Representation of female subject in home cinema (Case study: Mannequin series)

This study attempts to analyze the representation of the female subject in the narrative and visual content of home theater in the Mannequin series. For this purpose, by applying the constructivist approach of Richard Dyer and Stuart Hall’s theory of representation as the theoretical framework and Fisk’s semiotic analysis method in three levels of codes of reality, representation, and ideology, Mannequin series has been examined and evaluated. The research method of this study is a qualitative analysis with an inductive approach. According to the topic and the research problem, deploying qualitative and semiotic methods is the best technique to analyze this topic. The results indicate that the ideological codes of the series are a combination of several codes that together show the class of the woman character in the series. The upper-class female characters in Mannequin series look for fashion, extravagance, variety, and luxury life. On the other hand, the middle or lower-class women in the series are representations of the lone women's turmoil in society who are not able to find the correct and upright ways to achieve their desires and thus go astray. For the single women in the family, who are full of selfishness and self-interest, the Mannequin series leaves no choice but to prostitute themselves and trust in the criminals of society. In summarizing the contents, the following can be mentioned about the Mannequin series: home cinema, which could have been a qualitative alternative to the national television, causes serious damage to the cinema and the culture of our Iranian-Islamic society by turning to such low-quality and worthless series in terms of technical structure and moral themes.