Friday, 2 November 2012
Thursday, 1 November 2012
Values Survey - Dominant Ideology
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Plenary Representation quotes - draw your definintion
David Buckingham, ‘The media do not just offer us a transparent ‘window on the world’ but a mediated version of the world. They don’t just present reality, they re-present it.’
Stuart Hall, "TV
provides images and representations of ‘the lives, meanings, practices
and values’ of social groups unfamiliar to us. TV ‘fills in’ our
picture of the world through its representations"
Julie D’Acci: ‘It is through representational...systems such as...film and television that the categories that seem so natural to us and the differences that organise our thinking (like masculinity and femininity, male and female) actually get determined’
Michel Foucault: Rather than audiences or viewers coming to the television screen with already-formed identities, television….actually help to inform the identity in question.
Alison Griffiths: stereoptypes as rigid, simplistic, overdetermined and inherently false…they misrepresented people’s ‘lived idenitities’ by falling back upon narrowly conceived preconceptions of racial, cultural and gendered difference, thus perpetuating myths about social, cultural and racial groups.
Representation and Stereotypes
Representation and Stereotypes
In
simple terms, a stereotype is the application of one (usually negative)
characteristic to a whole group. Teenagers, for example, the
stereotypical representation is of moody, hormonal, rebellious, awkward, insecure and sex obsessed.
The
stereotype is an easy concept to understand, but there are some points
you need to consider when looking at media representations with regard
to stereotyping.
For
a stereotype to ‘work’ it needs to be recognisable to the audience and
when so recognised, then judgements are made about the subject. If the
stereotype is negative, then the judgements will also tend to be the
same.
They can be positive stereotypes - positive representations of Disabled people were omnipresent during the Olympics
They can be re-enforced or they can be challenged - ie Christian & Sayid's relationship challenges the camp effeminate stereotype of Homosexuals as well as the Asian stereotype of behaving within their religious beliefs
They can be positive stereotypes - positive representations of Disabled people were omnipresent during the Olympics
They can be re-enforced or they can be challenged - ie Christian & Sayid's relationship challenges the camp effeminate stereotype of Homosexuals as well as the Asian stereotype of behaving within their religious beliefs
The
predictable thing about stereotypes is that they are predictable! They
create a sense of order and also provide a sense of identity (even if it
is a negative one!)
Stereotypical
judgements and stereotypical media representations can (and often do)
lead to different treatments of groups by other groups, (sadly, often
quite discriminatory).
But you need to remember some points:
- stereotypes are not always negative. (e.g. nurses are compassionate and caring)
- they are not always applied to lower classes of society
- they can be held about a group you belong to
- they change according to time and fashion
- they are not always untrue
Media representation can do one or more of three things:
- it can reinforce stereotypes
- it can challenge them
- it can inform them
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
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?
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