CONTENTS

1 Representation: Men 1.1 Life on Mars 1.2 Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace 1.3 Steve in Eden Lake 1.4 Simon Cowell 1.5 Full Metal Jacket 1.6 Terminator 2 Judgment Day 1.7 Sitcoms: Men Behaving Badly 1.8 Adverts: Men in adverts

2 Representation: Women 2.1 The X Files 2.2 The Simpsons 2.3 Scream 2.4 The Girl Next Door 2.5 Eden Lake 2.6 Whip It 2.7 Terminator 2 Judgement Day 2.8 Adverts

3 Representation: Race and Ethnic Minorities 3.1 East is East 3.2 Dirty Pretty Things 3.3 Coronation Street v. The Simpsons 3.4. Borat

4 Representation: Social Class 4.1 Secrets and Lies 4.2 Coronation Street 4.3 Wallace and Gromit and the Curse of the Were-Rabbit 4.4 Girls Aloud

5 Representation: Teenagers and Young People 5.1 The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent

1 5.2 Skins 5.3 Hollyoaks

6 Audiences 6.1 Categorising Audiences 6.2 Models of Audience Reception 6.3 Sample Question: Audience Responses 6.4 Sample Question: Uses and Gratifications

7 The Examination 7.1 Sample Exam Paper

HOW TO USE THIS BOOKLET

This booklet contains a lot of the information, presented in bullet-point form, that you will need to pass the AS Media Studies exam. You should read the whole book carefully, at least once, highlighting the most important ideas. Key points are highlighted in bold: when you have finished reading the booklet, you should aim to list the things in bold without looking at the booklet, and you should be able to talk (and write) fluently and confidently about all of them.

The booklet does not deal with Question 1 of the exam, which will be a textual analysis question. It provides detailed notes on audience responses and media representations, the

2 themes for Questions 2 and 3 in the exam.

1.1 REPRESENTATION: MEN Life on Mars

• Life on Mars is an interesting variant on the cop show: a 2006 policeman goes back in time to the 1970s, a decade associated with famous police series (The Sweeney, for instance). • One of the series’ central relationships is that between Sam Tyler, from 2006, and Gene Hunt, his DCI in 1973. • Sam Tyler is sensitive and caring: he is from an era in which human rights are paramount. In the series’ opening scene, he is interviewing a suspect who has a team of 3-4 helpers and advisors — something totally alien to the police of 1973. • Gene Hunt, on the other hand, is a tough, uncompromising alpha male. His language is coarse, involving frequent sexism and even racism (certainly when measured against what is acceptable today) and he is more than willing to use violence to get a confession from a suspect. Hunt’s advice to Tyler on their first meeting is as follows: “Don’t ever walk into my kingdom acting like king of the jungle”. The language here, with its references to power and animalism, is very traditionally masculine. • Tyler’s clothing marks him out as something of a new man: he is more conscious of his image than the other policemen, wearing a black leather jacket and a shirt which is open at the neck. The absence of a tie is significant as it helps to establish him as the maverick cop who is at odds with his colleagues and their methods yet still manages to get results. • The other policemen wear suits and ties which are not fashion choices but symbols of the work they do. • The police station of 1973 is a very male world. It is dark, smoky and uninviting; it is untidy and not particularly well organised, and there are posters of football teams and women on the walls. It is a tough and competitive environment, a proving ground of masculinity. • The men in the station, particularly Gene Hunt, speak disparagingly of women. WPC Cartwright, the show’s main female character, is not granted the same respect as her male colleagues. For instance, DI Skelton says that, if Tyler has a head injury, Cartwright could “kiss it better” for him.

3 • Gene Hunt has become something of a cult figure, with both Life on Mars and its spin-off Ashes to Ashes, in which there is no Sam Tyler, proving successful. One wonders if his no-nonsense approach, his narrow-minded racism, sexism and penchant for violence, his total blindness to political correctness, has provided a refreshing alternative for many male viewers to the sensitive, “feminised” male who has become so familiar in the media today. In this sense he is almost a retributive male (Rutherford).

1.2 REPRESENTATION: MEN Casino Royale (Campbell, 2006) and Quantum of Solace (Forster, 2008)

Also refer to my detailed handout. • For many people, James Bond is the archetype of a certain kind of masculinity — the suave, well-dressed womaniser, cool in a crisis in a very British way, who ignores authority and plays by his own rules but always completes the mission. • We have to remember that there have been different versions of Bond; the character has changed with each actor. Roger Moore, for instance, was a little too smooth for many aficionados. • With Daniel Craig, the makers have really gone against the grain and created a vulnerable, scarred character whose personal feelings are constantly weighed against his professionalism (this is actually closer to what Bond’s original creator, Ian Fleming, envisaged). • The promotional campaigns for the last two Bond films emphasise this new side to Bond, showing him with physical scars and wearing damaged clothes. • In Casino Royale Bond actually falls in love with Vesper Lynd, who deceives him before being killed. • Quantum of Solace sees Bond trying to avenge her death while stopping Dominic Greene, the film’s villain, from dominating the world’s water supply. • Quantum of Solace is also notable for the fact that it features a Bond girl, Camille Montes, with whom Bond does not have sex. This suggests that the character’s relationship with women has changed: he is, at times, even quite sensitive with Camille.

4 • However, Bond has also become more ruthless. In Quantum of Solace, he kills two men in a lift and the camera ensures that we see him kick the arm of one of them so that the lift door can close. This is done with incredible coldness, especially when we consider that the man is not an “enemy” but a member of the British Secret Service. • Perhaps the smooth, unflappable Bond portrayed by Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan is no longer believable, and Daniel Craig’s version is a Bond for the modern world.

1.3 REPRESENTATION: MEN Steve in Eden Lake (Watkins, 2008)

Also use Jenny in Eden Lake to discuss the representation of women.

• Jenny and Steve (Michael Fassbender) are similar to Mulder and Scully in the X-Files as they play against expectations of how men and women behave especially in times of crisis.

