1. How does your media product
represent particular social groups?

2. Arthur Kipps & Suzanne Moors
Arthur Kipps is the main character from The Woman In Black who has many similarities to Suzanne
in appearance as well as the fact that in The Woman In Black film he also works in a large, creepy
house. However, Arthur is the protagonist while Suzanne is only a stock character.

3. These characters
represent middle
class people as
they are in
professional
clothes and during
the films are seen
working.
They both follow stereotypes of how professional
people usually dress and in addition to this
archetypes are followed. Suzanne (a female) is
wearing a dress while Arthur is wearing a suit
which suggest connotations of power.
They are both,
however, placed in
fairly large houses
which suggests
they don’t
represent the
higher class, they
work for them.
Both are wearing
black which is a
mourning colour.
This could imply a
death has or will
happen.
Both characters
are wearing some
sort of jewellery
which suggests
they care about
their appearance
for their job which
people in many
social classes can
relate to.
They both stereotypically (for
professional workers) have smart,
formal hair signifying again how they
care about how they look for work
reasons.
Therefore I can see that through mise en
scene both of these characters represent
the middle class which many people can
relate to as they either are them or are
linked to middle class people in some way.

4. The Antagonists
In our film opening ‘Malediction’ we have an antagonist played by a fellow group member
Wilhelmina. She has some similarities but also differences to the antagonist (the woman in black) in
The Woman In Black. As our antagonist has no name I will refer to her as Wilhelmina in the next
slide to make things easier.

5. These characters
don’t obviously
represent any social
groups as they are
antagonists and
considered unknown
forces ‘not to be
reckoned with’.
Although, Wilhelmina plays a
young girl so despite her being a
‘force’ in the opening she could
represent lost young girls who
feel like they don’t know who
they are or feel unhappy about
something (as the antagonist in
Malediction is).
The woman in black could
represent women who have
to deal with pain or are
troubled by something.
Although, as I said before
since she is an antagonist I
do not think she directly
relates to any social group.
Wilhelmina has
stereotypically long hair
for a young girl. She is
also wearing a flowing
dress which again is
stereotypical for young
innocent girls. This
subverts the idea of her
being the antagonist
which could create
confusion for the
audience who at first
see her as this terrifying
‘force’ but then think of
her as a young,
innocent girl.
The woman in black wears
a black long dress which is
archetypal as women
traditionally show barely
any skin. She is also
wearing a veil which give
connotations of grief.
The colours of the dresses in these 2 characters are
different which I find quite interesting. The woman in
black is wearing black so I immediately associate her
with death and mourning. While Wilhelmina is in
white which confuses things since white is a pure,
innocent colour and from the opening Wilhelmina
appears to be neither of these things.

6. In conclusion...
What social groups?
- Suzanne & Arthur – middle class, professional.
- The Antagonists – Wilhelmina (young, innocent girl) & the woman in black
(adult female in mourning).
Stereotypical/archetypal of horrors?
- Suzanne: no, usually stock characters are of working class in supernatural
horrors so her being professional subverts this idea.
- Wilhelmina: partially, the antagonist is sometimes known to be someone
who appears innocent on first glance (like a young girl). For example, in
The Grudge the antagonist is also a young girl. However, it is only partially
as antagonists are also well known to be adults who are in no way
innocent.