Please Select One Of Your Favorite Movies Or Streaming Shows

Please Select One Of Your Favorite Movies Or Streaming Shows Or Televi

Please select one of your favorite movies, streaming shows, or television shows to analyze. Review the Bechdel test at bechdeltest.com and then watch your chosen media and see how it rates on the Bechdel test. While Bechdel is concerned with gender, this same idea can be used to think about race or other ascribed markers. Feel free to explore one of these as well as gender. Discuss what you found in words. Give an overview of the media you chose to analyze and then share what you discovered.

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The selected media for analysis is the television series "Stranger Things," a popular science fiction drama streaming on Netflix. This series, set in the 1980s in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, combines supernatural elements with nostalgic references to 1980s culture. It revolves around a group of children and teenagers navigating mysterious experiments, government conspiracies, and otherworldly threats while grappling with typical coming-of-age issues. The series has garnered widespread popularity for its engaging plot, diverse characters, and nostalgic appeal, making it a fitting subject for analyzing representation through the Bechdel test and related frameworks.

The Bechdel test, created by Alison Bechdel, measures female representation in media based on three criteria: (1) there must be at least two named female characters, (2) who talk to each other, (3) about something other than a man. When applying this test to "Stranger Things," the series largely passes, especially in the early seasons, where the female characters—including Eleven, Joyce Byers, and Nancy Wheeler—frequently converse about their personal concerns, government secrets, and social issues, beyond romantic interests. For instance, Joyce and Nancy discuss their suspicions about the government and their intertwining personal struggles, which demonstrates a level of female agency and dialogue that exceeds mere romantic chatter.

However, deeper analysis reveals some limitations. While the series does feature prominent female characters engaging in meaningful conversations, these interactions sometimes center around male characters or domestic issues, especially in later seasons. For example, Nancy's conversations with Steve often revolve around their romantic relationship or protective concerns about boys, which, though important, slightly narrows the scope of female agency outside of male influence. Furthermore, minor female characters sometimes lack significant dialogue or agency, which points to ongoing challenges in fully representing women as independent subjects.

Beyond gender, analyzing "Stranger Things" through the lens of race and other ascribed markers unveils additional insights regarding representation. The primarily white cast reflects a lack of racial diversity, with only a few Black characters, such as Lucas Sinclair, who are often portrayed within specific social stereotypes rather than as fully developed individuals. This limited diversity impacts how inclusively the series depicts different racial identities and whether it provides substantive roles for characters of diverse backgrounds. In terms of racial representation, the series does not perform strongly on the Bechdel test when extended to race, as interactions between characters of different ethnicities are sparse and oftentimes confined to stereotypes.

If we extend the logic of the Bechdel test to explore race, one might develop a "RaceBechdel" test—checking whether there are conversations between characters of different racial backgrounds about topics other than race or stereotypes. Applying this broader framework to "Stranger Things" reveals that such cross-racial interactions are rare, limiting opportunities for more inclusive, multidimensional portrayals of race in the series.

In conclusion, "Stranger Things" offers a compelling case study for media representation analysis. The series generally demonstrates positive aspects of female representation, with meaningful dialogues among female characters and some independence outside of male narratives. However, it also exposes the continuing challenge of enhancing racial diversity and portrayal, as interactions across racial lines are limited and sometimes stereotypical. Using frameworks like the Bechdel test helps illuminate these dynamics and encourages creators to develop more inclusive and representative media. Such analyses are vital for understanding how popular culture shapes societal perceptions of gender and race, and for advocating more equitable representation in future media productions.

References

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• Grosz, E. (1994). Volatile Bodies: Toward a Corporeal Feminism. Indiana University Press.
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