Representation - Super. Human. Media Theory Flashcards
What theories can be applied to the Super. Human. music video?
- Theory of Representation by Stuart Hall
- Theory of Identity by David Gauntlett
Who made the Theory of Representation?
Stuart Hall
Who made the Theory of Identity?
David Gauntlett
Explain Stuart Hall’s Theory of Representation
The process by which meaning is produced and exchanged between members of a culture through the use of language, signs and images which stand for or represent things.
How does the advert avoid simplifying the representation of marginalised groups?
The advertising form allows the audience to easily recognise signs that rapidly communicate meaning to an audience in a short space of time.
For example, expressions of endurance and struggle are easily recognisable and understood. This advertisement goes some way to address Hall’s assertions that stereotyping occurs when there are inequalities of power, and that excluded groups, such as the disabled, are constructed as different.
In this advertisement, the focus is on the athletes as ordinary sports men and women striving to achieve a goal. The athletes are three dimensional and distinct from each other; therefore, the advertisement avoids simplifying their representations.
Explain David Gauntlett’s Theory of Identity
The exploration of how audiences can identify with themselves and establish their role in society all through the power of media.
How are specific groups able to achieve a ‘sense of identity’ from the text?
Allows disabled people to see themselves positively represented in the media in a humanising and diverse way.
Super. Human. offers audiences a more diverse and inclusive range of identities and broadens general understanding of what it means to be disabled as an athlete in everyday life.
However many would argue that the Paralympics is not as diverse and realistic as it could be, since many disabilities are not represented.