• “Steve” is a play on “Eve” in the Garden of Eden to show the audience that he is the “female” role in the narrative. • On the surface he seems the stereotypical cool, masculine guy driving an expensive four-by-four and enjoying outdoor water sports. Early scenes of him in a wetsuit and shorts add to this image. • The image is a surface image. • Steve is caring and sensitive – he wants Jenny to enjoy the day by the Lake and tries to stop the youths from causing a disturbance. • Steve has no authority to control the youth’s and their anti-social behavior. • Steve finds it especially hard to exercise any authority over the young female when she gives him abuse. • He is sensitive and feels embarrassed when Jenny mocks him for not being able to sort out the youths. • He is the most romantic of the couple- he talks of romantic holidays, wedding rings and love. • He is the one who needs protecting. Steve is vulnerable and Jenny is the one who protects him. • As a metaphor for his female qualities – he is literally emasculated by the youths.

5 1.4 REPRESENTATION: MEN Simon Cowell

• Simon Cowell is one of the key figures in the music industry. As strange as it may seem, he classes as a “text” in a Media Studies exam. • Cowell is associated with power and success. It is not just his own success that we think of, but that which he can give to others. • He is famous for his “Mr Nasty” image. On the various TV talent shows on which he appears, he is always the straight-talking judge whose verdicts on contestants’ performances are often scathing and insulting. He is the one who is hard to please, the one whose approval the contestants really want. • It is precisely this image of authority, power and success that makes Cowell attractive to women. • Physically, Cowell is famous for his ultra-white teeth and hairy chest, the latter of which is usually visible as he has the top few buttons of his shirt undone. • The TV show Simon Cowell: Where Did It All Go Right? also revealed that Cowell has quite an impressive level of fitness: apparently he can do a set of 50 press-ups on his fists. • Cowell was once quoted in a newspaper as saying that he had probably slept with about 100 women, something which did not endear him to the male population. However, in his autobiography he admits that this was a guess based on some quick mental arithmetic and that if he had read it about somebody else he would think they were an idiot. • This is part of what is interesting about Cowell’s TV persona: the way he is perceived is sometimes quite different from the way he is reported to be in his life away from television.

1.5 REPRESENTATION: MEN Full Metal Jacket (Kubrick 1987)

• As the title suggests the full metal jacket refers to the bullets fired by the Marines and suggests destruction and violence – qualities associated with

6 masculinity and warriors. • A full metal jacket is also a bullet that has a soft metal centre but a very hard metal outer shell. This is the perfect metaphor for the soldiers who must suppress their sensitive and caring sides and adopt a tough, outer shell. • It is a film that uses bullets and guns, flagpoles and batons throughout its mise en scene – all phallic images that indicate that this is a film about manhood and masculinity.

It is as much about how individuals are forced (through military training in this case) to adopt and conform to certain masculine codes. These include: o Toughness, o To take responsibility for your own mistakes and own up to making mistakes. o to be responsible as a team for another fellow-soldier who has “messed-up” o not to complain o Follow instructions without question. o Show no emotion under stress o Loyalty and duty to the Marine Corps and to each other o Not to show any weakness or to cry even when being insulted, physically and mentally abused. This is a reminder of the “big boys don’t cry” attitude that many male children are told when growing up. o A pride in appearance o A pride in having a physically strong body and looking after it o A pride in being neat and tidy

• Ironically, speaking to the Drill Sgt. In a way that will make him angry is permissible, as it a sign of toughness – you are standing up for yourself - and shows “leadership” qualities.

• Drill-Instructor Gnry Sgt Hartman (Lee Ermey) is seen as a bigoted, tough, sadistic man. But it is his job to get these raw recruits battle ready in order to give them a chance of survival. As his character name suggests he is a “man with a heart” but must suppress (hide) such emotions and stick to a tough and rigid code. • The men must be obedient to the Marine Corp in a way the Marine Corps is the recruits’ mother and Hartman is their father figure. • However some people cannot be “molded” into being what they are not.

7 Private Pyle ironically takes the logic of being a “killing machine” to its logical conclusion. He kills Hartman and himself without any remorse. Hartman in an ironic sense has done his job too well.

• Perhaps the film is saying that it is wrong to be expected to conform to stereotypes (people we are not) and we should follow our own natures or the consequences will be terrible – nervous breakdown, murder and suicide.

• In the first half of the film there is not one female which emphasises the closed-in nature of the training camp and allows the audience to consider what is

Films such as 300 have recently played on a representation of the male as a tough warrior with perfect physique and unflinching bravery.

Also the character of Gene Hunt in Life on Mars is a man who is macho, masculine and tough. 1.6 REPRESENTATION: MEN Terminator 2 Judgment Day (Cameron, 1991)

The Terminator machine played by Arnold Schwarzenegger although a robot has many of the stereotypical male qualities.

• Tough and violent • Fearless – walks naked into a bar full of tough guys and Hell’s Angels. • Lack of emotion • Dressed in leather like a tough guy and a rebel • Armed with a shotgun • Shades – represent coolness and being detached • Drives a Harley Davison motorbike – an iconic machine representing freedom, individuality and rebelliousness he is represented as a motorcycled cowboy. Cowboys are stereotypical tough and individual.

• Note that in Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines the Terminator is replaced by a female version called the Terminatrix who is stronger and more intelligent. This could reflect the change in attitudes towards masculinity, indeed

8 at the beginning of this film, in a similar bar scene to Terminator 2 Judgment Day, The Terminator wears a woman’s pair of shades and “camps up” the scene.

1.7 REPRESENTATION: MEN Sitcoms: Men Behaving Badly

• Gary and Tony represent lads and laddish behavior. • Gary and Tony like drinking lots of beer, lazing on the couch watching TV or playing computer games, eat take-way meals and TV dinners because they don’t like cooking (that’s a woman’s job) while sitting on the coach and are always “on the pull” – chasing women who they refer to as “birds”. • Tony and Gary come across as “vulgar”, “flippant” and slightly pathetic. This representation and lifestyle proved popular with the public as the series became one of the highest watched sitcoms in TV history. Lads would like to copy this lifestyle while women would be curious to see what their boyfriends get up to when they’re with their mates. Gary and Tony can be laughed with or laughed at depending on the audience.

• However they show that there are different distinctions between lads. • Gary is the practical joker and can be insensitive – he makes fun of Tony because he has to wear glasses – another stereotyping that men that wear glasses look “nerdy” and “geeky” while women “look” intelligent and sexy. • Gary is an exhibitionist – he likes an audience for his jokes – the two women in the scene join in with his “Mickey-taking” of Tony but in a less explicit (obvious) way. • Tony is sensitive and cannot hide this when he is being ridiculed (laughed at) by Gary. • Tony is slim and looks after his appearance – his hair is styled and trendy – Gary is overweight and does not care about his appearance. • Tony is more caring – he asks the women if they’d had a good day – although this could just be a ploy to get into their good books and a way of chatting them up.

