Karl Marx (1818-1883) was a German philosopher who believed that material goods are at the root of the social world. He said that dominant classes create dominant ideology; how culture is constructed in a way that enables the groups holding the power to have maximum control with minimum conflict.
He believed that the power was held by a minority group - the 'elite' or 'bourgeoisie', he also said that the mass or 'proletariat' labour to help them make a living. An example of this in the UK on a small scale is the north south divide.
Marxism relating to my video: Marxism relates to my video in the way that the fashion industry is also changing and you need to have the last trends to be unto date and 'fashionable'. My music video also demonstrates how fickle the fashion industry is with the consumerist idea that we need material objects to feel good, beautiful and happy with ourselves.
Richard Dyer
(1983) is a representation theorist he studies the representation in media generally and looked at how media texts represent themselves to society and and audience. He looks closely at the ideological and historical significance of film stars, but also looked at media in general. Dyer observed in his study that it is how are seen that determines how we are treated and how we treat others is based on how we see them.
Relating to my video:
My music video is unrealistic of the real world but is a critique of the fashion industry in that the female protagonist initially want the hegemony of wanting beauty and fashion but then rebels by using her own ideology and creativity to be individual.
Binary opposites - Levi Strauss
- Hero and Villain
they are usually the basis of understanding of a story as it is a conventional narrative and enables an equilibrium. the use of binary opposites in a media texts helps to develop plots and the narrative. the link between ideological values of the world enables climax and increases interest.
relating to my video:
In my video i use two women as binary opposites, one of them is the 'ideal' beautiful, successful model on the cover of a magazine and the second is a lonely girl reading the magazine wanting to be her. This is were the equilibrium is broken by her wanting to be something she's not. The contrast of the binary opposites throughout the video help to create a contrast and makes the female protagonist and the audience the same common goal.
Tim O'Sullivan et al
(1998) 'ideology can be argued' O'Sullivan argues that the mechanism by which a ruling group tries to decline and control the ruled. for example, the powerful want teenagers, wearing hoodies, to be represented as dangerous gang members with negative connotations.
Terry Eagleton - 'Nobody has come up with a single adequate definition of ideology'
Because of ideology we have ideas about the world that we live in. Because the media is so powerful it can control what and how ideas are portrayed to an audience/consumer. The more powerful you are to society the more control you have over how messages are given to an audience.
Relating to my video:
This can relate to my video in terms of power in the narrative. When the supermodel on the cover of the magazine decides the 'geek' girl should be like her, everything changes for her. This is producing the ideology that every should follow the the 'rich and powerful' as they have the most influence over us. It is also representing the the 'geek' girl as something that should be changed and she should not be encouraged to be herself because it is against the ideology of the society she is in.
Feminism (Laura Mulvey)
Mulvey argues that women in the media are being objectified and made to use their sexuality to sell or make media texts more appealing. Mulvey observed that females view through eyes of a man through 'the male gaze' which is the perspective of a hetero male.
People view artists and celebrities in 3 different ways -
- How men look at women
- How women look at themselves
- How women look at other women
The male gaze focuses on
- Emphasising curves
- Referring to women as objects
- Display of women is how men think they should be perceived
- Female viewers view the content through the eyes of a man
In my video there are two examples of different types of women, one of them is objectified by the media, made to look glamorous on the magazine, and trying to influence women to act this way. The other woman is showing the effects of the 'male gaze' in that she thinks the woman on the the magazine is so 'ideal' she even wants to be her and not seeing the fact that she is been shown as a sparkly object that is easily disposable. One of the overall meaning in my video is showing that audience how women are portrayed in the media through the platform of a magazine cover, it show the woman to be perfect (smile clothes,face, hair, body) and creating an unrealistic sexualised expectation of women.
Stuart Hall
Cross over theory
- The hypodermic needle model suggests that the information from a text passes into the mass consciousness of the audience unmediated, i.e. the experience, intelligence and opinion of an individual are not relevant to the reception of the text.
- This theory suggests that, as an audience, we are manipulated by the creators of the media texts and that our behavior and thinking might be easily changed by media makers.
- It assumes that the audience are passive.
This before and after shot of britney spears being photoshop is reflective of the fashion and beauty industry giving people an unrealistic expectation of their bodies, as the people who look like this in the media dont even look like this themselves.
- This is an active audience theory which sees the audience as being actively engaged in the interpretation of the media texts rather than as passive consumers. Individuals receive and interpret texts in different ways.
- This theory demonstrates that even though one message is sent out not one understanding has to made from that text
- This theory allows for the media text to be consumed individually and takes into consideration the meaning of a text and the relationship an individual may understand from this in relation to sociological factors.
The study of
semiotics
- This theory says that media texts are encoded by the producer (the people who make media texts) and that these texts are full of ideologies values and messages)
- The text is then decoded by an audience, however not all audiences will decode and respond to the text in the same way. In some cases not how the producer intended
The study of semiotics
This theory says that media texts
are encoded by the producer (the people who make media texts) and that these
texts are full of ideologies values and messages)
The text is then decoded by an
audience, however not all audiences will decode and respond to the text in the
same way. In some cases not how the producer intended
How encoding and decoding works
When a producer creates a text it
is encoded with a meaning or a message that they want to convey to a mass
audience. This is called the preferred reading.
