How does Pretty Little Liars use stalking as a way to get revenge on others?

Classification

A surveillance in which those surveilling are observing others who are constantly being stalked and typically acted out by people wanting/needing information about another person. Stalking is defined as perusing or observing a person who doesn’t want the attention. This may be someone who is or isn’t aware they are being watched for a specific positive or negative purpose. It is more of an obsession that leads to constant harassment rather than an innocent surveillance- whether it be physically, mentally, emotionally, or even technically. Typically when someone thinks of a stalker it is said with more of a negative connotation. Some examples of stalking would be a killer watching his victim before killing him or a sexual predator looking for his next victim.
This is different from following; however.
According to Wikipedia, surveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people for the purpose of influencing, managing, directing, or protecting. The type of surveillance that I decided to use is stalking, which according to Merriam Webster’s Dictionary, is to pursue obsessively and to the point of harassment. The tools that will be used for the stalking techniques are person-to-person, technology, and Federal Agency stalking.
According to Wikipedia, mass media are diversified media technologies that are intended to reach a large audience by mass communication. My mass media subject is looking into the hit TV series, Pretty Little Liars. How are you able to reach the information you need about how to locate or find the killer of Alison Dilaurentis? What sources do you go through to find this information? That is the mystery that lies beneath all of the lies and stories that revolve around this murder case.

Research Question:

How does Pretty Little Liars use stalking as a way to get revenge on others?

My first primary material that I am using for my research on Pretty Little Liars is stalking. The stalking that goes on in the show is mainly person-to-person stalking. The main stalker is “A” who is spying and harassing the four main characters. An example of this would be in almost every episode; the four girls are being watched. Here is a clip that I found on YouTube… They use stalking to get revenge on others by watching their every move. In this clip, you will see “A” watching Jenna very closely to see if she has any secrets to reveal about her.

Person to person stalking is involved in all episodes of Pretty Little Liars. Even when you don’t realize it, people may be watching your every move. In public places especially, you are always being watched. The word stalking is often involved with scary movies or thrillers, Pretty Little Liars falls into the mystery drama category.

Another primary material would be technology stalking. “A” uses his or her advancement in handling technology very well to stalk the girls. This kind of stalking is used with cell phones, email, videos, and many more. An example of where technology stalking is occurring the most is at the end of every episode. Most of the time a clip is shown of “A” planning the next big thing on the four girls with the help of a cell phone or a computer. During the episodes, “A” tracks where the four girls are and reveals shocking secrets about them to others. They must obey whoever is behind all of the drama and secret telling or else they will fall deeper and deeper into lies. In today’s society, technology stalking is widely used. It may be used for watching speeding cars on the highway, or to catch a criminal at a gas station, but video cameras and other types of technology are being used to track and spy on others. video “A” sends out text messages to all of the girls in most of the episodes saying things that may get them into trouble if they don’t follow “A’s” orders. They are being blackmailed. In this clip, “A” is sending out text messages to Emily to try and get her to follow orders.

Federal Agency surveillance would be another example. The police are always lurking around watching the main characters as if they committed the crime. A cop that is always suspicious to me is Darren Wilden. He is always creeping around and figuring out a way to get the girls into trouble. A clip of him on YouTube is this video

Another suspicious person is Garrett Reynolds. He was a former Federal Agent and used the information that was located in the police station against others. He was first assigned to Alison’s murder case but then he was murdered. He has always been a person of interest in the beginning episodes.

The police in Pretty Little Liars don’t really do much on the Alison Dilaurentis murder case. It took them a year or so to find her body, and after that they just went on to other things. At times, the police officers send out Darren Wilden to investigate. All he ends up doing is accusing the girls for something they might have not even done. video

So What

My connections with my research question shows that in the television show, stalking is connected with people-to-people, technology, and the Federal Agency. The primary materials that I have researched over the past couple of weeks have helped me figure out the relationship with surveillance and mass media in a way of stalking. Throughout the television show, three main concepts revolve around stalking. Federal agency stalking, person-to-person stalking, and technology stalking play a major role in the mystery of the show. How does Pretty Little Liars use stalking as a way to get revenge on others? They use stalking as a way to get revenge on others through the use of blackmail and crime. I am doing my research primarily on the stalking action in the television show to point out to people that the show goes into a lot more detail than you think. That being said, looking up the research for my topic was interesting because it pointed out the little things in the show that nobody ever pays attention to. I think that my research is important to the people who have read the series and has watched all of the seasons and episodes. I think that they will find my information helpful, especially if they wanted to do research about the show itself. Pretty Little Liars appeals to people of every age but if I were to narrow it down, I would say female teenagers keep up with it the most. My research will also be helpful to people who have never even seen the show before so they can kind of get a glimpse of what really goes on behind the scenes.

Haley Burke

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