Representation

In imprisonment gender is a key role in portraying the themes of the film. For
example Elliot Roberts - the male antagonist is seen to be a powerful figure who
takes the life of a 16 year old girl - Maya Sharma. Elliot is a thief who is breaking into
a house and finds Maya left home alone, he takes a step further and becomes a
rapist. This represents the development of criminals and how once they've broken
the law nothing will hold them back from breaking another law. The representation of
rapists also links with situations in the real world which is being expressed through
the film imprisonment. Young women are represented to be very vulnerable in
situations like this. Women are seen to be defences less and feel they cannot come
open in this situation. This representation links with how the women in everyday life
feel with the problems that they face.
In the film imprisonment the representation of people who commit crimes i.e. this
case a thief becoming a rapist is seen to be mentally disabled. We seen by the way
Elliot Robert turn from a thief to a rapist to a murder this represents the twist mindset
that a criminal has and the lengths there prepared to go too so they can get what
they want. It also shows they have no morals as there prepared to rape a young girl
and murder her straight after. From an ethic point of view Elliot Robert has been
represented to fit the Stereotype of a Blackman who is seen to be very aggressive,
sexual, working class, this fits in with the personality of Elliot and actions he takes.
Another stereotype from an ethical point of view is from a Caucasian perspective,
where Maya and her family are upper class, seen to be the victim intelligent and
insecure. The reason why Maya is seen to be upper class is so we can represent
that in life people of all classes high or low can be affected by this situation and that
this is a growing problem.
The film is based in the Chigwell, London this is know to be an expensive region in
one of the boroughs of London. Chigwell is known to be a very secure area with low
crime rate; the film imprisoned is based in London and breaks the conventions of
what is seen in every day life. Representing to the audiences that not matter how
safe you think you are, danger is right round the corner. It also represents a growing
level in crime rate in big cities i.e. London, which is starting to affect higher-class
citizens as well as lower class.