9 1.8 REPRESENTATION: MEN Adverts

Adverts target all types of men so there are different representations of men in them.

The man in the Stella advert is a cool, smooth and a James Bond type. He is also has elements of a chap/lad.

McCoy’s Crisps show the typical lads drinking beer in a pub and banishing one of their friends because he has knowledge of ballet - a very un-masculine subject. The advert can be read as a humorous send up of men.

The WKD adverts show men fooling around, playing practical jokes and enjoying a drink at the end of the day with their “mates” preferring to do this rather than with a female. These adverts show men as lads and indulging in laddish activities like in Men Behaving Badly.

Men in aftershave adverts are represented as ‘independent’ (CKFree) and enjoy a ‘fast paced urban lifestyle’ (Hugo Element).

The representation of men in adverts has changed over the past 40-50 years as more products are aimed at men. The Dolce and Gabbana represents men as sex symbols with chiselled features and well toned bodies.

2.1 REPRESENTATION: WOMEN The X Files

• The X Files was one of the most popular TV series of the 1990s and centred on two FBI agents, Dana Scully (female) and Fox Mulder (male), and their investigations into the paranormal. • We could say that The X Files is inked to 1990s’ third-wave feminism, which challenges the idea that there are basic differences between men and women. • For centuries, women have been associated with emotional, irrational and subjective ways of thinking, while men have been credited with rational, coolly objective, scientific problem-solving skills. • Mulder and Scully, however, are precisely the other way around. • In the Season 4 episode called “Unruhe”, Mulder believes that a suspect is able to project his unconscious thoughts (knowingly or otherwise) onto photographs of his intended victims, making women who have been photographed normally appear terrified, screaming and surrounded by ghostly images. • Scully is unconvinced and searches for a scientific explanation — for instance, she notices that the film is past its use-by date and speculates that the heating may be

10 warping the images. • This is the typical narrative structure of each X Files episode: Mulder is willing to believe in alien abductions, vampires, ghosts, demonic possession, the occult, shape- shifting monsters, telepathy and all manner of other outlandish phenomena, while Scully maintains a detached, coolly scientific, rational view. • Mulder is also the more emotional of the two characters, which again seems to overturn popular ideas about men and women. • However, the series’ challenge to stereotypical gender roles only goes so far: while Mulder’s ideas may seem bizarre and even irrational, there is often a suggestion that he is right — or, at least, that Scully’s scientific explanations are only as close to the truth as Mulder’s more adventurous theories. • Similarly, “Unruhe” is just one episode in which Mulder has to come to the rescue of Scully, who has been taken by the kidnapper (although, admittedly, there are episodes in which Scully rescues Mulder).

2.2 REPRESENTATION: WOMEN The Simpsons

• Another famous TV woman is Marge from The Simpsons. She is one of a number of famous television mothers who have graced our screens over the years. • Although she is a fairly modern example of the type, a close examination shows that she has more in common with TV mothers of the 1950s than with more recent versions like Mrs Cartman from South Park. • For instance, she dresses conventionally; in one episode, we see her buying clothes, which for her means picking up about six or seven identical versions of that long green dress. • She is also a housewife who does not work. Although there are numerous episodes in which Marge does get a job, she invariably ends up back at home at the end of the episode. It is implied that she loses her various jobs because she too honest or naïve for the world of work, because she lacks the requisite competitive streak, or because her work interferes with her relationship with Homer and with her family. • Relevant episodes include “Realty Bites”, in which Marge tries her hand as an estate agent, and “The Twisted World of Marge Simpson”, which sees her start her own pretzel business.

11 • Marge is extremely patient: she has to put up with Homer’s ridiculous behaviour in every episode, not to mention Bart’s mischief. But the makers of the show have given her a voice (supplied by Julie Kavner) which verges on the annoying, suggesting that women “nag” even when they are right. Many characters in The Simpsons have a catch-phrase which defines them; Marge’s is her disapproving “Hmmm”.

2.3 REPRESENTATION: WOMEN Scream (Craven, 1997)

• Scream is a slasher, a sub-genre of the horror film. As such, it is worth considering the role of women in horror films generally. Scream re-wrote the conventions of horror films for the next decade and spawned a franchise. It works against many of the horror conventions, for example a famous movie-star such as Drew Barrymore being killed at the film’s start, although honours many others. • In slasher films, attractive young women are often among the victims of the killer, but there is typically one who survives (think about Jamie Lee Curtis in the Halloween films). This figure is known as the Final Girl. • Chillers, or psychological horror films, often explore the mentality of a female character and build the terror around the ways in which she is most emotionally vulnerable — Michelle Pfeiffer’s character in What Lies Beneath is a good example. • Scream falls into this second category: Sydney (Neve Campbell) is vulnerable – her mother has recently been raped and murdered and her father’s work takes him away for long periods of time leaving her alone. • Sydney shares many of the attributes of the Final Girl, being intelligent and resourceful with a sound moral centre – she repeatedly rejects the sexual advances of her boyfriend to go “all the way”. Only near the film’s conclusion does she “surrender” to these advances but she is as much the instigator showing a strength and equality in her character. • She is also uncertain as to whether her boyfriend is genuine or fake in terms of his love and faithfulness to her but also whether he is complicit (involved) in the grisly murders. • There are various moments in which Campbell’s sex appeal is blatantly exploited. These involve scenes with her boyfriend. • There is at least one scene in the film and, as she lies on top of the bedclothes in her room and the camera pans slowly down her scantily clad frame. In the sex scene

12 with her boyfriend Billy Loomis the camera lingers on her body far more than it does his (what Laura Mulvey calls the male gaze).

