REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN TV DRAMA 'DR FOSTER'

Dr Foster











This series, first aired in 2015, showing huge popularity with the female gender; and again showing just as popular in the second series, which aired September this year. The lead character, Dr Gemma Foster, played by Suranne Jones is the towns local GP who discovers her husband has been having an affair with her friends daughter. This first suspicion which Foster has, leads on to unravel a much deeper plot, involving family members and proving that Gemma shouldn't have completely trusted those who were closest to her.

In this TV drama series, Dr Gemma Foster's character is presented as the complete opposite to the female cliché. The traditional female stereotype says that a female is gentle, sympathetic and nurturing. Whereas the character takes over the aggression of the typical male stereotype, though instead of being seen as empowering and strong, she is shown as almost being insane and crazy. This all has occurred over the male in the series, Gemma's now ex-husband, who soon becomes the catalyst nearly every mistake Foster makes.







In the first series of Dr Foster, all four of the directors were male. This brings about the idea of the 'Male Gaze' theory, seeing the plot through the eyes of a heterosexual male. As a member of the audience who is aware of the aspects of the 'Male Gaze' theory, it was apparent in some scenes that typical aspects had been used. For example, in the intimate scenes, the shot is shown from the husbands perspective much more than Gemma's. However in 2017, series two has more female producers; this becomes relevant in the action which are no longer showed in series two. For example, in series one, Foster's body is heavily sexualised, 'good for her age', whereas in series two comments like this are much more rare, though they do still occur, as this is the nature of the TV drama.





I personally feel that this TV drama is aimed at quite a wide audience, as the plot can be watched from many angles; with the audience able to take the side of many different characters. Firstly, females will find this TV drama gripping and interesting as it  is rare to find such a controlling lead character  whom  is female. Though secondly, males may also enjoy this series as it gives them an insight into a women's perspective; though they are also able to watch the series through the eyes of Simon, now Gemma's ex-husband. Due to this clever way in which the plot has been written, it broadens the audience, allowing it to influence more people than the regular TV drama does. Similarly, Dr Foster's audience includes people of different age groups, though it does target more towards adults of a similar age to Gemma and Simon Foster. Though personally, I feel that the more recent series has appealed to the younger generation, after hearing the hype from their parents after series one.      












Top of the Lake







In this TV drama, again showing a female lead, it shows Elizabeth Moss, playing an inexperienced detective. The missing persons case which she becomes involved in, takes her much deeper into her own personal life than what was expected.                                                      

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