Ideology & Representation - Hegemony & Pluralist

What is an ideology?

An ideology is a world view, a system of values, attitudes and beliefs which an individual, group or society holds to be true or important; these are shared by a culture or society about how that society should function (ie Racism in football - kick it out)

Dominant ideologies
Ideologies that are told to us repeatedly (Re-presented over again - get it?) by important social institutions such as the law, education, government, and the media are called dominant ideologies.

Dominant ideologies are ideologies or beliefs that we live by in our day-to-day lives and often do not question – they have become 'natural, common sense' things to do. This effectively dissuades people from rebelling against these beliefs, and keeps a sense of stability in society. (ie. if you study hard you will be rewarded with a good job, women have equal rights, you cannot justify killing someone as punishment, marriage is only between 1 man and 1 woman)

Dominant ideologies include beliefs about gender roles, age, ethnicity, sexuality, disability and class

Consumerism has been a dominant ideology in the western world since the industrial revolution. Consumerism is a world view that a person has more worth if she or he has more material possessions and that we are made happier by consuming more goods.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeoB1voCit4

How ideology relates to media studies

Media texts always reflect certain values or ideologies though sometimes we may not be aware of this. An example might be that in some texts, such as action films solving problems with force is seen as an acceptable value and reflects a certain ideology of how for instance men ought to behave.
 

The study of the media allows us to consider and question dominant ideologies by looking at how it represents groups - for instance in 300 how does it represent the ethnic, male & female and disabled characters?

Representation & Ideology – How it Works 

Break down the word and you see it clearly. The Media re-presents (i.e. changes or  re-interprets) or constructs meanings and opinions about the world we live in.

There are dominant ideas – shared recognitions or familiar ideas (Mum does the cleaning, Dad does the DIY) and alternative ideas – different or unexpected recognitions or ideas (A same sex family)

In order to make sense of this, you need to think about some fairly difficult concepts about how society (the world and the way we live in it) actually works. We will look at two different theories of the way society functions. We call them 'models' and you should remember that they are theories and that not every society works exactly the way the theories suggest it should.

The first model is called a Hegemonic Model. Theoretically this works as follows:

1. The HEGEMONIC MODEL

A hegemony is a system where one group is dominated by another. In media studies terms, this model works by achieving dominance through media representations of the world. The media  ‘tell us’ what to think, what to believe and how our world ‘should be’.
 
The media can circulate or reinforce ideologies OR it can undermine and challenge them 

Ideologies are MYTHIC, i.e. they seem to be ‘natural’ or ‘common sense’ but they aren’t! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbhUeom-KD4
 

2 The PLURALIST MODEL 

Predictably enough, the pluralist idea is the exact opposite of a hegemonic one. A pluralist model argues that there is diversity in society (everyone is different) and therefore there is also choice (we can choose what to believe and what not to believe.)

So in media terms, because the audience (society) is diverse, with different points of view, the media is influenced by society. Because the media need to please the audience they will try to reflect the values and beliefs that are predominant in society. In other words, they give us what we say we want rather than telling us what to think and believe.

What seems "common sense" or "normal" in this scene about the characters gender/social status roles?