VICTIM OR MURDERER? - Discourse, representation & stereotypes in true crime
Marie Eriksson
Media and Communication Studies: Media activism, strategy & entrepreneurship Bachelor Thesis Malmö University Faculty of Culture and Society Spring Term of 2021 Supervisor: Matts Skagshöj Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021
Abstract
This study explores the true crime documentary Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story and aims to investigate the protagonist Cyntoia Brown in relation to how her character and story is represented. Due to the consistent rise of awareness in equal rights, as well as the steady increase of black representation in popular television, one might think that it would reflect positively in mass media. Although there have been few changes to representation, the findings that are to be presented suggest otherwise. Narratives within television still heavily relies on stereotyping and following societal norms, which this study desires to expose through a discourse analysis.
Keywords: discourse, representation, stereotypes, black women, true crime, anti-heroism
Title: Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Author: Marie Eriksson
Bachelors thesis in Media and Communication Studies, 15 hp Faculty of Culture and Society Malmö University Supervisor: Matts Skagshöj Examinator: Per Möller Spring Term of 2021
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021
Table of Contents
1. Introduction...... 3
2. Purpose and research questions ...... 5 2.2. Research questions ...... 5
3. Contextualization ...... 6 3.1 Race and gender discrimination in the United States...... 6 3.2 The Cyntoia Brown story...... 7 3.3 Injustice in America's justice system...... 8
4. Previous research ...... 9 4.1 Representation of race and colorblindness in television ...... 9 4.2 Black women and stereotypes in television ...... 10 4.3 The antihero narrative ...... 10 4.4 Findings and summary ...... 11
5. Theoretical framework ...... 12 5.1 Discourse theory ...... 12 5.2 Representation theory ...... 13 5.3 Feminist theory...... 15 5.4 Affective disposition theory ...... 16
6. Method and material ...... 18 6.1 Multimodal critical discourse analysis ...... 18 6.2 Material ...... 20 6.3 Ethical discussion ...... 21 6.4 Validity and reliability ...... 21 6.5 Limitations ...... 22
7. Result and analysis ...... 23 7.1 Story plot and narrative ...... 23 7.2 Social actor analysis ...... 28 7.3 The portrayal and stereotyping of Cyntoia Brown ...... 32
8. Summary and discussion ...... 40 8.1 Summary ...... 40 8.2 Discussion ...... 41
9. References ...... 44
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021
List of figures
Figure 1 ...... 19 Screenshot 1 ...... 25 Screenshot 2 ...... 26 Screenshot 3 ...... 28 Screenshot 4 ...... 30 Screenshot 5 ...... 33 Screenshot 6 ...... 34 Screenshot 7 ...... 36 Screenshot 8...... 36 Screenshot 9...... 37
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021
1. Introduction
Media has the power to manifest discourses, norms and stereotypes within our society. It dictates how we perceive the world, what we believe to be “the truth” and influences our ability to predict right from wrong. Cyntoia Brown is a victim of prejudices manifested by harmful stereotypes. In 2004, she was at 16-years-old sentenced to life in prison for killing Johnny Allen, a man who had allegedly solicited her for sex. A decade later, her case went viral on social media due to the public demanding mercy upon her harsh sentence. The true crime documentary Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story follows her conviction, sentence and release, after serving 15 years in prison. True crime documentaries often seek to make an emotional impact, seek justice or exonerate an innocent person. Correspondingly, the Cyntoia Brown story is no different. By adopting a common narrative style for morally complex characters, the documentary predominantly strives to gain sympathy and make an emotional impact through an antihero narrative. Hypothetically, these types of documentaries should as a result influence our society in a positive way. Maybe even have the possibility to diminish prejudices and stereotypical beliefs. Unfortunately, harmful stereotypes towards ethnic minorities are not easily erased. This study will further investigate how Cyntoia Brown’s representation in Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story is manifested by discourses, norms and stereotypes. Possibly the very same reasons why black women like Cyntoia Brown are convicted in the first place.
There are many motivating factors to why studying representation in true crime documentaries is important. Although these documentaries claim to illustrate the perspective of the protagonist and the “truth”, the representation can never be fully unaffected by the producers own ideas, values and identities. The problematic aspect of claiming to reveal “a story of true events” is that the “truth” is rarely challenged by its audience (Franks 2018). Since the media is largely controlled by the dominant group of our society, their ideologies tend to reflect upon representation, which leads to stereotyping people outside of the controlling homogeneous group. Harmful stereotypes have time and time again proven to have a negative impact on ethnic minorities. These impressions play a huge role in how we perceive society and the people around us (Hall 1997b). Furthermore, this study will help us understand how narratives in representation can shape and even change public opinion.
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021
2. Purpose and research questions
The purpose of this study is to increase the understanding of the story in the documentary film Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story, that was released on Netflix in 2020. This will be done through investigating how the narrative reproduces and in other ways relates to established stereotypes about black women, as well as analyzing the representation and portrayal of Cyntoia Brown, a 16-year-old sex-trafficking victim of African American decent. As a base for this study, I will scrutinize stereotypes the media utilizes to portray black women, and the connections they may have to Cyntoia Brown’s representation. Furthermore, this study will also explore how the documentary uses an antihero narrative to support the representation of her character.
2.2. Research questions
1) How does the documentary Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story represent Cyntoia Brown and from who’s side is the story told?
2) What stereotypes does the documentary’s portrayal of Cyntoia Brown reproduce and how does the antihero narrative support its representation?
Since the perception of the world is biased based on one’s identity, this research is going to be highly hypothetically driven. With that said, I as a researcher will do my best to keep the study as impartial as possible. However, the fact that my own ideas and values create hypotheses that might affect the study beforehand, should be taken into consideration and be acknowledged as early as possible.
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021
3. Contextualization
In this section, race and gender discrimination in the United States of America will be introduced as the historical context and foundation to an injust justice system, which Cyntoia Brown and many others have fallen victim to. Movements like Me Too and Black Lives Matter have prominently supported in shedding light on these injustices. Along with the Me Too movement, the hashtag #freecyntoiabrown circulated on social media and brought an immense amount of media attention to the case. Furthermore, the movements will be briefly presented as crucial information to understand the theoretical framework and analysis, as well as a more in-depth description of the Cyntoia Brown case.
These specific topics are of interest to explore since the basis of producing the documentary film Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story, as well as other true crime documentaries like it, is to seek justice. The controversy revolving Cyntoia Brown’s unfair sentence was that the criminal justice system tried her as an adult and a prostitute despite being under age (Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story 2020). Furthermore, what is about to be discussed in this section will create an understanding of why Cyntoia Brown’s story is important to highlight, since it points out flaws in America’s justice system, as well as demonstrates what role the media plays in fighting them.
3.1 Race and gender discrimination in the United States
Discrimination remains one of the longest battles society still struggles to defeat. America is a country with a deeply rooted history of race relations and gender inequality. Before the mid- nineteenth century women were not allowed to practice some of the most basic civil rights such as; to vote, to own property or to enter a contract. In fact, married women only held a slightly better legal status than slaves; black Americans with no freedom and who had been stripped of their human-, civil-, political- and social rights. It was not until 1868, by the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment, when black individuals were finally granted citizenship status. However, even though women and blacks are technically recognized equal to any other white man in today’s society, sexism and racism are still preventing many from fully enjoying their rights (Rierson 1994).
Gender and racial inequality are closely associated with stereotyped social and cultural roles in current media. Stereotypic beliefs combined with prejudiced attitudes can, if acted on, drive discrimination (Fiske 2000). Assault and harassment are commonly experienced by women in America, specifically women of ethnic minority (SteelFisher et al. 2019). Simultaneously, blacks are frequently falling victims to hate crime and violence based on racial bias (FBI.gov 2019). Me Too and Black Lives Matter are movements determined to spread awareness and end discrimination, assault and racism against women and people of color (SteelFisher et al. 2019; Buchanan et al. 2020). Specifically, Black Lives Matter is a movement founded in 2012 as a protest opposing police brutality against black people (Knox & Herbert 2020). Me Too, on the other hand, was founded as early as in 2006, but did not go viral until 2017. A form of discrimination, which sparked the viral circulation of the Me Too movement on social media, was the invalidation of women's experiences of assault and harassment by film producer Harvey
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021
Weinstein. These experiences and accusations were either not heard or not being taken seriously, simply because the victims were young women (Gill & Rahman-Jones 2020). Similarly, to Cyntoia Brown’s case, a 16-year-old sex trafficking victim, the ruling of her sentence would not take into account that 43-year-old Johnny Allen might have been sexually assaulting Brown (Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story 2020).
3.2 The Cyntoia Brown story
On December 6th 2004, Cyntoia Brown was sentenced to life in prison for first degree murder by the Tennessee Supreme Court, having to wait 51 years before being eligible for parole. Despite being 16-years-old at the time of the killing she was tried and charged as an adult. The sentence was based on that Cyntoia Brown had previously been accused of shooting and killing Johnny Allen, a 43-year-old man who had allegedly solicited her for sex (Carroll 2019). Brown never denied the accusation, in fact she had made the 911 call. She however claims it to have been an act of self-defense. On August 8th 2004, Brown was arrested at a nearby hotel and charged with homicide, aggravated robbery, handgun possession, and criminal impersonation (Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story 2020).
When Johnny Allen met Cyntoia Brown, she was at a very vulnerable stage of her life. She was associating herself with a man she refers to as Kut Throat, that she believed to be her boyfriend but in truth orchestrated and manipulated Brown to offer sex for money. On August 6th, the day of the killing, Allen picked up Brown, paid 150 dollars and drove the young teenager to his place where they allegedly were going to engage in sexual relations. Brown testifies in court that Allen had shown her his guns, which made her very uncomfortable, and then gotten violent with her in bed which made her fear for her life. She explains that when Allen was reaching over to the nightstand next to the bed, she thought he was reaching for a gun and that he was going to kill her. This led her to make a split-second decision to shoot Allen in the back of the head with a handgun that she had in her purse, in an act of self-defense. However, evidence show that Allen did not have a gun beside his bed and that when his body was found, his fingers were intertwined indicating, according to the prosecution, that Johnny Allen was sleeping at the time he was shot. The prosecution continues to argue that Brown’s real intention was robbery, considering that when Brown was arrested, she was found with Allen’s wallet and some of his guns. They also stated that they allegedly had Brown’s confession on record, referring to a phone call between Brown and her adoptive mother where Brown says “I killed somebody… I executed him.” (Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story 2020).
Despite the defense arguing Brown’s age, background, mental history and mental state at the time of the killing, as well as a witness testifying to previously being raped by Johnny Allen, Brown was found guilty of murder and sentenced to the Tennessee Prison for Women; a maximum- security detention facility in Nashville, Tennessee (Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story 2020: Knight 2020). 13 years later, in 2017, the hashtag #freecyntoiabrown was picked up and circulated on social media. The movement got a tremendous amount of attention and was even shared by celebrities such as Rihanna and Kim Kardashian. The movement demanded mercy on Cyntoia Brown and argued her to be considered a sex-trafficking victim and not a prostitute with
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021 malicious intent. On January 7th 2019, Brown was finally granted clemency by Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and was released on August 8th 2019, serving a total of 15 years in prison. On April 29th 2020, the documentary film Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story was released on Netflix, exposing the carceral system that failed her and so many other young women facing similar circumstances (De La Cretaz 2020).
