THEORIES

Question 1

Stuart hall theory of representation

Answer 1

representation is the process of creating meaning: whilst producers may try to fix meanings, audiences can resist it

Question 2

hall representation theory usefulness point

Answer 2

Can be applied to any media product,
including LFTVDs
• Draws attention to the role of power
in representations – both the general
distribution of power in society and
the power of the television industry
– but also the power of the audience
to decode representations in different
ways.

Question 3

hall representation theory Limitations point

Answer 3

• Does not explain anything specific
to LFTVDs as it is a general theory of
representation.

Question 4

Gauntlet - identity

Answer 4

media representations offer us a range of diverse and contradictory messages about identity, with the media being used by audiences to explore and express their identities

Question 5

Gauntlet usefullness point

Answer 5

Can be applied to any media product,
including LFTVDs
• LFTVDs may tend to offer diverse and
contradictory representations that
audiences can use to think through
their identity as they have the time
and resources to develop complex
representations.
• LFTVDs often attempt to reach and
engage an international audience by
offering a local representation with
international resonance, thus increasing
the diversity of representations of place
and cultures, especially the successful
non-English language LFTVDs.
• LFTVDs may achieve cult status, adding
to their value in helping create identities.

Question 6

Gauntlet limitations point

Answer 6

Assumes that audiences are powerful, active agents, and so may underestimate the power of media conglomerates
to shape popular culture, tastes, and identities.

Question 7

Van zoonen - femanist theory

Answer 7

women are objectified in media representations in patriarchal culture

Question 8

Zoonen usefullness point

Answer 8

Can be applied to any media
product, including LFTVDs, especially
representations of gender.
• The concept of patriarchy may be
applied to the ownership and control
of television, the recruitment and ethos
of television professionals, and the
representation of gender in LFTVDs,
especially the representation of women’s
bodies.

Question 9

Zoonen limitations point

Answer 9

Does not explain anything specific
to LFTVDs as it is a general theory of
patriarchy.
• In prioritising gender inequalities, the
theory may not aid analysis of other
forms of inequality in representation in
LFTVDs.
• In stressing the influence of social
conflict on representations the theory
may underestimate the influence of
social consensus on representations.

Question 10

hooks feminist theory

Answer 10

feminism challenged patriarchy, with hooks arguing for an intersectional approach considering how identities such as race class and sexuality contribute to oppression alongside gender

Question 11

hooks usefullness point

Answer 11

Can be applied to any media
product, including LFTVDs, especially
representations of gender.
• The concept of ‘intersectionality’ draws
attention to misrepresentations and
stereotypes based on one or more of
gender, race, class and sexuality, and
their inter-relationship in any LFTVD
representations.

Question 12

hooks limitations point

Answer 12

Does not explain anything specific
to LFTVDs as it is a general theory of
patriarchy.
• In prioritising gender linked to other
inequalities, the theory may overlook
similarities or equalities in representation
in LFTVDs.
• In stressing the influence of social
conflict on representations the theory
may underestimate the influence of
social consensus on representations.

Question 13

Butler - gender performativity

Answer 13

gender identity is not something that we are born with but something we express through the performance of it, butler challengers the notion of fixed binary identities of sexuality and gender

Question 14

Butler usefullness point

Answer 14

Can be applied to any media
product, including LFTVDs, especially
representations of gender.
• Can be applied particularly to
LFTVDs where the performance of
gender is foregrounded, e.g. through
representations of women preparing
to present their bodies for display,
representations of people training or
reinforcing characters in masculinity, or
representations that expose or disrupt
heteronormativity.

Question 15

butler limitations point

Answer 15

Does not explain anything specific to
LFTVDs as it is a very high level theory of
gender.

Question 16

Gilroy - post-colonialism

Answer 16

the history of colonialism continues to influence attitudes on ethnicity in western societies

Question 17

Gilroy usefullness point

Answer 17

Can be applied to any media
product, including LFTVDs, especially
representations of race, ethnicity and the
post-colonial world.
• Gilroy draws attention to the continuing
role of colonial ideology – of the
superiority of white western culture
– across a range of representations in
LFTVDs.

Question 18

Gilroy limitations point

Answer 18

Does not explain anything specific to
LFTVDs as it is a general theory.
• In prioritising race and the post-colonial
experience the theory may not aid
analysis of other forms of inequality in
representation in LFTVDs.
• In stressing the influence of social
conflict on representations the theory
may underestimate the influence of
social consensus on representations.