IDEOLOGY_REPRESENTATION OF AGE 1

Last week, we looked at how magazines and websites reflect the values and ideologies of their readers.

They want their readers to feel that they can identify with the magazine.

Other texts are also constructed with a certain ideologies in mind.

Media texts often show representations of young people out of control. This allows the state to have more control of them (e.g. media reports about delinquent youths led to ASBOs). This is something called the ‘ideology of protection’ – the idea that young people need constant surveillance and monitoring. This happens because youth is the time when young people learn about social roles and values, and allows the state to make sure they conform to hegemonic values

Task: 17.1.22014
Write a short piece, 200 words about the Harry Brown (2009) clip.

How is British youth represented in this clip?
Is the young man shown to have behaved in an unnacceptable way?

From who's perspective do we see British youth?

How does this conform to dominant British ideology?

How does this compare to other representations of British youth you have seen.

Could you say that  ‘Harry Brown’ is a middle class fantasy in which anti-social youths are hunted down and killed by an elderly man

REPRESENTATION OF ETHNICITY

ETHNICITY ON TV

            

Martha From Dr Who

     The representation of people from different ethnicities has changed massively over the years.  This is probably because the population in Britain has become much more diverse recently and current society is much more used to mixing with people from all different cultures and backgrounds. 

      Here are some examples of very negative generic stereotypes that used to be seen (and in some case still are) in film and tv:

·      White people – often shown as good, pure, heroes, strong, or sometimes racist

·      Black people – often shown as exotic, strange, tribal, criminal, poor

·      Asian people (Chinese, Korean etc) – often shown mainly as intelligent, submissive (quiet and shy), nerdy, interested in technology

·      Indian people – often shown as being poor, living in large families, very traditional, working in corner shops

·      Middle Eastern people (arabs etc) – often shown as being terrorists, violent, aggressive, rich

·      Immigrants – often shown as being a drain on society, criminals, illegal, bad for Britain, taking British jobs.

      People often note that in TV drama, people from particular ethnicities have storylines that all centre around their culture.  For example, Indian characters often battle with the clash between British culture and their traditional culture eg: arranged marriages etc.  They rarely have storylines that don’t have something to do with their ethnicity.  People also have commented that often people from minority ethnic groups (eg non white) are often portrayed in a very negative way.

      If you get “ethnicity” as an issue in the exam, you should be thinking about the following things when watching the clip:

• ·        Can I identify what ethnicities people are?
• ·        Are people from different ethnic backgrounds shown as different interests, personalities, attitudes, behaviours?  If so, how?
• ·      Is their ethnicity represented as being important in their life?
• ·      Are people from particular ethnicities portrayed as being better, more powerful, than others?
• ·      Are people from particular ethnicities portrayed as being abnormal /weaker/ more pathetic than others? 
• ·      How do other characters in the clip treat the characters from different ethnic backgrounds?
• ·      What is the message the clip is trying to portray about ethnicity?   

    Clips with examples of ethnicity to analyse

   Spooks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjwvCoiKZ-8

   Hotel Babylon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VG5GJQjyGo

   Eastenders http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y094LCAUMTo 

Ben from Hotel Babylon

ARCHETYPES

These are similar to stereotypes but are usually derogatory or negative. Rather than trying to create an ideology about a group of people they are used as a shortcut to help an audience quickly understand what their role in the text is.

They are used in fictional texts such as TV, film or Video Games to represent a specific type of character within a specific genre. Certain groups in society often fulfil certain archetypes in media texts.

For example, Frank Gallagher from TV Comedy Drama ‘Shameless’ is an archetypal British slob.

Frank is represented as the father of a large dysfunctional family. He lives on an urban council estate which is full of crime and anti-social behaviour. The Chatsworth estate and Frank’s representation of Britain is negative in many aspects. Frank is a lazy drunk who exploits his own children to get the money to buy more drink and drugs. Whenever he attempts to make the right choice by his family it is often met by failure. He has a thick regional accent that makes him unmistakably British, and often rants about British historical events and figures as great, bemoaning the state of the country today. Ironically unaware that he is a part of the problem he is criticising.

Task 1: Look at this link

Following the immense reaction to Benefits Street from dozens of headlines to questions in parliament, this follow-up documentary gives the residents of James Turner Street the chance to discuss their experiences of being on benefits and their perspectives on the welfare system.
The programme features a number of interviews with some of the key contributors to the series.

Task 2:

Watch this sketch from the comedy sketch show: ‘The Armstrong & Miller Show’. The humour in the sketch is derived from each actor portraying characters that represent two different British archetypes.

