theorys of representation Flashcards
re-presenting hall
within a media text, there will oftentimes not be a true representation of events, people, places, or history. people with social power and privilege may attempt to spread an ideology within a media text, pushing their preferred messaging or interpretation.
richard dyer-stereotypes
the theory suggests that the complexity and variety if a group is reduced to a few key characteristics. an exaggerated version of these characteristics is then applied to everyone in the group. he states that those with power stereotype those with less power. therefore, we have stereotypes of non white people, poor people and women however not so many of white-middle class men.
oversimplification (homogeny)
oversimplification in turn leads to stereotyping. critics have targeted prime-time entertainment in particular for portraying distorted images of minorities and women. although prime-time programming has increased the numbers and types of roles for minorities and women, programming as a whole still does not reflect the demographics of the general population. homogeny is the quality of being similar.
challenging and evolving stereotypes
for example, my dads favourite colour is pink and he does all the cooking and cleaning. because these traits are associated with women.
laura mulvey-male gaze
describes how women are reduced to objects for the gaze of the protagonist male audience. the male gaze refers to the way women are objectified by the camera lens in hollywood movies because men are in control of the production process and make decisions that appeal to their own values and interests. the audience, including women, are then positioned to accept this narrow representation. a criticism of the male gaze is that some women like the male gaze, ie beauty pageants.
katz and Bulmer-uses and gratifications
states that audiences are active in their media consumption and we chose media to fulfil one or more of the following; personal identity, information/education, entertainment and or social interaction. the uses and gratifications theory assumes the audience choses what it wants to watch for five different reasons.
information and education-the viewer wants to acquire information, knowledge and understanding by watching programmes like the news or documentaries
entertainment-viewers watch programmes for enjoyment
personal identity-viewers can recognise a person or product, role models that reflect similar values to themselves and mimic or copy some of their characteristics.
escapism- computer games and action films let viewers escape their real lives and imagine themselves in those situations.
how identities are constructed are constructed, communicated, and negotiated
identities’ are constructed in the adolescent years through the influence of the media to feel a certain way about their bodys based on the ideal body types expressed and perpetuated in the media, increasing surveillance body behaviours. identity’s are communicated through things like choice of language, nonverbals such as clothing and body language, or the degree to which we emphasize out group membership. identity is negotiated through initiating relationships and respective identities. once established, people’s identity’s define their expectations, obligations and nature of their relationships.
stuart hall-encoding and decoding
is a way to understand how messages are created and interpreted in communication. encoding is the process of creating a message involving producers-shows, ads and movies and putting ideas together in a format that can be shared, through images, words, or sounds.
decoding is how the audience interprets or understands the message. people may decode the message differently based on experiences, beliefs and social contexts.
stuart hall- 3 ways of decoding
dominant or preferred reading which is where the audience understands the message as the producers intended. they agreed with the message and accept it without questioning.
negotiated reading is the way the audience understands the message but may accept some parts while rejecting others. may have their own interpretation based on their own experiences.
oppositional reading is the way the audience completely disagrees with the intended message and interprets it in a way that opposes what the producers meant.
voyeurism
the term is applied to a male who observes somebody secretly and, generally not in a public space. the sexual interest in a practice of watching people engaged in intimate behaviours such as undressing.
scopophilia
coined by sigmund freud used scopophilia to describe the concept of schaulust which is the pleasure in looking at other peoples bodies as objects particularly as erotic objects
exhibitionism
involves the exposing of the genitals to become sexually excited or having a strong desire to be observed by other people during sexual activity. this does not include sending nude pictures to a consenting partner.
