Representations in Shaun Of The Dead

How are following groups represented in Shaun of the Dead

• Men
• Woman
• Day2day life


The main male characters in Shaun of the dead are, Shaun, who is the protagonist of the film,
Ed, who is Shaun’s best friend, David a friend of Shaun’s girlfriend, Pete, Shaun and Ed’s nasty flat-mate and Philip, Shaun’s stepdad. All these characters follow somewhat stereotypical representations of men, for example, Shaun and Ed follow a ‘geeky’ ‘blokey’ or ‘laddish’ stereotype, listening to old school hip hop on vinyl, regularly visiting their local pub and playing computer games this can often be applied to men in their teens, although Shaun and Ed are in their late twenties, implying part of the narrative that they need to grow up. Shaun also conforms to the ‘heroic’ stereotype as the title of the film hints at, it is mainly him who battles the zombies, baseball bat in hand and wins back the affections of his girlfriend, Liz. David, who when applying Propp’s theory, is the ‘false hero’ of the film, it is implied that He too, is in love with Liz, even though dating another female character, earlier on in the film he plays the stereotype of a good boyfriend, for example visiting the theatre with his girlfriend, however later in the film this is turned on it’s head, his character is shown as coward, for example being torn apart by zombies. Pete, a much smaller character in the film has already ‘grown up’ and in part, turned particularly nasty, putting the name ‘loser’ on Shaun, he has a car and a job, and wears the typical costume of an office worker, in a shirt and tie. Philip’s character is interesting, Him and Shaun’s relationship is dysfunctional, Shaun has never accepted him as a father figure, however this relieved in the end when Philip makes a death speech, and Shaun finally accepts him as a significant part of his life. Philip is much older than the other characters in the film, this can be seen in his costume and ability to afford a nice car.

The main female characters in the film are Liz, Shaun’s girlfriend and love interest, Barbara, Shaun’s mum and Diane, Liz’s friend – the failed actress. Liz is a typical example of femininity she had longish blonde hair and wear feminine clothing, she longs for a more mature relationship with Shaun, which is typical of a female in her age group. Diane a smaller character in the film is almost a re-representation of Liz, and conforms very much to a ‘best friends’ stereotype. Finally, Shaun’s mum Barbara, is very stereotypically a ‘mumsy’ character, offering to make tea and sandwiches, adopting nicknames for Shaun like ‘pickle’ and hiding that she has been bitten to not worry others.

Day to day life is also a very prominent aspect in the film