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Chapter 2: Media Representation (Stereotypes: nature and function (We can…
Chapter 2: Media Representation
conceptualizing and defining representation
In the modern world the majority of people gain the majority of their information and knowledge about the world through mass media texts
While media forms may have their own language and rhetoric that position us as audience members for entertainment purposes, they are not divorced from the social, cultural, political and historical contexts of their making
Representation informs our outlook on various groups and cultures- our own and those of others- potentially in turn affecting how social relations are played out
Representation: to represent something is to describe or depict it, to call it up in the mind by description, portrayal or imagination. To represent also means to symbolise, to stand for, to be a specimen of or to substitute for
any form of representation can never provide a full picture or understanding of what is being re-presented
Representations are selective in their portrayals and are thus 'abstractions'in the way in which they work tat extricating, emphasizing or inflecting limited elements or characteristics of what is on show or known
Typing: archetype and stereotype
To refer to anyone as a 'type'is to define an individual by what they represent rather than for their unique qualities as individuals
An archetype is a perfect or idealised person or thing that exhibits certain core values and identities that offer a model of pattern fo the way in which cultures are viewed
Stereotyping is a process involving the expression of an exaggerated belief about a group that serves to qualify or justify the conduct towards that group of those who hold and express that belief
representations are stereotypes, not people
Stereotypes: nature and function
stereotypes are often, but not always, negative ascriptions and they tend to be limited in the range of meanings that they articulate
implies reducing the complexity of an individual, group or situation to a familiar and quickly understood and defining set of attributes
stereotypes are usually about those that are not just a minority but who have less power in society than the majority
according to Graeme Burton, it is the speed and intensity of the assumptions and predictions that are made about other persons on a slender basis that makes stereotyping so lethal and objectionable
However, given the limitations of media texts (or any representative form) in terms of the ability to be faithful to reality, stereotypes are sometimes seemingly inescapable and even necessary
stereotypes are also conditioned by their currency in other sectors of society and other modes of communication
The ubiquity of stereotypes does rather disguise their constructedness in media texts, as we have a tendency to see them as natural, to an extent 'believing in them'
We can identify a range of functions for stereotypes in media texts and relate them to broader social and historical contexts; however, that in part explains them and undermines their obviousness and our acceptance of them
they provide an ordering process in the face of the contingency and messiness of reality
rhetorically and semiologically speaking, a stereotype functions metonymically as an index of a wider reality and set of values about the group, the burden of which usually falls on a single figure
We often think of stereotypes as in some way false, that they offer an inaccurate or misleading picture of individuals and social groups
Tessa Perkins argued that stereotypes are effective by virtue of the fact that they have some semblance of reality, that, however extreme or reductive, they contain a 'grain of truth'
gender and representation
we could study media representations and how they record versions of what it means to be male or female and the way in which such representations record social values-aiding and abetting our identity formation
Media professionals and the 'politics' of representation
Our studies thus far suggest that media representations are related to context and through investigation of stereotypes we can enhance our understanding of society and its power relations and hierarchies. However, it is all very well to ascribe the source to 'society' or 'culture' in the abstract but we should attend to questions of who literally is creating and producing representations and how they acquire the skills and power to do so
to take issues of representation seriously is to understand it quite clearly as a political issue with real impact upon individual lives and social organisation
there are various factors to be investigated in relation to media workers
demographics of those who are in position to produce texts, or who have a huge impact in the production of the media in general, for example those who own media companies
one way of challenging representations is based then upon a perception of the limited access that the under- (or mis-) represented have to the means of expression by contributing to the production of media texts themselves
we could investigate whether media workers can be thought to 'bias' media content in line with their own personal or group attitudes
the burden of representation
negative stereotypes are often objectionable because they are limited individually but are repeated incessantly within a limited range of representations
problems sometimes arise for media producers who belong to minority groups in that they become tasked by those groups and others (implicitly or explicitly) with taking on all the politics involved in negative portrayals of that group, tasked with setting them right or having all their work scrutinized for its politics as well as their attitudes, practices and so on
Representations of individuality: stars, personalities, celebrities
celebrity culture: while not wholly new, it seems to be a relatively recent intensification of long-standing media and consumer preoccupations
defining stars
media stars must be understood primarily as commodities 'produced' by media companies for consumption by audiences that will lead to profit
the stats of stars relates also to market organisation and their economic function in terms of ensuring purchases of media texts
'actors become stars when their off-screen lifestyles and personalities equal or surpass acting ability in importance'
the image of a star is not just made in a film or TV show or on record, but through all other materials in which they figure-> wide field of media texts
stars as texts and signs
the success, failure and reception of stars, personalities and celebrities relates to audience responses ad understanding of their meanings
we study the star's image, noot the person themsleves
stars as signs: they assume roles and meanings in their performance in media texts
rich in denotative meaning: representations of real people that contain elements of choice and combination
construction of the image
a star's image is made up of
primary elements: the texts that make up a star's portfolio
secondary elements: materials generated by the processes of promotion; deliberate
because a star's image occurs across such a wide field, it is characterized by polysemia or a multiplicity of meanings-> secondary and primary elements work together and may build on each other
stars must balance elements of the ordinary and extraordinary
by focusing on individuals, rather than the collaborative process, media become mystified
indicative of the individual society we live in