2.4 REPRESENTATION: WOMEN The Girl Next Door (Greenfield, 2004)

• The very title of this film plays with ideas about female attractiveness and male desire: the “girl next door” type is pretty but innocent — and is arguably a male creation. • Of course, Danielle (Elisha Cuthbert’s character) is certainly attractive but has a mischievous streak as well as a past that would not readily be described as innocent … • Danielle is in a position of power throughout the film. Where Matt is trying to be a diligent student, Danielle represents rebellion — she encourages him to skip school to be with her and even takes him “skinny-dipping” in a pool which, it turns out, belongs to his headmaster. • She is largely in control of their relationship. When they first meet, she holds all the cards as he thinks she is going to tell his parents about his voyeurism. To avenge the fact that he saw her half naked, she makes him strip in the road and drives away. • One of the film’s central ideas is that Danielle is “too good” to be a porn star — but where does that leave April and Ferrari, two characters who we are supposed to accept as porn stars? • Whereas Matt is able to succeed due to his intelligence, moral fibre and determination, Danielle’s chief weapon is certainly her looks (combined with a streetwise self-confidence). • The film uses many of the conventions of the romantic comedy but is geared towards a male audience — as is made clear by the casting of Elisha Cuthbert and the incessant sexual references.

2.5 REPRESENTATION: WOMEN Eden Lake (Watkins, 2008)

• This is a British horror film and deals with a fear in society today: that of unruly teenagers, hoodies and chavs whom adults and society cannot control. The horror element is not a monster or axe-weilding psychotic but the audiences underlying

13 anxieties about knife-crime, teenage shootings and the “feral” teenagers and hoodies that form part of the recent moral panics. • The very title suggests that what appears on a surface about people can be misleading. Our first impressions of Jenny (Kelly Reilley) are misleading. • Jenny and Steve (Michael Fassbender) are similar to Mulder and Scully in the X-Files as they play against expectations of how men and women behave especially in times of crisis. • We could say that Eden Lake links to 1990s’ third-wave feminism, which challenges the idea that there are basic differences between men and women. • In terms of female it could be argued that on the surface (like Eden Lake itself) there are differences between men and women however in times of crisis there are none and that women are just as ruthless and tough. • This is shown in the way that Jenny is presented. She is dressed in a floral-patterned dress suggesting old fashioned-feminine values. She is a primary school teacher – a job usually associated with women rather than men. Her job shows us that she is a caring nature and a protector and guardian of children. However, as the film progresses we see that she is tough and capable of committing murder. This transformation is shown by her pristine feminine clothes turning black. She turns from being the protector of children to the killer of children. • The film raises some interesting questions about how society views women-killers. Even if the killing of the children may be “justified” in the circumstances as she is acting in self-defence perhaps society views a woman killing a child to be more terrible than a man committing the same crime. Myra Hindley a real-life female child-killer attracted even more moral outrage by members of the public especially by other women than did her partner in crime Ian Brady. • The fact that Jenny is murdered by adults at the end of the film reflects that society and audience expectations cannot allow her to get away with child-murder. • Unlike in many horror films where the women are seen as vulnerable and need the protection of a man, Jenny is represented as being strong and the protector of Steve who is shown as the weaker in their relationship. Jenny becomes Steve’s protector. In this respect Jenny’s character is like Sarah Connor in Terminator 2 Judgement Day and Ellen Ripley in Aliens.

2.6 REPRESENTATION: WOMEN Whip It (Barrymore, 2009)

This is a drama-sports, comedy film. As a narrative it is a “coming of age “and “rites of

14 passage” film in which women are the main characters. The film is also interesting because it is directed by a woman and invites discussion about the “male gaze”.

This film can also be used in discussing the representation of youth.

• “Whip It” fits into the category of a rites of passage/growing up story.

• It is also important as there are far fewer films about women’s sports and where the main sports characters are women. It has been argued that the Women’s England cricket team did not receive the publicity and credit it deserved for winning the World Cup as did the male cricket team for winning the ashes.

• Bliss is still finding her way in life.

• When we meet Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page) is seen as a rather awkward character – her life is one of conformity living up to the aspirations of her mother who wants her to be ladylike. She dresses as stereotypical lady – dress, make up, coffered hair – she is a “lady” is measured by qualities of deportment and rhetoric. She looks almost like a Barbie doll. Even then we get the idea that she is a square peg in a round hole. The opening scene which introduces her shows her “messing up” by having her hair turn blue much to her mother’s disapproval. She can’t even be as good as her younger sister who seems happy to conform to her mother’s expectations.

• Bliss’s mother Brooke is herself far-removed from being lady-like. She has a job as a postal worker which is usually associated with men. We also see her smoke in the house and in front of the children. We know she is naive and behind the times when she mistakes a bong for a vase.

• Like most students in America she has a part-time job and has a close bond with her girlfriend Pasha. A scene in the diner shows that she is not part of the school crowd and those friends once close to her have moved on and have boyfriends especially the high school “jock”. It sets out the idea that she is not a loner but like many teenagers she is finding her way in life.

• The change in her life comes when she discovers roller-derby and the females she encounters. We see roller derby women for the first time at in the head shop. They are handing out flyers. We see that they are large almost butch but move with the grace and skill of ballerinas.

• Through roller derby she finally finds something she is good at. • On the surface they look tough and provocative – • Names • Dress • Lifestyles • They adopt a persona – almost a new identity – many are teachers, secretaries but roller derby offers an escape from their ordinary lives.

• Maggie Mayhem is a struggling “single-mom” and holds conventional views on the importance of family. She advises Bliss to sort out her problems with her parents.

• Smashley Simpson – dominates her boyfriend and is a tomboy character. She is seen in many scenes nursing a new injury. She is the fighting spirit of the team.

• The roller-derby women dress in a sexualised manner – showing flesh, short skirts,

15 school-girl looks, tattoos and make-up but this is for their own confidence – their sexualisation is on their terms and not just for the male spectators.

• The “male gaze” theory could be used here as the camera does linger on the female’s bodies but this is a physical sport and would do so anyway to emphasise the physicality of the sport. There are no shots of semi-naked women in the changing rooms and women are represented as vulgar and uncouth – swearing and belching.

• There are some sweet moments representing female friendship – Bliss and Pash dancing together at the diner and the food-fight scene.

• Male figures are on the margin of this film. The team’s coach is male but is largely ineffectual. Bliss’s boyfriend is a rather geeky, sensitive-artistic type who does not get a second chance once Bliss doubts his loyalty. Bliss’s father lets his wife make all the decisions and escapes into his own world of football. He does in the end respect Bliss’s wishes and ensures she attends the final.

• However there are obstacles she must encounter – she must gain the respect of other females – note they seem tough on the surface but are really even Iron Maven her rival shows her respect at the end and we find out that she did not tell tales disclose the fact that she was too young to take part in roller derby. This reconfirms a view that there is to some extent a shared code between roller derby women, even rivals.

