- Masculine role - military/government/war
- No family
- Being pretty, young and attractive
- Emotional (when experiencing a mental break)
- Love interest for a male character
- Guided by Saul - a male is in charge
In terms of gender, Jessica's character breaks and follows a number of female gender stereotypes.
Anti-stereotypes:
- Not really any she fits the perfect woman stereotype
Stereotypes
- Non- aggressive
- Dependent
- Submissive
- Nurturing
- Family orientated
In terms of gender, Saul's character breaks and follows a number of female gender stereotypes.
Anti-stereotypes
Stereotypes- Calm
- His wife leaves him threatening his masculinity
- Not very aggressive
- Seems organised and clean
- Not athletic
- Sensitive
Seems organised and clean
- Is very intelligent
- Had a high paid high power job
Abu Nazir
In terms of gender, Abu's character breaks and follows a number of female gender stereotypes.
Anti-stereotypes
Stereotypes
David Estes- So much of the extreme stereotypes it makes him abnormal and not follow them.
- He is a terrorist
Stereotypes
- Can be aggressive
- Dominant
- Tough
- Independent
In terms of gender, David's character breaks and follows a number of female gender stereotypes.
Anti-stereotypes
Stereotypes
Mike FaberStereotypes
In terms of gender, Mike's character breaks and follows a number of female gender stereotypes.
Bell Hooks
Hall argues that:
- "Representation is not about weather the media distorts reality" it is about the way the audience can interpret their own multiple meanings from the media language - this is based on their socialisation
- Power- through ideology or by stereotyping - tries to fix... a preferred meaning.
- meaning can be created through following or breaking ("anti-stereotypes") stereotypes.
Hall's theory can be linked to the media language in Homeland for a number or reasons...
In short Gauntlett is arguing)
- Media has moved moved away from 'traditional' stereotypes to more 'open' representation to repeat modern audiences.
- Online media contributes to this as people can represent themselves.
Carrie
This fits Hall's theory in a number of ways, firstly in regards to Hall's idea of 'anti-stereotypes,' Carrie being the main protagonist who excels, and outsmarts, males seems to show the preferred reading is that is that women should be seen as equal to men. However Carrie having a mental illness and fitting the stereotype of object of desire (Mulvey 1975) as she is young, blonde and sexually attractive mean multiple meanings ( Hall) can be read by the audience as this could connote the women cannot handle the same pressure as males are more likely to succeed if they fit attractive stereotypes. This fits Gauntletts theory that representation of gender have moved away from traditional stereotypes to more open representations.
Brody
Brody fits Hall's theory in not so many ways as Carrie, firstly in regards to Hall's idea of anti-stereotypes, Brody is the main male protagonist who can stand above the stereotype of men being emotionless and completely strong minded, this is shown through moments where Brody cannot take the pressure and will cry on his own. However Brody being a family man, strong minded, working in the forces and being aggressiveness follows the male masculine stereotype as this can give multiple meanings (Hall) to different audiences. It could connote that working in the forces can lead to men becoming terrorists and becoming aggressive in home environments. This fits Gauntletts theory of representation of gender have moved away from traditional stereotypes to more open representations.
Jessica
Jessica Brody does not fit Hall's theory in as many ways as Carrie and her husband Brody. There are no anti-stereotypes for Jessica so she is seen as a very stereotypical woman. Jessica is a non-aggressive, nurturing mother, and is seen to be dependent on a man as when her husband goes missing she quickly finds another who she can depend upon. She goes against Gauntletts theory also as she is not possessing any anti-stereotypical qualities.
Saul Berenson
Saul well fits Hall's theory of representation in lots of ways as he would not be deemed as the stereotypical man. They are many anti-stereotype qualities that he possesses such as being very emotional over his wife, her leaving him also threatens his dominance making his wife superior to him. In his case the media is distorting the reality of the stereotype but realistically he is a more modern view of how a man can be. however he can fit into some stereotypical categories of a man, such as his high power job. Saul is one of the main boss's that works for the CIA which gives him great power over the people who work for him and some aspects of the season. For hid anti-stereotypical qualities he fits gauntletts theory as he is moving aways from traditional stereotypes to more open representations.
Abu Nazir
Abu Nazir fits Hall's theory of representation in some ways but not in others. Abu is a independent strong man that likes to be in charge. He is very dominant and does show to care for his son in some ways as he want him to have a good education and learn English. However even though he has very traditional male stereotypical qualities these qualities are pushed to the very extreme. His dominance goes so far that he is an extremist and terrorist leader. This makes him side towards the more anti-stereotypical side with firs Hall's theory of representation.
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