1)Emma Peel is indicative of the change that previous gender inequalities had on television programmes and the increased public role women had in 1960's Britain. Explain how? How does Emma Peel reflect the influence of social attitudes towards sexualisation on television?
Due to this increased role women had in 1960's Britain, Emma Peel had a lot more screen time or the same as John Steed which gives the men and women more equality. Not only was she pretty but she was also very smart which was a complete opposite to what women were viewed as if they were pretty back then (Pretty and dumb).Emma Peel wears a catsuit which is very sexy, especially towards the men who were either watching or directing the TV series. Due to the male gaze, women wore more attractive clothing and mini skirts were worn a lot more than before. For example Peel wears a mini skirt at the beginning of the episode and at the end. Also because of the change in gender inequalities and increased public role of women, we see at the end of the episode Emma Peel is the one riding the motorbike. 3)What does the absence of any LGBT characters reveal about social attitudes? What was the legal position towards homosexuality at that time? LGBT was still not seen as something normal and on TV these characters might not have been accepted due to their sexuality. Although LGBT was accepted and known about even more at this point, it was still taboo and people probably thought it was strange to show people like this on TV. In the series there are no people at all who were LGTB. 4)How is the underdevelopment of multiculturalism in 1960s Britain reflected in The Avengers? In the late 1960's immigration became very big, with loads of people of different races from different countries came to big cities, for example London. However because The Avengers is set in a small town, Little Bailey, there wouldn't be much immigration to small towns the most would be to big cities. The town is seen as a small British village with pure British people in it, and it would be seen to be unusual to have multicultural people in a small town like that in 1960's. In the TV series there are not multicultural people shown on television which links back to the underdevelopment of multiculturalism in 1960's as there are no black people shown probably due to how the viewers of the show would view it. 5)At this time there was a perceived “generation gap” between the traditional wartime generation and the radical youth. How is this reflected through the representation of Steed and Peel? (Mise-en-scene, actions, dialogue, etc) The "generation gap" is the difference of attitudes or thoughts between people of different generations (young/old), which may lead to a lack of understanding. The people who were older, would have most likely experienced both wars or even one so were probably used to hard going, tough conditions that were strict and 'normal'. The traditional wartime generation probably thought differently to that of the radical youth so there would have been some different attitudes to certain things. The elders would have thought the era they were living in then (1960's) was a huge change to what they were used to, as there was a change from hard war conditions (strict rules), to hippy style and more revealing clothing and party era. Steed represents the traditional wartime, hard veteran, and we see this when he has flashbacks of noises of planes and war when he is standing on the airfield in the series. Also Steed is wearing a three price suit and a bowler hat and umbrella which is typically what a man from the war time would wear. Steed's actions and dialogue are a bit slower to that os Emma's. On the other hand Emma Peel is a representation of the younger generation in the 60's. This is because she wears more revealing clothing which wouldn't have been worn back earlier in the 1900's. She is also very calm and talks back a lot when/ if she gets into any trouble with anyone, showing her confidence. Her weapon is a gun and her actions and dialogue are a lot faster. 6)How did the the social anxieties of the time, specifically in regards to the Cold War and related espionage (“reds under the bed”, etc) influence the production of this episode? In the 60's there were many social anxieties regarding the cold war and related spying. Back then, many people were worried about the threat of communism. British people were afraid of the idea of communism, and this is definitely shown in season 4 episode one in which a small British town is being taken over by communists. The undercover 'army' could have been referred to as the "reds under the bed" as all their development were working and planning underground. 7)Explain how media language (mis-en-scen, camera work, ect) is used to depict The Avengers’ point of view rather than the townspeople’s point of view. We are on the Avenger's side as they are the fist ones introduced to us. There is sinister music with other townspeople when they are shown on screen which makes us dislike them compared to us being on the side of Emma Peel and John Steed. We see the main characters on the screen the most, yet the townspeople (communists) had less screen time as they were a secret agency who were meant to be in hiding. The editing helps increase the mystery of the secrecy of the communists. For the camera angles they show the avengers to be quite powerful and strong and the camera tracks the people showing they are athletic and are hero's.
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