• Bliss is physically small but fast and skilful and would inspire girls and women that skill means more than physical strength and height.

• The women’s attitude towards winning is ambiguous. On a surface level it seems that they are not bothered in the least about winning and have devised a chant “we came second” much to their male coach’s annoyance. Ask would a team of males act this way? It would be highly unlikely as men are usually represented as being competitive and need to be seen as winners. However, deep down the women do want to win and once they sample their first victory become focussed on winning and beating their rivals.

• The women show a sense of camaraderie – they welcome Bliss to the team and she is invited to parties. Also they involve her in the usual ceremonies by throwing her in the swimming pool – almost like a baptism in joining the “sister hood”.

• Bliss also has her first steady boyfriend – she loses her virginity to him – again a rites of passage moment.

• Bliss’s confidence increases through roller derby. When a former girlfriend makes a crude suggestion that she is a lesbian, Bliss throws her down a flight of stairs. When she is called before the Principal she shows no remorse at her actions and is represented as a rebel.

• She suspects that he has seen other women while on tour and does not give him the benefit of the doubt. She is shown as assertive and confident.

• Has the message that winning isn’t the objective and that winning isn’t everything – compare this with a film that features a male team. Would the film have ended with the men suffering defeat – hardly! It would not suit the male ethos that winning is everything and that people who finish second are losers.

16 • Bliss’s father is immensely proud of her which makes up for the fact he wishes he had a son. He proudly places Bliss’s name on a board on the front lawn to show her sporting achievement and to show his gloating neighbour that his daughter is as good as his sons.

• The film finishes with a visual metaphor. Bliss is sitting on top of the giant pig statue and logo at the diner. She is on top of her world if not the world. Now the world seems much smaller and she feels much bigger. The film ends on an optimistic beat.

2.7 REPRESENTATION: WOMEN Terminator 2 Judgment Day

Sarah Connor is the strong female protagonist in the film. Refer to my detailed hand-out. Link her to Ellen Ripley in Aliens.

2.8 REPRESENTATION: WOMEN Adverts

Women’s roles in advertising have changed over the past few decades. In the 1950s and 1960s women were shown in the home as wives and mothers. During the 1970s the women’s rights movement made advancements, some of the most significant changes for women were the laws for equal pay and the introduction of the birth control pill. Women became more sexually liberated but, to the advertisers this just seemed to mean that woman could be represented as available to men and sex objects for men to stare at.

Stick-thin, air-brushed notions of female beauty have become the norm in advertising. However, in 2003 Dove launched its real women campaign with adverts featuring ‘ordinary’ women in their underwear. The campaign was a huge success and sales of Dove’s skin firming lotion rose by 700%.

3.1 REPRESENTATION: RACE AND ETHNIC MINORITIES East is East (O’Donnell, 1999)

• East is East starts with an overhead establishing shot of the Salford streets. Surely the similarity to the iconic opening credits to Coronation Street is deliberate: the director wants to suggest that Asian immigrants are a central part of British national identity, just as Coronation Street and the values it promotes have been

17 since the 1960s. • East is East combines comedy with a social-realist style. The mise en scène is strikingly ugly: we see people urinating in buckets, raw fish being chopped to pieces, and some of the most tasteless wallpaper imaginable. Perhaps the point is that the film is also asking us to face ugly issues such as racism. • The film is set in the early 1970s, when racial tensions were high in Britain. One bigoted old man acts as a mouthpiece for the views of Enoch Powell, famous for his “rivers of blood” speech. In one symbolic moment, Meera (George’s daughter) kicks a football through a window which has on it a poster of Powell. • The opening sequence’s multicultural parade through the streets of Salford. George’s children are more than happy to join in, even carrying banners of the Virgin Mary. They flee in terror when their father arrives: he would be furious if he knew members of his family were participating in such non-Muslim activities. • George is represented in a largely negative way. He is overbearing and authoritative, reacting to his family’s questions with violence or threats of violence. He struggles greatly to assimilate into the British way of life. In one symbolic shot, he stands alone in a bedroom, his back to the window and by implication to the world outside. When his wife makes tea, he mutters that he will take “half a cup” — a full cup would perhaps be too British. • George’s children deal in different ways with their father’s strict attitude. One retreats into religion; another denies his Pakistani heritage, drinks, smokes, socialises, womanises and calls himself Tony; the youngest, who is distanced more than the others from his father’s culture, hides inside his parka out of shame. The film explores hybrid identities — the Khans are not fully British but not fully Pakistani either. • One of the film’s most powerful scenes is that in which members of the family sit in front of the TV after a violent argument. We are given close-ups of each family member individually so that we can see the strain and, in some cases, the physical bruises etched across their features. Then the camera shows them all together, creating a cramped, unfriendly feel. They are watching The Clangers, and voice- over on the television talks about a race of beings on a cold, hard planet, miles away from anything they think of as home. Of course, the words refer to the Khan family as much as to the animated characters they watch on the television.

3.2 REPRESENTATION: RACE AND ETHNIC MINORITIES Dirty Pretty Things (Frears, 2002)

18 • Representations of immigrants in the media are largely negative. Popular ideas include the immigrant as a benefit scrounger, dangerous criminal or bringer of contagious foreign diseases. • Dirty Pretty Things is a low-budget British film set in London. We see a very different version of the British capital than that which is offered by largely US-funded British hits like Notting Hill and Love Actually. This London is one of dingy backstreets rather than iconic tourist attractions. • When we see the film’s central characters, Okwe and Senay, they are often in cramped spaces — cars, tunnels, narrow corriders, underground car parks, store rooms and locker rooms — suggesting the restrictions on basic freedoms faced by immigrants. • There are also moments in which one or both characters are captured on CCTV, indicating the level of surveillance to which immigrants are subjected, while the recurring motif of ticking clocks reminds us that many immigrants are in Britain on borrowed time, never knowing when their stay will end and they will be imprisoned or deported. • Okwe has two different jobs, challenging the perception of immigrants as benefit scroungers. He has no time to sleep, and has to chew a stimulant in order to stay awake. • Okwe works as a taxi driver and a hotel porter. Both of these are “invisible” jobs; we only really notice these people when they do their jobs badly. Perhaps the film wants to show us that immigrants are often the oil that keeps British society ticking over. In one memorable line Okwe tells a man, “We are the people you never see”. • Okwe is actually trained as a doctor, but cannot practice as one in Britain due to his status. Early on in the film he is asked to diagnose another man with an STI. When the man pulls down his trousers, Okwe kneels before him in a visual parody of oral sex, suggesting the indignity to which immigrants are subjected and foreshadowing the moment in the film in which Senay, the film’s female immigrant, is actually forced to perform oral sex on her boss in order to stop him reporting her to the authorities.

