Our Girl: Representation of Gender and Ethnicity

In this series on BBC, many stereotypes are shown as it is based on the war in Afghanistan/Kenya. Michelle Keegan plays the role of Georgie Lane, who is a Lance Corporal.


The first major stereotype is gender. This is because in society women are not presented as going out to 'fight' because it is the men's job. She breaks this as being Lance Corporal and is a White British female. But, she is shown out to be a victim to the other men in the army. She is made vulnerable as she is getting held hostage. She is also not able to tell the army that she is a solider because she will get beheaded straight away. This is because it is not acceptable to be a woman and a trained solider. So, she has to lie to them and plead that she is only a trained medic so she has a chance of survival. But she is represented as a counter stereotype as she breaks all of this by being a female solider. This is good for UK television in this day and age because it is different and that is what people want these days. 


Also, the use of moving image and directors show the gender stereotype. The way it is edited shows this because it is very fast paced and sometimes contains three shots in one. This is showing the vulnerability of her as she is a woman and getting attacked by the terrorists. It also contains flashbacks to show her past. The use of camera shots emphasises the fear that she has by creating the effect of a handheld camera. This is a shot which is very shaky and shows the fear that Georgie is feeling through a camera, this shows that she is a vulnerable woman. 


Another camera shot is the close up on her face which really grabs the viewers attention and shows the real fear and panic. It also creates high tension and focuses on every tiny detail. The tracking shot shows Georgie's feet getting dragged along. This goes out of focus and very blurry for her as it moves along with her. But, for the male attacker it is completely smooth. This highlights the stereotype. But, also makes the viewer side with Georgie because you feel sympathy for her.


Sound is another major impact on the gender stereotype. This is because it uses non-diegetic sound which builds up tension for Georgie and shows she is the victim. Synchronous sound is also used by there being lots of noise of shooting and screaming from Georgie but not from any of the men. But, this is what is expected to heard from this war scene. 

Another stereotype is ethnicity stereotypes. This is overcome in 'Our Girl'. Firstly, Jason Raynott AKA Abu who is played by Michael James is a white British male. This is meeting the ethnicity stereotype because typically only Muslims will join the extremist group. He is represented as a counter stereotype because he is going  against the religion by not being Muslim. He is also turning against his own ethnicity by capturing Georgie who is also white and British.

But, this series represents the Military experience and the truth behind it. This is why it focuses on these stereotypes because it is what is happening in the world right now but the public do not realise. It constructs it for the audience in a simple way so it is easy for the viewer to understand. This is also why it is labelled as a 'mainstream' series.