Secret Diary of a Call Girl - representation of disability

By: Nathan on 11:51

• The characters featured in this clip are represented in a wide variety of ways. the first of these involves the female character who is known in the video as the "call girl". She is not represented to match a stereotypical image of what people perceive a call girl to look and act like. Instead she is wearing formal clothing and thus doesn't look over glamourized ( a common stereotype for a call girl). She doesn't have much makeup and her hair is fairly normal, both of which contribute to the fact that she just looks like a fairly normal woman of her age bracket. she is represented in the video as caring and tries her best to make the disabled male feel at home. As a viewer we get the impression that she isn't very used to doing this and therefore struggles at times, often stuttering. This could be because she doesn't want to and is in fact scared that she may offend the disabled male. This represents the common stereotype that more able people feel awkward when making conversation with a disabled person due to the fact they might offend them. It is represented in the video that she perceives the disabled male as being non-sexual, this links to one of Paul Hunts 10 stereotype areas (non-sexual).

• In contrast to the female character the disabled boy is represented in a way that the audience are supposed to feel sorry for him, this makes the audience pity him which is also one of Paul Hunts 10 areas of disability stereotypes (pitiable or pathetic), as an audience we are forced y the situation to do this as he is portrayed to be weak as he cant carry out simple everyday tasks. He is also represented as reliant on his dad to take him and help him about his life, it is portrayed that this is not very appealing to him as it denies him a certain level of freedom. Another fact is that in most of the camera shots he is shown as shorter than the other characters which represents his vulnerability and less able state. as far as mise-en-scene goes he is simply wearing a T-shirt, this is typical for boys of his age and is arguabley a way in which he tries to fit in and be the same.

• The dad is represented in the clip as having the best intention for his son and being caring to wards him. Visually he is portrayed as being strong we can see this due to the relative ease with which he lifts his son. as with the other two characters, he is represented as feeling awkward in the situation and to a certain extent he is nervous as well. Overall he is represented as masculine and strong, this is essentially a stereotypical male. To back this up we see the clothes he is wearing link to a decorator or some other type of labour intensive job that stereotypically women cant or don't do.

The sound for this video Is mainly a combination of the noises in the car and the music and talking in the room. The first of which is the talking which is diagenic sound, the second is in the car when the dad keeps playing with the electric window, this sound represents that he is nervous and fidgety due to the fact that he has had to leave his son.

For the mise-en-scene part of the analysis, there are various aspects to look at. These include, the colour of the flat is mainly pink, this represents that the disabled male is less masculine due to his disability. Furthermore the flat includes some luxurious features for example the bed has some elegant and posh looking bed clothes, this could represent the fact that that the woman is an item that can be used and that is desirable to men, this is an aspect of the male gaze. Also an element to mise-en-scene is the fact that the lighting has a warm tone which represents warmth and comfort which is a desirable aspect to the "users" of a "call girl".

The editing aspect to the video includes long scenes when the "call girl" and the disabled boy are in shot, thus representing that they are comfortable together and that some of the awkwardness has gone away. The scenes with the dad in the car however, a jump cuts primarily, emphasizing the fact that he is probably anxious as he doesn't like leaving his son.
In the video there are a variety of different camera shots, the first of which is a long shot which allows the viewer to see the disabled male and the back of the female, this gives an accurate view of what the female is wearing, the camera then pans up and reveals the farther, this portrays the de-similarity between the farther and the son. There is then an establishing shot which gives viewers a sense of space and allows them to accurately guess the future of the situation as the representations via aspects in the room sink in. One of the next shots is of the male in his wheelchair, this is a mid shot and only includes the male and the other character's legs this represents the fact that he can only see one thing and that also he is lower that the other characters, this links well with the class and status is clearly portrayed to have a lower status in society than the other characters due to his disability. When filming the farther (the same is true with the female) the camera generally moves around and pans more, whereas when the disabled male is the centre of the shot they generally only use a few different angles and they are all mid shots, this could represent the fact that due to his disability he can't just get up and walk as the other characters can. This is one way in which the element of pity is instilled into the audience as he cant doe the everyday tasks the other characters take for granted i.e. walk.