The document compares two clips from L.A. Noire and Casino Royale in terms of their representations of gender and crime as well as their narratives. Both clips imply crime indirectly through police presence and shady characters, and portray male-dominated worlds and women in stereotypical roles. However, L.A. Noire focuses more on the mistreatment of women in 1950s America while Casino Royale features only men. The narratives also differ as Casino Royale leads the audience to believe something is wrong through music and dialogue, while L.A. Noire depicts the city in a positive light through its narrator.
1. Media Studies Summer Task
In this powerpoint I will be
comparing two aspects of
both these titles. I will be
looking at two short clips of
each and comparing how
they represent different
themes and also the
narrative of them.
Reece Thompson
2. Similarities in representations
Gender
The similarities of gender representation include the
idea of a world where it’s male dominated. The two
clips both show stereotypical men thing to do, such as
being in the police force or playing cricket. These
ideas are reinforced by the fact that all speaking/
dialogue is carried out by male characters / voices in
the clips. Other similarities is the representation of
women. In L.A Noire, women are portrayed as inferior
to men by being the stereotypical housewives. In
comparison, Casino Royale fails to show any women
characters at all, suggesting the idea that once again
they are “inferior” to men or considered as the damsel
in distress.
Crime
In terms of similarities between the two clips in crime,
both clips indirectly show the idea of crime in each
respective media. In L.A Noire, we do not directly see
any crime, but it is heavily suggested to feature
throughout as we can see police and other shady
characters who look like they are there to cause
trouble. This is similar to Casino Royale, as it also
does not show crime directly being committed,
however we see the shooting of one man by the
protagonist, suggesting that the character had done
something wrong. As well as this, the clip also
features shady characters in it.
3. Differences of representations
Gender
Differences in gender in the two clips are quite clear.
In L.A Noire, we see throughout that women are seen
as stereotypical housewives. As seen in the image
above, we can see the woman waving goodbye to her
husband as he goes to work. In comparison to L.A
Noire, Casino Royale shows us in the clip that there
are no women in this “man’s sport”. The contrast sets
a scene for how each piece of media will pan out.
Casino Royale will feature more male characters
whereas L.A Noire will focus more on women. As a
consumer of both these medias, I can confirm that this
statement is true, as L.A Noire features heavily on the
mistreatment of women during 1950s America.
Crime
The representation of crime in Casino Royale is not
very obvious by watching the clip. However, the
events that take place during the clip show that the
film features crime. This includes murder as seen
when the protagonist shoots a man dead. Unlike
Casino Royale, L.A Noire represents crime strongly.
In the clip, policeman are shown as well as shady
looking characters blending in well with the whole idea
of a thriller. However, crime is not shown directly on
the surface, but rather something that happens as an
underground business. We can tell this by the
narrator's description of the city as booming and
bustling.
4. Similarities in narrative
The two clips both lead us to interpret similar ideas in my opinion. Both clips indirectly get us to think about criminality
quite strongly. In Casino Royale we are shown a man being shot, but we do not really understand the reason why so
clearly. Similarly, L.A Noire never shows us any crime committed but implies it very heavily through the clip, showing
policeman and shady characters. In Casino Royale, near the start of the clip. We see a shady character walk into a
room. When the audience sees this, it leads them to interpret that this character is up to no good. Both of these clips
use the idea of shady characters, which keeps in guise of the whole thriller theme. Another similarity, is the way in
which the stories are revealed. None of them are directly revealed, instead they are revealed very vaguely through their
story tellers so to speak.
5. Differences in narrative
Both clips show strong differences of how they present their stories and how the audience are made to perceive them.
In Casino Royale we are made to believe throughout that something not right is going on. We are made to believe this
by the use of music, and the dialogue between Bond and the antagonist in the clip. The audience is lead to believe that
something has gone wrong, without it actually being clearly revealed. In contrast to this, L.A Noire never makes the
audience feel as if something is going to go wrong. The narrator in the clip talks about the opposite of negatives, stating
that “it is a man’s dream”. The whole clip shows how 1950s America is changing and we are told of it’s glory. The way
the audience is made to perceive this clip is that everything is fine and nothing will go wrong. Another simple difference
is the way the stories are told. In Casino Royale, it is portrayed through the dialogue of Bond and the antagonist
whereas in L.A Noire, the story is revealed by the narrator of the clip