Mock Exam Question

How do your key episodes of Life On Mars and The Bridge follow or subvert genre conventions and stereotypical representations and use narrative structure and enigmas to produce a response in their audiences? Both the key episodes of Life on Mars and The Bridge follow genre conventions of crime dramas to an extent regarding the setting and plots. Although, stereotypical representations of women in the media are subverted in the Bridge as Saga (one of the lead detectives) is coded as logical and unemotional which opposes Van Zonnen's feminist theory of the traditional portrayal of women. In Life on Mars Annie Cartwright is more of tradtitional female detective as she is kind, open to listening to others whilst being objective. The setting of both The Bridge and Life on Mars is fairly conventional for the crime genre as it featured a bleak and gritty playground with towering flats which is a classic working class environment. The constable Maya Roy's white shirt which connotes to purity nd innocence is stained with blood which signifies danger. This is another common representation within many crime dramas. Similarly, the setting for The Bridge also follows the traditional genre conventions of a crime drama as well as being specific to the Nordic Noir genre. The landscape is bleak with leafless trees and snow along with lowkey Chiaroscuro lighting which gives the effect of imprisonment. The setting of both the key texts reflect both Neale's genre theory as the audience is familiar with the conventions of a crime drama so they would have a rough idea of what may occur from the initial setting. However, the setting does not give away that both the Bridge and Life on Mars depose the usual stereotypical characters and coded conventions. Additionally, both the key texts contain characters that are non conventional for the genre. This is exemplified in The Bridge as Saga Noren is presented to the audience as a non chalant, unemotional and calm woman which opposes the stereotypical representation of detective women as being passive, forgiving