Representation of social groups

 How social groups are portrayed in media 

When something or someone is portrayed in a piece of popular literature, representations are more about being conscious of the decisions that are made. Some aspects of the subject's personality and appearance are frequently emphasised and exaggerated in order to produce the portrayal that the spectator would perceive because it is challenging to capture every aspect of a person in a photograph, let alone a feature film. When portraying a person in the media, the following are frequently highlighted:

• Age 
• Culture 
• Class / Financial status 
• Ethnicity 
• Gender 
• Sexualities

Signs and symbols are employed to create visual representations of these characteristics. We create assumptions about the identity of the character as we decode them (sometimes by comparing them to similar characters we've seen before), in order to categorize and "read" these clues in context. When creating characters for a television or film scenario, producers might, for example, give an elderly man with white hair and a walking stick or a wealthy lawyer a three-piece suit to wear and a briefcase to carry. Despite the fact that not all elderly persons require a walking stick and not all lawyers carry briefcases, these are simple and quick ways to convey character.