Language and Representation: blog tasks

 Social and Historical context

1) How does An Unearthly Child reflect the social and historical contexts of the 1960s?

Unearthly means not from earth , in the 1960's there was a big space race between USSR and USA .

2) How might audiences have felt towards science fiction in the 1960s?

They might of thought it was fake and abnourmal .

Language and close-textual analysis

1) Choose three key moments in the episode and write an NCIS analysis for those clips. You can use your notes from the screening in class. Make specific, detailed references using media terminology (e.g. media language - camera shots, diegetic/non-diegetic sound, mise-en-scene etc.)

An Unearthly Child scene analysis

Narrative:  The teachers are looking for Susan but get trapped in the TARDIS with the doctor .

Character: Susan is an alien and weird , doctor is suspicious , Ian is brave , Barbara is irrelavant .

Iconography: The TARDIS is a weird room .

Setting: TARDIS and school .

2) How does Todorov's theory of equilibrium apply to An Unearthly Child? Try and use the expanded version of Todorov's theory: Equilibrium - Disruption - Recognition - Reparation - New equilibrium.

 EQUILLIABRIUM ; They are at school  , DISEQUILLIBRIUM ; Susan gets lost so the teachers find them but end up lost in TARDIS .

3) Applying Propp's character theory, what character roles do each of the main characters in An Unearthly Child fit into? Alternatively, you may wish to discuss how characters do not fit Propp's character types.

In the first episode the doctor is presented as a villian ,but is the hero , Susan is the princess but is a school kid .

4) What enigma and action codes (Barthes) can you find in An Unearthly Child? Make specific, detailed reference to the text using media terminology (e.g. media language - camera shots, diegetic/non-diegetic sound, mise-en-scene etc.) 

At the end of the episode they leave it on a cliffhanger for an enigma code , they show the TARDIS taking off for action .

5) What examples of binary opposition (Levi-Strauss) can you find in An Unearthly Child? How do these create narrative or drama for the audience?
When Barbara was trying to talk to the doctor he just ignored her but when Ian talked to the doctor the doctor responded .

Representations

1) What stereotypes of men are reinforced and subverted in Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child? How?
Ian is the person that is shown as not scared of anything which inforces male stereoypes but they subverted them by making him the most scared when the TARDIS moved .

2) What stereotypes of women/girls are reinforced and subverted in Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child? How?

Barbara was shown as someone who had to be quiet but then she was shown as smarter and staying calm .

3) What are common media stereotypes of young people and old people? Do any of the characters or scenarios reinforce or subvert these conventional stereotypes (consider this was 1963)? 

Susan was showed as naïve and the doctor said to her , "you are acting childish " as an insult , and the doctor is shown as knowledgeable as he is old .

4) What representations of race/ethnicity can be found in Doctor Who: An Earthly Child? Is this surprising or not? Give reasons for your answer and consider historical / cultural context (the 1960s). Has this changed in more recent series of Doctor Who?

The doctor compares the shock of the teachers on the TARDIS to native indians offensively . In the 1960's britain was predomininatley white so rascism was almost nourmalised .

5) How is social class represented in An Unearthly Child? Think about how education and knowledge is presented in the episode.

The teachers are presented as good people , Susan is young and is almost left out and the other characters make it look like she is invalid and irrelavant .