Ideology - Final Tasks

Page 34:

1)
The article wants to create a message of what changes may occur int he future if we follow a capitalist way. They do this through the Hunger Games Mockingjay which allows audience to see and understand that it isn't exactly an ideal future.


2)
People with a higher level of power use the power of the media in order to influence especially as the media is still growing. They use the media to create a false image of the world to cover up the corrupt events that are really happening.


3)
The Hunger Games films emphasises on the power that the media has to shape ad influence certain ideological beliefs. This shows how the media can make anyone believe anything just from what they put up.



Page 48:

1)
The article highlights information about the concept of ideology and what its relationship with the concept of hegemony are.


2)

• Women should act feminine.
• Women should focus on looks.
• People need to work hard in order to earn money.
• People should place their families first.

3)

The theory of hegemony talks about how people in power maintain their control without using force or threats. Instead they maintain their control through consent. He believes that the ideal group of elites to lead would be a group who is able to control people with their ideas rather than making people have no choice but to follow them.

4)

Louis Althusser believes that ideology is the strongest and best material power which is able to control our day to day lives in 2 ways. One of them is the 'Ideological state apparatuses which means dominating through common sense acceptance and social norms instead of force and threats. Secondly is the Repressive state control where instead of taking a more civil way of control, they maintain their dominance through fear and violence.

5)

I think that most people are controlled by the media unwarily but I don't think that I personally am controlled by the media. Most people are sort of addicted to social media where they're always trying to get the latest news about so and so. Without realising it, many people straight away believe what they see on the media or it affects them in some way. If something is trendy at that moment of time, there are tons of people who are willing to get it even if it is completely useless. Furthermore, nobody really thinks about the aspects behind the media post they are seeing as it has become such an everyday thing that they just automatically accept it.

Ideology and Binary opposition

1)
The binary oppositions shown within the clip consist of topics such as racism and anti-racism, rich and poor, republicans and liberals and slightly corruption and Honesty.

2)
An ideology shown within the clip is the idea of the richer getting richer and the dominating position the rich are in where they have control of poorer people. This is a very right wing view. There is a constant reminder of how the richer people are only getting richer in both wealth and power.


Ideology and your own choice of clip:



1)

• Republicans vs Liberals (democrat)
• Man vs Woman
• Politically correct vs Idiocy
• Inclusive capitalism vs anti-globalisation

2)

• Capitalism
• Anti-feminism
• Populist Authoritarian
• Conservative

Collective identity and representing ourselves: blog tasks

1)

• Talks about how the choices we pick create our reputation, image and personality to others.
• Talks about the types of groups we believe we belong in based on pre-determined aspects of ourselves.
• Talks about how we are swayed by big brands and how we use these big brands in order to create our identity.
• Talks about how we make ourselves unique to others ad see the different versions of ourselves that lie within.
• Talks about the free choices consumers are allowed in which they are able to purchase items they believe can represent themselves and who they are.
• Talks about that freedom we have to create and change how we see ourselves and how others see ourselves. What we choose to do, say buy, wear and the way to speak, or even react can easily shape the basis to how someone can feel about you.

2)

• Apple - One of the top 3 in market share percentage showing its power and popularity. I think Apple identifies me as even though it doesn't always work out, I try to become the best version of myself and to keep improving to keep being the best I can be and to have power through skills and knowledge. 
• Hollister - Hollister has a range of clothing from ripped jeans to chinos to shirts to hoodies and T-shirts which allows consumers to have a variety of choices. More importantly, Hollister wants this feeling of endless summer which I feel like identifies myself as summer is my favourite season and I feel as if dressing is quite important during this time of the year by taking many different aspects into account. The skill of adapting is something I believe I can do as adapting to new places or different brands or ways of work is quite easy for me.
• BMW - Although I don't own a BMW to drive, their film ad campaign really took me by surprise. BMW is seen as a luxurious car with nice designs and cutting edges. Instead of focusing on these expected points, BMW created short films in which their products are being smashed into, shot into and crushed. This uniqueness is what makes me want to associate with them as I feel that I am a very unique person especially to most boys my age. Then again, everyone is unique in their own ways so I think this ad campaign is definitely something for everyone to identify themselves with.
• Nike - Nike's tag line is 'Just do it'. I feel like this is not just important but a part of my life as its the truth that we only live once so just do it. Do what? Doing what you want to and what you need to strive for what you wat. Wearing their products doesn't exactly empower me but seeing their tag line on adverts just acts as a reminder to myself to give up which is why I keep trying and testing new things even if they are the best suit for me or if I keep failing.
• Costa - Costa has become a very environmentally conscious brand which I believe allows me to identify due to my own beliefs of the way we should treat the environment. Apart from loving coffee, I like that they truly consider their actions for the environment and the world in which we live in.

