MIGRAINE Index

1) Media consumption audit
2) Reading an image: RBK advert analysis & own choice advert analysis
3) Institution: major media institution research and presentation
4) Institution: brand values
5) Institution: CoolBrands research
6) Narrative: narrative theory YouTube clip analysis
7) Audience: psychographics
8) Audience: audience theory blog tasks/questions
9) Audience: audience theory - dependency theory
10) Representation: clip analysis - dominant and alternative representations
11) Representation theory: 500 word analysis on blog
12) Representation: Media Magazine articles and questions
13) Ideology: BBQ QT analysis and binary opposition
14) Ideology: Media Magazine reading 

Ideology: further reading and tasks

MM52, Page 34: The World Of Mockingjay: Ideology, Dystopia And Propaganda

1. The capitalist ideology that is presented in The Hunger Games film is the Marxist theory.
2. The Hunger Games film suggests that the use of propaganda in the media shapes and also influences ideological ideas because their society will be sculpted to believe that rebelling is wrong and that they have to follow President Snow's dictatorship. Through the use of propaganda i.e. the hunger games fear is created within their society. However, this is challenged through symbolism i.e. the mockingjay and Katniss, who attempts to overthrow President Snow. 

Page 48: They Live - Understanding Ideology

1) Money = Happiness
Consumer goods = Fulfilment
Marriage/Family/Children = Happiness
Obedience/Work= Fulfilment

2) Gramsci's theory of Hegemony suggests that it is important for those in power maintain their control through consent, rather than the use of force, and that it is also important that the power of ideology comes from an elite social group which is able to dominate through ideas, rather than militaristic strength or fear.

4)French theorist Louis Althusser suggest that ideology is the greatest material power and dominates our day to day lives through forms of control, RSA's such as the government, Army, Police, Courts, etc. and ISA's, such as the Church, the media, educational institutions, the family unit etc. This links to consumerism because these dominant ideologies are passed on to us through forms of control i.e. the elite class, who encourage consumerism. This can be done through advertising and marketing.

5) I partly agree with the idea behind "They Live",  as i do believe that our thoughts are somewhat being controlled by the media but this is only natural as the media is our main source of information. However, we as a society are still able to pick out information and choose what we think is valid or invalid, therefore we cannot be completely controlled by the media on what we think or believe in. 

Binary oppositions and ideology

There are several examples of binary oppositions within this clip of Nigel Farage and Russell Brand. For example, Russell Brand is represented as being more left wing and the representing the working class ideology whereas Nigel Farage is represented as being more right wing and representing mainly the higher class ideology. However, through the clip we can see some of the working in favour over Nigel rather than Russell because they believe that Russell does not understand how some of the working class feel that immigration is a major issue that is affecting their everyday life, yet there is still support for Russell and his views as some believe Nigel is going beyond the facts on immigration and that there are much more important issues to deal with.



The binary oppositions within this clip are represented through the characters of Penny and Sheldon. Penny is represented as being quite unintelligent, which links to Medhurts theory as Penny is stereotyped to be a dumb blonde, on the other hand Sheldon is represented as intelligent. These link to the ideology of intelligent people having a superiority in society hence the reason why they have better jobs, lives etc while those who are unintelligent are less likely to succeed, there is however an alternative ideology that has lately gained a lot of support where intelligence is not linked to success. 

Representation Task

There are several representations of foreigners, men and women within The Big Bang Theory, and we can apply theories towards these representations that have been created.

Medhurst’s theory of shorthand that carries value judgement’s can be applied to Raj. The fact that he is represented as the typical Indian through his accent etc. immediately suggests to the audience that he is intelligent (stereotype of Asians being smart) and his beliefs may be backwards and that the “westernised” ideology on certain things may not always appeal to him, the audience usually find this appealing and funny, and schadenfreud plays a huge deal in this. However, this representation is still carried out through the show and can be shown through the clip where Raj tries to enforce the fact that men are superior to woman. Raj tries to interfere and control who his sister date, he then refers back to religion to restrict Priya's freedom of choosing whom she wants to be with. This supports Medhurst’s theory, as the audience immediately shorthand Raj through the way he is represented by his ethnicity and then it is applied to the show. Richard Dyers theory of stereotyping and power can also be applied to the character of Raj because he is a foreign character, and because Dyers theory states that those with power stereotype those with less power it makes sense that there are quite a lot of stereotypes for non-white people, poor people etc.

