PAPER 2 A TELEVISION : Life on Mars text analysis

 Summarise key points about s1e1 of Life on Mars:

Genre:

When watching the first episode of the first season of Life on Mars, I immediately knew that it was part of the crime genre due to the scenery it was set in and the upbeat music in the background. However, Life on Mars can be argued to be part of the sci-fi genre due to the fact that the main character (Sam Taylor) is seen to have travelled back 30 years to 1973 when, in the beginning, he states he that it was the year 2006. This is seen to be ironic for a typical crime drama as, according to Neale's genre theory, he believes that films and series' should include features that are similar which is different in this particular series as we do not typically associate crime and sci-fi in the same category.

Narrative:

Throughout the episode, the audience can hear clues regarding what happened to the main character, for example, when he travelled back in time the audience as well as the main character is able to hear his conscious from the future which stressed that he was in a coma (or at least that is what the producers want the audience to believe); this is called the Hermeneutic/Enigma code. The enigma that is seen as an unsolved mystery in the end of the episode is whether or not Sam Taylor jumps off the building to determine if he is in a coma or if he truly has time travelled back 30 years.

Representation:

Representation is important when looking at the contrast between in 1970s and early 2000's; this is seen through how men would treat women. In the 1970's police precinct, it was evident to see that there were no female police officers and the majority, if not all, were old white men who did not take their job as seriously as they did in the early 2000s. Moreover, they would treat women with disrespect and often told them to "give them a striptease.' This depicts that men in those days viewed women as sexual objects and would harass them, feeding into the stereotype that women are not able to gain employment in sectors such as the police force as they are viewed as weak and vulnerable. On the other hand, in the 2000s police precinct, there were more female workers and a diverse amount of races and ages that could be seen and not just old white people.


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