Character Profile

Actress: Maliaka Adabra

Character Name: Ebony
Age: 16
Gender: Female
Features: Black hair, Brown eyes, 56, darkskin
Representation: Maliaka tends to deliver more masculine traits in reality, making it
easier for her to conform to the homosexual (lesbian) stereotype during the
production. She is also very easy going and bubbly too. Maliaka is a very reserved
individual who hardly expresses her emotions, similar to how I will be portraying her
character, Ebony, in the film. I have provided her with this name specifically as it is
more masculine than feminine, matching her persona. She enjoys playing a vast
variety of sport, basketball in particular. Ebony delivers characteristics that are the
opposite of what Zoe would portray, which is useful as it will give the audience a
clear insight of their personalities and what type of background they may possibly
come from. Throughout the film, I aim to illustrate a clear representation of Ebonys
identity through the use of different microelements. Her monologue (voice over) will
be the prime use of non diegetic dialogue as the audience will be listening to Maliaka
whilst watching the actions of both characters and their relationship. The
incorporation of her monologue will allow me to illustrate her masculine side as well
as the close strong bond both females share. Ebony will be represented
stereotypically conforming to the gay female stereotype as they are often expected
to have piercings, wear male clothing for example, which is shown in the film as she
wears a navy Hollister jumper and gets changed in to a baggy t shirt and jeans later
in the scene, similar to The new orange is black.
Film Influences: Whilst researching different films focusing on female
representation, I came across Orange is the New Black. This is because, whilst
analysing this film, I realised that they use a diverse representation of women and
the black females are presented differently in comparison to the other actresses. The
fact that they look masculine and very unfeminine conforms to the stereotype of
what an audience would expect to see as a typical female lesbian character when
referring to women in film. This relates to my representation of Ebonys character as
she contrasts the expected representation of a gay female.
Character influences: I decided to create my characters representation, focusing on
the New Orange. Majority of the black females in the series, are represented as
being more masculine than the white females. Therefore, I thought I would take the
same approach, especially as Maliaka has piercings too.