Representation

In terms of representation, the main thing the opening does is cater to representing teenagers in a place of vulnerability and emotion. In general, growing up through the teenage years is difficult; moreover, people are trying to find themselves and their purpose. They go through many changes, and are growing up. But, sometimes the feelings that teenagers experience can be invalidated, or though of as overdramatic and unnecessary. As mentioned in a HuffPost article, "Why More Adults need to value Teenage Voices", in the minds of adults, teenagers can be thought of as " useless" and "irresponsible". With our opening, we try to show the feelings of a teenager going through a difficult time, and validate other teens that may be going through the same situation, or go through feelings that they may not completely understand. My partner and I would want the audience, whether teenager or not, to understand that all feelings are valid and important, and it does not dictate the type of person you are, or does not make you"uncontrollable: or "insane", based on the opinions of other people.

In terms of race, we are representing the Indian and African race through our main characters. In the beginning of the opening, you can see the female main characters pictures, which shows her in Indian clothing. This choice was not intentional, but it is important as these races are not casted in movies and television shows in America, and we wanted to create and opening that showed some diversity, in order to bring our own personal touch to our opening that would be in the drama genre.

Sources

Song, Isabel. “What Adults (Apparently) Can't See When They Look At Teens.” HuffPost, Huffington Post, 8 June 2014, www.huffpost.com/entry/teenager-misconceptions_b_5024803?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAANU6Ohh1sj-tVtCTU_O57uqq5KDxGAUfmFsrA7dYxNK2uhK6hWNJOzBAo0Tb6ypsGuyMRwDy8GYPW8fD0ax6w98SmR-ZR3KOW53aeHaOgJD2GkvKtnNrNnuVfXsARFDk1fx9M8qeKPRkOmXArSUxfr45seFyb2d4CNaE8rWnGLZh.