Represenatation… Decoding Gender

Gender > Binary Opposition

In the media, institution has generally represented gender to have these stereotypical attributes:

Male	Female
Masculine	Feminine
Strong	Weak
Hard	Soft
Active	Passive
Tough	Emotional
Experience	Inexeperience
Aware	Naive
Confident	Unconfident
Safe	Vulnerable
Independent	Reliant
Firm	Caring
Secure	Insecure
Dominant	Submissive

 

Narrative

The Media objects i decided to examine for this week’s task was a film named “Push” and an article from the Sun newspaper.

After viewing Push and comparing it to Todorov’s linear narrative structure, it is evident to see that it follows the structure completely.
The plot is centred around a group of people born with various powers, who band together to attempt to take down a government agency that is using a dangerous drug to enhance their powers in hopes of creating an army of super soldiers. The equilibrium of the film is portrayed in the opening to be one of despair as the protagonist’s (Nick Grant) father is assassinated by an Agent (Henry Carver) of the “Division”. The movie’s plot then goes into describing how life is 10 years later where Grant is in search of a means to combating the Division.
the movie is situated in disruption being a recurring motif, as the timeless battle between good and evil wages on throughout the movie, the heros vs the Agents; the change from equilibrium to disruption happens quite frequently as ‘the enemy’ of our heros occasionally appears to hinder their progress.
The recognition of the disruption by the characters involved is shown through the way in they are all in knowledge of each other’s presence in the plot and that they are in opposition against each other. The attempt follows on from recognition of the disruption, as the characters seek to mend that which has been disturbed. The movie’s enhanced equilibrium is achieved when Grant finally devises a plot to take on Carver; it is successful, with things being restored to a state which would be regarded ‘better’ than how they were previously.
In relation to Propp’s notion of character functions and narrative units, Push follows the structure presented.

• Hero: Nick Grant, uses his special power to make money, is the main character and in pursuit of righting the wrong doings of the villain
• Villain: Henry Carver, Agent who is capturing those with special powers to produce an army
• Donor: Hook Waters, with his special powers he is able to give the hero items that aid their quest
• Helper: Cassie Holmes, young girl who partners Grant on his journey, in aid of the task at hand
• The Princess: Cassie’s mother, captured by the Division, the narrative is focused on the character’s attempts of freeing her
• The Father: Nick’s father, is presented to be killed at the beginning of the narrative; his son’s journey and success comes from the drive to prevail for the good of his father’s life
• The dispatcher: Nick’s father/Cassie’s mother, both set tasks for the hero and his help to carry out for victory
• The false hero: Teresa Stowe, appears to aid both the hero and the villain in the narrative

Through the variety of characters and the intricacy of the plot, narrative functions are depicted in the film quite clearly and somewhat follow the structure predictably to its sequence accordingly.

____________________________________________________________________________________

The Sun article i went on to examine was one regarding the death of a British soldier in Afghanistan and the impact it had on his family.

In relation to Todorov’s narrative structure; the idea of an equilibrium is presented through the way in which the family live a happy life together although they are in knowledge of the risk the husband (Olaf) faces by being a soldier in a War climate. The disruption occurs when Olaf, at war is killed by a bomb in Afghanistan; the devastation caused upon the family pushes forward their despair and ‘disequilibrium’. The recognition of the issue is shown through the way in which the media have acknowledged what has happened and how they turn to representing the life of Olaf in a positive way. The attempt is shown through the way in which the family are trying to accept that Olaf is dead, but instead of drastically mourning his death, they instead celebrate the man he was to find their peace. Olaf’s life is shown as a benchmark for what calibre a soldier can reach, emphasising the belief of optimism; which is the enhance equilibrium to how thing’s were in society previously. When relating the story presented by the writer in this article to Propp’s notion of narrative structure functions, it is also evident that the order of events follows the trend of what is expected to uphold his idea of predictable story telling.

After examining my research of the movie Push and the Sun article, i realised that i found it difficult to find character functions and narrative stages that were not isolated by Todorov and Propp; although the order in which the stages occurred differed with different stages in the narrative being repeated to add a certain ‘excitement’ for audience pleasure.

During group discussion, i was able to find examples of media objects that ‘did not’ conform to Todorov’s narrative structure and Propp’s narrative functions. One example was an advert by Xbox; one where it began with an altercation between two people at a train station pointing their fingers at each other shaped as guns. The advert progressively turned into a free-for-all where everyone in the packed train station began shooting at each other with their fake ‘guns’, as the advert came to an abrupt close. The somewhat comedic delivery of a factually subverted representation does not share the qualities of a ‘narrative text’ in the case of this advert.
The effects this could have on an audience’s reading of the media object would be ideas that shift towards confusion of what the producers intended meaning was, which is to provide intrigue; if this was successful then the audience would take interest in the product being promoted in making things ‘clearer’ for them to find favour in their purchasing of the item for sale.

