Representation 

                                                 12 Years A slave

                                                

Black Males: They are racially discriminated against as they are presented as slaves. This movie reinforces the stereotype that white people are superior in comparison to blacks. This is a realistic portrayal of slavery times.However, the main protagonist was originally a New York State-born free African-American man violinist with a family and well established life/career which goes against the stereotype of black males but as expected he is soon sold into slavery and deceived by the white males. 

White Males: They are dominant and the black males are submissive- racial discrimination. It is dominant portrayal of white males as they are seen as powerful characters. 

Women: There is a dominant portrayal of women as they are seen simply as the lover/wife who take care of the children while the men work- mainly white females in this movie or on the other hand the black females are seen as sex objects who are abused and raped by the white males. 

Location: The movie is set in 1835, the places shown look like country sides where slaves would work. 

Representation- (Theories applied) 

12 Years A Slave portrays young African Americans as slaves and highlights the historical context of black people however the protagonist of the film challenges the stereotype because he has a good job and provides for his family and also ommjunicates and lives amongst white people. This reinforces Perkins theory as the stereotype is able to change. Furthermore, the protagonist reinforces Fanons 'Black Skin, White Masks' theory due to the way he carries himself through the film alongside the white community, almost trying make himself fit in their society. Additionally, Medhurst’s theory of shorthand value judgements can also be applied because the representation of the minority group of black people is very negative and the stereotype of black people has been reinforced in a short amount of time.

On the other hand, the white people presented are seen as dominant and overpowering therefore reinforcing an accurate description of the historical context. This links to Dyer's theory as those with the power, stereotype those with less power and generalise them all as one, racially discriminating them. However this also supports Perkins theory as the white Americans were in power during the 1600s, which reveals the truth about the situation rather than the stereotype. The white middle-class group are presented in the highest status and show the dominant portrayal of their class. Through their clothing (mise-en-scene), in comparison to the Africans, who are wearing barely nothing, we can infer immediately from his skin and his clothes that he is a dominant character.

Similarly, women are presented as the typical ‘house wives’. This reinforces Mulvey’s theory about ‘male gaze’ since the wife is the main protagonist is simply there as his wife or the mother of his kids. Although she’s not portrayed as a sex object she is still in some sense his object who takes care of him and his family while he goes out and works which also links to Dyer’s theory as its reinforcing the stereotype of the man being the ‘bread winner’. 

Furthermore, there are several binary oppositions presented in this trailer, one of them would be 'dark vs white' this is also a dominant ideology as people assume that white people are superior is comparison to black people. Additionally, there is also the opposition of 'good vs evil' in this trailer, the good people are the blacks whereas the bad are the whites. This contradicts the idea of white people being superior because even though they dominate the black people they are still viewed as the 'bad guys'.