MIGRAIN: Introduction to Representation

 Representation: blog tasks

Read the Media Magazine feature 'Representation old and new'. This is in MM51 on page 6 - go to our Media Magazine archive to find the article. Complete the following tasks:

1) Why is representation an important concept in Media Studies?

Because it's important for people to see themselves in the media, it's almost as if the media is showing them that it doesn't care about them. The media ought to reflect the society that it serves. People won't relate with the actors if there isn't enough representation, and the movie or television programme won't receive enough acclaim as a result.

2) How does the example of Kate Middleton show the way different meanings can be created in the media?

This shows how two different images can be used by the media to communicate  This may be one way in which persons with unfavourable views of the person can affect how people are portrayed in the media.

3) Summarise the section 'The how, who and why of media representation' in 50 words.

4) How does Stuart Hall's theory of preferred and oppositional readings fit with representation?

Hall argued that audiences do not necessarily accept the ideology of texts passively, but instead draw on their own cultural and social experiences to create their own interpretations. In his view ‘meanings’ and messages are not fixed by the creator of the text, but depend on the relationship between the reader/

viewer, and the text.The preferred meaning allows the audience to view the intended meaning through the representation they agree with within the media. However, oppositional readings allow the audience to go against what kind of representation is used against a person or people. This allows the representation to reject them or only partially accept the meaning of the media product. 

5) How has new technology changed the way representations are created in the media?

With the rise of new media, audience members can now construct and share their own media products,With the rise of new media, audience members can now construct and share their own media products,

6) What example is provided of how national identity is represented in Britain - and how some audiences use social media to challenge this?

In the past, national identity was created for its audience through the use of specific sorts of representation to dictate how people thought about themselves and others. E.g. During the 2014 World Cup, The Sun distributed a free newspaper to 22 million English households, depicting its own ideas of 'Englishness' through symbolic references to a Sunday roast, Queen Elizabeth, Churchill, and other values and behaviours that the paper (and its owners, Rupert Murdoch's News Corps) defined as appropriate expressions of 'English identity.' With the help of digitalization, which has dramatically expanded our chances for self-representation, viewers in new media have challenged this paradigm, and current media formats and platforms give more voices and opinions than ever before through the range of representations they offer.

Watch the clip from Luther that we studied in class (Season 1, Episode 1 - minute 7.40-10.00 - you'll need your Greenford Google login to access the clip). Now answer these final two questions:

7) Write a paragraph analysing the dominant and alternative representations you can find in the clip from Luther.

We may see both dominant and alternative images in this Luther clip. Luther, a white man, is seen as being in charge and acting as the boss in the dominant image. This is similar to how we typically observe white people exercising greater authority over persons of colour. The fact that Luther's supervisor is a woman provides an alternative portrayal in this scene and may demonstrate how this series challenges gender stereotypes.

8) Write a paragraph applying a selection of our representation theories to the clip from Luther. Our summary of each theory may help you here:

Levi-Strauss: representation and ideology

Mulvey: the male gaze

Dyer: stereotyping and power
Medhurst: value judgements

Perkins: some stereotypes can be positive or true

Luther Mulvey's theory is presented in this video as the women is seen equally to her male coworkers which is contradicting Luther Mulvey's theory of the male gaze. According to Dyer's theory of stereotyping, men are supposed to be in power however we see the opposite which we might more stereo-typically identify with women than men. The women has more authority over the men which contradicts Perkins theory.