Representation

• Luther challenges stereotypical representation of black men in the genre as a black detective.
• The assumptions of the audience's stereotypes of black men are challenged in the opening scene when Luther is chasing Henry Madsen as stereotypically Luther would be the villain but in this series both villains are white.
• Luther challenges pre-conceived ideas which reflects the change in society about diversity and the construction of reality. Zoe is a mixed-raced woman who is a human, right lawyer again reflecting social change.
• Several of the men in the police force are in positions of power, even Teller has to answer to her male boss to justify her decisions regarding Luther.
• Luther demonstrates stereotypical masculine traits including his size, power, and aggression. While loving Zoe and wanting to save their marriage, he also scares her.
• Luther is also emotionally controlled by both Alice and Zoe, showing a more complex representation of masculinity as well as readily showing his emotions, challenging the trope of the tough, male detective.
• Mark is a binary opposite to Luther as a more metrosexual representation of masculinity which Luther struggles to accept
• With representations of women, Alice supports and challenges typical representations of femininity. At the start, she is shown as vulnerable but rapidly transforms into a powerful and manipulative antagonist
• With portrayals of women, Alice alternates between a femme fatale seductress and a threat. In her flat Luther warns her "I'm coming for you" to which she says "Not if I come for you first." This sets her up as being intellectually superior to him, subverting her original portrayal of a damsel in distress
• Zoe's representation is more ambiguous, whilst she is a successful lawyer with a good job she is also vulnerable and in need of protection from men. She is also defined by romance and does not progress the narrative other than what happens to her, not by her.
• Teller is in a strong position and reflects the change in women's roles in the police force. She is instrumental in driving the narrative forward, however many of her traits are more masculine.