Theorists

Question 1

Steve Neale Genre Theory

Answer 1

• genres are made up of repetition (conventions) and difference
  -audiences enjoy familiarity of repeated conventions
  -audiences enjoy the originality of difference

Question 2

Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze / Feminist theory

Answer 2

-she believes women are often represented to us through a “male gaze”
-this means the media products assume the audience is straight and male, and presents women to them for their pleasure.
-she found that men in film were often at the centre of the action and narrative. Often represented as powerful and dominant, playing an active role in the plot.
-she found that women in film were often passive, playing minor roles in the narrative. They had things done TO them rather than doing anything themselves.
-so in conclusion she believed that narratives are heavily gendered in a binary way, with men being the active heroes, and women being the passive decorations / damsels

Question 3

Claude Levi Strauss’ Binary Opposite Theory

Answer 3

-binary opposites create conflict, drama and are entertaining