Create a Word doc: Two columns and about ten rows.

What are the two archetypes of Britishness being mocked in this sketch?
Put these at the head of the two columns.

What things from the sketch are typical of these archetypes?
Put keywords in the rows below the relevant headings.

Task 3: Find three different archetypes of Britishness from the genres of TV & Film. 

Give a description of the archetype and the character’s name. There are a lot to choose from.

MEDIATION

By now you will have realised that the ‘reality’ we see on our television screens and read in newspapers is constructed. Every time we watch or read a media text we are not seeing ‘reality’ but someone else’s version of it.

We rely upon receiving our information about a range of events from different sources as we cannot actually be there to witness what is happening first hand.

However, what we finally experience has gone through a process of mediation.

Think of mediation as a machine. Real events and real groups of people get put in at one end and their representation in the media is what comes out the other end. 
The machine puts them through a process of:

Selection

Whatever ends up on the screen or in print, a lot more will have been left out. Someone will have made the decision about what will be included and what to omit. 

Organisation/Construction

The elements that go to make up the final text will have been constructed in a way that real life is not. When we witness an accident in real life we do not see it from three different camera angles and in slow motion, this is often the way we view an event in a hospital drama. In ‘real life’ arguments, we do not have the use of close ups to show emotion 

– these are regularly used in films and on television to heighten the experience for the audience. What we see when we watch TV is often a construction of the hours of filming which have been edited often to show a particular viewpoint about a storyline or character.

Focus

Mediation encourages the audience to focus upon a particular text to push us towards making assumptions and to draw conclusions. In a drama the camera may focus upon a particular character. Similarly, our eyes are drawn to the headlines and coverlines in newspapers and magazines.

The newspaper front page below represents England in some very specific ways that encourage us to believe certain things about what Britain stands for and what it is preoccupied with – let’s take a closer look at how this has been through the mediation machine…

Selection

The choices made for this front cover is what news story should be on the front page of the paper?
 As Britain’s biggest selling newspaper – any story appearing will represent Britain. The Sun have chosen England’s world cup draw and used it to fill the entire front page. This obviously representes Britain as a football obsessed nation. The selection of images are all England players celebrating which connotes victory and pride in the nation. The comparison with the group ‘The Beatles’ represents a pride in past achievements, albeit in a completely different field – but again reinforces the general sense of national pride.

Construction/Organisation

The headline has been constructed as an acrostic with the names of the countries written down to spell the word ‘EASY’ this joke may be seen by some as representing Britain as arrogant or over confident, although others may see the joke as ironic and even part of a British tradition of self-deprecating humour as the word ‘Phew’ in the top left of the page implies an uncertainty of our abilities. More revealing is the use of the word ‘Yanks’ which is a slang word for Americans, this implies a superiority over America – and a playful disrespect of their team.

Focus

The clear focus of this magazine cover is an interest in fashion football and the forthcoming World Cup. With only room for one other small article at the top of the page, the paper represents Britain as die hard football fans, suggesting that any other news just isn’t as important.

Task 1:

Watch this advert about Brits Abroad made for the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. Analyse how the representation of Britain has been mediated by each stage of the process.

Task 2:
Find three examples of where Britain or Britishness has been represented in the media where you can summarise representation and the elements of ..

• Selection, 
• Construction & 
• Focus.

STEREOTYPES 10/3

Stereotypes are:

Simplified representations which focus on certain characteristics of the group and assumes these to be shared across all group members. Inherent within a stereotype is a judgement on this characteristic (usually negative – but not always).

Stereotypes are often assumed to be negative because:

1. The judgement making the basis of the stereotype is usually a negative one – gossip is a bad thing, a waste of time.

2. They do not allow for individual traits to exist in members of the group – for example; some women may not be interested in other people’s domestic lives.

3. They are created by those outside the stereotyped group and are often seen to be an exertion of power – the stereotyped group often has no way to answer back.

4. The stereotype gives a ‘complete picture’ about the group and implies a knowledge and understanding that can be applied to all members of the group.

Stereotypes are widely circulated ideas or assumptions about particular groups. They are often negative and derogatory but can be sometimes be positive. 

They have the following characteristics:

1. They involve both a categorising and an evaluation of the group being stereotyped.
2. They usually emphasise some easily grasped feature(s) of the group, these are often based within:

          What they look like, wear, how they speak.

          The things they do and say.

