Thursday, 6 December 2012

Tutorial targets 29/11/12

Media Magazine
Media Edu
Gaye Tuchman- Symbolic Annihilation
Mulvey-Visual pleasure and narrative cinema
More Book quotes

Media Edu-
http://media.edusites.co.uk/article/gender-theory/- Gender theories
Clearly the category of women is internally fragmented by class, colour, age, and ethnic lines, to name but a few, in this sense honouring the diversity of the category and insisting upon its definitional non closure appears to be a necessary safeguard against substituting a reification of women’s experiences for the diversity that exists.’(Butler 1990).-- How in US sitcoms and the use of manic pixie dream girl we see how women have similar images and similar appreances we don't really see diversity within in them as how we don't learn about their families etc. We just have this generalised stereotype about them, which we then apply to women.

Gaye Tuchman-Symbolic annihilation-

http://feminineidentity.blog.com/2011/04/14/symbolic-annihilation-of-women-are-we-witnessing-a-shift/


Mulvey-Visual pleasure and narrative cinema
"in a world ordered by sexual in-balance pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy on to the female figure which is styled accordingly. in their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at the displayed with their appereance coded for strong visual and erotic impact" - relates to the big bang theory as how penny is represented as a sexual object and how is a big example of the male gaze as how there are more male characters and are more "intelligent", whereas we just have penny who has totally different morals compared to the other male characters showing her as dumb and funny, and with her being attractive it brings "scope" to the television show. As male audiences will gain gratifications by gazing at penny. 

Media magazine
http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/downloads/archive_mm/mmagpast/MM38_Politics_Sitcom.html
A Serious Business: the Politics of Two American Sitcoms.
"However 30 Rock is especially notable for being one of the few truly ‘female-led’ American sitcoms of the modern era, in contrast with other so-called ‘women’s’ shows that target a female audience through their female leads, yet have no women in prominent creative or editorial positions."
A preffered view could be how that Tina Fey's character is challenging the stereotype and represents a strong female character. However a oppisitonal view could be that as related to the documentary on BBC 2 it says how real events that are happening in society are portrayed in the showsw for example. Recession, but statistically they are not alot of women in creative or editotal position which shows are the U.S sitcoms just creating this image so female audiences don't revolt. Furthermore we do see Tina fey's character penalised for not following the traditional female norms e.g Dressing or behaviour. 







Wednesday, 28 November 2012

Critical investigation quotes

Female chauvinist pigs: woman and the rise of  raunch culture 
"female chauvinist pigs of today are doing them one better making sex objects of other women and of themselves they think they're brave"- Relating to my critical investigation on how women are being negatively/ sexually represented, it is not just to please the male audiences but also the female audiences as how now in modern society women are sexually objectifiying other women and now see this as normal for example in 30 rock Tina Feys character isn't your normal US sitcom female character which then brings the whole comedy aspect of how they think shes a lesbian and no other male co-worker is attracted to her and also the other female co-workers who also taunt her about her look, which refers back to how women themselves are objecitifying other women and if they don't reach the stereotypical image they will be isolated from audiences. As also in a documentary on BBC two called "Family guy? US sitcoms" where they refer to the idea that US sitcoms always or usually tend to make references to real life situations for example the recession which was reflected in many shows. This refers back to my question as how contemporary stereotypes and views are injected into the story line and show.


Feminist Media Studies by Liesbet Van Zoonen
"Feminist have drawn attention to the under representation of women in higher education and as scientists”
This is a great quote that totally supports my point on that women in US sitcoms are still being underrepresented in education and characters which are scientists. For example Penny in Big bang theory is the best example of how female characters are being shown as these “dumb” characters as we see her character that has dropped out of college and works in the cheese cake factory who dreams big to be in Hollywood, her character really doesn’t aspire to achieve something academically. This really shows how in US contemporary shows have a norm of where the main female character should be just this “attractive idiot”, as if she falls into an opposite characterisation she will be isolated and treated differently from the rest of the characters. For example in 30 rock Tina fey is this confident intelligent woman and that is supposed to be the funny aspect about her, as this doesn’t fit in the norm of “attractive idiot” characterisation.


