Set text: Humans episode 1

SET TEXT: Humans episode 1

 media language and representation:

Allegory- metaphor, underlying hidden meanings. maing referance to real world issues for example sex work or slavery. a metaphor that makes a broader comment on society.

Zeitgeist- current feeling/process, sociohistorical context that people can feel subconsciously. the "spirit of the time".

examples:

GODZILLA 1950, zeitgeist is around recovering from the war, carnage. mirrrirs the threat of nuclear war, hiroshima.

INVASION OF THE SAUCER MEN 1957- threat of communissm invading an taking over their way of life.

INDEPENDANCE DAY 1996- celerating all things american and america being the one that saves everyone.

in what ways does humans use genre conventions to explore real world issues? what real world issues does it make referance to?

〰slavery, unpaid labour

〰sexualisation(mainly women)

〰exoticisation, racial issue (over sexualisisng)

〰comodity fetishism, annita is a computer but she is fetishised as she looks more human

〰AI /full automation

〰post colonialism, uk especially

〰capitalism and the nuclear family

〰hyperreality

〰prostitution, sex work and the sex industry

〰polysemy

〰racism

ALLEGORICAL ASPECTS

1.sexualisation and sex industry

has scenes like toby looing at anittas bum when she stands up, they make the synths to be attractive and physically pleasing to the eye even though it makes no difference to the tasks they are programmed to do. the brothel house is filled with synths who are dressed in sexy lingerie and dance to seduce "customers". they are hypersexualised as purely sex objects as supposedly they have no thoughts feeling or consciousness. the sex worker synths can be seen as an allegory as they make comment on how society treats sex workers, often people disregard the fact that they are people with thoughts feelings and opinions. often they are viewed as lesser than or worthless even though they provide a service in an industry that was created by men in order to fulfil the desires of men.

humans explores this sexualisation explicitly, it demonstrated that we live in a time and society that still views women as sexual objects that are to be glanced at and even "used" for mens gratification.

2.modern slavery

the whole concept of having robots around to do the jobs that humans dont want to do without needing to pay them is an allegory for modern day slavery, it is just chosen to be portrayed with beings who supposedly have no consciousness. it is made even more uncomfortable by the fact that they loo exactly like us, blurring the line between technology and humanity as they become increasingly more like one. this also makes us sympathise and maybe even identify with the synths because they have that human look to them. some examples are the scene of synths picking food off of vines in huge plantations, the woman in the synth shop preparing sushi and the little girl points out that her friend "has two at her house" explicitly saying that they own them and theyre like an item.

3.commodity fetishism

bringing deeper meaning and glorifying objects, commodities. in humans its the case of robots. using technology to aid and improve your quality of life, to take the hassle out of it. however in the series they are seen a s a status thing, shows that owners of synths are of a certain class, social status r can simply afford it. the robots are an allegory for material things which we have become increasingly attached to. an example in the set text would be the youngest asking if the synth will be pretty.

4. exoticism

exoticism is fetishising someone or a group of people because of their race, culture or ethnicity. because they are seen as "exotic" and different to the women or people that you usually see in your country. it is like a more covert form of racism as it sees them as a more sexualised. it has allegorical aspects as it relates very much to the uk today with the post colonial feel to the country, and although in present day we are a very culturally diverse country there is still crumbs left behind from our racist colonial past. 

5.Racism

ethnic minorities are well represented in the series however the main POC we see are synths which can be viewed as inferior as they are treated like slaves. this is an allegory to how minorities are still being treated to this day (although not as bad as say 100 years ago) however, humans is great in representation as we see characters from many races, e.g anitta being souch east asian. a key seen which can be seen to highlight an element of racism could be the seen where fred is picked out of a bunch of synths working and is shot.