Media RepresentationsWho is being
represented?Terry & Diane
Patricia & Gavin
Marcus & Angela
Sheriff Troy & Sheila
Mike & Trina
These are the main characters of the movie; they are all
couple who are friends who go away every year on a retreat to relax and
reconcile the connection of friendship and marriage they are represented as
couples which are married and they each have their own problems within their marriage.
In some couples marriage is represented positively
in other couples marriage is represented negatively.
In
what way?
Terry & Diane they are represented as a married
couple with trust issues and maternity issues.
They are representing a negative aspect of marriage as marriage should
be filled with trust, family building and happiness. Diane kept from her
husband that she had been sterilized and was unable to have children when on
the other hand her husband forever longed for a child. The woman in the couple
is represented as being deceitful and dishonest as she tricked her husband into
thinking they were trying for a baby when in fact she was unable to fertilize
at all.
Patricia & Gavin
Patricia and Gavin are represented as the perfect married
couple in the movie. They have been together for the longest and have seen
through most problems within their marriage in a positive way. They had a first child who died due to a car accident.
In this movie we see that Gavin secretly blames Patricia for not putting their baby
in the car seat properly, which breaks Patricia down to her core. Unlike the
other couples these two keep their problems away from their friends and resolve
it in private.
Marcus & Angela
Marcus and Angela are seen as the couple
that argues publically and always has problems regardless but at the same time
seen as the most intimate couple in the movie. They are also represented as
dishonest and untrustworthy. Angela is represented as the wife who is addicted
to alcohol and has an evil mind-set and Marcus is represented as the old pimp
who is married but can’t get rid of his old mojo. Marcus and Angela love each other and even they
are seen always arguing, we can see that in the movie. They both are unfaithful
in their relationship which results in yet another argument for them but the
love is so solid between these two that that they remember what they have been
through and come to a conclusion to forgive and forget. They are represented
negatively regarding the normal morals of marriage but in this modern day gives
a positive light to their situation that says whatever is wrong in a marriage
or a relationship ,as long as the loves strong you can get through it.
Sheriff Troy, Sheila and Mike 
Sheila and Mike are seen to be broken,
dysfunctional and near enough divorced. They are seen as the negative side to a
marriage. Sheila is a woman who is insecure about her weight and also not
confident when knowing if her husband (mike) loves her, she is a woman who is
strong but it represented as weak when it comes to love. Mike is represented as
a stereotypical view of a black man. The normal unfaithful married man, who
brings the woman (Trina) who he is having an affair with on their annual
retreat. In the movie Mike is brought out over dinner about having an affair
with Trina, the faithful Sheila is brought to tears and is full of anger. These
two are the only couple that do not resolve their problems and instead result
in a divorce which is negatively representing marriage.
By whom?
These characters are being represented in this way by the
director and writer of this film which is Tyler Perry.
Why are the subjects being represented in this way?
The subjects are being represented in this way to show
the negative and positive views on marriage and friendship and also the
importance of it. Tyler Perry is known for his deep morals being his films and
plays, his motto as a director is to make people learn about us (humans) as
individuals and instead of us agreeing with what’s wrong about each other to
agree with what’s right and accepts every one for who they are. One of his
quotes is “forget all the reasons why it won’t work and believe the one reason
why it will” He is a positive role model to society and teaches lesson in his
movies. In this movie Tyler Perry tries
to emphasize the importance of being married and sticking by the vows you made
at the beginning of the marriage, no matter what happens throughout a marriage
you should stick by the very important vows.
Is the
representation fair and accurate?The representation of the couples is not accurate and not
really fair as well. Not every marriage consists of these problems, and not every
marriage stays monogamous. I think the representation of marriage in this movie
is quite negative but at the same time shows a positive side to marriage with
the making up. The accuracy of the representation of marriage in this movie is
to a high extent because every marriage has problems without a doubt in
society.
Media Languages and Forms
What are the
denotative and connotative levels of meaning?The connotative meaning of this movie is through the
cultural experience. We see that every character in this movie is of black
ethnicity which then makes the reader think that every black marriage has to be
loud and argumentative. We see especially from Angela, she is seen as a violent
wife which throws objects at her husband to resolve a situation. Tyler Perry
has tapped into the black culture in this movie.
The denotations of these movies would be that every
marriage has its problems, which is the simplest message we get from ‘Why did I
get married’.
What is the significance of the text’s connotations?
The significant of the texts connotations regarding this
movie, would be the insight in the black culture. Black love is seen as
something so bold and beautiful, yet hard to stay in and hard to cope with as
individuals which is expressed in this movie. Also we see in this movie the
black culture being expressed when Patricia says ‘no cooking is better than a
black persons cooking’ and her husband replies ‘as long as you don’t cook grits’
and each wife is in the kitchen cooking their own part to the dinner. In the
black culture grits is the only food known to be cooked not to eat but to be
used as a weapon on the current partner.
