Essay questions

"The killing is a show that gained critical acclaim and was seen as innovative in terms of its representation of its female characters. In what ways do you agree/disagree?
I feel like the killing does both in the sense that they do have a powerful dominated lead female but also investigating a murder of a fragile vulnerable "blond" girl. Firstly, i could argue that the lead her self is a very powerful character where this is demonstrated by her taking on a case and investigating and physically chasing and being a detective. in addition this is further emphasized by her male partner who tries to be the dominant and try to take over the case, but she being the dominant women that she is, she fights back and retains control. The clothes that she wears is very repetitive, dull and smart clarifying she doesn't care about her looks and just wants to get the job done, not thinking about what men think of her which contrasts with Mulveys theory of the "male gaze" where women look at themselves through the eyes of men and also Butler who claims gender is performative. This shows that The Killing is innovative in the idea that it subverts gender stereotypes with a strong dominating main female
     However the series is focused around finding the murderer of a dead girl who we now know was raped. in the pilot, the first thing we see ids her vulnerable, shy, submissive character as she runs away from the murderer. she is whimpering (which men would not do) and in this way it does support Mulveys and Butlers theory. The girl is also wearing a short white dress, further portraying the theory of dressing in the eyes of men. There is blood all over her, demonstrating how weak she is and not able to stand up for her fragile self . This is a very stereotypical scene that we are opened to as the audience that was not innovative at all.



The killing uses narrative codes appropriate to genre. in what ways do you agree/disagree
The enigma that we are trying to solve is the murder of a teenage girl. i partially disagree because due to Todrovs theory, its states a specific order the show should go with equilibrium. this goes against it because every episode we are trying to find the killer, uncovering little details as we go along which does not lead back to equilibrium. it stretches the show. This links to Knight who states "thrill comes from the prolonging of the inevitable" and is done for 9 ep finding small details to lead to the bigger picture. Another is Film Noir. there is a sense of film Noir but its set in modern times and it is not in black and white.
However i agree also because Film Noir their is a detective, a murder and of who is a vulnerable petty young blond girl. Narrative code of Neal (genre is instances of repetition and difference) where the women who was being chased to be killed was wearing a dress (mise en scene) and running screaming for her life and so seemed to be very vulnerable and weak in the situation. this is shown by the sound and cinematography of her screaming and looking small.  Another example is in the killing there is a detective that is solving a murder case and is usually in dark dull areas when looking. This is supported by the cinematography that is very dark.