G325 Critical Perspectives in Media

Question 1bKey Media Concepts

REPRESENTATION

Representation – How groups, individuals, institutions or social changes are portrayed through the media; how they are re - presented.

By definition, all media texts are re-presentations of reality. This means that they are intentionally composed, lit, written, framed, cropped, captioned, branded, targeted and censored by their producers, and that they are entirely artificial versions of the reality we perceive around us.

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We need the media to make sense of reality. Therefore representation is a fluid, two-way process: producers position a text somewhere in relation to reality and audiences assess a text on its relationship to reality.

Extension/Restriction of Experience of Reality

By giving audiences information, media texts extend experience of reality. However, because the producers of the media text have selected the information we receive, then our experience is restricted. The movie producers telescope events and personalities to fit into their parameters. i.e. Teaser trailers

Media representations - and the extent to which we accept them - are a very political issue, as the influence the media exerts has a major impact on the way we view the world. By viewing media representations our prejudices can be reinforced or shattered.

The study of representation is about decoding the different layers of truth/fiction/whatever.

Richard Dyer 4 Questions:1. Re-presentation – how media language is used to

represent the world to the audience.2. Being representative of – the extent to which types

are used to represent social groups (stereotypes).3. Who is responsible for the representation, how the

institution creating a media text influences representation – contentious in representation of gender as it is often the men doing the representing.

4. What does the audience think is being represented to them – different readings.

OR an easier way to remember it is:

What is being represented?How is it being represented?Who is responsible for the representation?How can the representation be interpreted?

STEREOTYPES

Stereotyping is an important concept in terms of representation.Stereotypes act as a short hand by which we can more easily understand a representation.

Stereotypes are assumptions that have reached some form of consensus amongst a particular social group or cultureStereotypes can be misleading but people often assume that stereotypes are automatically false. This is not necessarily the case!!

According to Tessa Perkins

That stereotypes are always false (it has been argued that they sometimes contain an element of ‘truth’ although ‘truth’ is always incredibly difficult to establish)

That they are about other people

That they only concern minority or oppressed groups

That they are simple

That they are rigid and do not change

That people either accept or reject stereotypes

MODE OF ADDRESS

The way a media text addresses its target audience.