The food is oven hot and is only use to put over the partners body
What are the non-verbal structures of meaning in the text?
(E.g. gesture,
facial expression, positional communication, clothing, props etc.)?
Facial expression – at the beginning of the movie the
facial expressions where happy for , Patricia and Gaven and Terry and Diane. But
not so happy for Angela and Marcus, Sheila and Mike. This is because the couple
arrive arguing this introduces what to expect about these two couples with the
movie. Positional communication between the couple were always close, even with
Angela and Marcus arguing, they were seen as the most intimate couple
throughout the movie. The body language between Sheila and Mike was always
distant this was because Mike had lost his feelings towards Sheila and Sheila
as insecure about her body and was insecure with what her husband thinks of
her.
What is the significance of Mise-en-scene/sets/settings
(CLAMPS)?
The significance of:
C - What the characters wore was very significant as the audience could tell their wealth and how successful they are, but that is not the case for all characters. For example everyone walks into the resort with designer suitcases and the less wealthy couple being Sheila and Mike came by car and not aeroplane and were in normal everyday cloths especially for Sheila who is more or less been abandoned by her husband.
L - The lighting for the characters was very significant in the film. For happier times in the movie for example High lighting was used when they all meet up and have their first dinner and they all talk about there year that had passed. Low key lighting was used during the arguments of the couples as its seen as a dark and depressing moment.
A - The choice of actors and the characters they played were significant. As this is an African american film ,Tyler Perry decided to use different characters to emphasize the whole black culture.
M - The make up that the actors wore were very simplistic and natural nothing was really added onto the actors to face to emphasize glamour or masculinity. The facial expressions suited the genre. Everything they did wasn't unexpected.
P - There weren't many props in this film unlike other genres like horrors or humour they kept the film as real as possible, the most props they used in this film would be kitchen wear and Angela's bottles of wine she was consistently going through.
S - The setting is suppose to be set in a different country to Atlanta which they are usually based in. It is set in Alaska , which is a place full of snow. This makes the audience think that the couples cant really escape from where they vacating.
L - The lighting for the characters was very significant in the film. For happier times in the movie for example High lighting was used when they all meet up and have their first dinner and they all talk about there year that had passed. Low key lighting was used during the arguments of the couples as its seen as a dark and depressing moment.
Costume:
What work is being done by the sound
track/commentary/language of the text?
The sound track has a main effect in the movie, the music signifies the mood and lets the audience know what is going on. For example when the break up between Sheila and Mike happen there a slow ballad song by Boy2Men " To the end of the road" this adds emotion to what is going on with their relationship and also relates to it.
What are the dominant images and iconography, and what is
their relevance to the major themes of the text?
The dominant images and iconography used in ' why did i get married ' is wedding rings, a lot of together scenes of each couple. I suppose Tyler Perry tried to emphasize the fact that they are really good friends who have developed relationship within their friendships so that is why he creates them to all be in a house together and have different stories within the same place. Iconographic images was a homely setting, a place for a wife and husband.
What sound and visual techniques are used to convey
meaning (e.g. camera positioning, editing; the ways that images and sounds are
combined to convey meaning)?
Sound is used very much in this movie, and its used to tell the story more. For happy moments usually Gospel music will be played , this give an uplifting mood, and maybe some hope for relationships. The visual techniques used which conveyed a lot of meaning , was when for example when each couple found out what their partners have been keeping from them. A shot that was very vivid and meant to catch the emotion of the Actress was Sheila and Mikes argument. The director used a close up shot to emphasize Sheila's tears and anger as you can see through her facial expressions.
Narrative
How is the narrative organised and structured?
The narrative is organised in a way where there are 5 couples who are married and are going away to clear their heads and remember why they got married. But instead of it being a peaceful retreat to a different country it turns out to be a whole shamble and potential relationship breaker
How is the audience positioned in relation to the narrative?
The audience are positioned to seeing 5 troubled relationships and in some ways the audience may be able to identify with what is going on in the narrative. As mentioned before Tyler Perry is known for having deep meaningful messages behind his movie's. The audience can relate and learn and maybe even resolve a situation they may be going through.
How are characters portrayed? What is their narrative function? How are heroes and villains created?
