How is gender represented

in this extract?

Martha is on lower ground and kneels down to show that she is lower in status and is inferior. On the other hand, The Master is on higher ground, above her to show the superiority. The low angle shot shows this.

On the other hand, the white male is usually shown to be superior; as shown by him wearing a suit. This could foreshadow the image and representation of him as being smart and the leader. He, also, is wearing black which could again represent darkness. Therefore, this shows the class and status between these two characters.

Also, She wears all black which could represent the darkness and evilness which surrounds her.

She stands up from her original position of kneeling before him and starts speaking louder and more dominative. There is a flashback of her walking through continents to ‘spread the word’ of the ‘Doctor’. (As a Wiseman would) This could represent the female to be more of a wiser and intelligent person than she originally appeared to be portrayed as.

Secondly, superiority and inferiority between these two main characters is also shown by the actor’s actions, sounds and expressions. Martha seems to be very quiet when spoken to at first and seems to never look up, but only to the floor. The Master seems to be very loud, outspoken and confident. The Master refers to Martha as ‘a child’ and seems to speak very lowly of her, this again shows the class and status of these two people.

During Martha’s speech, The Master sits down onto one of the steps below him. For me, this was very ironic because as she was speaking. The Master moved physically downwards onto one of the lower steps. This could have represented his gradual downward move from higher status to lower.

Furthermore, the ‘Doctor’ who was also in captivity, had been aged for a of couple hundred years. This could show that old people are weak and can be enslaved physically. He was also made shorter to show his inferiority.

Lastly, the doctor has even said ‘sorry’ to The Master even though he had done nothing wrong. He was shown to be dominating the villain and was portrayed as a hero.

Lastly, as the ‘Doctor’ flew above The Master, The Master himself backed down onto the lowest of steps, showing that the man with power was no more.