MEDIA THEORIES Flashcards
FANDOM THEORY
new fans spread information about the product on social media
fans create art, memes, based on information
the idea that fans construct their social and cultural identities through borrowing images
identities relationship between the product and the audience
STEVE NEALE-GENRE THEORY
genre is built on 2 fundamental ideas:
1. genre is an industrial process
2. audience demand instances of repetition and difference .
media producers need the template of genre so they can have equal balance
confirmation bias= we prefer ideas that already match our ideas and preferences
cognitive dissonance= we are more likely to avoid ideas that conflict with what we already understand
TODOROV’S EQUALBRIUM
simple 5 step narrative:
1. a state of equilibrium
2. a disruption of order by event
2. a recognition that disorder has occurred
4. an attempt to repair the damage of disorder
5.a return of restoration of a new equilibrium
THE BECHDAL TEST
women are sexualised while men are presented as active or independent:
1)Does it feature 2 or more named female characters?
2) do these named character have a conversation?
3) do they talk about something other than a man?
critics of the Bechdel test: products that pass don’t necessarily show positive representations
THEORIES OF IDENTITY- DAVID GAUNTLET
the idea that the media provides us with “tools” or recourses that we use to construct our identities
in the past, media tended to convey singular, straight foreword messages about ideal types of male and female identities
the media today offers us a more diverse range of stars, icons and characters from whom we may pick and mix different ideas.
DAVID HESMONDHALGH- CULTURAL INDUSTIRES
the media industry is a high risk business. media products are produced to create profit.
industries are interested in maximizing profits and minimizing risks. creativity plays a secondary role to marketing needs and brand development.
cultural industry companies try to minimize risks and maximize products through vertical and horizontal interrogation.
the largest companies or conglomerates now operate across a number of different cultural industries
LAURA MULVAY’S MALE GAZE
women are views in the media through the eyes of a heterosexual man. this is not necessarily intentional or deliberate, it is a symptom of a male dominates industry.
women take 1 of 2 roles in a narrative: sexually active or helpless victim
PROPPS CHARACTER ROLES
props was a Russian theorist who identified plot elements and developed into 8 spheres of action narrative theory:
1. the valiant
2. the hero (seeking something)
3. the donor (provides object with magic property)
4. the helper (aids hero)
5. The princess (reward for hero and object of villains scheme)
6.princesses farther (who sends the reward)
7. the dispatcher (who sends the hero on his way)
8. the false hero
CURRAN AND SEATON
media is controlled by a small number of companies primarily driven by the logic of profit and power.
media concentration generally limits or inhibits variety, creativity and quality
more diverse patterns of ownership to create variety
LIVINGSTONE AND LUNG REGULATION
the idea that there is a under lying struggle in recent UK regulation policy between the need to further interest of citizens by altering protection from harmful of offensive material, and the need to further the interest of consumers by ensuring choice, value of money and markets
the idea that the increasing power of globalization media corporations, together with the rise of convergent media technologies and transformations in the production, distribution and marketing of digital media have played a traditional approach to media regulation at risk.
CLAUDE LEVI STRAUSS-BINAIRY OPPOSITION
Strauss sates that narratives are built around conflict and so there must always be A VS B
END OF AUDIENCES THEORY- CLAY SHRINKY
the idea that the internet and digital technologies have had a profound effect on the relations between media and individuals
the idea that the conceptualization of audience members as passive consumers of mass media content is no longer tenable in the age of internet, as media consumers have new become producers who “speak back” to the media in various ways- as well as creating and sharing content.
ROLAND BARTHES SEMIOTICS
media products are embedded with codes:
semantic codes: something that connotes meaning e.g. red means anger
symbolic codes: signs that create meaning e.g. cross has religious
meaning
enigma codes: makes us question product. mysterious element.
action code: something is going to happen, dramatic
STUART HALL RECEPTION THEORY
products communicate meaning through readings, we as audience can have 3 types of reading.
1. Preferred reading- we accept the messages in the product
2. negotiated reading- we accept the message but also have our own message
3. oppositional reading- we reject the message in the product.
BLUMER AND KATSZ- GRATIFICATION THEORY
audiences watch/enjoy products for these reasons:
escapism
education and information
personal identity
social interaction