3. Stereotypes often try to insist on absolute differences and boundaries where the reality is that groups of people have a spectrum or variety of differences
4. Stereotypes often evaluate groups in a negative way – but this often depends on the reading of the audience. 

Hugh Grant

In film, Hugh Grant is often supposed to represent the typical English gent. 
His character stereotypes Brits as posh, awkward and at odds with their emotions.

Appearance: His floppy hair and open necked shirt gives him the look of a privately educated toff, someone who is not so interested in his appearance or has little idea of style. 
His smile emphasises his downward eyes, which imply a self deprecation to his humour.

Behaviour: Hugh Grant’s characters are often bumbling fools, that fall in love but don’t know how to express their true feelings. He is well spoken and as an unmarried bachelor – Grant’s real life often echoes that of the characters he portrays.

Task 1: 

Find  examples in the media where Brits are represented as; bumbling, clumsy, out of touch with their emotions or posh.

Task 2:

Watch the music video for the Blur song ‘Parklife’. Analyse how different aspects of Britsh life are stereotyped – there are lots.
Use this approach:

Parklife stereotypes Britain as...

Appearance:

Behaviour:

How would different audiences react differently to a text like Parklife?

                            

REPRESENTATION OF NATIONALITY 6/3

Representations & the Media Studies Exam

As you know, your media studies exam will be made up of three questions.

The first will always be a textual analysis of either an AV (audio visual) clip, or two print based media texts.

Question two will be a stepped question with two or three parts, with each part progressing in the marks available.

Question three will be a longer essay style question.

Two important facts about questions 2 & 3:

One of the questions will always be about Audience theory, the other will always be about Representations.

The last part of question 2 and all of question 3 will require you to provide: ‘Your own specific examples’

Between now and the exam, you should try to keep a kind of media diary on your blogs to help you keep track of all the different media you encounter and to help you revise the theories we had studied in class by applying it to the media you watch and read in your everyday life.

With this kind of application you will be able to answer the representations question as fully and theoretically as possible.

Let’s start with the basics:

What is representation and why do we study it?

The easiest way to describe the word is to break it in two: re-presentation. 

If we were to present something we would show it to the world as it actually is. By re-presenting we can infer that some it has gone through some kind of change or filter or manipulation before it reaches us.

Because we experience people and groups through the media, whether that’s the screens in our living rooms, colleges, bedrooms or pockets, the paper we read in the morning or the magazine we read on the bus, we know that those groups are not being presented to us in person, they are being re-presented to us through the lens of the camera and the words written by others.

The exam will expect you to know and understand various theories and ideas surrounding the subject of representation and be able to apply these ideas to your own experience of the media.

Here are some questions we can always consider about representations in media texts, and which we will attempt to explore:

Key Questions:

• Who or what is being represented?
• Is it a positive or negative representation?
• How is it being established (visually, aurally, juxtaposition against mise-en-scene, use of camera)?
• How does this representation relate to the target audience?
• Is it a stereotypical representation?
• Is it a fair and/or accurate representation?
• Are the representations conventional or subversive?
• Are there representations you expect to see, which you would have expected to see, which are not in the text?

3 theories of representation

1. Reflexive approach – that what we see is a straightforward reflection of the real world

e.g. All teenagers are yobs, as we see in the newspapers. All children are mischievous, as we see in comic books.

2. Intentional approach – where our understanding of reality is created by representations

e.g. We believe teenagers are yobs because of the way newspapers portray them. We believe children are mischievous because of how comic books portray them.

3. Constructionist approach – where representations create, or construct meaning, but this is based on a material reality. This approach states that people construct meaning through concepts and sings- we produce our own meanings to objects through our own language.

A magazine all about British regions and tourist spots.

The person/thing being represented: The cathedral’s size and grandeur signify that Britain is an important place that is steeped with history, tradition and authority. The surrounding spacious grassy area and tress connote that Britain is a rural country, free from pollution, a peaceful haven.

The opinions of those encoding the representation: The photograph is framed as a wide shot to ensure that both the cathedral and it’s surroundings are captured. The use of the rule of thirds draws the audience’s eye to the main coverline: “Heavenly Spires” which acts as anchorage to the main image and reinforces the idea that Britain has important traditions and a long history. The use of the Union Jack as part of the logo for ‘Visit Britain’ sends a patriotic message that Britain is something to be proud of. The other coverlines use phrases which imply that Britain is an environmentally friendly place almost untouched by the threat of growing population and urban sprawl. Both: ‘Enjoy Britain’s glorious gardens’ and; ‘Great bicycle rides’ connote an eco-friendly habitat.