3.3 REPRESENTATION: RACE AND ETHNIC MINORITIES Coronation Street v. The Simpsons

• It took a long time for Coronation Street, Britain’s oldest soap opera, to respond to Britain’s multicultural society by including Asians. When an Asian family did arrive in

19 Wetherfield they, rather predictably, went straight into the corner-shop. • It seems that the writers and producers simply placed an Asian family in a section of society which would be “recognisable” to viewers. • In The Simpsons, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon also works in a shop, the Springfield Kwik-E-Mart. There are plenty of racial stereotypes exploited through Apu: for instance, his rebellion against the arranged marriage (which he accepts when he realises his betrothed is actually quite attractive) is one of the show’s comic highlights. • Whereas Coronation Street seems to have put an Asian family in the corner-shop out of a sense of intented realism, The Simpsons has done it purely for comic effect. • Often, racial stereotypes are exploited for comic effect in The Simpsons. For instance, when Manjula, Apu’s wife, complains to Marge that her husband works too hard and seems to be married to the Kwik-E-Mart rather than to her, Marge asks innocently whether Manjula sees her husband at weekends. As if she has never heard the word before, Manjula repeats carefully: “Wee … kends?” • Similarly, the narrow-mindedness of other characters is the butt of many jokes rather than Apu himself. When he protests about the unfairness of his arranged marriage, Apu asks Homer: “Has the whole world gone insane?” Homer replies, rather insensitively, “No, just your screwy country.” • An interesting episode is that in which Homer catches salmonella from a hot dog he bought from Apu. As a result, Apu loses his job at the Kwik-E-Mart and moves in with the Simpson family to repay his debt to Homer. In a musical moment, he rejoices that he no longer needs the Kwik-E-Mart, before going up on the roof and crying to himself that, in fact, he really does want his old job back. Living with the white-American family as a servant is not what Apu wishes to do: he yearns for the job which he feels defines him. • In the episode “Lisa’s Pony”, Homer’s financial difficulties cause him to ask Apu for a job at the Kwik-E-Mart. Delighted, Apu gives Homer the job immediately and says with relish: “Always I dreamed the day would come when one of you work for me”. • The writers of The Simpsons know that Apu is a cheap stereotype — and that is what he is supposed to be. When Homer’s bowling team, of which Apu is a member, loses to another team called “The Stereotypes”, Apu complains: “They begged me to join their team! Begged me! • 3.4 REPRESENTATION: RACE AND ETHNIC MINORITIES • Borat (Charles 2006) Borat is a comedy that intends to look like a documentary. This is a genre called

20 mockumentary. Borat is played by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen.

Borat Sagdiyev, a popular Kazakh television personality, leaves his homeland of Kazakhstan for the "Greatest Country in the World," the "US and A" to make a documentary film at the behest of the fictitious Kazakh Ministry of Information. He leaves behind his mother, his wife, Oksana, and other colorful characters of the town including "the town rapist", "the town mechanic and abortionist", and brings along his producer Azamat Bagatov (Ken Davitian), and his pet chicken, Buh-Kaw.

The film was denounced for having a protagonist who is sexist, homophobic, and anti- Semitic (although the director, and both producers—including Baron Cohen—are Jewish), and, after the film's release, some cast members spoke against, and even sued, its creators. All Arab countries, except for Lebanon, banned it,[3] and the Russian government discouraged cinemas there from showing it.

The village and the people are shown as crude stereotypes:

• The village is dirty and the houses are old. • It is a patriarchal society. • The women are ugly or prostitutes. • The men are ugly and deformed. • The men and women are all idiots because they are all in-bred through incest. • The men and women are dirty and scruffy in appearance and dress fifty years behind other western countries. • Incest and rape is common and not really punished. • The children are wild and the villagers are bad parents letting their children play with guns as though it is the normal thing to do in Kindergarten. • The technology is old and there are few cars just horses and carts. • The villagers hate Jews (they are anti-Semitic)

It is not surprising that the people of Kazakhstan were offended by the representation of their country and people. Is it right to represent a country and its people this way even if it is for laughs?

Refer also to “Hostel” and its depiction of the Slovak Republic as a country full of sadistic, psychopathic killers.

21 4.1 REPRESENTATION: SOCIAL CLASS Secrets and Lies (Leigh, 1996)

• Social realism is a genre or style which dominated British film-making in the 1950s and 1960s. It uses documentary-style techniques, such as hand-held cameras, and tries to present a slice of “real life”. • Two of Britain’s most famous and successful directors specialise in social realism: Ken Loach (Kes) and Mike Leigh (Vera Drake). • Social-realist films often focus on the working classes and on domestic, family struggles; as such the genre is often nicknamed “kitchen-sink drama”. The mise en scène of social-realist films is typically gritty and unglamorous. Typical locations include tastelessly decorated suburban houses, factories, laundrettes and pubs. • There are various criticisms of the social-realist tradition and its place within British cinema. Alex Collins argues that British cinema is restricted by the dominance of social realism, and that funding agencies are too quick to concentrate on social- realist projects at the expense of other kinds of film. Collins also claims that social- realist films are anachronistic: they no longer teach us anything we don’t know about the lives of the working classes. Another common criticism of social-realist films is that they patronise their working-class characters: we laugh at them rather than with them. • Director Mike Leigh’s Secrets and Lies is a critically acclaimed example of the social- realist genre. • The opening scenes to the film are typically social-realist. We see grimy streets, the inside of a factory, and a family living room in which a woman sits with her bare feet on the coffee table. • The film has been praised for its rich characterization. It is the story of Hortense, an intelligent, middle-class black woman who finds out that her mother is white and working class. The mother, Cynthia, works hard to keep her other daughter, Roxanne, from making the same mistakes she does. In an early sequence mother and daughter argue in Essex accents. Roxanne criticises Cynthia for not having “kept her knickers” up. • The film also explores the tensions between middle- and working-class people. Actor Timothy Spall plays Cynthia’s brother, who has married into money. Cynthia dislikes his wife, who she refers to as a “toffee-nosed cow.”