3)

I would completely agree with the view that modern media is all about style over substance. This means that people today care about what things look like compared to the actual product or content itself. I think that it is more relevant today as social media is growing where there are huge numbers of people that like to show off their looks or the looks of their stuff. This makes others jealous in which they want the same thing just because it looks 'cool' and not because it's fit to their needs. Many people these days buy a ton of items that have absolutely no use for them simply because everyone says it looks good. This isn't just about physical products. Even in films and dramas we can see this problem. Movies for example, people are more willing to spend on Hollywood blockbusters since its what everyone seems to know. Most Hollywood blockbusters have absolutely no educational purposes or cultural values compared to films like Chicken.

4)

Baudrillard's theory of media saturation means that the world is now dominated by the choice of media content put out. These media images change how people view the world especially the choice between choosing for style or for substance.

5)

Truthfully, my presence on social media does not really reflect who I am. Yes it reveals parts of me but very minimal amounts. I choose what I allow others to see of me and choose what not to allow others to see of me. Things such as my interest in anime, manga and music is something I don't mind sharing with but information about me is usually never there. I might reveal some stuff about me and my past in private chats but never out publicly. On snapchat, I never usually post much of what's going on around in my life firstly because I don't find the need to and secondly because I feel as if start to come up with irrelevant and incorrect conclusions about me. On twitter, I don't even use my real name on it. Most of it is about games, K-pop or anime. On my Instagram, my posts are of landscapes of places I've been to and the quotes underneath are about how I'm feeling during that time. There are a limited number of people I allow to see my Instagram posts which are my close friends because they mostly know the type of person I am in general so to me, it's okay for me to reveal a bit more to them compared to others.

6)

Looking at it from a business view, this is incredibly smart and useful as it allows the business to market their products to specific people. This gives the business a higher chance to be able to sell their products successfully. From my own point of view, I do not like this as I do feel like my privacy has been intercepted. This sort of makes me feel unsafe so I regularly clear history, cache and cookies so companies are unable to keep track all the time.

Media Magazine Cartoon:

• Audience members understand the messages media texts are showing in which they have the choice whether to accept this particular message to whether to do the opposite.
• He says that the male gaze is influential but 'detested on a monolithic view of male and female roles'.
• He says that the concept of structuration  is a 'model of the thoughtful self-aware modern individual'.
• He uses Ugly Betty to prove that media texts can make audience members feel a certain way or to change how they pick certain things.
• He says that mass media texts offers a diverse range of representations.

___________________________________________________________________________________

1)

Collective identity is a group of individuals who have similar or same interests or values which allows them to identify and relate to each other. 

2)

• Old buildings
• London underground
• Red busses
• Tea
• Fish and chips
• Big Ben
• Houses of parliament
• Buckingham Palace
• Accent
• Black old looking cabs
• White people

Its a general list of things I associate with Britain which includes food, drink, buildings and people.

3) 

It highlights some aspects of British History like the history of the race track or the history of Scalextric. 

4)

New technology allows a wider range of people to meet new people online and to form social groups online based on interests or values. This make collective identity easier for people to find as it has become so convenient.

5)

'Identity is complicated; everyone thinks they have got one.'

6)

People now have more freedom to create original content and content that they want. This includes song lyrics, novels, artwork, films, dramas etc. People can use other previous works as ideas to go on from there. From there, they can build their identity from what they produce.

7)

The Facebook group allows people to share particular scenes of the movie and the continuation of this forms the basis of the group which supports the theory of interpretive communities online where the connections within the group allows them to share their views instead on it being based on personal opinions of an individual.

January assessment learner response

1) Type up your feedback in full (you don't need to write the mark and grade if you want to keep this confidential).

WWW - Strong application of media terminology.