This reading will sometimes be
correctly decoded by the audience and the encoding will have been successful.
Audience types
Hall identified 3 audience types
for decoding or reading of texts:
- Dominant or preferred - How the producer wants the audience to view the media text and agree with the message it is conveyed on a dominant scale.
- Negotiated - The audience don’t agree with it full, don’t think it’s fully covered their opinions
- Oppositional - Were the audience rejects the preferred reading and creates their own meaning for the text, reject the message and disagree.
Audience factors
- Life experience
- Mood at time of viewing
- Age
- Culture
- Beliefs
- Gender
Extending the concept of an
active audience, individuals can receive and interpret a text, and how their
individual; circumstances (gender, class, age, ethnicity) affect their reading.
Relating to my video:
Applying this theory to my media text through the eyes of the 'three audience types' would be difficult as our preferred reading is the opposite to what it is conventionally. for example in my video there is a woman on a magazine posing being beautiful and 'ideal'. Conventionally the preferred reading would be that women want to be be and aspire to her, the negotiated would be that they want to look like her but it is unrealistic and finally the oppositional reading would be that is it trying to make women feel bad about themselves through false expectations. However my music video is a mockery of the fashion industry and my preferred reading is that it is superficial and it's what's inside that counts. This is shown through the use of the red painted hands showing that she may not be a super model on he cover of a magazine but she has a good heart and that's what won it for her in the end.
Applying this theory to my media text through the eyes of the 'three audience types' would be difficult as our preferred reading is the opposite to what it is conventionally. for example in my video there is a woman on a magazine posing being beautiful and 'ideal'. Conventionally the preferred reading would be that women want to be be and aspire to her, the negotiated would be that they want to look like her but it is unrealistic and finally the oppositional reading would be that is it trying to make women feel bad about themselves through false expectations. However my music video is a mockery of the fashion industry and my preferred reading is that it is superficial and it's what's inside that counts. This is shown through the use of the red painted hands showing that she may not be a super model on he cover of a magazine but she has a good heart and that's what won it for her in the end.
Uses and Gratifications Theory
•The 'Uses and Gratifications' model represented a change in thinking, as researchers began to describe the effects of the media from the point of view of audiences.
•The
model looks at the motives of the people who use the media, asking why we watch
the television programmes that we do, why we bother to read newspapers, why we
find ourselves so compelled to keep up to date with our favourite soap.
•Blumler & Katz (1974)
argued that audience needs have social and psychological origins which generate
certain expectations about the mass media, leading to differential patterns of
media exposure which result in both the gratification of needs and in other
(often unintended) consequences. This does assume an active audience making
motivated choices.
•The underlying idea behind the model is
that people are motivated by a desire to fulfill, or gratify certain needs. So
rather than asking how the media uses us, the model asks how we use the media.
•The model is broken down into four
different needs.
- Surveillance - The surveillance need is based around the idea that people feel better having the feeling that they know what is going on in the world around them.
- Personal Identity - The personal identity need explains how being a subject of the media allows us to reaffirm the identity and positioning of ourselves within society.
- Personal Relationships - Many people use the television as a form of companionship. This may seem sad, but think about how many times you've watched the TV on your own, or with other people but sitting in silence. The television is often quite an intimate experience, and by watching the same people on a regular basis we can often feel very close to them, as if we even know them. When presenters or characters in a soap die, those who have watched that person a lot often grieve for the character, as if they have lost a friend.
- Diversion - The diversion need describes what's commonly termed as escapism - watching the television so we can forget about our own lives and problems for a while and think about something else.
know why they chose to watch what they did, or may
not be able to explain fully. The
reasons which can be articulated may be the least important. People may simply offers
reasons which they have heard others mention. More promising might be the study of
people's engagement with media as it happens.
reasons which can be articulated may be the least important. People may simply offers
reasons which they have heard others mention. More promising might be the study of
people's engagement with media as it happens.
Relating to my video:
This can relate to my my video in the way that the media is not fully satisfying her need with
the 'FASHION' magazine and instead of just looking at her on cover of the magazine she
actually aspire to be her. In this sense the media is not doing it's job properly and instead of
settling her curiosity it has made her jealous and heightend her expectations. This relates to
her personal identity as a acharacter as the subject of the media allows has reaffirmed the
identity and positioning of herself within society. therefore she has let herself become a
consumer of society and the media. it also relates surveillance as the magazine fulfills
her need to know what is going on in the world around her, and letting her know what she
should look and dress like hense her changing to fit in
This can relate to my my video in the way that the media is not fully satisfying her need with
the 'FASHION' magazine and instead of just looking at her on cover of the magazine she
actually aspire to be her. In this sense the media is not doing it's job properly and instead of
settling her curiosity it has made her jealous and heightend her expectations. This relates to
her personal identity as a acharacter as the subject of the media allows has reaffirmed the
identity and positioning of herself within society. therefore she has let herself become a
consumer of society and the media. it also relates surveillance as the magazine fulfills
her need to know what is going on in the world around her, and letting her know what she
should look and dress like hense her changing to fit in
