MEDIA STUDIES- beyonce

Question 1

THEORIST- PAUL GILROY

Answer 1

the idea that colonial discourses continue to inform contemporary attitudes to race and ethnicity in the post colonial era. media text reinforce colonial power

Question 2

THEORIST - LEVI STRAUSS

Answer 2

binary oppositions

Question 3

THEORIST - BELL HOOKS

Answer 3

feminism is a struggle to end sexist/patriarchal oppression and the ideology of domination. Race and Class as well as sex determine the extent to which individuals are exploited, discriminated against or oppressed. lighter skinned women are considered more desirable and fit better into western ideology of beauty.

Question 4

THEORIST - ROLAND BARTHES

Answer 4

Symbolic code- symbolic ideas/visuals ect
Semantic code- adds additional meaning
Proairetic code- builds tension - action code
Hermeneutic code- something not fully explained- enigma code

Question 5

THEORIST - ALVARADO

Answer 5

Racial Representations- he investigated racially prejudice and stereotyping and categorising the representations of ethnic minorities in four ways: 1. the exotic 2. the dangerous 3. the humorous 4. the pitied

Question 6

GESTURE CODES- LITTLE BOY, GRAFFITI WRITING, POLICE

Answer 6

POLICE- wide shot of Beyonce on top of sinking police car
GRAFFITI- “stop shooting us”- This is a referential code to the Black Lives Matter movement prevalent in the U.S. at the time of production.
POLICE- This movement focuses on the issues of police brutality, whereby in recent years there have been multiple cases of white cops shooting unarmed black men and then not being prosecuted. symbolic gesture code of the political movement and the director included these gesture codes to reinforce the ideology that black people need to challenge post-colonial racial hierarchies that Paul Gilroy argues still exist today.
LITTLE BOY- represents future generations standing up for the cause, as well as the innocence of the victims who are involved in the police brutality

Question 7

GESTURE CODES - EMPOWERMENT, INNOCENCE

Answer 7

♬ I like my baby hair, with baby hair and afros. ♬- Beyonce referencing her culture and embracing it with future generations, accompanied with her daughter blue ivy, standing tall and proud symbolic
Beyonce constructs a more empowered and unified representation of ethnicity, arguably inverting stereotypical power relations between white people and ethnic minorities.
♬ I like my negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils ♬- embracing heritage and other ethnic minorities role models, black empowerment.

Question 8

racial hierarchies institutionalised racism - police brutality

Answer 8

racial hierarchies institutionalised racism - police brutality

Question 9

Raising social issues of persecution / victimisation of African Americans

Answer 9

Raising social issues of persecution/victimisation of African Americans referring to historical contexts such as Hurricane Katrina

Question 10

Reinforcing the ideology of racial justice / equality

Answer 10

Reinforcing the ideology of racial justice / equality

Question 11

Challenging oppression of African Americans and offering hope to future generations (eg. the innocence of children)

Answer 11

Challenging oppression of African Americans and offering hope to future generations (eg. the innocence of children)

Question 12

Self-love or black empowerment (eg. through unity and being proud of one’s own ethnicity - artists are representing themselves)

Answer 12

Self-love or black empowerment (eg. through unity and being proud of one’s own ethnicity - artists are representing themselves)