3) Discuss the ways in which people are represented in the extract. (Hurt Locker)

In this clip there are a series of different stereotypes used when representing the different characters. The first key stereotype is the gender of the soldiers, all of the soldiers are male. Gender stereotypes have become a big issue in recent years and there is a push for females to be accepted in roles that were previously considered to be a 'man's job'. Despite the changes in reality there is still the issue of sexism and the media tends to follow the idea of stereotypes in different forms. In this clip there isn't a female soldier present, this is promoting the stereotype that soldiers are male. Also another use of the gender stereotype is the use of a male protagonist. For years the protagonist in films was always a male that held strong, confident and boastful qualities, this is a classic use of gender stereotypes. Recently, a number of films have created a female protagonist or in some cases a strong female sidekick. However, in this film the sidekick is male as well and the only females present in this clip are extras with no spoken dialogue. Another stereotype in this clip is the terrorist stereotype. This has developed over many years but key events in recent history have linked particular people to the terrorist label. The suicide bomber in this clip is of a different race and speaks a foreign language to the soldiers, this is a part of the criteria that comes with this stereotype. Terrorist stereotypes are upsetting and offensive as the media places the label on a certain group of people that is unfair and not necessarily true. Stereotypes can be dangerous but it is something that the media chooses to emphasise in different forms.