EBI - Too detailed about what the Bandura's experiment is rather than applying it to question as an example and moving on. Incorporate theories to judgement rather than just telling me them.

2) Read the mark scheme for this assessment carefully. Identify at least one potential point that you missed out on for each question in the assessment.

Question 1 - Synergy allows companies to maximise profit from a brand.

Question 2 - Regulated from Ofcom.

Question 3 - The use of moral panics (Cohen).

3) On a scale of 1-10 (1 = low, 10 = high), how much revision and preparation did you do for this assessment?

6 or 7

4) Look at your answer for Question 1. Did you manage to write about three different strategies and three different benefits? It's vital you read the question and follow it exactly.

I gave 3 strategies but only managed to explain one of them properly.

5) Look at your answer for Question 2. Did you follow the question guidance and write about both the BBC and commercial broadcasters? What could you have added to this answer to reach a higher mark?

I wrote about the BBC but not enough about commercial broadcasters. Chanel 4 was my only example which was not explained very well.

6) Now look over your mark, teacher comments and the mark scheme for Question 3 - the 20 mark essay question on media effects theory. Write a new paragraph for this question based on the suggested theories/answers in the mark scheme. Make sure it is an extensive, detailed paragraph focused on the question and offering examples from the wider media. 

The two step flow talks about the use of opinion leaders (influencers). This can be linked to the damaging effect on the audience as there are many opinion leaders in todays world each one with a number of fans who go by what they say. the digital age is growing and more people are seeing these opinion leaders so their views have the potential to cause huge disrupt to different groups of people.

Representation theory

1) Why is representation an important concept in Media Studies?

Representation is important because it is the initial reaction you aim for your audience to get when seeing your media product. It is the communication between the producer and audience.

2) How does the example of Kate Middleton show the way different meanings can be created in the media?

It can show the different ways different groups of audiences may interpret the meaning. The meaning depends on many different aspects like whether it comes form a reliable source, whether it is real or fake, whether it has been edited or not etc. Most images seen on articles or magazines or whatever is most likely been through an editing stage to alter the original image in order to get what the producer wants the audience to get from it.

3) Summarise the section 'The how, who and why of media representation' in 50 words.

Producers consider the expectations and needs of the target audience, the limits the genre codes provide, the type of narrative they want and their institutional remit in order to give off the impact they want on the audience. The producers must pick which aspects to focus heavily on and which ones to cast aside.

4) How does Stuart Hall's theory of preferred and oppositional readings fit with representation?

Stuart Halls theory was that audiences are able to interpret a media  product in whatever way they saw fit.  This links to representation as producers are trying to persuade audiences to think in a certain way and to make them interpret in a certain way. 

5) How has new technology changed the way representations are created in the media?

There us such a wide rage on online social media apps that allow a number of people to post their opinions which may vary regarding the topic. Furthermore, the wide number of users means anyone is able to edit fake versions of something and post it off which may alter the meaning of the picture or article etc.

6) What example if provided of how national identity is represented in Britain - and how some audiences use social media to challenge this?

National identity is mostly raised during national sports competitions. The Sub sent free newspapers to 22 million households in England during the 2014 world cup to spread its message of 'Englishness'. This may be what lead some people to identify themselves but now that social media has grown, there are many posts online that may change how people see themselves and others. Due to this, it makes it harder for people to truly identify who they are nationally.

Introduction to feminism: blog tasks

1)
She realised that she as a female had started allowing certain sexism actions take place because it has become such an everyday thing. Her first realisation was when she was sexually assaulted on the bus home in which no one around her decided to step out to say it was wrong.

2)
Post-feminism is the waves of feminism which links to the Everyday sexism project. Instead of both genders living in an equal world, people have blindly let 'everyday sexism' occur which is exactly what the project is aiming at.

3)
The Everyday sexism project was promoted on social media which has been growing at an incredible rate. The growth of social media has allowed a global audience to hear of this project.

4)
Even if there is a day where everyday sexism does not exist, I believe it will not be any time soon as it has been such a normality to people that they don't realise it's wrong. I hope that there is some day where everyday sexism acts are no longer needed but chances are slim.