3.3 Injustice in America's justice system
Cyntoia Brown’s story is only one of many examples where the injustice in America’s justice system is exposed. There is a pool of documentaries just like it that tell stories of black individuals who have been unfairly tried because of the color of their skin (Innocence Project 2020). When They See Us is another true crime documentary, and a tragic example of racial bias where five black teens from Harlem are falsely accused of rape and assault. Korey Wise, one of the five teens, was 16-years-old at the time, and was similarly to Cyntoia Brown, tried as an adult. Unlike Cyntoia Brown, Wise had no connection to the case against him and was innocently sentenced to prison (When They See Us 2019). Although Brown is far from innocent, as a 16- year-old selling sex for money under the influence of Kut Throat; a man almost twice her age, she could in fact be considered a victim. (Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story 2020).
Unfortunately, there are many cases of young sex-trafficking victims just like Cyntoia Brown in the United States. According to the U.S Department of Justice (2012), about 1,000 children are arrested for prostitution each year. The state of Tennessee, where Brown was charged, have however since 2004 changed their laws regarding minors. Since 2011, individuals under 18 can no longer be charged with prostitution. Additionally, in 2012 they banned mandatory life without parole for juveniles (Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story 2020; Ramsey 2017). When Brown was granted clemency in 2019, it was not in favor of the law but because Governor Haslam believed she deserved a second chance. Today there are still about 200 people in Tennessee prisons serving life sentences for crimes they committed as teens (Raphelson 2017; Max 2021).
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021
4. Previous research
The following research that is to be presented in this section is of relevance since the literature supports in distinguishing frequent themes within representation of race, women and antiheroism in popular television. This will help in positioning my study in a vaster perspective by establishing patterns of representation in today's media environment.
4.1 Representation of race and colorblindness in television
A common controversy of black representation on mainstream television, including Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story, that is undoubtedly prominent and notably voiced by several authors, is the colorblind discourse of race in television. Colorblindness became elevated as a rhetorical strategy after the Civil Rights Movement in the late 1960s. The term refers to “the claim that race no longer ‘matters’ in American society” and that the representation of race is merely a visual feature. Colorblindness stems from the demand for a more diverse representation in television, being motivated by what white viewers wanted to see. Therefore, portrayals and narratives of ethnic minorities are dominated by people of color who have assimilated into white culture, resulting in a colorblind discourse (Brüning 2019; Kretsedemas 2010). Television series such as Ugly Betty, Lost and Grey's Anatomy are perfect examples of colorblindness in the early 2000s television (Brüning 2019).
The amount of attention the term colorblind discourse has gotten in relation to ethnic representation, comes from the power television holds in shaping public opinion and attitudes toward race and cultural representation (Catanese 2011, p. 1). Performance has become the primary medium in which we express race and where cultural differences are examined, expressed, educated, and challenged. The issue with colorblindness in this context, argued by researchers, is that television strictly reflects a quantitative multiculturalism. Therefore, there is an urgent need for representation that is not just ideologically linked (Catanese 2011, p. 3; Patton 2019).
Walking the “colorblind line” is not an easy task since emphasizing too broad differences as well as neglecting them could on a cultural level be equally harmful (Catanese 2011, p. 5). However, the most problematic notion which most scholars seem to agree on is that some television programs reflecting reality, suggests that reality is colorblind when it in fact is not. Studies show that the appearance of black descent structures social situations according to the hierarchy of racial classification. Because of these inherently structural and institutional dimensions that distinguish both conscious and unconscious notions of race. A distinction in privilege is created which proves the fact that race in this sense does still matter (Whelan et al. 2018). Colorblindness is of interest to look at in relation to Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story since the documentary claims to reflect the reality of a biracial African American woman. Although the documentary states to represent her version of life, it has chosen to not focus its narrative around race, which as a result makes the story develop a discourse of colorblindness.
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021
4.2 Black women and stereotypes in television
When scrutinizing black representation in popular television, black characters have either been absent completely or heavily stereotyped. Black women are commonly portrayed as unattractive, threatening, hypersexualized and inferior to all others (Williams & Gonlin 2017). The most common historical stereotypes are the Mammy, the Jezebel and the Sapphire, now generally referred to as the Angry Black Woman (Toms-Anthony 2018). The Mammy is a stereotype dating back to slavery in the Antebellum South and is portrayed as “the loyal care giver” (Kretsedemas 2010). In contrast, the Jezebel is known as the “tempting seductress” and is based on the idea of black women using their bodies and sex appeal to seduce in order to “get their way” (Toms-Anthony 2018). The Angry Black Woman originates from the Sapphire stereotype that represents a black woman attempting to imitate the culture of a white middle class (Kretsedemas 2010). The Angry Black Woman is overly aggressive, heavily masculinized and not particularly kind or compassionate (Walley-Jean 2009). Black women characters are mostly stereotyped as the Angry Black Woman and according to Walley-Jean (2009) The Angry Black woman has shown to have a negative impact for women in the black community, since it may influence unconscious beliefs that hinder black women to excel in their careers or daily lives (Ashley 2013).
It is important to note that when discussing black women and representation, intersectionality is a term closely related to the type of issues black women face in media, but also in our society and their day-to-day lives. Most studies and analysis of representation separates race and gender. However, Brüning (2019) seeks to bridge the gap between the two variables with an intersectional approach, which makes her article particularly interesting in relation to the representation of Cyntoia Brown. Intersectionality is the analytical perspective that aims to acknowledge the social categorizations such as race, class and gender. Aspects that create differences among us and is deeply rooted within black feminism due to their historical background of constant oppression. This becomes particularly important when trying to distinguish and understand prejudices and stereotypical beliefs against black women, how it affects them and how they came to be (Haynes et al. 2020).
4.3 The antihero narrative
Anti-heroes are typically described as “unsympathetic, morally questionable, or villainous figures and nearly always male” (Battles 2019). However, in recent years there has been an increase of female lead characters in television series constructed as anti-heroines, defying the conventional stereotypes of female characters. Anti-heroines are more complex, multilayered and morally flawed than the typical traditional female. Fell (2017) believes that by constructing women as anti-heroines, the socially constructed differences between genders can potentially be naturalized and dehistoricized.
Nonetheless, breaking gender role stereotypes is not an easy task. While there is progress in television’s portrayal of women starring characters challenging social norms, there is still an expectation of women to constantly be sexy and likeable. Some even question whether anti-
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021 heroines can be seen as anything other than “an unsympathetic bitch” since cultural roles play a vital part in shaping viewers perception (Battles 2019). In fact, anti-heroines are often considered more unlikeable than the typically “charismatic anti-hero” since women are socialized to be likable. There can therefore be a disconnect between the audience and the anti-heroine character when viewers witness a female character with little to no feminine qualities. On the other hand, some argue that this is the type of anti-heroine that resonates with many. Due to the fact that it displays real qualities of women that do not care whether they are likable or not (Tally 2016, p. 7). This debate is a perfect example of cultural expectations anti-heroines face that anti-heroes do not. Typically, this will result in anti-heroines having to explain their deviant behavior by deflecting it on some deeper issue, such as being mentally ill. Mental illness or addiction is something that is developed in several anti-heroin characters, and reflects how Cyntoia Brown is portrayed (Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story 2020; Tally 2016, p. 10). By studying the structure of anti-heroines, we can come to understand the struggles and expectations from society that Cyntoia Brown’s character face, which as a result has shaped her representation in the documentary.
4.4 Findings and summary
In conclusion, stereotypes of blacks and female characters are still prominently present in today’s television. It is also notable that most of the typically used black women stereotypes have a negative connotation. When discussion representation of black women, as well as blacks and women separately there is a notable underrepresentation. Although there have been improvements, these improvements mostly reflect on quantity and socially constructed roles. Furthermore, black women stereotypes are still frequently used. There seems to be an “either or” concept, whereas either blacks are heavily and negatively stereotyped or they are expected to act as if they have “no race”. However, even though changes have been few, there has in fact been a trend of female characters challenging the social norms as anti-heroines, which has made a gap for women like Cyntoia Brown to tell her story in mainstream media. Although anti-heroine characters claim to challenge the typical “traditional woman” there are still expectations from society that are anticipated to be followed, which suggests that these characters are not as “revolutionary” as one might think. Furthermore, these three themes of representation revolving race and women creates a solid base to further study the notion of antiheroism in the documentary film Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story. They also support in distinguishing which stereotypes are present and if the film challenges social norms, or is simply falling in line with societies expectations of how black women should be presented.
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021
5. Theoretical framework
The theoretical framework includes four main theories; discourse theory, representation theory, feminist theory and Arthur Raney's perspective on affective disposition theory. First and foremost, the representation theory will support the analysis of Cyntoia Brown’s portrayal as well as identifying which stereotypes her character embodies. Moreover, to put perspective on and really understand challenges black women face I will combine the analysis of Brown’s representation with bell hooks feminist theory. The film’s antihero narrative and how it supports Brown’s representation will be analyzed collectively with the help of discourse theory and Raney's perspective on affective disposition theory. Race and gender are something that is noticeably missing from the narrative. In addition, besides discussing present discourses in the film, discourse theory will also allow me to investigate what the narrative fails to include.
5.1 Discourse theory
A discourse is essentially everywhere and everything. We can for example find discourses in language, ideas, symbols, and ideology. Similarly, to representation theory, discourses give the world meaning in how we come to understand it. A discourse can shape and influence, as well as constitute social practices within our society (Parker 1989). They are embedded in institutional practices and by taking on discourses the subject position is regulated and controlled by them (Sam 2019).
A great deal of social science research is heavily influenced by Michel Foucault’s work and perspective on discourse. However, his work is surely not straight forward nor easy to understand (Sam 2019). Michel Foucault studied the complexity of discourse as a way to understand systems of representation, which further inspired aspects of Stuart Hall’s research and representation theory. Similarly, Hall (1992, p. 291) also believed social practices to be influenced by discursive aspects. Foucault’s view on discourse relies heavily on how power and authority shape the discourses of our society and how we perceive things. Unlike the traditional way of thinking, instead of looking at linguistic structure and language practice, Foucault focused on a broader political, ideological and historical context. A perspective which helps us understand the narratives that shape our ideas of the world (Sam 2019). According to Foucault, the societal discourses are shaped by power. Power is therefore what dictates who we are. He often used the words “power knowledge” to signify that power is established through officially recognized and accepted knowledge. In other words, a mutual understanding of the “truth”. Comparable to representation theory, the media utilizes its influence and power to create a preferred meaning of reality. Something that can be seen as the “truth” by the majority (Foucault 1991; Wood 1998). Furthermore, Foucault also adds that discourses are not one simple thing. In fact, many different, and even contradicting discourses can be present in a narrative at the same time. They can even present inconsistencies because of competing forces of power, values and ideas (Jacobs 2006).
“Regimes of truth” is another term, or rather a concept that Foucault developed. He used this concept in an attempt to interpret how knowledge and truth are related, as well as controlled by discourses and power structures in society. The regimes of truth are constantly reinforced upon
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021 us by the education system, the media and the ideologies around us. Furthermore, the concept refers to discourses that regulate and dictate what we perceive as the “truth”. “Truth” therefore becomes something based on the type of discourse that society accepts as truthful, which is how power knowledge is shaped (Foucault 1991). The “truth” can in other words be described as “society’s general sense of politics”, or as Foucault would call it; biopolitics. Biopolitics characterizes our common understanding in how we can distinguish right from wrong (Arnason 2012). Discourses construct and defines our knowledge and therefore, power, language and social practices controls our “truth” (Foucault 1991). When everyone accepts one reality and “truth”, society controls itself without even knowing it. This is the type of government style Foucault introduced as biopolitics or biopower (Arnason 2012).