New York types article
“Well, commercial television -- what did I expect? The surprise is that public television, for all its superior intelligence, charm and commitment to worthy values, short changes preschool girls, too
The article talks about smurfette principal and how in US contemporary TV there are shows where there is a high disproportioned gendered cast. Where the show will have a higher proportion of male characters to female, and the only female character will be highly stereotyped of negatively represented. For example New Girl Zooey Dechanel lives with 3 other guys in the apartment and she is the main protagonist however she is highly stereotyped when it comes to behaviour and her clothing. This fits in with the idea as how females are still be negatively represented. As this also has a effect on female audiences as if they watch this show they feel they want to aspire to be like her hence taking her clothing style and behaviour on board. 
http://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/07/magazine/hers-the-smurfette-principle.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

TV tropes article
“Let's say you're a soulful, brooding male hero, living a sheltered, emotionless existence. If only someone — someone female — could come along and open your heart to the great, wondrous adventure of life...”
It's Manic Pixie Dream Girl to the rescue!”
The manic pixie dream girl is every male characters dream. She’s the funny and pretty character. But this isn’t the best representation of women, as this character is put in the show just for the males satisfaction and doesn’t really have a quality input to the story line, as how the sad, hurt and injured male needs a lovely woman in his life to spark him up so he can go out there and save the world again. For example in big bang theory we have Leonard who is a smart guy but has a low self-esteem, however later enters penny who sparks up Leonards life and then becomes the character that is most wanted by women. Where penny is a perfect representation of a manic pixie dream girl as we never really  have an idea about her family etc., and she only helped change Leonard so he can go back in the “real world” and live up to his “full potential”


Tv Tropes article
“This rather vague phrase leads to tricky interpretation that's sometimes actively milked by the writers usually of romance fiction. Usually the assumption is that the character doesn't like machismo, or she has bad luck with men in her life”
This shows the extreme end of the spectrum of women representation. As if the female character is the perfect attractive woman, she obviously has to be the “man hater” who can’t get the guys because of her dominating behaviour. For example in 30 rock Tina fey the manager who dresses in suites and doesn’t really have a lot of luck with men is perceived to be a lesbian and a man hater. Which shows that how American audiences and audiences in general perceive women as if they are not the typical frilly, pretty and delicate types for example Zooey in New girl then they are definitely the crazy feminists, reflecting the stereotypes that they are of women. 




“In media, male characters are defined more by what they do rather than who they are. Female characters, on the other hand, are defined more by their attributes, the most primary of which is their femininity.
This quote shows women will be negatively represented if they do not fit the agenda of the “perfect” female characters. As how over the years TV Shows have shown this broadcasted this image of the perfect woman who is highly feminine and follows the man rules. And if the TV show shows the opposite of these characteristics the audience would consider that weird and sometimes even see them as the villain.




Thursday, 15 November 2012

Critical investigation changes

Questions- Despite the fact that we're supposedly living in a pose feminist society, why are female characters in contemporary US shows such as "The Big Bang Theory" still being negatively represented?

Books-
Feminist Media Studies by Liesbet Van Zoonen
"Feminist have drawn attention to the under representation of women in higher education and as scientists"- Relates to Pennys role in the Big Bang Theory

Feminism, Media and The law by By Martha A. Fineman, Martha T. McCluskey
" for those committed to feminist research media studies offer a particularly useful perspective on the social construction of political movement"  

Women and the media: Diverse perspectives  By Theresa Carilli, Ph.D., Jane Campbell, Theresa Carill
"Men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at. This determines not only most relations between men and women but also the relation of women to themselves"


Sexual Teens, Sexual Media: Investigating Media's Influence by By Jane D. (Jane Delano) Brown, Jeanne R. Steele, Jane Delano Brown Jeanne R. Steele Kim Walsh-Childers

"seventeen and teen vogue reveal that they are designed primarily to tell girls that their most important function in life is to get sexually attractive"

Postfeminist News: Political Women in Media Culture By Mary Douglas Vavrus 

"in a media saturated decade of the 1990's news reports shaped public sentiment and women in electoral politics and beyond"

Linked Piece production
Perfume advert- however going against the stereotypes of females 

Thursday, 8 November 2012

colonialism and post colonialism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postcolonialism
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3686063/A2%20Revision%20Media/Media%20A-Z%20Keywords.pdf
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09528829908576791
http://shura.shu.ac.uk/3538/1/Chapter_1.pdf

Summary 
colonialism refers to a period of history during the 15th-20th century, when they built colonies on other countries. - for profits, to expand power or convert religion. For example British empire
Post colonialism is a period after colonialism. Undermines western thinking. its which former colonies find themselves as they struggle toward a national and ethnic identity in the face of their colonial cultural legacy and the continuing dominance of western media cultural imperialism.Post colonial experience involves the challenged the language, identities etc. constructed during the colonial period and hence creating a own independent voice. Alvardo who talks about Racial representation. Frantz fanon who talks about wearing the white mask. or Said.




Year 13 Critical Investigation Proposal

Considered to be in a "post-feminist" society, why are female characters in contemporary US sitcoms still being negatively/sexually represented? 