22 • Spall plays a photographer. In his newly privileged life, he is able to see into the reality of people’s lives: though they smile for their camera, they often argue immediately before the picture is taken.

4.2 REPRESENTATION: SOCIAL CLASS Coronation Street

• Britain’s oldest soap opera is worth looking at for the way in which it seems to have changed over the years from a gritty presentation of working-class life to a sentimental, comic version. Sturdy “battleaxes” like Ena Sharples and Hilda Ogden have given way to cuddly old folk like Emily Bishop and Norris Cole. • The programme has worked hard to include “minorities” such as homosexuals (Sean), trans-sexuals (Hayley) and Asians (Dev and family), but they often seem to be lazy, one-dimensional stereotypes rather than believable members of a community. • The more realistic Coronation Street tries to be, the less convincing it becomes: moments which involve characters being drunk or, worse, watching and discussing football are overly contrived and do not strike us as anything like our own experiences of such things. • The idea that soap operas like Coronation Street sell to us is that working-class life revolves around key locations like the Rovers Return and Roy and Hayley’s greasy spoon café, places in which most of community life occurs. There are few secrets: everyone’s business is everyone else’s. • The programme is full of “salt-of-the-earth” northern types like Fizz, Kirk and Janice Battersby. • Family life is focused on characters such as the Websters and their marriage (threatened so many times by the infidelity of both partners) and, of course, pillars of the community Deirdre and Ken Barlow. • Perhaps the programme’s sponsorship by Cadburys in the 1990s co-incided with its decline into saccharine sentimentality. The programme has since been sponsored by the similarly homely Tetley Tea, and is now sponsored by Harveys Furniture.

4.3 REPRESENTATION: SOCIAL CLASS Girls Aloud

23 • Girls Aloud are Cheryl Cole, Nadine Coyle, Nicola Roberts, Kimberley Walsh and Sarah Harding. Four of the girls are from Northern England and one is from Northern Ireland. This “northern-ness” has been a major part of their appeal since their inception on 2002’s Popstars: The Rivals. • Girls Aloud are marketed towards a mass audience and it is probably fair to say that they have fewer fans among the middle classes than they do among the working classes. They appeal to aspirational young females who look at the five members and want to be like them — and those northern accents seem to make this dream that little bit more attainable. The video to “The Promise” plays with this idea of aspiration, with the girls watching themselves at an American-style drive-through cinema. • The media image of Girls Aloud is one of battling underdogs. Cheryl Cole in particular has been followed by controversy and adversity almost since the beginning of her career, from her nightclub assault on a toilet attendant (and subsequent accusations of racism) to the breakdown of her marriage with footballer Ashley Cole. • In late 2008 Attitude magazine featured the girls. The writer of the article compared them to “every lairy northern bird you have ever met”, adding to the image of Girls Aloud as five ordinary twenty-somethings whose lives are strikingly similar to our own. 4.4 REPRESENTATION: SOCIAL CLASS Notting Hill (Michell, 1999)

Richard Curtis wrote this film following on from the success of Four Weddings and a Funeral which also starred High Grant and centred on middle-class people in London.

• The film’s location is in an area known for its annual carnival that celebrates ethnicity and muitli-culturalism. It is also only half a mile away from the broken down housing estates and fractured family lives of the characters in Kidulthood. Yet to watch Notting Hill there is no sense of this. • Notting Hill is represented almost as a village within London. A community of care owners and book-shop owners. This was once a working class area into which middle-class people have settled – this is called gentrification. • William describes Notting Hill as ‘a village in the middle of the city,’ and in representing its private, walled gardens as wide open spaces the film conveys the image of a rural idyll. The shot at the end of the scene in which William and Anna climb high angle into a garden gives the impression of an expanse of green, English countryside, and the wall that surrounds the garden cuts this space off from urban

24 London. • All the leading characters are white the only British ethnic in the film is Spike (Rhys Ifans) who is Welsh. • All the characters are employed in professional jobs or offer specialist services – William Thacker (Hugh Grant) owns a book shop that specializes in travel writing.

• Honey Thacker: Will's younger sister is an artist and designer.

• Bernie: A failing stockbroker and a friend of Will. He does not recognise Anna Scott on meeting her.

• Spike: dreams of being an artist.

• Bella: a paraplegic lawyer and Will's ex-girlfriend. She is married to Max. • Anna Scott – A Hollywood actress. The world that these characters inhabit are homes – spacious Victorian and Georgian terrace houses, café bars and fancy restaurants, up market hotels and a backdrop of iconic London landmarks (St. Paul’s Cathedral, Houses of Parliament etc). This points to the American audience who will expect to see these locations and view Britain in this way rather than the London represented in Secrets and Lies or Kidulthood. Apart from Spike and Anna all the people speak with Received Pronunciation (BBC English) – there are no regional accents.

• Working class life and people are not seen here. Working class people are seen only briefly working in hotels or driving taxis. This is a fantasy rom-com and distinct from Secrets and Lies and This is England.

Perhaps this film underlines how the class system is firmly in place in Britain and that middle-class and working class people still do not meet on a social basis despite this being an “equal” society. 5.1 REPRESENTATION: TEENAGERS AND YOUNG PEOPLE The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent

• As we saw above with immigrants, teenagers and young people get a pretty bad press in this country. An article in The Independent in 2009 argued that teenage boys have become wary of each other because the vast majority of stories about that social group in the media are concerned with violent crime. Words like “yobs”, “thugs”, “sick”, “evil”, “feral” (meaning wild and uncivilized) and even “inhuman” are typically used by journalists when talking about the young. • The “noughties” were particularly bad for the young, with moral panics about

25 hoodies, knife crime, gangs and guns dominating the media. TV talent shows such as The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent have provided an antidote to these overwhelmingly negative representations. • In Britain’s Got Talent, the viewer often gets the impression that the judges, Piers Morgan in particular, have been asked to be very positive about the younger performers. As such, acts like George Sampson and Diversity (the last two winners) have been told that they are “a credit” to the nation’s youth and “a shining example“ to the rest of the country that young people can actually put some effort into a worthwhile goal.

