The Hunger Games

Official Theatrical Trailer (Identical to the trailer on the official Hunger Games website):

Key info about THG:

Country: USA

Language: English

Release Date: 23 March 2012

(UK)

Box Office:

Budget:

$78,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$152,535,747 (USA) (25 March 2012) (4137 Screens)

Gross:

$672,826,249 (Worldwide) (30 June 2012)

'If you are different from the norm, people will label you as something specific' 

Throughout history, if people are slightly different from what is considered the norm, people will label others as something specific, with age (teenagers - drinking, smoking, violence etc), gender (sexual orientation, roles of gender), religious, and cultural (subculture - goth, emo etc) stereotypes being some classic examples of where people are labelled. 

Some major examples of labelling and stereotyping are;

1. Stereotyping of Jews - Anti-Semitic myths such as Jews hoarding money and having a large amount of wealth etc. Nazism, 1993 - lots and lots of negative propaganda surrounding the Jewish community. 

2. Teenagers - Considered rebellious, causes of knife and gun crime, irresponsible, under age drinkers. Subgroups - chavs, emos, hipsters, goths etc. 

3. Muslims - Post 9/11 = Lots of negative stereotyping surrounding terrorism, people considering every Muslim to be extremists and dangerous. 

It seems that when people are different from the norm, society will label these minorities as they may be afraid of these minorities for whatever reason (media exploitation of the subgroup possibly?) and people are unsure of things they aren't so familiar with.

'It is okay to be a feminine man in society now'

I believe that it is deemed for acceptable to be a feminine man in modern day society, with the introduction of pamper days for males (including facials, manicures etc.) and pressure from the media, meaning men want to look better than before. 

Even sports magazines, and magazines aimed at males, feature airbrushed pictures of men with perfect bodies, skin and hair, which just like in female magazines, are going to make this look more appealing to men, and males realise that to get this look, they need to take care of their appearance, get manicures and possibly even wear some make up to make them look better. 

In society, we are shown examples of feminine male celebrities, for example, the slightly more extremes such as Pete Burns and Julian Clary, and then male stars such as Will Smith, Hugh Grant and Leonardo DiCaprio, who all embrace male grooming, which deems it more acceptable for the average day man to partake in these kind of things, without being ridiculed. 

Reality TV programmes such as Geordie Shore, Jersey Shore and The Only Way is Essex could also be considered to have a part in making it okay for males to be more feminine in society now, as a lot of the cast from both of these programmes openly admit to having spray tans, tanning beds, waxing and wearing some make up. 

BLACK OPS 2 TRAILER

Black Ops 2 trailer and 'Shank' (2011) film trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3tedlWs1XY - Black Ops 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3pHXfaTH80 - 'Shank' (2011)

1. How do these clips represent violence?

Black Ops 2:

In the Black Ops 2 trailer, violence is represented to be a modern, technological idea. We are shown tanks and machinery etc all in what seems to be a battle, shooting at each other, with burning buildings in the background. This suggests that the violence is quite sophisticated and expensive, which could be seen as more appealing to the audience of these games, as technology nowadays is very advanced, and a large majority of people are engrossed by this technology.
In the trailer we are also shown graphics of the people in the trailer using huge computers and computerised technology to control the violence and what is happening in the scenes, which suggests that violence is a clever thing, which needs a lot of money etc behind it in order for it to happen, therefore creating a fascination for the audience, as this is something that they could see to espire to, and want to create.

The trailer seems to glorify violence in a different way than, for example, a newspaper would. The whole idea of the violent scenes are based around tanks, machinery, planes etc, which are completely different to examples of violence we read in newspapers and magazines, which focus more on the physical violence such as gun and knife crime. The people who are fighting in the clip are shown in full body armour with huge guns. These people are also glorified into being the heroes of the whole ordeal, promoting the acts of violence, as the younger audience of these games are more likely to be entranced by what they can see.

'Shank' (2011):

Violence in this film trailer could be seen as being extremely stereotypical. The trailer showns gangs of stereotypical teenagers in London, dressed in dark clothing, hoodies, and with their faces/mouths covered. About 25 seconds into this clip, we are shown a caption saying 'The gangs have taken over.' This shows to us that this trailer represents violence between normal people, and is represented as a pandemic, and something that normal, everyday teenagers are taking part in, unlike the Black Ops trailer, where violence is seem as a sophisticated thing to take part in.
This clip shows violence in a different way to the first trailer. About 50 seconds into the trailer we are shown a caption saying 'There is one rule... kill... Or be killed.' The suggests that violence in these kind of areas are a necessity, and if you don't fight and protect yourself, you will be killed living in these kind of places. However, on the otherhand, this trailer is also promoting and glorifying violence, as later on in the clip, we are shown these gangs dressed up, in nightclubs, and with girls. This shows these teens to be having a good time, and that the killing and violence doesn't affect them in a particularly negative way.

Although through out most of the trailer, violence is represented to a be necessity to survive in these areas, and is glorified through gang and knife crime, at the very beginning of the clip violence is shown in a completely different way. We are shown a male in a boxing gym. In this sense, we are shown violence to be a sport, and promoted in a completely safe and positive light, which is completely different to the rest of the clip, and different to the black ops trailer.


Do you believe that the media promotes violence?

Black Ops 2:

From my analysis of the Black Ops 2 trailer, I think the media promotes violence in some ways, but not in others.

Although throughout the whole clip we are shown constantly violence, from tanks and machinery virtually destroying cities, with buildings being set alight and being pulled down, to highly equipped men going into fight. Naturally, this could be seen as a promotion of violence, as what we are being shown, is what the buyers of the game are going to be attempting to recreate.

Although the natural thing to say is that through this trailer, the media is obviously promoting violence, the violence we are shown is very sophisticated and high tech, and this level is not attainable in a real life situation for these people playing the game, therefore they are unlikely to be influenced by the violence of the machinery, as it is just not possible.


'Shank' (2011):

I believe that through films such as Shank, the media is promoting violence. This trailer is based around young teenagers in London who are involved in gang and knife crime, apparently due to the idea of 'kill, or be killed,' however we are also shown these teens drinking, going to clubs, riding motorcyles dangerously, and getting intimate with each other. This suggests that although they are involved in violent crimes, there is some sort of glamorous lifestyle that seems to come with living like this.

The cerificate of this film is a 15, and a majority of the audience are teenagers (14-19 approx, in my opinion). When teenagers see examples of these kinds of things happening quite close to home, it is likely to give the audience ideas, and when the glamorous lifestyle is brought into the equation, the teenagers are more likely to want to be part of this whole ideal, therefore, meaning the media is promoting violence in one way or another.