Super Human Flashcards
What is the name if the power lifter?
Ali Jawad, an amputee
How are advertisements post modern?
- Many adverts focus on constructing visual experiences for audiences to sell a product
- often use ref to popular culture
What are 3 post-modern ideas?
- Self Reflexivity- products draw attention to the fact they are post modern, blurring the line between reality and representation
- Challenge grand narratives - questions traditional stories about history, progress and human nature
- Fragmentation - focuses on multiple fragmented perspectives, no single truth
How are grand narratives challenged in Super Human?
The traditional ideas and stories surrounding life as a disabled person are challenged, explores the empowerment and powerful representation of disabled people, their more relatable aspects
How’s Super Human self reflective?
It is evident that SH addresses itself as post modern, through the use of its dream sequences, which show a surreal representation of reality
How does Super Human show fragmentation?
Fragmentation is evident within Super Human with the diverse amount of experiences within the advert, not one singular truth about the way disabled people live and experience their lives
How does the representation of disability link to Channel 4’s brand?
- The idea that Channel 4s ideologies are based around being counter-cultural, often appealing and targeting more niche audiences, it’s tagline is “born risky” which links to Channel 4 being a suitable producer for a product that constructs counter types about traditionally neg represented groups
What are the stereotypes of people with disabilities?
- being innocent/niave
- super-heroic or super villian
pathetic
What are the counter types of people with disabilities?
- controversial
- flawed and complex
- celebrated alongside able bodied people
How did previous Meet the superhuman adverts conform to some stereotypes of disabilities?
Meet The Superhumans focused on representing disabled people as super human, conforming to stereotypes of diabled people as superhuman, not showing the diverse complex aspects of disabled people and their lives
How does the advert actively avoid negative stereotypical rep of disability?
The representation of disabled people is complex, although there are representations of disabled people as superhuman and powerful, they are counteracted by imagery of the more human aspects or their lives and their mishaps and struggles
How does the rep of reality create pos/complex representation of disability? (narrative)
- The interweaved narratives of the different narratives for each athlete is valuable to constructing a complex representation as if explores each athletes struggles and successes
- The ending equilibrium is valuable to showing a positive representation of disabled people as it explores the idea of eventual triumph after their struggles
What is compassion fatigue?
The idea that due to being over-saturated by negative imagery, statistics etc audiences become hopeless and feel as if there’s nothing they can do
How do producers of Super Human avoid compassion fatigue?
There is a light-hearted, comedic approach to the negative aspects of the lives of disabled people, drawing attention to the idea of how disabled people lives are difficult but without making audiences feel hopeless as it doesn’t conform to traditional charity advertising techniques
How may audiences interpretation be challenged?
- audiences who don’t know about paralympians lives, challenged as they are shown about struggles, difficulty of becoming a paralympian
- audiences who may have preconceptions based on their portrayal of disabled people in Meet The Superhuman is challenged with the representations of the struggles of disabled people, showing a humanised representation as equal to able bodied people
- audiences who have experienced compassion fatigue and feel hopeless are challenged as Super Human has a comedic and ironic approach within the advert, instead of hard selling audiences it positions them to want to donate rather than feeling as if they have to
How does cultivation theory apply to Super Human?
The idea that through repeated representation of disabled people as pathetic or stereotypical, leads to people having ideas around specific groups, often reinforcing mainstream ideologies
What is are two examples of disabled people being represented as complex?
- the use of sequence in which Ali Jawad is powerlifting, lifting weights, cuts in between changing costume, amplified grunts
- the use of sequence of Ali Jawad in doctors office, use of wide shot of Ali on doctors table, while doctors opens cabinet saying “you might as well quit”
What are two examples of disabled people as powerful?
- the use of sequence in which Ali Jawad is powerlifting, lifting weights, cuts in between changing costume, amplified grunts
- the use of wide shot of Ellie Simmonds swimming struggling underwater dragging a massive medal weighing her down