The reaction of the target audience: The magazine’s target audience are ‘would be’ tourists exploring Britain. They may be foreign but are probably British and the main image of the cathedral anchored by the word historic suggests that the audience may fall within the Traditionalist lifestyle category. This group would accept the preferred reading of the text that Britain is a country of heritage, beautiful countryside and charm reinforced by the assertion that there are: “Unique places to stay”.

The context of our society and dominant ideologies: Whilst the dominant ideology in society see heritage as something to be preserved and history something which can be learned from – some of the codes on the front cover may seem a little dated and this represents Britain as a little old fashioned. Religion does not have the same dominance over people’s lives in Britain today as it once did, the prominence of the cathedral and the absence of other elements that may signify more modern living may imply that Britain is a place that is somewhat stuck in the past. With environmental protection issues becoming an increasingly dominant ideology, this text represents Britain as still being a ‘haven’ from the pollution of urban life.

These four elements contribute to the representation of Britain as a country of pride and tradition. A unique and interesting place which is possibly filled with unique and interesting people that value their heritage.

Task 1: Watch the following clip and work through the four parts of the Constructionist Approach to say how Britain is represented...

1. The person/place being represented:

Hint: Analyse one or two of the settings in the clip based on where they are set and when they are set.

2. The opinions of those encoding the representation:

Hint: What have the directors/editors done to represent Britain – what point are the making? 

3. The reaction of the target audience:

Hint: Who are the target audience and what will the preferred reading of this article be?

4. The context of our society & dominant ideologies:

Hint: What is the general consensus about Britain today, and how does this representation relate to it?

Task 2: Find examples where Britain is being represented as; 

old fashioned, traditional and ‘twee’. Look for examples in film, TV, advertising and magazines.

REPRESENTATION OF MENTAL HEALTH

An issue which has been represented in a variety of ways - both positive and negative - is the issue of mental illness and mental health.

The media is an important source of information for many people about mental illness.

Harmful reporting

• A 2006 German study found that students who read negative articles about mental illness expressed more negative attitudes toward people with a mental illness.

• A 1997 study found that media accounts of mental illness that instil fear have a greater influence on public opinion than direct contact with people who have a mental illness.

• A number of international studies (1983, 1989) demonstrated that exposure to negative stories, both fictional and nonfictional, had a direct effect on attitudes which was not altered by subsequent exposure to positive stories.
• Research undertaken in 2007 by Mindframe found that 10.6% of stories in Australian media about mental illness were stigmatizing and 5.8% of reports used inappropriate or negative language.

• An Australian study (1991) found that electronic and print media coverage often reflects and perpetuates the myths and misunderstandings associated with mental illness

• A survey by SANE Australia from 2005 found that 95% of consumers believed that negative portrayals of mental illness had an effect on them and 80% reported that the effect was negative.

Reporting that can have a negative impact:

• Highlights tragedies involving untreated mental illness, contributing to community fear and isolation for those affected by mental illness

• Does not provide balance. People with a mental illness are not inherently violent, unable to work, unpredictable, untrustworthy, weak or unable to get well

• Implies mental illness is a life sentence that cannot be treated - most people are able to recover with treatment and support

• Exaggerates a person’s illness or the affect mental illness has on their behaviour

• Implies all mental illnesses are the same. The term ‘mental illness’ covers a wide range of symptoms, conditions, and effects on people’s lives

• Mocks or trivialises mental illness by using medical terms (such as bipolar) out of context

• Features negative terms such as ‘mental patient’, ‘nutter’, ‘lunatic’, ‘psycho’, ‘schizo’ and ‘mental institution’, which stigmatise mental illness and perpetuate discrimination.

Responsible reporting

• A 1999 American study also found that the media is an important source of information about mental health issues.

• SANE research from 2007 found that inaccurate and prejudiced assumptions about people with a mental illness could be reduced through increased accurate and helpful reporting in the media.

• A 2007 study which tracked reporting of suicide and mental illness in the Australian media found the majority of items about mental illness did not stereotype people affected as violent, unpredictable, unable to work, weak, untrustworthy or unlikely to get better.

• The same study found media items about mental health/illness had increased two-and-a-half-fold in volume between 2000/2001 and 2006/7.

