Representations -The Sweeney trailer

The first time we see some of the cast in the Sweeney trailer is when they are together as the police force in action on the start of a mission. Right from the very start we get a sense of power from the males. There are five people from the force in the shot, and only one of them is a woman. Also, it's made clear to us that the four men have guns and hers, if there is one, isn't seen clearly in the shot. This could confirm a stereotype of men being overpowering of women, and its in their role, especially in this genre of film, to be the heroes, while the women are the princess' or damsels in distress. Also, when we are shown this shot in the trailer, we first see the men, as they are the most emphasised and then the woman is slightly more in the background. The oldest character is leading the others, he also walks with the most confidence and his body language is fairly relaxed compared to the younger members in the cast, this could represent age as the older is more experienced and shows guidance whereas the younger roles portray more naivety and vulnerability. Therefore even in the first 8 seconds of the trailer we get an initial sense of the representations they are portraying.

A few shots after that we see an armed robbery taking place, one where only males are involved which represents men as violent, and also with a sense of greed. This representation is later confirmed when Ben Drew, or George Carter in the film, is running round with a baseball bat and shown punching another man, which although he is seen as the hero, it shows a violent side of males. This is already a stereotype of men in society, so the producers of this film could be confirming it instead of contradicting it.

One of the other few times we see a woman in this trailer is when a jeweller was shot in another armed robbery. This does represent women as vulnerable and as the victim, rather than the opposite so that the men are still seen as more powerful over women. One of the few times we do see a woman overpower a man throughout the whole trailer is in the bar when she hits a guy, although this was after she was objectified by the man as a sexual object, and only through his tone and use of dialog do we see this. This does represent men as derogatory and women as sexualised.