Although, Foucault (1991) dedicated power to language and social practices in how discourses conform and controls our knowledge and understanding of the truth. He also made sure to study the meaning of things that are never said in a context, hence he claimed nothing to exists outside of discourses. Besides the obviously present discourses, a representation of something can for example also consist of silent discourses that never manifests for various reasons. In addition, he believed that for those reasons that silent discourses were of interest to look at, since discourses also shape rules of what can and cannot be said (Foucault 1972, p. 43). Things that can and cannot be said, as well as things that can and cannot be done is how society distinguishes “normal” from “abnormal”. Anything that deviates from the norm that discourses have shaped is considered abnormal. In Foucault’s (2006) book The History of Madness, he draws as distinction between mental illness and madness, arguing that madness, which is considered abnormal, is in fact a social construct based on subjective assumptions. Foucault describes abnormal as being seen as sick by society. Something that he found to be very problematic. He in fact claims abnormality to be very different from being sick, but that it has by society been reduced to the same thing (Foucault 1991). Similarly to how the antihero narrative is constructed, anti-heroines often deflect immoral actions, which are things that cannot be done, on mental problems (Tally 2016, p. 10). This furthers Foucault’s theory revolving abnormality and exemplifies the idea that if norms are broken, the “rulebreaker” in question will be seen as abnormal and sick.
5.2 Representation theory
Representation theory in media studies looks at how the media represents reality, social groups, events and places in a combination of language and semiotic elements. One might think that the representation of something seen in the media is a reflection of reality. However, according to representation theory, the media does not reflect the reality of things that already have meaning. Quite opposite, the media and whoever is in control of it, are the meaning makers of reality (Hall & Hobson 1980, p. 118). In other words, the base for Stuart Hall’s (1997b) representation theory relies on the fact that media representation shapes our view of the world, instead of reality shaping the representation. He claims that the knowledge we have about the world around us is solely based on how it is represented, and that the original subject of representation does not have meaning until we give it one. As a result, the media holds the power to shape meaning and representation, something that can be either positive or negative. How something is represented
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021 depends on who is representing it and why (a.a., p. 16-17). Meaning that whoever is in control of the representation has an immense amount of power to influence society.
Since the media have the power to influence society, one can wonder who controls the mass media that represents the majority of our “reality” and understanding of the world. Substantial media companies are usually regulated by a homogenous group that solely contains of white, middle class, heterosexual men. A group which also happens to be the most dominant group in our society. As a result, the representation typically reflects their ideology (Wood 1998). Mass media therefore often tend to stereotype representation of individuals outside of the homogenous group, such as blacks and women, which creates a sense of “otherness”. This makes the representation of ethnic minorities we are exposed to very limited and controlled, which is how stereotypes are created (Hall 1997c, p. 235-239). Stereotyping have a very negative impact on ethnic minorities since they are typically stereotyped negatively.
Moreover, when the same stereotypes are used frequently, society’s perception of reality narrows. The representation becomes normalized and eventually people stop questioning it (Hall 1997a). Creating a preferred meaning of reality endorsed by the majority, is believed to be the dominant group’s attempt to control society through norms. By doing so, it influences people to distinguish “normal” from “abnormal” and constructs a sense of “us” and “them”. This is their way of asserting dominance to keep non-elite groups in their place and to maintain social supremacy. Of course, there can be other agendas to why something is represented in a certain way. The intentions always depend on who is creating the representation and why (Hall & Hobson 1980, p. 123-124; Wood 1998).
Representation can also take its form through narratives, meaning that the representation is not limited to isolated actions, words or events. Representation through narratives requires the need to look at “the bigger picture” to be able to scrutinize a character’s representation. Specifically when analyzing films or series, the plot and discourses within it play a huge role in shaping a character’s portrayal and representation (Rudrum 2005). Vladimir Propp (1968), a prominent theorist in narrative structures, identified patterns of 31 narrative functions by studying hundreds of Russian folktales. His research dates back to the 1920’s but is still of relevance today since the functions he discovered can be seen in modern tales we are familiar with in the 21st century. He argued that narratives are character driven and that plots are developed through their actions. Broadly, most stories followed the narrative of a hero needing to overcome a villain in the story. Similarly to the antihero narrative, the antihero needs to overcome an “obstacle”, in other words “the villain”. Furthermore, despite antihero-protagonists being morally questionable, there is nevertheless an antagonist serving the purpose of a villain or an obstacle. In addition, antihero narratives therefore follow the systematic patterns we all are familiar with in a typical and traditional “hero narrative” (Shafer & Raney 2013).
Besides “the hero” and “the villain”, Vladimir Propp (1968) distinguished five other reoccurring characters. The Dispatcher is usually the one who instigates the Hero’s journey and identifies a problem that the Hero has to overcome. The Helper is another character that serves and assists the Hero in his or her quest. The Princess or the Prize is the ultimate goal that the Hero seeks. The Prize is usually something that the Hero deserves but is unable to obtain. Normally due to the
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021 antagonist’s actions which prevents the Hero through the story. The Donor is someone who functions to prepare the Hero for his or her journey. Lastly, the False Hero is someone who threatens to take credit for the Hero’s actions, taking the deserving prize away. Particularly when scrutinizing how the antihero narrative represents Cyntoia Brown, knowledge about frequent systematic patterns within narratives will certainly be helpful.
5.3 Feminist theory bell hooks feminist theory is centered around the idea that feminism is a constant struggle to end patriarchal oppression. Patriarchal oppression refers to a patriarchal society where women are being oppressed and discriminated against in a society dominated by men. bell hooks mean that patriarchy is present in almost all cultures of society, some more than others. The ultimate goal by fighting patriarchal oppression is to gain equality (Biana 2020). bell hooks claim that feminism is not something to be taken lightly, it is a political commitment. Her conclusion is that to be able to call yourself a feminist, you need to constantly be politically active, fighting for women’s rights and equality (Lutz 1993).
However, being a feminist also means to understand the different levels of discrimination and oppression. According to bell hooks, women’s experiences of discrimination cannot be categorized as one thing. In fact, discrimination and oppression can vary depending on a woman’s ethnic background and class. She emphasizes the intersectional approach in her theory and recognizes that discrimination is more than just “gender or race”, or “race or class”, but many women experience discrimination because of these factors combined. The theory looks at multiple forms of inequality and disadvantages collectively, which create obstacles often not understood by conventional ways of thinking (hooks 1984, p. 31).
Discrimination toward black women is closely intertwined with their negative representation in mass media, influencing unconscious beliefs that unfavored black women in their day-to-day lives (Ashley 2013). hooks (1992, p. 2) argue that the representation of African Americans in the media has seen little to no change and that the images of black people we are exposed to, reinforce white supremacy. Through the lens of white supremacy and internalized racism the representation creates a racist mass media which convinces people that black lives are not complex and unworthy of reflection (a.a., p. 2). Negative representation of black women forms by limiting the representation and by frequently using harmful stereotypes about women and blacks. This leads to black women experiencing a higher level of oppression and discrimination in comparison to white women that are solely discriminated due to their gender. Furthermore, this demonstrates bell hooks feminist theory about different levels of discrimination and oppression. Something that is closely linked to multiple biological and social factors (King 1975). In relation to Stuart Hall and his representation theory, hooks (1992, p. 2) agrees that the preservation of white supremacy and controlled limited representation of blackness, results in institutionalization of mass media which further supports the discrimination, oppression and domination of black people.
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021
Cultivated through the lens of white supremacy and racists mass media, black women tend to believe that their natural appearance is far from desirable in today’s society. They tend to find that straight hair compared to curly, and lighter skin compared to darker complexions, make them more worthy and accepted in society. As a result, many black women try to mimic the appearance of a white person through, for example chemically straightening their hair (hooks 1992, p. 3). Especially television and films have the power to influence these types of values. However, many refuse the idea that television and films are political with ideological intent. Furthermore, this way of thinking has been so normalized that even some black people do not see the problematic nature of white dominated representation (a.a., p. 5).
5.4 Affective disposition theory
When watching traditional narratives in television, viewers are often able to distinguish a character’s actions and determine whether they are the hero of the story or the villain. How the story then unfolds for the character we see as the hero, versus the character we see as the villain determines our enjoyment. Disposition based theories of media are useful when trying to understand why we enjoy these narratives (Raney 2004). Affective disposition theory (ADT) is most commonly used when scrutinizing viewers enjoyment of media entertainment, and explains how emotions become a part of the viewers entertainment experience (Raney et al. 2009). For the past four decades, ADT has focused on the idea that when viewers determine positive moral judgment about a protagonist's behavior and motivation, it in turn affects their enjoyment positively. It also predicts positive viewer enjoyment when the antagonist encounters negative repercussions (Janicke & Raney 2015). In other words, ADT explains the enjoyment of traditional hero narratives.
However, narratives spotlighting antiheroes have become increasingly popular in modern television. Today, some of the most popular shows and films do in fact feature these morally complex protagonists. This has made scholars progressively interested in studying these types of narratives. Unfortunately, ADT, the most commonly used theory for these types of studies, is rather limited in explaining the appeal of antiheroes (Shafer & Raney 2013). Research actually shows that the ADT formula is in fact not thoroughly followed when it comes to understanding the enjoyment of antihero narratives (Raney et al. 2009). This is because antiheroes have moral flaws, which traditional heroes do not, and these flaws play a prominent role in the story narrative (Shafer & Raney 2013).
In an attempt to address the limitations of ADT and to further develop the theory, Raney (2004) suggests that when viewers are frequently exposed to similar narratives, they develop mental shortcuts to determine a character’s role based on plot expectations. This means that viewers can form positive perceptions of a character before morally scrutinizing his or her actions. Moreover, by repeatedly watching antihero narratives, viewers can pick up on plot patterns and make determinations accordingly without having to closely scrutinize morally questionable behavior. Viewers of antihero narratives develop story schemas over time, which explains why we can like and enjoy a character despite being immoral. Because we pick up on plot patterns, we as viewers understand that even though the antihero protagonist is morally flawed, they too seek to
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021 overcome some type of challenge or enemy. Based on this perspective, the ADT formula still applies to antihero narratives in the sense that anticipatory emotions guide our enjoyment (Shafer & Raney 2013).
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021
6. Method and material
I have chosen to perform a qualitative analysis of the documentary film Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story. To be able to study the representation and portrayal of Cyntoia Brown within the film, a multimodal critical discourse analysis will be utilized as the methodological approach. This section will therefore, first and foremost present the concept of a critical discourse analysis as a basis to understand the multimodal approach. The multimodal critical discourse analysis will allow me to analyze, not just the representation of language, but also the underlying meanings of semiotic material in a concrete historical manner, which permits me to identify forces of social constructions in the representation. Additionally, this section will also present the motivation behind the chosen material as well as an ethical discussion about the data. I will also take into account the validity and reliability of my chosen analysis method, as well as reflect on the limitations of the study.
6.1 Multimodal critical discourse analysis
Before clarifying and demonstrating how a multimodal critical discourse analysis (MCDA) will be applied to the analysis of Cyntoia Brown’s portrayal and the story narrative in the Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story documentary film, one must come to understand the origins of the method. MCDA has its roots in the traditional critical study of linguistics called critical discourse analysis (CDA). Therefore, MCDA and CDA share many of the same principles. CDA was originally developed from social theory with aims to study injustice, danger, suffering and prejudice in domains such as education, media, and politics, established by discourses that rule our society (Bloor & Bloor 2007, p. 3). By studying these themes, CDA attempts to guide these societal problems in the direction of change through highlighting the issues of power asymmetries, manipulation, exploitation and structural inequities (Blommaert & Bulcaen 2000). This is a very significant aspect of CDA that differs this type of analysis from other discourse analyses (Bloor & Bloor 2007, p. 3). In line with this approach, CDA emphasized the importance of language to not be studied in abstract or in an unhistorical manner. The meaning of communication is part of shaping discourses that define our reality, where the one who holds power seeks to control the process of the communication and how it is perceived (Ledin & Machin 2018, p. 61). CDA therefore have the ability to uncover how media texts favors, negotiates or counteracts different interests and agendas of the meaning makers (Berglez 2019, p. 234).
