R+P Post 6: Our opening sequence's characters and how we plan to represent social groups

We have a large number of characters in our opening sequence, each with their own personalities and identities, and all with different relationships to the murdered Peter Smith. They were the last people to see Peter before he died, as that night they were all at the same party.

Our representation focus is teenagers, and we wanted to represent the many social groups that make up this social group. This includes representing young people of different ethnicities, genders and classes.We thought that this would positively represent youth groups as it is a truthful representation of the diversity seen in modern youth groups.

Rajesh Singh:

• A cheeky, Asian nerd who makes humorous remarks about the ineptitude/ laziness of the detective, making it clear that he thinks he knows better.
• Relationship with Peter Smith: he is Peter's best friend - he doesn't think seriously of Peter's disappearance until the end of the sequence, when he finds out he is dead.
• Inspirations for how he want to represent this character include Data from The Goonies.

Data is a highly intelligent young boy whose inventions, made from junk, help get the Goonies out of some sticky situations. We wanted to use this stereotype in our representation of Raj that Asian characters are typically very clever, but we also wanted to challenge that by also making Raj very cheeky and laddish; where Data was very agitated at what the adults would think of their actions, Raj openly critiques the detective using his intelligence.

DC Sean Mann:

• An apathetic, professional detective who bitterly dislikes the attitude he is shown by the teenagers. His job is hanging on a thread after previous failures as a detective.
• Relationship with Peter Smith: he is investigating Peter's disappearance/murder.
• Inspirations for how he want to represent this character include Alec Hardy from the BBC series Broadchurch, and Jim Hooper from the Netflix series Stranger Things.

Alec Hardy is one of two detectives we follow in Broadchurch; he does not let his emotions show that easily, and his interactions with others are, for the most part, strictly professional and cold. We wanted to represent DC Sean Mann similarly in behaviour and appearance (e.g. his scruffy hair and his costume). Alec Hardy has a reputation as a failing detective, which is a character point we used for the portrayal of our detective.

In the video above, Hooper talks very sternly to the three children in order to try and get proper meaningful answers out of them, and appears overtly frustrated and tired with their petty squabbles. We wanted to replicate this older detective-younger suspect relationship in our representation our detective and his relationships with the teenagers he interviews. 

Cherish Beauguarde: 

• A young woman with an 'ego' aesthetic, but who is deeply empathetic and emotional. 
• Relationship with Peter Smith: she is Peter's boyfriend, and shows genuine distress about his disappearance.



Tina Cohen-Chang is played by South-Korean born American actress Jenna Ushkowitz, who begins the first series wearing dark, edgy clothes and black eye makeup, and also has a variety of genuinely heartfelt relationships. We thought that the 'emo' aesthetic was commonly represented with white people, and with very little empathy or three-dimensionality. We thought it was interesting to challenge that representation by, similarly to Glee, casting a non-white actress to play Cherish and have her be in a close relationship. 

• Inspirations for how he want to represent this character include Tina Cohen-Chang from the Fox series Glee.

Lucy Patterson:

• A gossipy, judgemental young woman that is eager to know everything about the case to tell her friends
• Relationship with Peter Smith: she didn't know him well, but still finds him annoying. It was the place and time of her party where Peter was murder.
• Inspirations for how he want to represent this character include Regina George from Mean Girls.

Regina George is a privileged, bitchy and manipulative character in the film Mean Girls. We wanted Lucy to replicate this behaviour by being mean and gossipy, but we noticed that these character traits in college age girls were typically represented by white actresses, and we decided to challenge this representation by casting a non-white actress to play Lucy.

Tyrone Beckham:

• A black, working class young man; he is misunderstood as being lone, mean and intimidating, but is shown later in the film to have qualities of loyalty and empathy.
• Relationship with Peter Smith: he does not like Peter, and it is hinted that he bullied him at school.
• Inspirations for how he want to represent this character include Moses from Attack the Block.

Moses is a young, black man who is first shown to be an intimidating thug, but is later developed to be a loyal and brave member of the group. We wanted Tyrone to represent the young black male social group in a similar way, first by establishing the negative stereotype of an anti-social bully in our opening sequence, but fleshing him out to have more positive qualities later in the film.

Simon Smith

• A chilled out young man who is not worried or bothered about the police proceedings.
• Relationship with Peter Smith: he is Peter's older brother, and it is clear they do not have a close relationship, as Simon doesn't seem to care that Peter has disappeared, saying 'he keeps making himself a target'.
• Inspirations for how he want to represent this character include Rodrick from Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Rodrick is a bully to his younger brother Greg, is lazy and wears lounge clothes a lot of the time. Besides the rock aesthetic given to Rodrick (e.g. the black eyeliner), we wanted to replicate his laid back characteristics in the character of Simon, leading to a slightly negative portrayal of fraternal relationships.