Seminar

The Seminar was focused open audiences and the process of encoding and decoding media objects. The notion that audiences seek pleasure in their media objects but also strive towards feeling that they are sophisticated by indulging in media objects that are ‘different’ to what is ‘normal’ for ‘the average audience’. The discussion went on to challenge the ideas of who the audience are as a collective (‘us’) and who we are representing in media texts (‘them’); we as an audience are able to view and read stories about people of different groups of society, because it makes us feel better about ourselves.
Discussion regarding what audiences take interest in developed into one focused on the views of conformity, how genres of the modernist era have tried their best to not conform to traditional structures; horror for example, a genre that ends without a ‘happy ending’. The hypodermic needle factor is one where audiences have had their interests injected into their minds, but it through our individuality that we reject this idea. Examples of how it is true that we share similar thought patterns are by the way in which we are dissatisfied when a media object does not meet our expectation of what it ‘should’ include, we become confused and find it uncomfortable.
Audiences enjoy engaging with the media and find pleasure in doing so;  the modern audience have been seen to find pleasure in objects that subvert the ideas of equilibrium and normality that this has become a phenomenon for media output.

 

Genre

The area of media that i have decided to base my focus on is Television. I have conducted my research using a range of texts that derive from various genres to produce a varied and compiled basis of notes for comment. The television shows of my choice are: Eastenders, Xfactor, Sky sports news, Family Guy, Hollyoaks & Simpsons.

The similar elements that appear in these shows are that:

• The Casting, use of Actors
• They promote the ideology of male dominance
• The use of soundtrack to emphasise scenes & emotion
• Their comedic elements and portrayal of emotion
• Share similar lengths
• Produced plot for audience
• Formula of delivery and it’s consistency
• The various cultures and lifestyles portrayed > Hedonism and the ‘fast life’
• The shows are UK and US based
• They portray elements of the Educational system, in some scenes
• They are produced for Mass audience consumption and share similar targe audiences
• Are also Big-Budget productions

The elements that mark these shows out to be different are:

• Scenes of Sexual inuendos / Vulgarity
• Humour, which can be political, topical and/or radical
• The way in which they are culturally aware, following onto to demographic statuses and relativity
• The style of editing, that they turn out to be somewhat ‘parodies of previous texts’
• The method of bestowing ‘Audience empowerment’, also leading on to issues of the hypodermic needle and ‘demand & supply’
• Varied content which is continually progressive and moves along with the evolving developments of technology
• The allowance of feedback, which can lead to improvements
• The way that they are current, regular & up-to-date, exclusive and reliable

The ways in which audiences will understand these objects are:

• How they are engaging through identifying the similarities between themselves and the text, providing a relation
• That they are humorous, the extremity of acts, are in reflection to the society they may live in
• That they are fact, accepting that what is shown to them is true, due to the way in which it is displayed
• Notified of how thier cultures are portrayed in multiple texts
• An empathy, towards different situations that are shown in the media
• Confusing, audiences may not interpret the meaning correctly as the producers intended

Pleasures obtained by ‘The Audience’:

• Entertainment from the texts and it’s content
• Gratification, satisfaction with the quality of text
• A sense of involvement
• Recognition towards an area they enjoyed viewing
• Feeling more informed
• Humour and Laughter

Categorical Interview of interest (Television)

Subject-A:
Likes television because; they find content ’entertaining’, it keeps them ‘updated’ with current affairs, they are able to ‘engage with culture’ and there is a ‘quality in certain texts’.
Dislikes television because; it is ‘not always relative’ to their own interest.

Subject-B:
Dislikes television because; ‘everyone watches it’, it is ‘not sensible’, ‘doesn’t give a real reflection of the world’, ‘commentary is bias’ and content is particularly repetitive.
Likes television because it has a wide ‘variety’ of content to choose from.

72-Hour Challenge (Group2E task)

‘The Active Audience (1) Two Steps to Gratification’.

The Cabinet of Curiosities item i have chosen to reflect upon is Concert tickets.