To analyze power struggles within communication and interaction, Fairclough developed a three- dimensional CDA framework. These three dimensions explain three different levels of analysis that conclusively complement one another. In other words, Fairclough combines micro, meso and macro-level analyses. The first level is the micro-level and covers spoken and written language. Texts can be seen as a discursive practice, influenced by cultural backgrounds and interests that controls the content. The second level, which is the meso-level, contains analyses of practice which is the process, distribution and consumption of text. Furthermore, the consumer’s identity also influences how the content will be perceived. Therefore, it is important to note that production and consumption are closely intertwined and have the ability to affect the
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021 communication (a.a., p. 235). At this stage, one could for example analyze who the producer is, as well as who the target audiences are. Lastly, the third level referred to as the macro-level analysis, addresses discursive events and instances of socio-cultural practice. The macro-level serves as the “explanation” since it considers the broad, societal currents that affect the text that is being studied (a.a., p. 234). CDA always assumes that texts are hierarchical which dictates which topics get more or less attention in a narrative. To understand the hierarchy that shape texts, we have to look at the relation between main topics and subtopics, which is why studying the three levels of micro-meso-macro simultaneously is important (a.a., p. 238). In the figure below, the three levels of analyses have been demonstrated by squares surrounding each other, showcasing the association they possess towards one another.
Figure 1. Three-dimensional CDA framework (Fairclough, 1995, p. 98).
Fairclough’s traditional CDA framework mostly focuses on linguistic expression. The multimodality approach was later developed when scholars took an interest in studying visuals and meaning beyond spoken and written language. Unlike CDA, researchers performing MCDA focus on semiotic resources, such as visual arts and non-verbal elements, and how they create meaning collectively (Okado-Gough 2017). MCDA is not interested in the visual semiotic choices themselves, but in how they play a role in the communication of power relations on a macro- level (Ledin & Machin 2018, p. 60). The aim is to expose processes and discourses that are otherwise not visible at first glance (Eriksson & Machin 2019, p. 259). The multimodality approach focuses on critical thinking about political and societal discourses and how communication can favor or disfavor certain groups in our society. Political and societal discourses are generally reinforced by ideologies. Furthermore, MCDA takes an interest in characters and how they are involved in forwarding ideologies through discursive strategies. The discursive strategies are applied through characters legitimizing a dialogical perspective. Besides a linguistic approach, MCDA also focuses on ideas, values and identities that shape characters to be portrayed in a certain way. This type of analysis is called Social Actor Analysis (Berglez 2019, p. 239; Eriksson & Machin 2019, p. 255-256). Furthermore, I will conduct an MCDA focusing on the portrayal of Cyntoia Brown and the antihero narrative of the film.
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6.2 Material
The material of interest to this study is the documentary film Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story. Due to the Cyntoia Brown case gaining an immense amount of attention on social media, it stirred up a mix of emotions many felt like they had to speak up about. Particularly the injustice that Brown faced in court has been the center of attention in most discussions, including in the documentary which only furthered the case’s popularity (De La Cretaz 2020). Since the aim of my study is to scrutinize the representation of black women in popular television, I found it intriguing to analyze the representation of a real-life scenario. The documentary is heavily influenced by discourses and agenda setting narratives in an attempt to portray a criminal, and a black woman in a way that reinforces positive attitudes towards Brown. In this sense, it is obvious that the documentary is made from a certain perspective and that filmmakers wanted to deliver a message to the audience.
Considering that the film is about 1,5 hours long, I will not be able to perform a detailed analysis of every scene in regards to my limited timeframe. Therefore, I have carefully selected three sequences from the documentary where I find the themes, I want to highlight to be the most prominent. With these sequences combined, I will be able to distinguish critical elements within the film that determine how the representation is constructed, as well as controlled by discourses and agenda setting narratives. The results rely on how I find certain linguistic and semiotic elements to be represented on a micro-, meso- and macro level, in these specific sequences.
The first sequence I have chosen plays from 00:00:00 to 00:02:05, and presents a short summary of what the following film will concern. The short summary could also be referred to as a “trailer” since it displays fast paced editing and storytelling through, what we are familiar to as a trailer format. I have chosen this sequence to exemplify the overall narrative that is prominently present throughout the rest of the film. By analyzing this sequence, I will be able to capture the antihero narrative without having to analyze the full film. The second sequence plays from 00:12:00 to 00:16:49, and is an intimate meeting between four important side characters. This sequence exemplifies how the side characters shape the narrative, as well as the representation and stereotyping of Cyntoia Brown in the film. There are not many scenes where these four characters are displayed in the same frame, which is why I have decided to analyze this part more thoroughly because it captures all characters. Furthermore, what they are discussing at this meeting is an important aspect for the antihero narrative to manifest itself in the story. It exemplifies how the antihero narrative takes its form. Another part that will accompany this sequence is a scene from Brown’s criminal appeal at 00:57:00, where she is declared to have a mild retardation. The criminal appeal will not be thoroughly analyzed, but merely serves a purpose to support the analysis of the second sequence where Brown’s mental health is discussed. The third and last sequence to be analyzed plays from 00:06:10 to 00:11.51, and will assist in exemplifying how Cyntoia Brown is represented and stereotyped. This is where the audience get to meet Brown’s character on a more in-depth level for the first time. Therefore, this sequence forms the very first impressions of her.
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021
6.3 Ethical discussion
Since the material I am about to analyze is available to the public there are no major ethical issues to consider in relation to how the material will be used. This is due to the face that anyone with internet access have the opportunity to analyze the film as they please. Ethical consideration such as consent, confidentiality and user requirements are therefore also not necessary to discuss (Vetenskapsrådet 2002).
However, another ethical aspect that needs to be thoroughly considered is the interpretation of the film and representation of race that will be discusses in the analysis and result. Since I, as a researcher am not of African American decent, the analysis of Cyntoia Brown’s representation might be compromised by controversy and homogenous tendencies. By not sharing the same race, there could be ethical issues in regards to addressing Brown’s ethnic background from an outside perspective (Chadderton 2012). I do not have the same understanding of how black women’s representation truly affects them on a personal level. My beliefs are solely supported by research I have collected and therefore, I will not claim to understand the experiences of black women and oppression on a deeper level than that. It is important that despite being biracial myself, I try my best to refrain from perpetuating structures of white supremacy, due to the fact that controversial interpretations could result in black women feeling negatively affected or unjustly criticized by my perception and understanding (a.a.). It is therefore important to note that my intent with this research is not to negatively criticize or point fingers at a certain ethnic group. The research approach builds its foundation on critically analyzing the contents of the film in which it represents Cyntoia Brown and is not an analysis of Brown, or any of the other character as a person.
6.4 Validity and reliability
For a study to be considered scientific it is imperative that the researcher conceptualizes trustworthiness and quality in their work. By reflecting on the study’s validity and reliability we can recognize forces that can potentially influence the research, which readers then can take into account. Validity questions if the study actually can answer the questions it is aimed to answer, while reliability questions the researcher’s role and influence on the study (Brink 1993). With that said, when conducting a discourse analysis there are some concerns about interpretation and deduction of meanings in the material that I, as a researcher have to consider. It is essentially impossible for a discourse analysis to be neutral since we all are part of a social, cultural and historical context which forms our own subjective reality (Breeze 2011). The level of reliability in this case is hard to measure due to the fact that I will rely on my own ability to interpret meanings and understandings of my chosen material. If my results are similar to other studies of the same material, I can draw the conclusion that the reliability is high (Brink 1993). However, it is hard to predict how factors like culture, personal values and prior knowledge will affect the study. Additionally, since there are not many similar studies of the same material published, it will be a challenge to reevaluate the reliability of this research.
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021
In regards to validity, the study faces similar challenges as previously discussed about reliability. Despite having conducted thorough research of how to answer the questions at hand, as well as discourse analysis being of high relevance as a practical application for in depth study of social phenomenon and revealing hidden motives, using discourse analysis as a method can in some ways implicate the validity of the study (Manzoor et al. 2019). This is because discourse analysis does not provide tangible answers to problems and relies on the researcher’s own judgment. In other words, what one researcher finds important another one might not (Machin & Mayr 2012). Once again, the results rely on my ability to interpret meaning and find the connections. Moreover, whatever the results are they will not be provided as absolute answers, which means that they should not be generalized. Especially considering that the idea of discourse is that meaning is never fixed and everything is always open for interpretation and negotiation. This is one of the main disadvantages with conducting a discourse analysis (Fairclough 1995).
Subsequently, to perform this study I will also have to use prior understanding of the events, as well as knowledge about background, presented in the theoretical framework. It is my understanding, from what I have gathered from the documentary film, as well as other sources online, that the majority of viewers believe that Brown did not get a fair trial, which may serve as a bias towards the research. I also have an idea, from watching the documentary that stereotypes, antiheroism and colorblindness is present in the narrative, hence why this is included in my previous research. This means I have a motive to find stereotypes and distinguish certain themes within the film based on prior beliefs. Furthermore, I want to highlight that I will try my best to keep an impartial point of view, but it is important to acknowledge that opinions about the case might not be able to be fully ignored.
6.5 Limitations
The case of Cyntoia Brown and her story goes well beyond this particular documentary film. In fact, Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story is the second documentary made by Daniel Birman, the director. The first one called Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story was released in March 2011 (PBS 2011). However, since the “sequel” does not refer to the previous documentary, it will be analyzed independently. Other limitations this study will take into account is the additional information about the case presented by sources online, some that are not documented in the documentary. Consequently, the representation of Cyntoia Brown is limited to the documentary Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story but is aware of that it is a controlled version of the story. This documentary is one interpretation of reality, which has chosen to include as well as exclude certain things from the narrative. Patterns within the documentary film can most likely be traced back to underlying societal discourses present in today’s society. However, in regards to the results and being able to draw conclusions, a broader study would have to be conducted in order to understand the extent to which the patterns identified are reflected in broader societal discourses.
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7. Result and analysis
True crime is a genre exploring real-life stories, usually in the perspective of a victim or a convicted criminal. The purpose is often to make an emotional impact, seek justice or exonerate an innocent person (Franks 2018). Daniel Birman’s documentary about Cyntoia Brown is no different. Documentaries like this, often tend to reflect criminal cases that have gained media attention, giving them new meaning by exposing concerns overlooked by the media and making stories more personal. The documentary film Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story focuses on Cyntoia Brown’s personal path of redemption and is documented in chronological order from 2004, when Brown was convicted, up until her release in 2019. However, the footage collected over 15 years has been carefully selected and every scene serves a purpose to reinforce a narrative determined by the production team, also referred to as the “meaning makers” of the film. The Cyntoia Brown story is therefore their way of making sense of the events, reflecting their ideas, values and identities. To really understand and scrutinize this film, Stuart Hall suggests that we have to interrogate the medium to identify its underlying agendas. Though it might be a new perspective of events, it is still a limited and controlled version (Hall 1997c, p. 235-239).
The purpose of the analysis section is to explore how meaning potentials are created through the portrayal of Cyntoia Brown and her overall representation. It also seeks to investigate how verbal and semiotic elements shape atmosphere and viewer perception as the story unfolds. The main focus relies on analyzing stereotypes that can be found in Cyntoia Brown’s portrayal, combined with how the narrative shapes the representation of her character. Thus, I will be scrutinizing how and specifically in which ways the antihero narrative presents itself through supporting characters and chosen visuals. Furthermore, the three main themes are; the story plot and narrative, social actor analysis, and analysis of the portrayal and stereotyping of Cyntoia Brown. By performing these levels of analyses, I will be able to thoroughly investigate how the surroundings and supporting characters shape and push the narrative of her story forward. To capture all of these aspects I will apply a MCDA, as explained in “Method and material”. To emphasize the significance of my findings, I will provide explicit examples from the three chosen sequences of the film in each part of the analysis.