Angle
what impact does the female characters representation have on female audiences?  does it really affect on how women behave and have thoughts towards their appearance?

Hypothesis
The female characters in the sitcoms do have a big effect on women. as it sets a standard they have to meet with looks and behaviour and if they don't they wont receive the male attention they want. And if they don't reach that standard society will isolate you.

Linked Production piece
...

MIGRAIN

Media language-
hot dumb blondes- characters are only there for visual pleasure, and dont contribute a mass amount
clothing according to character and personality- geeks- sweater vests.
non-diegetic music- laughs only- hypodermic needle injects the idea of laughing on that scene
accents/beliefs- stereotypical- for example Raj's accent and sheldons mum view on gay's/
 high key lighting- connotes happiness and joy- relates to comedy
transitions- atoms- to show the sense of the physics on the show

institution
media conglomerates- Warner bros- who also produce two and half men
Americanisation- american views- penny's Hollywood dream or 30 rock based on a american channel
commercial- very mainstream
Warner bros
conservative views?-traditional roles- the man the breadwinner and also women behaving in a certain way such as how in 30 rock Tina Fey is thought to be a lesbian by her co-workers as she doesn't behave in the traditional way.
E4

genre
comedy
romance- side track throught out the whole show- which relates to ideologies of heterosexuality
sitcom

representation
stereotypical- male gaze- on penny as she is seen as trophy between the guys in the first season
women smurfette principal- how penny is was the only female cast member from season 1 to 3 and wasn't the best representation of women, hence female audiences don't see a good image of themselves to looks up to.
women the trophy- sexual prize
dominant male- how penny needs money and goes to Leonard and sheldon, as they can "provide" for her.
conservative values- Heterosexuality, marriage, views on gay relationship

audience
B/C1- California lifestyle, the "american dream"- middle class lifestyle- as also Leonard and sheldon are lecturers in a university hence reflecting highly educated individuals.
innovators/mainstreamer/aspirer- main-streamers as the insitiution as very commerical and the topics and lifestyle is very current. Aspirers as how penny wants to be a hollywood star people who have similar dreams might relate to her. And also Leonard and Sheldon being astro physicists who come up with different theoires people who are innovaters can relate.
escapism/personal integrative- People can gain escapism as the jokes and also learn things from that.
-guest stars as well- steven hawking and stan lee.

narrative
sitcom each episode has one story- Todroff narrative theory
sidetrack through out the series- couple or event

Social
Sexualisation of women
stereotypes still reinforced- traditional gender roles- certain ethnicities and their labels
Retro sexism- new way of showing sexism- e.g women and sciences
women's wants and desires

Historic
Third wave feminism- how preffered view could be how women are independent and decide to make themselves sexually appealing.
gender roles- the traditional gender roles
more open about sex- How people are more open about sexual relationships.

Economic
sexual happiness- as how during recession people turn to the media to gain that sense of "sexual" happiness to gain escapism from their day to day problems.

Political
Feminism-
patriarchy- within the industry as how the major directors and writers are main hence their views on women will come across in their work.

Issues/Debates 
-Representation and stereotyping- male gaze- stereotype of women
-Media effects- hypodermic needle - acceptance of the values/roles about/of women
-Reality TV- representation of women in top reality shows e.g Geordie shore
-ownership and control- patriarchal industry?- sex sells?

Theories
-audience theories- Uses and gratifications- escapism from the text or females identify with the characters hence then behaving like that or rejecting the idea
-Gender and ethnicity- stereotypical- big bang theory- penny and Raj. the audience like stereotypes as they see them as normal.
-Genre- Sitcoms- has that sense of heterosexual ideologies- Comedy- character out of the stereotype makes it more funny

Contemporary media landscape
the idea of female representation in television has been a topic that has been debated about over so many years. The reason is fits into the contemporary media landscape is how on television over the years female representation has changed. With women being still sexually represented we can still agree the position of women has improved. Furthermore also being said to be in a post feminist era, can we agree with that looking at the media texts that have been out there in society for about 5 years now..?