Each character have their own very distinct personality. Angela is delineated as someone that is loud, argumentative and an alcoholic. Marcus is seen to be a cheater but someone who loves his wife dearly, Sheila is seen to be self concious and over emotional but strong as the same time. Mike is delineated as someone who is unfaithful and un-sensitive. Gavin is seen to be the bread winner who is supporter with his wife and generally loves his little family. Patricia is seen to be quiet and loyal also someone who is a peacemaker within her and her friends relationships. Terry is delineated as someone you who doesn't like arguments with his wife, but is loyal, honest and has a lot of love to give. Diane is seen to be someone who is secretive and not as honest as her husband is to her. The heroes created in this movie is the characters themselves they each resolve their problems and remember love is before anything. The villain created in this movie was Mike as he and Sheila were the only couple unsuccessful in their relationship. The reason he is seen as the villain is because he doesn't show any sort of sympathy towards his unfaithfulness and carries on having his affair even on the retreat.
What techniques of identification and alienation are employed?
Identification has been employed in this film with the story line , every person who is married can relate to the problems and arguments that happen in marriage. The technique of alienation that is employed is the break up between Sheila and Mike.
What is the role of such features as sound, music, iconography, genre, mise-en-scene, editing etc within the narrative?
Sound - Be it non diegetic or diegetic is very important it adds to the story and helps tell more of the story. Music - again emphasizes the emotion of what is going on. Iconography- helps bring the movie to life and be able to relate with the audience more, for example if what you expect to see is there to see you can identify it and it become more realistic. Genre - The genre of a movie should be quite distinct from the beginning of the movie and I think that was easily given off with the introduction to each couple , carrying suitcases to a resort. The genre for this movie would be a romantic/drama.
What are the major themes of the narrative? What values/ideologies does it embody?
The major themes of the narrative is having a stable relationship but showing that however long a relationship can hold it still can be broken depending on how much love is solid in the relationship.
To which genre does the text belong?
Romantic Drama
What are the major generic conventions within the text?
Romance - Love, relationships, arguements, sex,
Drama - Fights, arguements , loud dialogue , emotion
What are the major iconographic features of the text?
You would expect to see a lot of cuddling, kissing and sex with a romantic movie and with a dramatic you would expect to see a lot over emotional scenes, a lot of arguements, fights and stunts.
What are the major generic themes?
The major generic themes on the romantic side would be the sex scenes between the couples the scenes we them cuddling and kissing and play fighting happily with each other. The dramatic side would be the arguments between the couples.
To what extent are the characters generically determined?
Angela is more of dramatically determined as she is loud, argumentative and has an addiction to alcohol.
Mike is again dramatically determined as he is known to be unfaithful and when he gets caught between him and Angela drama is created easily.
Diane and Terry are both romantically and dramatically determined as they love more than argue but when they argue its usually a minor situation within their own disagreements.
Patricia and Gavin are very much romantically determined , they are seen as the perfect couple and even if they do argue it is very gracefully not dramatic at all.
To what extent are the audience’s generic expectations of the text fulfilled or cheated by the text? Does the text conform to the characteristics of the genre, or does it treat them playfully or ironically?
The audiences generic expectations are fulfilled through the title of the film you know its about couples , relationships and marriage. Throughout the film it conforms to the genre and sticks by it.
Does the text feature a star, a director, a writer etc who is strongly associated with the genre? What meanings and associations do they have?
Tyler perry is the director and writer of all his films. He has deep meanings for each of his movie's, he also plays terry in this film and usually plays a part in all his movie's. He is know for writing dramatic movie's such as madea goes to jail, madeas witness protections, Big happy family etc.
Media Institutions
What is the institutional source of the text?
Its is produced by a independent movie institution called 'Lionsgate'
In what ways has the text been influenced or shaped by the institution which produced it?
Small shots and lack of wide shots and big spaces to shot a film which is only done by major film institutions like paramount.
How has the text been distributed?
The new movie gets distributed through social media such as blogs, twitter and Facebook. Also Tyler Perrys website and on on line movie websites which allow you to watch the movie for free.
Media Audiences
To whom is the text addressed? What is the target audience? (Demographics, Psychographics)
Aged - 16 - 30
Gender Males 25+
Women 16+
Social Graded -
EDCB
What are the audience pleasures, uses or gratifications? (Refer to theory).
The audiences pleasure and use or gratification was to be able to identify with what is going on in the movie and may be able to create some humour from memories or tension between the audiences relationships.
As Tyler Perry makes films specifically to bring society together and remember that we are in union and not against each other it may bring a resolution to a situation the audience has identified with.
- How do you, as an audience member, read and evaluate the text? To what extent is your reading and evaluation influenced by your age, gender, background et
Me as an audience member I look and evaluate the text as a lesson to learn for the future. I have learnt that divorce is last resort in any future relationship. Heart ache is something to painful to go into in the future and something I myself as an audience member never want to experience. Myself as a female I think it build barriers within future relationships especially as my ethnicity background is the same as the characters but it gives me hope that other female with the same ethnicity as me can relate and build strength within themselves. For my age I feel its not really relevant for my age group as no serious relationships she be happening now, but it does help for future reference.