Media Magazine: The fourth wave:

1)
Networked feminism is the believed fourth wave of feminism which targets social equality issues through modern technology. It is a problem because tech has evolved so quickly that feminism has sort of been discarded aside.

2)
Wave 1 - early 20th century where the suffragette movement happened. Women fought for their right to vote.
Wave 2 - 1960s-1990s where women fought for reproductive rights like abortion.
Wave 3 - 1990s to today according to some people. Women empowerment and reclaiming femininity.
Wave 4 - started in 2010 and ongoing. fighting for equality through the growing digital age.

I think that we are still in the fourth wave as social media is still growing with many female opinion leaders fighting for equality between the genders.

3)
Everyday sexism - A project which discusses the problems with the sexist acts that occur without the real realisation of the fact that it is wrong. The aim of this project was to get people to act upon this problem where people aren't standing up against people who think it's okay to harass a woman simply because she is a female.

4)
I think that in todays world, there are more and more female understanding the situation of everyday sexism. While some being scared to speak out about it there is undoubtly a lot more females coming out and standing their ground about this issue. For this reason, I believe that we are in a new 'wave' of feminism due to the increasing attention this issue is getting and is rightfully getting. Furthermore, social media has grown so much that it's more effective to promote your point of view on Instagram or snapchat as there are so many people old and young, male and female who are on social media most of their time.

Feminist Theory - blog tasks

Media Magazine reading:

1)
HBO's Pan Am and Beyoncé's why don't you love me music video.

2)
The first image is of the Pan Am stewardesses which was there to be admired and aspired to by women and to be enjoyed by men.

Beyoncé claims to be an independent woman but acts the complete opposite which relates to the 'male gaze' of Mulvey's' theory.

3)
I think that there is still need for feminism as inequality between the sexes are still existent within todays world. Even though there has been some amounts of progress over the years, females are so used to everyday sexism that that they see it as normality because it occurs so often. Times are moving on and people need to be shown that it isn't normal that women are getting harassed day in day out by men who think that they can do whatever they want.

4)
Patriarchy - The ideology of which men are dominant over women.

Feminism - The action of defining, establishing and defending women's rights and equality to men.

Post-feminism - The ideology within culture and society that society is somehow past needing feminism and that equality between the sexes are already in place.


Music Video analysis:

Beyoncé:

1)
Beyoncé is shown as very sexualised and overexaggerated. In other words, the most stereotypical female in the past.

2)
The music video can lean towards both sides of the argument as Beyoncé is clearly dressed and acting as a stereotypical female from the past times in which they were expected to be quiet housewives yet at the same time she breaks the idea that women should do as their told by doing whatever she wants. Depending on who sees this, it could change the meaning of the music video.

3)
Beyoncé shows her fights for feminism in a different way compared to the past. Her music videos show her self empowerment for being a woman (reclaiming her femininity and sexuality).

4)
To me, the lyrics are the story of music. She talks about how she's doing everything a stereo typical woman would do so why don't you love me. This message is to take note of. I think that the point of the song was to tell women that even if they act like a stereotypical woman who does the cleaning the cooking etc. it doesn't mean the man will love you so just be who you are and do what you want because its your life so you should choose what to do with it. This is her way of empowering women.


Will Jay:

1)
The music video shows that masculinity has changed significantly over the years. Stereo types of men not having emotion have changed and now me are allowed to express their emotions. Stereotypes that men must be strong are also broken within this music video as he pretends to be unable to lift the weight showing that not all men have to be physically strong.

2)
David Gauntlett suggests that masculinity of men have changed over time. Men are now more free to express their feelings and to show their weakness and vulnerabilities. This means that men are breaking certain stereotypes about them and growing into the new times.

3)
Yes the masculinity representation over the years has changed for the good. More men are expressing their feelings and acting more themselves. As a male myself currently in my teens, I feel think there actually quite a lot of pressure on the whole how men should act because there are obviously a huge number of other guys around you in which most are still immature and believe that they should all  have the stereotypical men traits. If you don't follow it, you're pretty much going to be the centre of attention for being called all sorts and stuff, therefore, most boys even if they're not the stereotypical male act as if they are in order to fit in and to escape the consequences after. Now that I'm in sixth form, I see a lot more change and more guys acting themselves than stereotypical. Perhaps it is because everyone is a lot older ad understand that it's okay to be different.