Social Group Essay

How are different social groups represented in the sequence you have analysed? What role does the use of media language, signs and signifiers have in constructing and presenting these representations as real?

The sequence I have analysed is the first episode of Stranger Things. This allows the audience to be introduced to the different social groups that are being represented throughout the episode.

A major social group being represented in Stranger Things is teenagers. This group is then split into two; the older teenagers and the younger ones. The older teenagers are Nancy, Jonathan and Steve. Nancy and Steve are stereotypical representations of teenagers in the 80s because Nancy is very dedicated to school but also has a keen interest in talking about boys with her best friends. This is because Nany is first shown on the phone (which is an 80s one) talking to her best friend Barb about boys.  Steve is the school jock, popular and comes across as a bit of a jerk. Jonathan however, is not the stereotypical teenager as he helps out his family. For example, he sates how he took an extra shift for money but he is giving this money to the family and not spending it on himself. He is also first show as cooking breakfast, before waking up his brother. This suggests he is becoming the father figure.

Secondly, the other group of teenagers is the younger lot of boys. They give a representation of geeky, bullied elementary school children. This can be seen from when they stay after class to look at the new radio the school has gotten in. Also there is a scene when two other boys start picking on them for their appearances.  Another scene that adds to this representation is when the boys are in Mike’s basement playing the board game Dungeons and Dragons. Later, Mike states they have been playing for almost 10 hours, which shows their dedication to the game.

Another group being represented is families and their relationships. The two families we see in this first sequence is Mike’s family and Will’s. Mike’s family is a proper American, middle classed family which don’t seem to have a close bond. The mother is the one to make the rules and the father just agrees, like when Mike wants his friends to stay longer but his mother won’t allow. He then proceeds to ask his dad and he just tells him to listen to his mother. She is stereotypical because she is seen making the dinner and looking after the baby too, which is a stereotypical mother in the 80s. In contrast, Will’s family is close and not the stereotypical family of the 1980s. This is because Joyce Byer’s seems to work quite a lot to provide for her family, she is constantly seen wear her uniform in multiple scenes. Also, the father figure is now put onto the teenager Jonathan as he is seen making breakfast and suppose to get Will up for school.