Doctor Who g322 2009 gender

Doctor Who g322 2009  gender

In this clip of Doctor Who it shows very clearly how two characters of the binary opposites represent gender in two distinctive ways. Martha shows one pole to the female side of the gender scale as the master, shows the male side of the other end of the pole, two completely different characters, portraying gender in two different ways. I am going to explain how each character portrays their role in gender differently to the other throughout this clip, there is a clear image being shown to us about each one.  Levis Strauss was the creator of binary opposites and his strategy has been used in most film and TV activity to show the clear difference between the two charters and how it shapes the scene.
The first charter we are introduced represent the male side to gender. At first sight we see that this character is well dressed wearing a classic black and white sophisticated suit, all nearly in place. He is well shaven, with a clean hair cut that tells us that he likes everything to be in order and is a neat freak. This character appears to be a strong successful male who is very powerful and knows this. He is also standing on a higher platform from everyone else to show that he is powerful and the other characters are literally below him. As we see Martha walk through the doors we notice that he begins to walk down the steps waving his hands at her as if she was a dog and calling her to him. This shows us that his character is quite cocky and does not show her any respect because they are binary characters. He goes not greet her or make an attempt of phatic talk but goes straight into ordering her about, because she is under his authority Martha obeys his command, which then shows that the male is in command as this is very stereotypical. He then orders her to kneel, again she obeys, but the man shows no politeness towards Martha who is a women and younger. The camera shows the male with more close up shots and allows his character to take up one whole frame alone to show that he is more important. The camera also appears to be looking up at him in a superior structure like form to highlight that Martha has no power what so ever. The male character also speaks as if he is full of himself or really sure that his plan is going to work, to make this even more obvious they have shown that he is in command over the majority of the characters on the set, as no one tells him what to do or interrupts him at all. There is a mid-shot used of him where he is looking at his watch, in this shot we can establish that he is married because he is wearing a wedding ring, and also looking at his watch which explains his richness and how wealthy this man appears compared to Martha who has nothing at all. He tries to make small funny jokes that he only finds amusing as we see him smiling and laughing to himself. We can tell that this character is a bit over them self and thinks more than he actually is. Also asking rhetorical questions to himself  which no one’s attempts to answer, the camera moves around the room to show the reaction of everyone else and how scared they are of him. The man thinks that he is going to kill Martha however she stops his process of speech which laugher.
We are now seeing the second opposition of gender which is a young lady called Martha. The very first scene she is introduced we see her walking in with two body guards coated in black armour souring her in each side. This automatically shows us that she is vulnerable and needs protecting because she is young and a female. Martha is wearing just a long black coat, which is the only piece of clothing we can see, her hair is nearly done up in a bun exposing her face for us to see that she is more vulnerable and an easy target. We see Martha searching the room as she walks towards her fate, as a desperate attempt for help. She looks to her left unsure and worried, almost scared as to what may happen, and then looking directly at the man, then to the right to a friendly face. It shows how Martha is being treated because she is a women and a younger one, she is scared and worried as to what would happen judging from her body language. When the man orders to give her the object she willingly takes it from her pocket and chucks it to him without any arguments, this shows that she does not want to cause any trouble and is obeying whatever he says because he has power over her. He then orders her to kneel down; again without arguments Martha does showing complete ownership of the alpha male. The camera also seems to show Martha in mid shots, showing the surrounding of the settings in the shot because she is not as important as him. Her expression always seems to be the same without change, just a blank  sheet throughout  the whole so his speech she does not speak a word or say anything to disturb his speech or goes against what he is saying. However just when he thinks things are going in his favour she begins to laugh. This completely changes the whole cenario where he is in power and she is not. Martha takes full control in this relationship. This time when he addresses her she responds with one word answers. Now it is Martha’s turn to be all cocky and know it all, she talks to the man as if he was a child, patronising him with her words. “A gun?” She is almost doubting him in her words trying to psychology make him couscous. Her jargon is certainly childish and what most females who think they are right would use, the man begins to doubt himself as Martha gains all control from this, the tables are now turned.  It’s now Martha’s turn to be in power, because she is a female she is more underestimated and people would not think she is clever enough to come up with a master plan and ultimately go behind the masters back and beat him at his own game. The man still does not show her with respect as he sits down on the floor as if he were listing to a children’s story, almost patronising her. Martha now appears to be a strong leader rather than a female obey commands. She breaks what we see to be her under control and actually stands up to the man proving that she is right and he is wrong. The gender opposites have now revered and we see Martha in more close up shots, speaking more because she is in power.  The man still doubts her even though she seems like she knows what she’s talking about, this is stereotypical because we never listen to what women are saying, however Martha is proven right and all the power from him has now been taken away and he cannot stop it. He tries to order everyone to stop talking however this time he has lost his authority to Martha.
In this clip we have seen how the representation of gender has changed halfway through and what we first expected has now changed to what we expect now. Martha represented the female side and showed up to the stereotypical vies, of women who don’t get listened to, believed in and obeying orders from men, which gave into the male gauze, however she then turned that around to order around the man and told him what he didn't know and actually spoke up for herself towards the end. This was something we did not expect and found that women could be as powerful or ever more than men as she defeated him in the end.