Evaluation: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Social groups that are prevalent throughout our film opening is age and gender. Firstly, the main character in our opening is perhaps perceived as a stereotypical teenager since he has traits like staying up and sleeping through the day. This is apparent in our film opening since there is a close-up of the clock which is already at 12:19 pm. Peter can also be seen as a

stereotypical teenager since he wears quite young adult clothing; a black t-shirt, skinny jeans and Nike trainers. In this way he perhaps seen as ‘normal’ and attempting to 'fit'in' with the crowd and therefore at high school. However this is subverted with the added touch of  glasses which usually conform to the stereotype of a ‘nerd’ in a typical American school, someone who does not fit into the 'cool' group at high school and gets bullied by the jocks for actually caring about his grade average. In this way, this reflects Peter’s vulnerability as well as representing him as a bit of an ‘outsider’ and therefore his susceptibility to bullying. 

Peter is also aged 17 and so does conform to the stereotype of being 'mis-understood' by adults since his character shuts himself away in the comfort of his attic room. The attic room is also quite symbolic of Peter feeling closed off from society and kept out of sight, up in a small room. Peter's bedroom also represents his depression since it is very dark and deliberately blue-ish in colour in order to display his isolation and struggle with mental illness and bullying.

Despite this, the film also later represents the idea of parenthood and what it is like to be dealing with a teenager as they turn into adults themselves. Peter's mother Lacey is a midwife and throughout the novel is described to dedicate a lot of her life to her job and in this way misses the subtle changes in Peter as he slips deeper into depression. Thus, Lacey could appeal to parents who have gone through similar struggles with their children, struggle to juggle their jobs with bringing up their child. 'Nineteen Minutes' therefore represents parenthood in a very relatable way to many who have experienced the troubles of raising a teenager and helping them transition into adulthood.