7.1 Story plot and narrative
Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story has a prominent discourse in that it seeks some type of redemption or justice. The film is made in the perspective of disapproving the American justice system, which is a common theme within true crime documentaries (The University of Sydney 2018). It creates a sense of “otherness” toward the authority which denies Brown proclaiming that the murder was an act of self-defense (Hall 1997c, p. 235-239). However, since Brown never denies shooting Johnny Allen, the antihero narrative is used to resonate with viewers to develop affection towards her character (Raney 2004). Brown is not necessarily pictured as an innocent, but rather as a troubled teen that is in desperate need of help. Thus, the film seeks to convince viewers that Cyntoia Brown deserves a second chance and that her sentence was way too harsh. They leave room for two possible aspects of meaning potential. Either you believe Brown to be a victim of sexual predators and that her life leading up to this point is out of her control. Or you
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021 believe her to be a troubled teen that ended up in a bad situation and did a bad thing, but that her life should not be determined by one very bad mistake.
The overall story plot and narrative, as described above, is already declared in the very beginning of the film. The documentary starts with a short “trailer” which essentially presents what the following film will concern. I have therefore, in this section, decided to exemplify the story plot and narrative by analyzing this part of the film. The trailer, as I will refer it to, starts in the very beginning, from 00:00:00 to 00:02:05. Placing a sequence like this as the opening, sets the tone for how viewers should receive the rest of the film and makes it very clear from the start in how the case will be presented. Crime documentaries are usually not an unfamiliar narrative to most people (Khal et al. 2021). Normally, there are some interviews that support the discourse of the narrative, and a timeline that from time to time will appear on-screen, showcasing the chronological order of events. As a frequent crime documentary observer, Raney (2004) implies that viewers can create mental shortcuts to determine which character to sympathize with, based on plot expectations. In this sense, the trailer strategically builds up plot expectations and patterns by displaying the main themes of the story. It is also clear that the trailer is used to make viewers form a positive perception of Brown before fully explaining the whole situation. In consonance with the theory of ADT, when a character creates an early positive impression, in combination with plot expectation, viewers will thereafter overlook morally questionable behavior (Shafer & Raney 2013). The director has strategically planned the trailer to influence these types of emotions, framing the narrative in which it provokes a desired audience reaction. Since the main character Cyntoia Brown committed a crime, it is crucial that the viewer is overwhelmed by sympathy and positive reinforcements towards her character early on. Additionally, this sets the foundation for how we later will receive her morally flawed actions.
If we turn our attention to the setting, we are predominantly exposed to environments exceedingly connected to true crime, authority and law. Due to the manifestation of meaning through representation, we can determine these types of connections about what is represented to us through media (Hall 1997b). Majority of what is filmed is either outside or inside a prison or a courtroom. This is demonstrated by concrete blocklike buildings, a lot of steel, wood, grayscale colors and empty inhospitable spaces. There is nothing warm or welcoming about any of the surrounding settings. Most of the scenes are either Cyntoia Brown walking around in hallways with handcuffs, or her in a formal and serious situation. For instance, a courtroom with spectators, a judge and an attorney formally dressed, or her sitting in a room with a psychologist or an attorney. The scenes are often close-up shots of actions the characters perform or their facial expression, also referred to as reactions. Reactions entails that there are several clips of characters facial expressions reacting to things (Eriksson & Machin 2019, p. 262). This is a dominant characteristic of the film since the story narrative is pushed forward by interviews. The close-up shots of reactions lead viewers to understand how they are supposed to feel about certain situations.
Interview segments are already present in the introduction trailer. Characters being interviewed are at this time unknown. However, you can by the way they talk, by the tone of their voice and the contents of what they are saying, anticipate what roles they possibly will play in the story. This is signified by patterns we recognize from watching other documentaries that follow similar
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021 formats (Raney 2004). Specific examples within the sequence are how the characters we perceive as the “experts”, present facts in relation to the law, the criminal justice system and mental health, in a rather confident, emphasizing tone. Characters, such as family members or relatives on the other hand, are portrayed rather emotional or concerned. Some of the characters are even recognizable from clips in courtrooms, which makes you understand that these people worked closely with Brown’s case and are working in her favor. They do not include anyone from the opposing side in any of the interviews throughout the whole duration of the film. This gives a narrow and biased perspective, also referred to as deletions. Deletions implies that some social practices are left out from the representation. In this case, the deletions are people that would tell a different version or present a contrasting opinion (Eriksson & Machin 2019, p. 261). The only time another version of the story is presented is in courtroom scenes by the prosecutor, and they are very brief. Having multiple people talking about the case through one perspective, even if we are not sure about what roles they will play, gives their version of the story credibility. It also leaves little room for other possible meaning potentials (a.a., p. 263).
Another aspect that is of interest in this certain sequence are attributes, specifically the music. In combination with fast paced editing and the dramatic background music, it gives a feeling of tension and builds up suspense, wanting viewers to know how the story ends. It does a very good job at capturing the audience’s attention. The trailer starts off with the statement from a woman saying “I want you to start with the night of August 6th 2004” (00:00:05) while a clip shows an overview of a few block concrete buildings and a carpark. At first it is unclear what this place is, however a few seconds later the frame cuts to Cyntoia Brown in a prison cell which makes you understand that the previous facility displayed was a prison (Hall 1997b). It also makes viewers draw conclusions that the unknown woman speaking is most probably an attorney, a prosecutor, a judge, or something along those lines. Brown then goes on to describe the events that led up to the murder, while the frame shows close up shots of a guard placing handcuffs around her wrists and ankles.
Screenshot 1. (Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story 2020, 00:00:15)
As previously mentioned, the clips shown are often close-up with shaky camera movements instead of smooth motions. These semiotic elements combined gives a personal touch and creates an intimate feeling of observing someone’s life from their perspective. This is a rather
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021 common way to film documentaries that re-tells a personal story, since the emphasizes lies on the fact that it is a true story with no acting or staging of events (Franks 2018). Meaning makers want viewers to believe that the camera is simply observing without trying to manipulate reality. However, with Stuart Hall’s representation theory in mind, we know this to not be true. How something is represented is never just “observation”, but always depends on who is representing it and why (Hall 1997b, p. 16-17). The trailer is essentially setting the tone for the overall narrative of the film and it is trying to represent what the makers of the film believe to have been an unfair sentence. Would the film have been produced by the opposing party, the representation would most likely have looked and been perceived completely different. We are therefore not getting a direct mediated translation of an event but rather one version of it, controlled by concerns and interests of the filmmakers (a.a., p. 16-17).
The trailer is rather literal in its representation in the sense that the narrative is shaped and driven forward by people telling a story, and the semiotic elements serve as support to what is told at that very moment. When explaining the murder, the film cuts to a picture of the victim; Johnny Allen, including pictures of the position his dead body was found in at the crime scene. A man’s voice rather aggressively says “This defendant shot Johnny Allen in the head, in his bed, but gives a wild theory of how it was self-defense” (00:00:16). It is clear by the tone of his voice and how he is dressed formally in a courtroom setting, that he is the prosecutor. In other words, the “villain” or the “obstacle” that Brown has to face and overcome, which also is one of the 31 narrative functions that Propp (1968) has identified. The villain in Cyntoia Brown’s story is represented through different characters within the narrative, the prosecutor being one of them. In a sense the obstacle is represented as “the law”, America’s criminal justice system and whoever is in favor of it. In response to the prosecutor Brown says “I shot him because I thought he was going to shoot me” (00:00:27). The camera cuts from the prosecutor, an accusingly, aggressive, middle aged man, to 16-year-old Cyntoia Brown looking young and “innocent”. This is exemplified by her concerned facial expression and the hopelessness in her voice, frustrated and desperate for the prosecutor and jury to believe her.
Screenshot 2. (Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story 2020, 00:00:27)
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021
The setting is built up to make viewers believe that she could not possibly have committed murder by malicious intent. The phrase where Brown claims to have shot Allen because she thought he was going to shoot her, has probably been placed in the trailer to guide viewers into connecting the murder with self-defense, declaring Brown’s “innocence”. Without explaining the case any further, the sequence goes on to show a faraway shot of the courtroom as they declare the verdict of her criminal actions; guilty of first-degree murder. This is the moment that previous clips have built up suspense for. In other words, the peak of the trailer where the “problem” is presented. An unknown woman in an intimate interview goes on to explain that when a juvenile is convicted in Tennessee for first-degree murder, the only options are true life without parole or 51 years. While she explains this, the semiotic elements emphasize Brown’s young age. It displays clips of her orange jumpsuit with the word “juvenile” written on it. By doing so, they are trying to create a conflict and touch upon emotions such as sympathy and empathy (Raney 2004).
In the next portion of the trailer, we get to meet Brown’s mother for the first time. The scene starts with Brown calling her mother, announcing that she will serve a life sentence in prison. Following the theme of “close-up shots”, her mother’s reaction is closely monitored. You can tell by her facial expression and tears running down her cheeks, that she is frustrated and heartbroken over the situation. Once again, leading viewers in how to receive and feel about the news (Eriksson & Machin 2019, p. 261-262). From here on out, the trailer evidently tires to exemplify the struggles and concerns surrounding Brown’s verdict. As previously mentioned, the film only includes interviews by characters supporting Brown’s release. Therefore, it is clear that the narrative tries to guide audiences into believing the verdict to be improper (a.a., p. 260). A specific example of how this narrative manifest itself, is an unknown man stating “Here’s a kid who didn’t have a chance. She didn’t have a chance before she was born…” (00:01:00). This quote and choice of words emphasizes Brown’s “innocence” and portrays her as a victim, which is the main message of this trailer. To give context to what the man is talking about, childhood pictures of Brown are displayed and a new character is introduced. The new character is a woman explaining that she got pregnant at 16 and she at that time abused drugs and alcohol. In the trailer she is not formally introduced but we later in the film find out that this is Brown’s biological mother. The drugs, the alcohol, the abuse and mental health problems will come to play a very big role in the narrative and portrayal of Cyntoia Brown. They never truly confirm that the mental health problems Cyntoia Brown might have is genetically related. However, they include a clip in the trailer indicating that it is. Someone that we assume is from Brown’s biological family states “It came from genetics, and the genetics should stop” (00:01:15). This is very prominent evidence of manipulation of the narrative, which makes me believe that manipulation of events is eminently present throughout the whole film. However, some instances may be more recognizable than others. This is also a prime example of how the antihero narrative is produced in the film (Tally 2016, p. 10).
Lastly, we have the “resolution” part of the trailer which displays what the film will be leading up to. About a decade later, which is confirmed by a news clip of a reporter that explains that “her case is catching fire on social media” (00:01:23), Brown is about to petition for clemency. While clarifying this, the camera shows yet another close-up shot of a sign that says “Counsel to the governor”, and then a close-up display of her letter to the governor. To confirm Brown’s right to
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021 freedom, the camera films Brown walking in handcuffs being escorted by three rather big individuals in comparison, while a voice says “In 2004, she was considered a prostitute. Today, she would be considered a victim of sexual predators” (00:01:34).