The ways in which the item can influence the minds of a vulnerable audience:

• it can differ from the varying acts that are ‘put on show’ to perform at the concert
• they can have different social view points where they portray different messages to the audience
• the actual performances by the artist can also connote specific actions that an audience may later attempt to reproduce
• artists can also come from a particular political stance, one which they deject onto an audience to adhere to
• the advertising exhibited in a concert; the products being promoted for purchase
• the idea of audience unity, those who are not engaging in the activity of the concert can be made to feel ‘outcasted & left-out’
• the want to ‘fit-in & conformity’ can be a social stigma that audiences submissively allow to ‘rule thier proceedings’.

The negtive effect on audience and society:

• issues of the hypodermic needle; the control of an audience to inject thier interest to that which may be morally wrong
• the lack of originality in texts; audiences will consume the same texts and develop similar thought processes
• those who become ‘outcast from society’ because they wish not to take part in the mediums presented
• the manipulation of power; those who are in control are able to give instructions which must be followed
• the destruction of niche markets; as major industries have the ‘dominant influence’ on an audience

Does the media have a direct and measureable ‘negative’ effect on a vulnerable audience?

My thoughts on this matter are that it does have a negative effect; the idea of a ‘passive audience’ is essentially true. Mass society and audiences allow those in power to tell them what they think is correct, because traditionally it has been made acceptable to ‘not question authority’ and become submissive. Although there are examples of the media portraying a positive message, they seem to be few and far between that of the majority. The stereotypes in which media texts uphold are consistently presented to audiences; because of such repetition, audiences are left to believe in that which is shown to them, a very negative persuasive device. To refer back to media institutions, the messages they want audiences to accept and support can also be a dangerous tool used on society, in a somewhat hegemonic trend that has been formed to ensure ‘audience satisfaction’ whilst maintaining control.

Audiences: The Passive Audience… A Simple Numbers Game?

Individual Task

Demographic Groups:

social grade	social status	occupation
A	upper middle class	higher managerial, administrative or professional
B	middle class	intermediate managerial, administrative or professional
C1	lower middle class	supervisory or clerical, junior managerial, administrative or professional
C2	skilled working class	skilled manual workers
D	working class	semi and unskilled manual workers
E	those at lowest level of subsistence	state pensioners or widows (no other earner), casual or lowest grade workers

(Cabinet items)  Classification:

• Cinema tickets - Concert tickets – Wristbands - Clothing tags – Watch straps – Headphones – Perfume bottle – Games; the items have been placed in the [C2-D] Category

I decided to place these items in those categories because of the variety they possessed and the context in which they were attained. Social events are where the tickets came from; i would consider that to require significant leisure time for one to enjoy such activity. People of higher social economic status are more likely to indulge in things of “high culture”; things such as Opera, theatre and ballet. Other items such as the clothing tags, watch strap and perfume bottle were also things i found trivial to place in specific categories. By looking at the branding in which these items came from (Adidas, Joe rodeo, Boss & various others) i was able to formulate a character who would own these items and place him into a demographic group. The headphones and games showed interest in entertainment, although entertainment ’should’ be universal to all groups these items helped emphasise the character that was created by the items.
In relation to institution, the companies that produce the items also portray their own target markets through the advertising and pricing of their products. Whilst looking at the prices of the products in the cabinet i came to concluding that they best suited the category they were placed in.

Group Task

We Hate ‘Reality Television’….Do You????

We conducted our group meeting as normal and during this meeting we disscused what it is we hate about in the media. We found it easy to come up with many ideas which some would agree with and others would argue bitterly in favor of (Big example being X factor) From the disccusions we discovered that a lot of the Television shows being mentioned were ones that could be put under the ‘Reality TV’ umbrella such as ‘Big Brother’ ‘I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here’ & ‘Kerry Katona: What’s The Problem?’ (”Where do I start?)So we decided to go with that theme for our questionairres. From the questionairres we discovered the following things:

- 64% of those asked hated ‘Reality TV’

- Of those that hated it most people’s reasons for hating it where that it was “Nothing Original”, “Exploitative” & “Simple”

- However, those that liked Reality TV found it “intresting” & “Thought provoking” some see it as a window into the real world.

- The Most Loved & Hated Reality TV show was ‘Big Brother’ by a long way on each side.

- Despite the majority of people questioned addimitting to hating Reality TV, a good quarter of them still watched it. Reasons behind this were mainly that they are ‘addictive’ and that everybody is talking about it.

- Most people prefered (or were less put off by) Reality TV shows involving Real world people as opposed to celebrity shows (Kate & Peter/ Kerry Katona, etc…)

- Most of the people that hated Reality TV chose to get thier entertainment primarily from Drama’s instead.