Media texts
Big bang theory

Other 
30 rock
new girl
the community
modern family

Tv documentaries
Family guys? What sitcoms say about america Now- BBC TWO- How the the situations in society is reflected within tv shows
The F-word- who wants to be a feminist- "Demonising" the idea of feminism
Sex story: fifty shades of grey-Channel 4- how people are more open about sex and sexual relationships

Academic Texts/books 
female chauvinist pigs-Ariel levy- ( How women are being trained into being labelling their own gender)
Gender and the media -Rosalind Gill
Doing gender in media , art and culture-Routledge 

Article 
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/slut-dropping-and-pimps-and-hoes--the-sexual-politics-of-freshers-week-8203400.html

http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/548/women-in-american-media-a-culture-of-misperception
America being media obsessed

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2012/oct/23/women-media-representation-online-news
Womens role within the print media

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/w/women/index.html
Variety of articles on women within the media

http://www.motherjones.com/media/2011/10/miss-representation-doc-shows-ugly-side-women-media
about a movie on the mis-representation of women







Wednesday, 24 October 2012

Censorship and regulation

PCC- press complaint commission - Printed newspapers/magazines
self-regulation for the press. dealing with complaints within the term of the editors code of practice about the editorial content of newspapers and magazines. holding editors to account. seventeen members who have no connection with the newspaper. -preventing harassment


ASA- Advertising standard authority 
- across all media- all platforms 
-includes acting on complaints and pro-actively checking the media isn't misleading 

OFCOM- 
We regulate the TV and radio sectors, fixed line telecoms, mobiles, postal services, plus the airwaves over which wireless devices operate.
We make sure that people in the UK get the best from their communications services and are protected from scams and sharp practices, while ensuring that competition can thrive.


Thursday, 18 October 2012

Critical investigation/production ideas

Critical investigation- representation of women
production-Perfume moving image trailers

Critical investigation- representation of women in porn
production idea- documentary of females agree to participate in videos

Critical investigation-investigation on black youth+crime
Production idea-viral video on new gritty black youth drama

1)Critical investigation- how has societies/media view on porn changed over the past 5 years?
production idea- documentary following porn stars and their life within the industry


2)Critical investigation- to what extent are women represented in a sexualised way within perfume advertisements?
Production- perfume advert sexualising women - reinforcing the ideologies


3)Critical investigation  how have moral panics within the media and news industries changed the view on black/youths
Production idea-soap opera rejecting traditional roles- for example working class black male as protagonist with a positive representation





Thursday, 27 September 2012

Learners Response

Two Researched Quotes


"There are always moments in every script where we write in parenthesis; in the dialogue it says: "SCIENCE TO COME."-  quote from Chuck Lorre (executive producer) who says how they actually get science experts to come up with science jokes or facts as they want the script to be as real to science as possible, as many science knowledged audiences might be able to pick flaws in the science jokes which he doesn't want. 

-http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/big_bang_theory/the_chuck_lorre_interview.php

"The only main female character in the first three seasons is Penny, the woman who lives across the hall from Leonard and Sheldon and whom Leonard has a huge crush on. Penny’s a classic example of the stereotype that pretty women don’t usually have intelligence to match their looks."  - quote from the bitch magazine( feminist magazine) where in the article she speaks how Big Bang Theory is enjoyable however its so stereotypical on women such as if the women is intelligent she doesn't have looks ( Amy) and if they are pretty they don't have intelligence (penny). So basically all women are either incomplete or un perfect. 

http://bitchmagazine.org/post/revenge-of-the-feminerd-big-bang-theory-theories


Conventions of Sitcoms
Narrative theory- Todrov
such as each episode starts like a normal day in the characters life however later in the episode we see a disruption and at the end the problem is relieved. For example (equilibrium) Typical night in the apartment  (disruption) there's a bird on near their window and Sheldon has a fear of birds and on the other hand Leonard goes on a date with penny to try and restart their relationship (Equilibrium) Sheldon overcomes fear of birds and Penny gives their relationship a second chance.

However in a general sitcom we also have each episode with a different story but we have a general narrative side track during a season E.g a relationship, situation or recurring character.

Also sitcoms have cyclical narration such as they tend to revolve around certain settings E.g university, car and home

lastly guest stars sitcoms tend to have guest starts and these guest stars tend to be related to the genre e.g Stan lee comic book writer. and geeks is a big stereotype in the show. As sitcoms also tend to have loads of stereotypes, as "stereotypes" are known to create comedy.


my opinion/ evaluation of the show
is that the show is really good and amazing it not only entertains you but also teaches you some interesting facts. However i do believe the show is heavily patriarchal and even though they have introduced 2 new female characters i still feel it was done because they had to carry on with their heterosexual ideologies idea and also relating to "SHEP".  As the first season came in 2007, over the years feminism has become more mainstream and women have been discussing the image with in the media (social). Also another good point is that the show tries and relates itself to lower class as well as we are in a recession people are less on money and might have problems paying their bills, as we see penny having a problem doing that (Economic) helping people identify and also the comedy helps the audience escape their problems which during the recession a lot of audiences want to do. But overall its a good and entertaining show.