We can furthermore link Perkins theory of stereotypes being positive or partly true to Raj as Asians have the stereotype of being intelligent, and this isn’t necessarily a negative stereotype.

Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze can be applied to TBBT towards the character of Penny.  Mulvey suggests that the dominant view in the media is masculine and that women are presented for men to look at, hence the ‘male gaze’. This links to the idea of ‘sex sells’ and women being represented as sex objects. Penny is represented as the pretty Caucasian character that has quite some appeal amongst the male characters and also male viewers, this is most likely because some of the characteristics of Penny were made to be appealing towards men i.e. her looks. However, Penny also carries the stereotype of blondes being “stupid”, which is quite negative but a common and dominant stereotype. This can be linked to Dyers theory on stereotypes as women are quite inferior therefore it is easier for them to be stereotyped.

We can apply Levi-Strauss’ theory of representation and ideology towards the characters of Leonard, Howard and Sheldon as they have all been represented as socially awkward because of they are highly intelligent. This set of beliefs and values must have been held by the producer of the text, who may have been influenced by this growing stereotype of intelligent men being awkward through the media or maybe even experiencing or seeing this stereotype in action themselves.

Overall, the theories of Levi-Strauss, Mulvey, Perkins and Medhurst’s can be successfully applied to the characters of TBBT and their representations. 

Year 12 cover work: Representation

MM50

1) This article is about the representation of females, and focuses mainly on the modelling agency which is dominated by heterosexual Caucasian size 0-2 models. This article also highlights the problems of the "false and unattainable images of the idealised female body" and is linked to the female gaze theory.

2) The film that has sparked this recent debate on body image and female representation is called "A Perfect 14"

3) The Female Gaze differs from Laura Mulvey's theory of the Male Gaze because the Male Gaze suggests that women are presented for men to look at, hence the ‘male gaze’. This links to the idea of ‘sex sells’ and women being represented as sex objects, whereas the female gaze suggests that women are also spectators and consumers of media images of other women, and this causes them to compare themselves to these models and want to change what they see as their flaws.

4) Personally I believe that something should be done to create more diversity within the representation of women in advertising, not only body-wise but ethnicity wise, sexuality wise etc. I believe that there is no such thing as a representation of a "real" woman and that all females are real regardless of their body size whether they are slim or not, what I don't believe is that in the same way that anorexia shouldn't be promoted neither should an overweight body. I do not believe that a clinically overweight woman should be seen as the ideal body and promoted in the modelling world, and that a healthy body should be promoted instead.  Fat shaming and skinny shaming should both not be accepted, because skinny shaming also does exist and is a problem. As a society we should focus on the fact that what makes a woman real is instead on the inside and who she is rather than her body image. 

 5) The aim of this film is to raise awareness on the issue of the lack of diversity within the modelling industry, which is dominated by skinny Caucasian females. The film also trying to prevent woman from being put into boxes and being fitted into labels, and instead encourages companies and modelling agencies to hire models regardless of their size. 

MM51

1)    Introduction - The media almost pre-plans a representation of something, and that the media stands in between what we see and what the object actually is. 

2)    Representations and the mass media - The media has the ability to change an image so the audience can perceive the representation the media wants us so see i.e. an image can be photoshopped to create a re-presentation of a particular person, and this distances the person away from the image that is reproduced, however it is unlikely that the audience are aware of this therefore they take in the representation of this person that the media has created.

3)    The how, who and why of representation - The representation of something/someone is influenced by several factors such as the expectations and needs of the audience, remits, and genre codes.

4)    Another approach to ideology - the work of Stuart Hall - The way the audience perceive a certain text/image depends on the relationship between the audience and the text, the audience are able to have their own interpretation on the content.

5)    Representations and new media - People are able to create their own representations of themselves through the new media i.e. Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, people can now also associate themselves with specific cultures and groups based on their sense of belonging through the new media. 

6)    An example - representing national identity in old and new media - Old media forms would attempt to create one identity for its audience using certain types of representations. On the other hand, the new media allows the audience to have their own opinions even if these opinions conflict the representation that the institution was trying to put out. 

2) I am quite aware of how I represent myself online, and make sure it is a true representation of me rather than a false one. I make sure what I post is appropriate on social media, and that it represents what I believe in and who I am as an individual. 

3) I believe that institutions have the most power regarding representations in the media to an extent, as these institutions are what bring us our films/shows and our news and they do have the ability to change your views on an issue. However, I still do believe that the audience equally do have power in terms of representations as the audience can choose what they believe in and share their opinions with others freely through social media etc.