Screenshot 3. (Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story 2020, 00:01:38)
Women are often portrayed as the weaker sex, conformed by patriarchal oppression and aligns with feminist theory, which is probably why this image was chosen to accompany this statement (Biana 2020). I believe this to be a strategic move to emphasize Brown being a “helpless young woman”, oppressed by men in her life. The same man then continues to demonstrate how Brown has made an “amazing transformation”, referring to her finishing college in prison. Brown’s graduation picture is displayed. She then, in her own words says “I have come such a long way. It’s been a very long time. When I was 16, I did a horrible thing, and I have carried that with me this whole time.” (00:01:49). The scene shows a van driving, implicating that she is on her way somewhere. The next scene confirms that she has arrived at an audience with the governor. The last words of the trailer being “I do pray that you show me mercy and that you give me a second chance” (00:02:04).
All of these specific linguistic and semiotic elements combined create a very obvious antihero narrative that seeks to gain sympathy and manipulate audiences support (Raney 2004). I am using the word manipulation, since the film indicates this to be the true version of the story, with a profound biased perspective from the very start. In other words, there is little transparency while only one narrative is being pushed forward. There is a clear discourse of seeking justice for something the meaning makers perceive as injustice. The film conclusively portrays the resolution as a victory. However, it is important to note that Brown only got granted clemency based on good behavior and not because anyone admitted her verdict to have been wrongful, which the documentary tries to imply.
7.2 Social actor analysis
Something that the documentary heavily relies on to drive the narrative forward, is portraying a reflection of supporting character’s reactions and opinions about Cyntoia Brown and how events unfold. The type of storytelling we see here prominently aligns with Propp’s (1968) theory about narratives being shaped by characters actions. Moreover, in this part of the analysis I will focus
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021 on four side characters that are crucial for the story. One of the four characters that exceedingly guides the narrative into portraying the American justice system as flawed and unfair, is Brown’s public defense attorney Kathryn Evans Sinback. Dr. Barnet is another character working for Brown’s defense and is her forensic psychologist. His main role is to figure out what problems Brown suffer from and how they affected Brown to commit murder. In the documentary, Dr Barnet is the most distinct character in actively driving the antihero narrative forward. The other two side characters are Brown’s family members which includes her adoptive mother Ellenette Brown and her biological mother Georgina Mitchell. These two characters play a prominent role in portraying and stereotyping Cyntoia Brown through expressing their opinions and experiences with her, while pushing the antihero narrative forward. The sequence I am about to analyze in this segment plays from 00:12:00 to 00:16:49, and is a conversation between the four characters. The purpose of this meeting is to prepare for Brown’s transfer hearing, where the court will determine if she should be tried as a juvenile or an adult. In contrast to the introducing trailer, this conversation is set in the same room during the whole duration of the scene, which makes the setting and surroundings less complicated to analyze.
The meeting takes place at Vanderbilt University Psychiatric Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, which is confirmed by a brief clip from outside a brick building with an under title describing the location. Dr. Barnet is introduced as Brown’s forensics psychologist and starts to explain that we are going to meet Brown’s biological mother and that he would like to find out whether there are any kind of mental disorders among the biological family of Cyntoia Brown. The previous clips leading up to this scene has shown Brown taking a psychological evaluation, which resulted in her being portrayed as a troubled teenager with serious mental health problems. Foucault’s (1991) perspective on discourse shaping what is normal or abnormal is of particular interest in relation to this scene and representation of Cyntoia Brown, since criminal actions such as murder is not considered normal in our society. The portrayal of Brown being mentally ill is a profound discourse in this scene, presented through an antihero narrative (Tally 2016). Furthermore, the narrative’s goal manages to manifest itself by using audience’s prior knowledge to distinguish normal from abnormal, shaped by discourses within our society making us accept Brown being mentally ill as the “truth” (Foucault 1991). Furthermore, Dr. Barnet never confirms Brown’s mental health issues to be biologically related, but parts of the conversation that we are exposed to implies that they are, or at least might be. A specific example is when Dr. Barnet asks Brown’s biological mother about her family history saying “You know, sometimes, when people have some sort of mental problem, sometimes it runs in families because of genetic things” (00:13:36).
The camera is predominantly focused on capturing the character’s reactions, which previously discussed is a consistent theme in the documentary. The characters are placed around a table in a rather formal setting. You can tell by the tone of their voices and by Dr. Barnet and Kathryn Evans Sinback taking notes, that this is a serious and important meeting. While someone is talking, the camera focuses on capturing as many facial expressions as possible from all four characters, to give the audience a sense of the atmosphere in the room. Attributes, such as the background music, also supports the seriousness as Brown’s biological mother talks about her family history of mental health problems. It is important to note that the focus lies more on capturing reactions from the others, rather than actually focusing on the person that is talking. Most reactions are sad and troubling, initiating that they have found the roots of a problem. This
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021 is exemplified by the camera documenting close up facial expressions of the characters drawing the corners of their mouths more downwards than upwards, their eyebrows lowered and sometimes pulled closer together.
Screenshot 4. (Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story 2020, 00:13:34)
Brown’s biological mother, Georgina Mitchell specifically talks about the mental health problems her mother and her grandmother faced, explaining that they were both suicidal which led them to kill themselves. She also opens up about her personal struggles with drug and alcohol abuse. The focus lies on emphasizing the abnormality of her upbringing by highlighting the mental health problems of Cyntoia Brown’s biological family, labeling them as both abnormal and sick. Something that Foucault (1991) suggests is often seen as the same thing by society, shaped by biopolitics. Due to biopower, drugs and alcohol has become highly stigmatized and addiction does not align with what we consider normal in our society (Arnason 2012; Foucault 1991). Kathryn Evans Sinback also tries to lure out more information about the mental health problems by bringing up Georgina Mitchell’s uncle. When his mental health issues become a topic of interest Mitchell states ”I know about these.” referring to his mental state “All of them do. And that’s why I left because I didn’t wanna be like none of ‘em” (00:14:06). This is a perfect example of how Dr. Barnet and Kathryn Evans Sinback proceeded to lead the conversation in a way to get the answers that they want. However, I do not believe these conversations to have been staged to forward a certain narrative within the film. They were simply doing their jobs in creating a defense for Brown’s transfer hearing. Although, since the transfer hearing later on is lost and it is determined that Brown should be tried as an adult, the only purpose this scene serves by displaying it in the film, is to forward and manipulate an antihero narrative to gain sympathy from viewers. Why the transfer hearing was lost is unclear and never explained. I believe it to be the fact that Dr. Barnet can only speculate that the mental health problems might be genetically linked, but cannot fully confirm that to be the case. Moreover, if the documentary had been transparent in presenting this concern, the credibility of this meeting in regards to forwarding the narrative would have been completely lost.
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021
Another aspect of the meeting is Cyntoia Brown’s adoptive mother Ellenette Brown, speaking about Brown’s troubled past as a difficult teenager to handle. Ellenette Brown says that she adopted Brown when she was about 18 months old and states that her behavior problems started at a very young age. An example is Brown getting kicked out of regular school which resulted in her starting at an alternative school. Ellenette Brown also points out that Brown was rarely at home and that the first time she ran away was at 12-years-old, which furthers the idea of Brown’s abnormal behavior. As the camera films over Ellenette Brown’s shoulder displaying Dr. Barnet’s serious facial expression, she says ”And then from that point on, it was just like every day,” ... “It was just something, just something constantly” (00:15:25). When she goes on to talk about how Cyntoia Brown started to smoke and drink, the camera focuses on Georgina Mitchell’s reaction looking distressed, as her mouth is drawn downward initiating sadness and her eyes express sympathy. She is also nodding in agreement as if she understands the struggles, relating back to how she started drinking and using drugs at a young age. The scene ends with Brown’s biological mother stating “You know, it’s a trait thing I guess...” (00:16:46). Yet again trying to deflect Cyntoia Brown’s morally questionable actions on genetics and mental health problems, a typical characteristic for antihero narratives especially in relations to anti-heroines (Tally 2016).
From analyzing how these four characters interact with each other and use a certain language to drive a desired narrative forward, we can also distinguish the specific roles they play in the story. The narrative clearly wants to portray Cyntoia Brown as a troubled child with mental health problems, trying to deflect her criminal actions on her being, as Foucault (2006) would refer it to; abnormal. In other words, for her to have committed murder there simply must be something wrong with her. Foucault (a.a.) further argues that what is considered abnormal is merely a social construct, which is demonstrated in this scene through Brown’s “abnormality” being defined by the fours character’s subjective assumptions about her. How they are talking about “genetics”, “biological family” and “mental illness”, give these words a certain power in relation to the context they are used in. It is clear that they are trying to give these words meaning in a sense where they are all connected, even though that might not be true in reality. It is all assumptions and speculation but because they are talked about in this specific setting, they hold value and they are given value by the meaning makers (Hall & Hobson 1980, p. 118). In the context these words are used, specifically the use of the word “genetics” could be considered a racist discourse, based on that it implies something to be wrong with Brown’s genetics. Scientific racism, sometimes also referred to as biological racism is something that was strongly recognized in politics during World War II, during the Nazi regime. However, traces of biological racism and racist biases can still be seen in scientific studies today (Skibba 2019).
As previously mentioned in the beginning of this segment, the forensic phycologist Dr. Barnet’s role is to identify Brown’s underlying problems which drove her to commit the crime. Relating back to Propp’s (1968) idea of character roles, Dr. Barnet plays the role of the Dispatcher. The Dispatcher is a character who instigates the journey by identifying the problem, or obstacle, that the protagonist has to overcome. Dr. Barnet does this by identifying Brown’s mental health problems, which the defense will attempt to prove affected her during the time the crime was committed. Proving Brown to deserve a lesser sentence by preparing her defense, is essentially her journey to mercy which the title of the film reveals; murder to mercy. Kathryn Evans Sinback serves as Brown’s public defense attorney, but also as the story’s Donor. The Donor’s job is to
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021 prepare Brown’s for her journey, which Kathryn Evans Sinback does by preparing her defense for trial. Georgina Mitchell and Ellenette Brown plays as the story’s Helpers which is signified in how they try to assist Brown in overcoming her “enemy” or “obstacle”. This is predominately done by them engaging in conversations with Dr. Barnet which entertains his idea of Brown being problematic and abnormal with mental health issues.
One of the supporting characters, Ellenette Brown who is the only other black woman represented in the film besides Cyntoia Brown, is along with Brown also heavily stereotyped. In this scene she is portrayed as a caring and concerned mother who just wants what is best for her daughter. She also talks very worrisome about Brown and her behavior, something that signifies motherly love and compassion. A black woman stereotype that fits this model of representation is the Mammy. The Mammy stereotype is portrayed as “the loyal care giver”, which Ellenette Brown certainly is based on how she is represented in this scene (Kretsedemas 2010). Additionally, by Ellenette Brown being Cyntoia Brown’s adoptive mother, her role is also significantly related and exemplified as “the care giver”. Some of the characters, especially Georgina Mitchell support the stereotype by expressing how grateful she is that Ellenette Brown took care of Cyntoia Brown despite having to deal with her behavior problems.
Before concluding this part of the analysis, another sequence which will not be thoroughly analyzed but is of importance for the final conclusion, is the criminal appeal starting at 00:57:00. The criminal appeal provides a follow up on Cyntoia Brown’s mental health problems and underlines my theory regarding the previous scene. My theory, as previously discussed is that the previous scene was placed in the film to deceive audiences to believe Brown to suffer from mental illness due to genetics. However, Dr. Barnet’s assumptions about her mental illness being genetically transferred through Brown’s biological family did not hold up in court, probably because it is simply not true and only speculations. Subsequently, in the criminal appeal, Brown’s defense takes a different approach and argues that due to Georgina Mitchell’s alcohol abuse during her pregnancy, Brown was as a result born with a mild retardation, also referred to as fetal alcohol disorder. By presenting this, the defense hopes to prove that Brown’s mental state at the time of the murder was affected by her disorder and that she therefore cannot be tried or held accountable as “normal”. Even though the scene proves Brown to be mentally challenged, the scene also proves that Brown’s mental health issues are not biologically linked which the film previously tried to imply both in the trailer at the beginning of the film, as well as the meeting between the four side characters. The film never leaves room to explain wrongful assumptions which demonstrates manipulation, probably to gain sympathy from viewers which antihero narratives often do (Tally 2016).