Self- Evaluation

WWW. in my opinion the positive points of my presentation was the way I presented it for example I was quite confident and spoke fluently. Also I did my in depth research which made it easier for the class to understand the show better if they hadn't watched it, and if they had it they had a better insight of the show E.g on the crew and characters.

EBI.  However there were down falls for example i had to much text on one slide making it look like to much information and less simple. in addition not having a memorable ending made the presentation abrupt. Also i did  not relate it to more theories e.g narrative theories.

Feedback Presentation

Big Bang Theory

Significance- 2
Structure-2
Simplicity-2
Rehearsal- 1

1) Smurfette Principal- Single female in a male dominated en-sable cast
2)First aired in 2007
3)Produced by warner bros

WWW:
Interaction
fluent, good pace
good eye contact, gestures
good institutional  info
very good use of media language
strong vocal
wide range of research

Ebi:
stick to time limit
more memorable ending
include personal response/evaluation
consider genre conventions of sitcom in detail
include one or two researched quotes

Keywords:
Narrative
Stereotype
Male Gaze
Dumb Blonde
oppositional/preferred
feminism 
objectification
non-diegetic 
Americanisation
escapsim
mainstream
aspirers 
heterosexual ideologies 

Wednesday, 5 September 2012

Summer research Project

Big Bang Theory - E4

Clips..




Media Representation-
5 main characters -
Raj,Leonard,Sheldon,Penny, Howard
Penny- Sexual objectified female (Male Gaze),  Typical Blonde characteristics - E.g Dumb, Dopey
Raj- Typical Indian character (accent, behaviour, beliefs)
Sheldon,Howard,Leonard- Typical Geeks, (socially awkward)
Stereotypical representation, To some extent the representation is accurate- However the female representation is negative and not accurate. As not all Blondes are dumb, And not all geeks are socially awkward and isolated from mainstream society.

Media Languages and Forms

- connotations of the characters and their behaviours such as penny's behaviour - the way she dresses the way she behaves- for example after a break up how vulnerable and weak she becomes, meaning how dependent women are on men. or the fact of a lower knowledge meaning all blondes are dumb. Or the way how Leonard has low understanding of mainstream society for example not knowing the black eyed peas. or the way how all the gang (geeks) meet up in the apartment and do unsocial things such as video game night etc.. again giving the subliminal message of how all geeks are this way.

In Clamps the way the characters are dressed really represent their characters and behaviours. for example penny the way she is dressed it quite revealing and sexual representing her in the male gaze and also how her personality is also very open. Furthermore the geeks are dressed in a very covert way  e.g sweater vests etc.. To show them as introverts and sort of different from society.
Also the setting in flats as we see how the geeks flats are all organised and clean where as penny's is more messy which really talks about how messy and confused she is as person.
The non-digetic music of laughter is placed in the scene is to give the hypodermic needle as to make the audience this part of the scene is funny. and really convey meaning as they don't really use background music. However when it comes to ideologies Big Bang presents a highly heterosexual ideology as to Leanord and penny's relationships or all the males looking for female partners in general.

Narrative

- they have a side story line through out each season e.g relationships but each episode there is a new story.
the audience is just the consumer there is no intake of audience however there is a live audience which shows that sense of feedback as the director says.
- through out the episode we have the main cast then, reucurring casts which then later emerge has a problem or later a benefit to the story line of the episode
-identification as to again heterosexual relationships or also the normal life style they have for example a normal day at work etc.. But again they also add other aspects of escapism such as when Howard goes into space. Which these things help appeal to a mass audience.
-with each transition they show a atom to reflect the theme also the genre is comedy so to add that sense in, in the background they had laughing noises.

Genre
- comedy
-the dialogues and the way the characters are stereotypically presented.
-their clothes and actions to certain events brings that sense of comedy.
-Mark Cendrowski- done episodes for teen shows such as wizards of waverly place and sabrina the teenage witch
Producer-Chuck lorre- Two and half men

Media institutions
-warner bros
-Americanisation, Hollywood, Biased, stereotypes
-e4,CBS

Media values and ideology
- patriarchy, conservative views, stereotypes

Media audiences
- demographics B/C1 - the lifestyle etc
-innovators, disconnected, mainstreamer(maybe)
-audience- tend to be intelligent, covert people
-however then again mainstreamer who enjoy Hollywood
-escapism, personal integrative needs, identify

http://feminismitmakessense.tumblr.com/post/16571407447/ive-been-watching-a-lot-of-big-bang-theory
http://www.termpaperwarehouse.com/essay-on/Feminist-Critique-Of-The-Big-Bang/50000