Sexualization stereotypes survive on TV's updated fairy tales

[Enzo Corsetti]

The TV builds characters and plots through subtle and sometimes devious elements, so that audiences can find a show more progressive than it is actually. This happens also with programs appearing quite fair, like “Once upon a time”, the popular fantasy-drama produced by ABC from 2011; my video-breakdown, written and produced for The LAMP – NYC, focuses on Season 1 of that program, which received several endorsements, especially by feminist opinion leaders, because the series shows many well-independent women and well-adapted men, updating even the world of traditional fairy tales with modern and gender-balanced models.

All that is certainly true, but if we pay attention to details of the characterizations, we find an old-fashioned use of the sexual dimension to depict Good and Evil: the second is often associated with libertinism, while the first seems only compatible with puritanical models. The sexualization stereotypes characterize the polarity between Good and Evil within actions and dialogues, but also through the clothing and the framings, as we can grasp from the initial clips, partially edited without the original audio.

This is a relevant issue for media literacy education, if we consider that models proposed by dramas and comedies influence our views somehow; and when we find ambiguous elements even in a TV show praised by committed opinion leaders, we fully understand the importance of being able to recognize the narrative and framing techniques that writers and directors use to create audio-visual products. Based on alleged values of a given target, stereotypes make the representations more familiar to the audience, so they can be an easy strategy to increase the appeal of any commercial product.

(What do you think about? - thanks ahead for your comments)

Enzo Corsetti

Twitter: @enzocorsetti

[Ryan Goble]

Enzo, this is great - I will share it on the Monday Blog and Cog.  I embedded the video so folks could see it here! Thank you for sharing!

RRG:)

[Enzo Corsetti]

thanks, Ryan! also for the report on Blog and Cog. My best

Enzo