7.3 The portrayal and stereotyping of Cyntoia Brown
While keeping the overall discourse and narrative in mind, this part of the analysis will focus on analyzing Cyntoia Brown’s portrayal and representation in relation to stereotypes. More specifically, which stereotypes can be found and how do they present themselves? By scrutinizing the two previous sequences, it is safe to say that the antihero narrative and discursive aspects of abnormality and mental illness will affect Brown’s portrayal. I have chosen to analyze the
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021 following three scenes present in this chosen sequence from 00:06:10 to 00:11.51. This is a sequence where Brown goes through a psychological evaluation. The psychological evaluation is split in two scenes. The first scene is an interview and the second a test, known as the Roberts Apperception Test. The third and last scene included in this sequence is one of Brown’s forensic psychologists explaining the results of the evaluation to her attorney and what his conclusions are.
The sequence starts out with an interview between one of Brown’s forensic phycologists, Dr. Barnet. This is the same forensic phycologist present in the previous analysis, where his character was identified as the Dispatcher. Furthermore, this scene also seeks to identify a problem that could help Brown to overcome her obstacle. The interview takes place at the prison which is signified by Brown wearing a prison jumpsuit and previously being led there by a guard. They are sitting in a white room with only a few chairs and a table which makes the setting rather cold and unwelcoming. Before the actual interview, Dr. Barnet says to the camera “Cyntoia has been seen by several different phycologists and different people conducting evaluations. She’s in even more trouble than anybody really ever imagined” (00:06:10). The statement sets the tone of Brown being represented as a trouble maker, which is as a viewer not hard to believe considering that she is in prison. I have discovered this to be a common theme within the film, where the characters already explain what their objectives are, trying to guide audiences into understanding what the purpose of the following scene will be. This is also done by Dr. Barnet in the previously analyzed sequence where he before the meeting starts by explaining to the camera that he would like to find out if there are any patterns of mental disorders in Cyntoia Brown’s biological family. By making the narrative and aims of the scene clear, it leaves little room for other meaning potential and makes it harder for audiences to form their own interpretations, which might be why the “truth” in true crime documentaries are rarely reflected upon (Franks 2018).
Screenshot 5. (Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story 2020, 00:06:23)
The camera angle is extremely close to the characters, displaying Dr. Barnet’s and Brown’s facial expressions. I believe the close-up nature of this scenes is to show intimacy, so that audiences feel like they are really getting to know Brown on a personal level. Dr. Barnet starts the interview
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021 with small talk about Brown’s “complicated family history” as he refers it to. The conversation focuses on Brown’s biological mother, specifically that she got pregnant at 16-years-old and that Brown was later given up for adoption. They are trying to emphasize that Brown’s mother was only 16-years-old when she was pregnant by asking Brown questions about it. Dr. Barnet asks if she thinks it is strange that her mother was 16 when she gave birth to her, since now she is 16 as well. Brown answers “no” to this question, instigating that she does not think this is strange at all. The filmmakers most probably chose this to be a part of the film, to represent Brown’s “abnormal” view of the world. Most people would find it strange to have a child a 16 years-old, considering that this is not the norm for our society.
Besides the small talk and a few questions about Brown’s biological family, the rest of the interview only discuss on one topic; mood swings. I believe this topic to be of significance for the narrative because it displays Brown having problems mentally. In this scene the filmmakers have tried to make a connection between mood swings and mental instability, in an attempt to define the two definition as the same thing. Similarly to abnormality and sickness (Foucault 2006). Dr. Barnet asks if Brown has ever experienced mood swings to which she answers “Yeah, I have them all the time” (00:07:27). She explains that she is rarely happy, most often sad, and that she once cried for a whole week. Brown is for the most part very calm up until Dr. Barnet follows up the question with asking about times when she gets “real, real angry”. Brown answers “When I’m locked up” (00:08:31) with a rather angry expression declared by her frowning and having intense eye contact. The conversation is slowly guided into the direction of aggression and Brown says “I don’t like people telling me to do this, do that, you need to do it this way, not the other way, and you need to be like this, you shouldn’t think like this. I don’t like it. It fucking drives me nuts, and I can’t stand it” (00:08:35). Her body tenses up, she talks faster in frustration and wears a rather irritated facial expression. This body language in combination with her foul language is in our society known as aggression, which her portrayal clearly represents.
Screenshot 6. (Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story 2020, 00:08:33)
It is quite manipulative and a reach to assume that mood swings would be of relevance to the crime, since most people can experience mood swings without committing murder. Furthermore,
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021 there are also many people that experience depression and sadness without committing crimes, which is something the narrative fails to express and serves as a deletion in this scene. Another deletion the film excludes is that the path towards crime and prostitution possibly could have been prevented if Brown had gotten the support and help that she needed earlier on in her life. Instead, the narrative only suggests one version, which is to assume that her actions to commit murder are based on “mood swings”, which is quite questionable. Out of context, this scene would have little meaning, and the choice of words too. However, in relation to other scenes which support Brown’s behavior problems, the meaning potential working simultaneously with the antihero narrative become of great relevance for the story and representation of Cyntoia Brown. The film builds up a narrative around Brown being a troubling teen with aggression problems. Therefore, the most prominent stereotype associated with Cyntoia Brown’s portrayal is the Angry Black Woman, which also happens to be the most used stereotype of black women in modern day television (Walley-Jean 2009). The Angry Black Woman is represented in Brown’s language and mannerism in this interview. The aggressiveness plays a huge role in the conversation and is expressed through both language and semiotic elements. The foul language she uses exemplifies Brown as uncompassionate and could also paint a more masculine picture of her character rather than feminine, which aligns with the stereotype of the Angry Black Woman (a.a.).
Because the interview has been cut down to only a few minutes, it is clear that there are deletions where aspects of the interview has been left out of the film. The scene focuses on portraying Brown as having a different view of the world compared to other teenagers. The deletions have probably been left out of the narrative because the other conversations did not display the kind of representation the filmmakers desired. They for example never show Brown talking about something relatable or considered “normal” that would make viewers think that she might not be so troubled after all. The filmmakers have chosen to only display certain conversations of the interview that discusses Brown’s problems or aspects of her life that might seem unusual to most people. Essentially, the narrative choses to portray Brown as if she is the problem and not the influence or people around her. As described in the previous sequence, Brown’s behavior problems started at a young age and she started to run away from home at 12-years-old. At this time, she most probably started to associate herself with people of bad influence and became surrounded by a scene of drugs and alcohol. This narrative is never explored and the film jumps to the conclusion that the problems are internal. It directly declares that Brown is the issue and that it stems from her being mentally ill. It does not consider that she might have been groomed into the world of drugs and alcohol at 12-years-old when she first ran away, which then later might have led her on the path of prostitution. In fact, the film does not really give a clear picture of Brown’s background at all, besides explaining her behavior problems and the situation of her biological family. The film makes it seem like Brown had a good stable home and a close to “normal” upbringing, and that her mental problems are solely to blame for the how she ended up in prison.
The next scene presents Brown taking a test called the Roberts Apperception Test. Another forensic phycologist presented as Dr. Walker starts with explaining the test to Cyntoia Brown as “a test of your imagination”. The setting they are in is yet again in a rather empty, cold room at the prison with just a few tables and chairs. Dr. Walker starts with placing his folders and notes on
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021 the table as he explains that Brown has to make up stories and scenarios about what she sees in the pictures that are going to be presented to her. More specifically she is supposed to describe what is happening in the picture, what led up to the scene and how the story ends. She is also supposed to tell him what the people are talking about and what they are feeling. Before the test starts, he declares “remember that there are no right or wrong answers” (00:09:31). However, this statement is kind of misleading. As I previously mentioned, the aims of the scene are clear from the very beginning in how the phycologists are trying to find problems with Brown, which potentially could help her at the upcoming transfer hearing.
Screenshot 7. (Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story 2020, 00:09:53)
The first picture displays two females, one is standing while the other one is lying down on the ground. Brown says “I think she killed the little girl, and now she’s feeling bad. She’s just realizing what she’s done” (00:09:40). There are some spots drawn on the ground around the girl that Brown says has been killed, that she describes as blood.
Screenshot 8. (Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story 2020, 00:10:00)
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021
The second picture shows two adults and one little girl. Brown describes the scene, explaining that the two adults were just arguing. She says that the woman does not want the man to kiss her but that the man is forcing her to.
Screenshot 9. (Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story 2020, 00:10:05)
In the third picture she says “This slut is telling her to give her the money. This bitch is sitting back enjoying it. I hate people like that, swear to God. And they’re doing it because she’s black. And she was probably friends with these girls, but they just used her so they could get what they wanted out of her” (00:10:05). The picture displays three girls. The two Caucasian girls are standing together, while the black girl is standing opposite of them. That the third girl is black, is noted due to her hair being braided in cornrows which is a common hairstyle within the black community (Horne 2019).
Some features in the film such as this particular made-up story about the black girl as well as Brown’s appearance, give away the fact that her character is connected to African American decent. Something the film ignores to address. Race is therefore a deletion that is completely left out of the narrative. However, in relation to appearance, one can tell from Brown’s darker complexion and the texture of her hair, as it relates to an African American hairstyle also referred to as an afro, that she is not completely white although her biological mother is Caucasian (Horne 2019). Furthermore, even though race is present in semiotic elements, it is never something that is talked about or explained, besides Brown bringing it up in her made-up story. The film does not include race to be a factor in Brown’s life at all. It does not even explore the possibility, showcasing a very clear colorblind discourse, normalizing white supremacy as a cultural power and the exclusion of black people and their experiences (hooks 1992, p. 3).
As previously mentioned in the social actor analysis, the only other black character besides Cyntoia Brown is her adoptive mother Ellenette Brown, which makes one wonder if deletions such as other black characters, were excluded from the narrative. Furthermore, characters that are being interviewed to tell Cyntoia Brown’s story, as well as the judge, the persecutor, the prison guards, and so on, are all Caucasian. As a result, white characters make up the majority of representation in the documentary, creating an image that reinforce white supremacy (hooks
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021
1992, p. 1). In connotation with the colorblind discourse, the documentary represents a version of reality where the decision makers in society are white. This showcases the power structures of our society Stuart Hall often referrers to, where whites are the dominant group of society (Wood 1998). In a sense, even though Brown serves as the protagonist, the film subjects her as the “Other” in a white dominated discourse (hooks 1992, p. 3).
Colorblindness is not uncommon in popular television. There are many other films just like Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story that solely displays race as a visual feature, as if race “no longer matters” in society (Brüning 2019; Kretsedemas 2010). However, as previous research and bell hook’s (1984) feminist theory states, this is not the case. There is a clear distinction in privilege and discrimination toward people that appear to be of black decent (Whelan et al. 2018). This is something that according to bell hook’s (1984, p. 31) and her feminist theory, is factor to consider in Brown’s life since it forms inequality and create obstacles that white individuals do not experience. Why race was not more discussed in the film and heavily stereotyped could possibly be because the filmmakers, as well as the characters working with Brown are white, and therefore do not have the experience or knowledge about how structural and institutional dimensions affect gender and race privilege (Whelan et al. 2018). These people may unconsciously see the world through the lens of white supremacy and internalized racism (hooks 1992, p. 1). Representation often reflect the ideologies and values of the meaning makers and since the narrative in this documentary is heavily influenced by the characters around Brown, the representation of her as a black woman is very limited, which could be due to their lack of experience (Hall 1997c, p. 235-239). This could be explained by that the discrimination black women face, are often not understood by others (hooks 1984, p. 31).