Reporting that can have a positive impact:

• Breaks down myths about mental illness and allows people who have experienced mental illness to tell their own stories

• Highlights the complexity of mental illness. The term ‘mental illness’ covers a wide range of symptoms, conditions, and effects on people’s lives

• Highlights stories about successfully managing a mental illness

• Provides accurate information about mental illness and specific mental disorders

• Bases information on reliable sources such as recommended experts

• Encourages people in distress to seek help, for instance by providing helpline numbers

• Uses appropriate language and avoids victimising words such as ‘afflicted’ or ‘suffers’

• Follows media codes of practice on privacy, grief and trauma.

A key theory of any representation is the use and construction of stereotypes. 

How have people with schizophrenia been stereotyped by the character of the Joker in The Dark Knight?

Consider how the stereotype has been constructed using the character's Appearance and Behaviour...
(Write on your blog)

Any representation is a construction of the media - this means that we must consider the opinions of both: those who have encoded the text and those that have decoded the text. Put simply - the creators and the audience.

This next sequence is from Farren Aranofsky's avant garde film Pi. The director wants us to identify with the character Max as he descends into madness. The audience is encouraged to be part of Max's mental breakdown.

How is this achieved by the director using; camrea movement, framing, editing and sound?
(Write on your blog)

As we move on to looking at how mental health is represented by television we see that stereotypes are, again, commonly used. In some very negative ways.

The following video is from the sketch show Little Britain and features a character with severe learning difficulties called Anne.

This could be read as a very derogatory and spiteful stereotype of people with such problems, but it might also be read as mocking our own preconceptions of learning difficulties, or even the media itself for having such a limited representation of such issues.

So who is being mocked?

• Anne (and others with learning difficulties)?
• The audience?
• The media?

 You decide - and remember to consider how the stereotype is constructed.
(Write on blog)

Television soap-operas have always been issue led. With well developed characters and continuous storylines they have always had the ability to help the audience understand and explore various issues in society. Sometimes sympathetically, sometimes controversially, sometimes breaking taboos.

The nation's favourite, Corrie, has been at the forefront of issue led soaps for more than fifty years and 2011 saw the show tackle the issue of Alzheimers' focussing mostly on the experiences of those caring for someone suffering from the disease.

When analysing any representation we must consider the views of the audience and decide whether they have responded with a preferred, negotiated or oppositional reading to the text.

Read the following article from http://www.dementia.co.uk/ to see how they view Corrie's portrayal of such a serious illness - at the bottom of the document are responses to the article from audience members. Decide what type of reading they have made...

Corrie and alzheimers from sssfcmedia

Watch this clip from one of the more moving episodes. What are your opinions?

Lastly we look at how newspapers tackle the issue of mental health - and how the entire issue has been mediated by the press.

Mediation is a three part process which takes and issue, event, person, thing or group of people and puts it through the 'media machine' - what we see on our telly or in the papers is clearly not a straightforward relection of reality but a distortion of reality. Images have been framed and thousands are taken, words are chosen carefully, fonts, layout, colours are all part of this decision making process that means that the reality of something goes in to the media at one end and the mediated version gets spat out the other!

We can divide the mediation process into three functions:

• Selection
• Organisation
• Focus

 Consider the images below - they are all newspaper front pages that  cover the story of former British Heavyweight Boxer Frank Bruno and his battle with severe depression. Specifically his time spent in a hospital to recover.

Bruno had spent the past 30 years in and out of the media for his sporting achievements and as a celebrity figure.

As you can see some of the front pages offer a different representation of mental health - some more negative than others - think carefully about how every word and every picture has been through the process of: Selection. Organisation and Focus...

Whilst the copy is matter of fact and largely objective, the selection of photo
seems to suggest what the real views of the Telegraph are in this front page. However
the focus of the article may actually be more concerned with the Mental Health Act.

This typically sensationalist and unsympathetic headline from The Sun caused much controversy and
was actually pulled from later editions. Interestingly, they use a similar image to that of the Telegraph.

 

Like the Telegraph the Daily Express seems objective but the selection of the phrase 'Mental Home'
makes it quite clear how they view illnesses such as those suffered by Bruno.

 

This seems like the most sympathetic and least exploitative but is worthy of analysis - think about the selection of words, the type of photo taken - are we encouraged to pity, to voyeuristically watch from a safe distance?

 

You'll always be able to find positive and negative representations of mental health anf mental illness in the media - keep looking for them and writing about them but remember to make sure your analysis is based within theory.

Here is a little checklist of media theories surrounding representation...

• Stereotyping
• Mediation
• Construction
• Ideologies
• Archetypes

If you find any interesting representations of mental health then please blog it and link or embed videos or images along with your analysis.