Most of the people asked were admittedly students and the responses aren’t too surprising for the age group and social status of the majority of people asked. No-one asked would have been an A or B in any advertising catergory. The main question I draw from this is ‘If so many people detest this type of program…Why is it still popular?’ I found the amount of people who said they still watch it despite the fact they hate it surprising.

Seminar

The seminar helped provide further insight into how media organisations were delivering their products and messages to the audience and how they were affected by it. The idea that consumers had specific interests according to thier demographic social grade pushed forward the debate of diversity and individuality. The issue of culture was also brought about by the way in which there was a divide between those who consumed ‘high culture’ and those who divulged in ‘low culture’. To categorise items in such way also sperred on the issue of stereotyping.

 The social stigmas had been formed ‘without choice’ as the issue of the hypodermic needle arrived; media organisations were considered to feed information to audiences to enable themselves to inject the interests they wanted them to possess. The uprise of sub-genres was also discussed to be due to the way in which companies are trying to generate appeal from various audiences to build thier own following, thus maximising thier profit margine; as money is inevitably the main aim for companies.

Media Diary – Isolated Object / The End of History research

I decided to choose Sky sports news as my isolated object of study. It is a television programme that is produced by SkySports. The company that owns Sky Sports is BSkyB (British Sky Broadcasting). There are a vast amount of products made by this company ranging between; Gaming sites, Broadband and Landline phones. BSkyB also owns an American Company called News Corporation. The net income for this company tables at £127million in the year 2008; the way in which they make this money is by publicising and advertising the sale of thier products and shows. Sky sports news was created for entertainment purposes, but to also provide additional services such as information and a central news programme for the sports fanatic.
After comparing the notes formed by other members of our group it was coincidental that we all chose major institutions; this is probably due to the way in which it would have been harder to find results on the web about independent institutions. In relation to shocks and surprises from research, it would be said that the vast amounts of money made by these companies wass astounding. to take  Fox Broadcasting Company for example, the show they produce ‘Family Guy’  makes $3M per show, a figure which is somewhat represantive of the grasp that companies can have in such a potentially lucrative market. An observation came to mind during our group discussion which was that major institutions were controlling the mainstream media distribution, preventing the growth of the independent institutions.

   _______________________________________________________________________________________________________

The End of History (2E group research)

• Was written by Franics Fukuyama
• He has ideas that cross between triumphalism and despair
• Believes his work to be “the most influential attempt to make sense of the post-cold-war world”
• ‘The End of History was a claim of Fukuyama’s that formulated from his belief that there was a shift taking place across the world from Communism and ideology to the Western idea of liberal democracy, which he saw to be negative
• Fukuyama believes that the mass culture we now live in (which he described as liberal democracy) is resulting in and has resulted in the end of human history
• This theory links back to the lecture on ‘the masses’ and popular culture as Fukuyama is arguing that the masess is soon to become the mass resulting in nothing being able to change, grow or develop.

Fukuyama’s ideas were important because he gave people a debate to discuss and think about, he could have possibly been ‘onto something’; as “if we do all become one ‘global village’ then what will we have to share and inspire that is new? If one piece of media is suddenly relateable to or by all will there be a need to create more?”

The Media Diary (5-7/10/09)

Monday 5th October,
09:30am  – (internet) – Watched short YouTube clips – 20mins – Lecture theatre
12:00pm – (television) – Watched today programme – 20mins – Student Union(SU) Bar
02:00pm – (PS3) – Played games console – 2hrs – Friend’s house
07:00pm – (television) – Watched programmes – 1hr – TV lounge
10:00pm – (internet) - web-browsing/checked mail – 1hr – Room

Tuesday 6th October
09:30am – (film) – watched short films – 20mins – lecture theatre
02:00pm – (television) – watched today programme – 2omins – SU Bar
04:30pm – (email) – checked mail – 15mins – library
06:00pm – (television) – watched tv show – 30mins – TV lounge
08:30pm – (internet) - web-browsing – 30mins – library
10:30pm – (PS3) – played games console – 1hr - TV lounge

Wednesday 7th October
09:30am – (television) – watched today programme – 30mins - dining hall
10:30am – (television) – watched today programme – 15mins – TV lounge
11:00am – (internet) – web-browsing - 1hr – Room
08:30pm – (film) – watched movie – 30mins – coach
11:00pm – (music) – listened to music - 4hrs - party

_________________________________________________________________________________

Observations:

By analysing my consumption of media during these past three days, i gather that there is a routine regarding my viewing of television. I seem to regularly watch television  at some point during the day, generally whilst eating breakfast, spending time in the student union or the TV lounge. Also, i tend to regularly go on the internet in order to check my mail, visit social networking sites, access online radio or just a general browse of the internet. Although there is not a specific set time in which my ‘routine’ is conducted, the forms of media that i consume tend to be of around the same medium. I don’t tend to spend a great deal of my time divulging into the media as i have spent most of my time on the go adjusting to ‘student life’, although it could also be said that the media almost engages me by being everywhere i turn. In terms of expenditure, i didn’t spend any money except for the ticket to get into the party on wednesday; this could be because of the significance or regard i have for media forms in my day to day life. It is interesting to note that most of my media consumption is done in open places with peers as oppose to by myself in isolation; this could suggest that i do not access the media unless someone else triggers my usage. I am not really surprised with the results from my diary as i am quite a busy person and my consumption of media seems to come in short periods of 20-30 minutes.

Questions raised:

• Do i watch TV because it is on when i enter the room, or would i choose to watch it myself?
• Is my consumption of media high or low compared to my peers?
• Is it a specific need of mine to go on the internet daily, or is this because of boredom?

Reflections:

In terms of the diary defining myself, i think that it would say that i am not to concerned with television due to the length in which i watch it. My diary could also suggest that i rely on the internet to access my mail and keep up with the world around me. The time in which i spend on games consoles alongside with the party suggests that i like to have fun, whether or not my means of doing so are excessive is the opinion of the observer. I regard myself to be a person who doesn’t get influenced easily by what i see, but rather question and thus understand it in attempt to enhancing my knowledge. Current affairs are an interest of my own, i take pleasure in being able to keep up with events in society; although my diary does not reflect this, people may assume that forms of media such as film are more of an interest of mine. I would comment that my my media diary is not a direct description of who i am as there are mediums i come across and indulge in that have not been recorded. In relation to my consumption of media before i arrived at university i would say that i consumed more due to the time i spent at home, due to my being ‘on-the-go’ here at Coventry i have accessed less media directly.

After examining my media diary i can gather that the media works constantly in various ways. Walking along through a normal day, it is clear to see that the media is presented to us all the time; through advertising, the display of information and through our own personal interests we continue to recieve media even in our leisure time. The length and formats in which we recieve media has changed as time progressed as well, by being faster and more accesible we as a s consuming audience can finish off with different mediums and also interchange between them. Media has changed over time and is now versatile in catering to the requirements of those who are consuming it, thus becoming more efficient.

What is ‘the media’ ?

Group session – Discussion
Points:

1. What is ‘the media’?
An entity which compiles of the various; the distribution and consumption of different forms of mediums to the people and a means of entertainment. Media is a platform of communication. There a multiple forms and mediums of media to display. The media is a business, a “money machine”. Information is accessed via use of media (news). Creativity can also be explored; media can be referred to as an art, there are negatives as some forms of media such as Youtube videos can become repetitive. Originality is constantly explored, as the lack of it often brings about different opinions and critiques from audiences. The progressions that are made in the media come from what is produced previously, to be able to make developments and advance. The media is a representation of culture (or the lack of it), diversity and globalisation.

2. Why is it important to study it?
Because it is essential to our daily lives; it is the means in which we escape from the outside world. It is important to develop an understanding of why it all (the media) works. A great deal of political decisions are made through or use the media to portray them, a sense of history and identity can also be formed by studying the media. It is important to develop the creative potential by having an analytical approach to what we look at and produce. The understanding to why certain things in sociey are happening, aids the attempt to mend them. The media’s influence on one’s personal life and the impact it has should also be understood; this can also help to protect ourselves from what we are consuming. There is a contradiction between the quality of media technology we are using and the quality of media being produced, understanding the differences put forward can help develop productions. Essentially, it is important to be able to accordingly study the media so that we can use it to our advantage!

3. How do we study it?
By being involved!: reading, social networking and the use of technology. Research into the media, looking at and analysing various pieces of media. Interaction & discussion help by bringing about different opinions and views. By looking at those who use and control the media we can begin to obtain knowledge. Reviews of media texts and the understanding of communication can also aid study. As simple as it is, lectures and classrooms are effective means of studying the media. The comparison and reflection of how the media has changed over time and with society help to formulate an understanding and also broaden the horizons of study. By looking at different theorists study, we can begin to develop are own. An example of useful study is the coventry conversations.

4. How do we talk about it?
Through discussion and forums. Reflective analysis of specific critiques and praises we have for different media is also an effective way of talking about the media; the positive and negative manners and opinions we have towards different pieces of media can come from the change in society we experience. By understanding the influence and impact it has on out lives we can begin to understand the addiction we have developed for these various forms of media.