The fact that she is portrayed and stereotyped as the Angry Black Woman, can also be linked back to a form of oppression and discrimination toward black women. Black women are often stereotyped negatively due to their low social status in society (Ashley 2013). The Angry Black Woman is, as previously declared, a common but also a very negative stereotype adopted by the media. The Angry Black woman is also associated with black women trying to imitate the culture of a white middle class (Kretsedemas 2010). Since the film has a prominent colorblind discourse, as well as the filmmakers trying to portray Brown’s background living with her adoptive mother as close to “normal” as possible, the representation of Brown clearly fits the mold of the stereotype in this aspect too. Furthermore, the Angry Black Woman linked to aggression is clearly represented and confirmed during the Roberts Apperception Test, mostly based on the language she uses and choice of words. The film never declares if other pictures were presented to Brown and if her reaction might have been different towards those. It only displays three pictures where she makes up very violent and negative stories about murder, sexual abuse and racism. It would be interesting to know how the representation would have been different if Cyntoia Brown was completely Caucasian. Would the narrative focus as much on aggression? Or is that only something we can accept as the “truth” since that is what is associated with people of color in our society (Walley-Jean 2009)? One can only speculate…
Other frequently used stereotypes to consider are the Mammy and the Jezebel. The Mammy does not shape Cyntoia Brown’s representation since she is not portrayed as a “loyal caregiver”. However, as previously discussed it is still a stereotype that is present in the film through
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Ellenette Brown, the adoptive mother who also happens to be a black woman. The Jezebel on the other hand, known as the “tempting seductress” is a stereotype that is harder to spot in the film (Toms-Anthony 2018). One could argue that the Jezebel is present in Brown’s representation as the film uses the words “sex worker” and “prostitute” to sometimes describe her previous life “on the streets” while associating herself with the pimp Kut Throat. However, the film and the supporting characters does argue Brown to be considered a sex-trafficking- victim instead of a prostitute, since she was only 16-years-old at the time. Considering this narrative, I would conclude that the Jezebel stereotype is not a stereotype that has shaped Cyntoia Brown’s representation.
The next and final scene is a conversation between Dr. Barnet and Brown’s attorney Kathryn Evans Sinback, talking about the results revolving Cyntoia Brown’s phycological evaluation. Dr. Barnet explains that he has come to the conclusion that all of Brown’s stories in the Roberts Apperception Test were very chaotic and heavily linked to ”violence, aggression, an unusual degree of negative emotion, anger and rejection” (00:10:55). He also explains that none of the stories came to a resolution, and states that “this is her view of the world” (00:11:04). As a final conclusion Dr. Barnet claim that “she has a serious personality disorder which requires therapy” (00:11:40), refereeing to Cyntoia Brown.
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8. Summary and discussion
Before discussing my final thoughts about the results of the analysis, a short summary which emphasizes the most common themes and most prominent findings will be presented. Thereafter I will give my final discussion which will support in determining my final conclusion.
8.1 Summary
The study focused on scrutinizing the representation of Cyntoia Brown and how her story is told in the documentary film Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story. In conclusion the documentary film has a clear antihero narrative which is supported by discourses of what society perceives as “normal” versus “abnormal”. This is links back to Foucault’s (1991) theory about discourse and the regimes of truth. According to societal norms, traditional women should be socialized so that they are perceived as likable by society. Cultural roles play a huge part in how audiences perceive things. The antihero narrative allows Brown’s character to deflect aspects of her personality that would not be considered normal in our society on mental problems (Battles 2019; Tally 2016, p.7). To identify Brown’s mental issues, she is to go through a phycological evaluation which the narrative highly revolves around. As a result of Brown’s phycological evaluation, she is declared to have a personality disorder. Her character is also during the evaluation heavily stereotyped as one of the most frequently used stereotypes of black women in popular television; the Angry Black Woman (Toms-Anthony 2018). This is due to clips the filmmakers have chosen to include in the film which portrays Brown as aggressive, using foul language talking about murder, sexual abuse and racism. The side characters are essentially the ones that shape the stereotype and drive the antihero narrative forward by sharing their thoughts and reactions as events unfold. This is a function to tell a story identified by Propp (1968) and his idea of narratives being created by characters actions.
However, even though Brown should be considered as an unlikable character in regards to how she is portrayed in a negative manner, the filmmakers manage to manipulate sympathy from viewers through plot expectations. Raney (2004) explains in his perceptive of ADT that viewers can develop mental shortcuts based on assumptions. These mental shortcuts help viewers determine a character’s role and form a positive perception of this characters based on anticipation before morally scrutinizing his or her actions. To create a positive perception of Brown, the documentary has adopted this method by placing a short trailer in the beginning of the film. This trailer showcases Brown’s character’s role as the protagonist. Based on plot expectations from watching the trailer, viewers can then determine that Brown is the character to root for in this story, which immediately forms a positive connotation towards her. Even though anti-heroine protagonists are flawed, they also seek to overcome an enemy or an obstacle. Similarly to a traditional hero (Shafer & Raney 2013).
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8.2 Discussion
The purpose of this study was to analyze the protagonist Cyntoia Brown in relation to how her character and story is represented in the true crime documentary Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story. More specifically, how does the documentary represent Cyntoia Brown and from who’s side is the story told? What stereotypes can be found in the documentary’s portrayal of Cyntoia Brown and how does the antihero narrative support its representation? Furthermore, in the following paragraphs I will discuss the results accumulated by a MCDA on three specific sequences from the film.
1) How does the documentary Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story represent Cyntoia Brown and from who’s side is the story told?
The overall perception of Brown in the film is that she is very outspoken, does not like to be controlled, or to be addressed by authority. By supporting characters, she is often described as aggressive, a trouble maker, mentally challenged, having an unusual view of the world and as having a personality disorder. She is also several times referred to as a victim. As a result, she is portrayed as a character that is in “desperate need of help”. The words linked to her portrayal are often negative. More positive words to describe her does not come up until much later in the film, when she is about to be released. As explored in the analysis, the negative words describing Brown is the narrative’s way of trying to deflect the crimes on being mentally challenged. In other words, “abnormal” and “sick”. The portrayal of her character as a protagonist therefore aligns with the typical representation of anti-heroines. Anti-heroine characters are complex, multilayered and morally flawed which certainly fits Brown’s representation (Fell 2017). The complexity of her character is explored throughout the film in how supporting characters are trying to figure out “what is wrong” with Brown. Her being morally flawed is rather obvious in the sense that she committed murder and ended up in prison. Anti-heroines are therefore far from what society would consider a traditional woman and accept as “normal” (Tally 2016, p. 10).
From who’s side the story is told is not as obvious as how the story has chosen to represent Cyntoia Brown. Even though the antihero narrative is clear, as well as the filmmakers own ideas and values revolving Brown’s sentence being injust. The underlying agendas to create the documentary in the first place is still unknown. Furthermore, it was later revealed in Yahoo (2020) that Brown herself did not give consent to the release of the documentary. She also clarified that she did not have any part in the production of the film. However, from analyzing the film it is clear that the story is not told from her perspective, since she rarely gets the chance to speak or share how she truly feels about the events. Yahoo (2020) shared a quote from Brown where she states “I am currently in the process of sharing my story, in the right way, in full detail, and in a way that depicts and respects the woman I am today. While I pray that this film highlights things wrong in our justice system, I had nothing to do with this documentary”.
The representation of her character in the documentary film is highly limited to the scenes that the filmmakers have chosen to drive a certain narrative forward, as well as other characters
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021 talking about her; who she is as a person and how she behaves. Most of the time, it is the side characters that drive the narrative forward by speaking about the events on her behalf. The side characters that are presented are predominantly Brown’s legal defense team or witnesses that supports the defense. Therefore, I would say that the film is told from the defense team’s side and not Cyntoia Brown’s, which the film tries to imply. Specifically, the title is misleading as it states to be The Cyntoia Brown Story.
1) What stereotypes does the documentary’s portrayal of Cyntoia Brown reproduce and how does the antihero narrative support its representation?
The most prominent stereotype in connection to Cyntoia Brown’s portrayal is the Angry Black Woman. This is indicated in the very beginning of the film during the phycological evaluation, which is where viewers first get to meet Brown as a character. Some words that are used by Dr. Barnet in relation to Brown are ”violence, aggression, an unusual degree of negative emotion, anger and rejection” (00:10:55). In this quote alone there are about three words linking Brown’s character to the Angry Black Woman stereotype.
Even though stereotyping of black characters is highly present in the film, as well as previous research stating that structural and institutional dimensions in our society affect black individuals negatively. The film has a distinct colorblind discourse (Whelan et al. 2018). Race is something that is never explored and merely serves as a visual feature. This is something truly problematic in the film as television hold the power to shape public opinion and attitudes toward race and cultural representation (Catanese 2011, p. 1). Negative representations of black women, like the one of Cyntoia Brown is unfortunately not uncommon in today’s media (Ashley 2013). Furthermore, the negative representation and discrimination black women face, are as explained by bell hook’s (1992), linked to white supremacy and internalized racism which create a racist mass media which furthers the discrimination and oppression of black women.
The antihero narrative supports the representation of the Angry Black Woman as it is heavily influenced by mental illness and addiction (Tally 2016, p. 10). The mental problems in relation to Brown’s representation dates back to aggression, which is displayed in the phycological evaluation. Dr. Barnet even goes as far as to say that Brown has a “serious personality disorder which requires therapy” (00:11:40). The antihero narrative therefore furthers the stereotyping of the Angry Black Woman through how the mental illness is represented, as well as through the side characters supporting that narrative in discussing Brown negatively. Brown never show any psychical signs of aggression which is why the antihero narrative is needed to emphasize it. The aggression is mostly represented through the way she talks by using foul language, and how the phycologist describes her and her mental state.
By conducting this research, I could identify how white supremacy and white dominated discourse shape the representation of black women, while providing specific examples from a film based on “true events”. This study serves to exemplify society through the lens of internalized racism that create racist mass media, generally not reflected upon by audiences since white dominance has become normalized (hooks 1992, p. 5). The documentary serves as an example of deeply rooted race and gender struggles in our society that sometimes are invisible at
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021 first glance. It also displays how discourses play a huge role in shaping power that either favors or disfavors certain groups of people. Furthermore, representation can serve as a tool to nurture these types of discourses (Hall 1997b). The results of this study are a reminder that media representation is biased and rules our view of the world. By not reflecting or questioning the representation, we reinforce the power of control is has on society at large (Hall 1997a). This study is only limited to three specific sequences which suggest that a larger study can be done. One could for example study the development of Cyntoia Brown’s character throughout the film. Another interesting aspect would be to investigate audience’s perception on these types of documentaries. Additionally, one could also attempt to find patterns in true crime documentaries and establish if stereotyping is a common theme within them. I believe that by continuing to interrogate media representation, especially in popular culture, we can increase awareness of stereotyping and discrimination which will be the first step towards diminishing them. Studies revolving representation and stereotypes can therefore contribute in developing a more aware and accepting society towards discriminated groups.
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9. Reference list
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Victim or Murderer? - Discourse, Representation & Stereotypes in True Crime Media & Communication Bachelor Thesis 2021
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