5.2 REPRESENTATION: TEENAGERS AND YOUNG PEOPLE Skins

• Skins is a controversial teen drama which represents the lives of a group of teenage friends. Where skins differs from many of the teen dramas if that, despite the turmoil and the problems, the program is also a celebration of youth, each episode featuring scene set at gigs, clubs and house parties. Consider the "moral panic" and hostility to Skins that arose when a teenager from Northern England posted an open invite to "Skins party" on MySpace, using the subtitle from an episode "let's trash the average family size house disco party". More than 200 people attended and over £20,000 worth of damage was caused deliberately.

As the MySpace example here shows, Skins has been very successful in engaging its target audience and either representing life as it is all life as the audience might like it to become. It has been criticised for its stereotypical characters and storylines and has been controversial for allegedly representing teenagers as more transgressive and "out-of- control" than is realistic. For example, featuring a gay character, a character who cheats on his girlfriend and another who sleeps with a teacher, and storylines involving a Muslim character experimenting with drugs, car theft, eating disorders, suicide and a heroin overdose, the central motif of the series is the recurrence of high octane, drug fuelled parties.

It is the narrative element that has outraged older viewers (referred to as the "parent culture") and delighted teenage viewers in equal measure.

Analysing the 2 Skins party" in terms of representation, the question to ask is whether the

26 program is merely representing accurately, for better or worse, the world as it is (i.e. teenagers are like this and the program is accurate) or whether it is constructing a version of teenage life which may lead to more drug taking and antisocial behavior.

• The characters dress well without conforming to mainstream trends and many of the characters accents are standardised so that it is not that clear that the series is set in Bristol and suggesting that these youths could be in any town in England or Britain.

• Their lifestyles are exciting, soundtracks play a mixture of alternative music, and whilst not all the characters conform to the male or female gaze, the way they live and their group of friends make them desirable and aspirational.

• The lives of the characters in skins are represented as constantly being disrupted. Consequently the characters conform to stereotypes of youth, causing their own disruptions by acting irresponsibly. Not only does Chris lose his girlfriend, he also loses his job and his home because he moved into one of the flats he is supposed to be letting. This is where we read Chris at the end of the episode, but it isn't a state of equilibrium as his life is in turmoil. • Ideological is the program challenges the belief that everything will turn out all right in the end, and characters are left facing new conflicts and problems.

• The characters use of drugs is normal lives without the characters being demonized.

• In the episode involving Chris, when attempting to sell his first house, Chris paints an idealised picture of life in the house, finishing with "imagine skinning up in the back garden… with the kids". These customers are surprised rather than shocked, and buy the house. T

• The narrative of skins lacks the binary oppositions conventionally found in teen drama which are usually children versus parents, youth versus experience and irresponsibility versus responsibility. This absence of these oppositions stems from the representation of the adults who are as flawed as the characters: Chris’s ex girlfriend was his teacher; his father and mother desert him; even the college principal is foul-mouthed and expelled him because of the college's statistics.

• Characters are divided into those that are likeable and those that are not, regardless

27 of age. The middle aged estate agency manager bonds and supports Chris whereas his young colleague is represented as annoying and aggressive.

• It is often claimed that programs like skin are more "realistic" and other teen programs such as Hollyoaks (1995-). Chris is a complex character; he is simultaneously likeable but cheats on his girlfriend, even while he genuinely wants the relationship to work. These complex representations of characters and their behaviour can be linked to discussions about realism, as this reflects our actual experiences more closely than less-developed and more stereotypical characters.

• The question to ask is, does Skins represent the world as it is or does it actually construct a version of teenage life that then becomes a reality? • “The minority of teenagers who go out and get wasted has now increased dramatically to a much larger minority because the show glorifies killing yourself through drink, and gives the impression of ‘everybody’s at it, why aren’t I?’” — User comment from www.thestudentroom.co.uk. • Parents have been outraged and teenagers delighted in equal measures by Skins. • The show was at the centre of a moral panic when a teenager from northern England posted an invite to a “Skins party” on MySpace. More than 200 people attended and over £20,000 worth of damage was caused deliberately. • Tony Stonem and his sister Effy are the characters most representative of the manipulative, hedonistic teen associated with Skins. Tony attempts to control every character around him, mistreating his girlfriend and being generally obnoxious to Sid. At the end of the fourth series Effy breaks the fourth wall by smiling into the camera, representing her intelligence. • Jal and Anwar, from Series 1 and 2, represent teenagers from different ethnic groups. Anwar faces a moral dilemma when he tries to balance his Muslim beliefs with his promiscuous and pill-popping lifestyle. He also has a homosexual friend, Maxxie, and the two fall out when Anwar tells him that his religious beliefs clash forbid homosexuality. • Jal is probably the most level-headed and mature of all of the show’s teenage characters. She is a supremely talented musician and abstains from sex. She is part of a troubled family; her mother left years before, her father is a jaded recording artists and her brothers aspire to be rappers but are frankly quite terrible. Where they poke fun at black stereotypes Jal offers a challenge to the idea of the black person as troublemaker or dependent. • Cassie represents the idea of teenagers retreating into a “second self” or alter

28 ego in order to deal with problems. She is anorexic and manages to lie about it for a long time, and she struggles emotionally over her relationship with Sid. Scenes involving Cassie often have a dreamy, childlike feel, representing either the ruined innocence of her childhood or her inability to deal with her problems in a more mature manner. • The adults in Skins are often poor role models: the father of Tony and Effy is a laughing stock easily outwitted by his offspring; the teachers are dreadful stereotypes who want to be friends with their students and even seduce, or be seduced by, them; and Cassie’s parents have very little interest in her personal dilemmas.

5.3 REPRESENTATION: TEENAGERS AND YOUNG PEOPLE

Hollyoaks

Hollyoaks, while less "shocking" also represents a range of "real life" social issues relevant to the teenage audience. Because of the sensitivity of many of the storylines, and the youthful nature of the audience, a full-time researcher is employed to the program, who acts as a mediator between the script writing team and the audience during production. Scriptwriter Ian Pike describes (in an interview in Media Magazine) the appeal of Hollyoaks in this way:

“Hollyoaks is totally unique. It goes out five nights a week, this film is considerably faster than on a much smaller budget, yet still picks up wards alongside Coronation Street and Eastenders. It is targeted at young people and goes out at 6:30 PM that is one of the most successful home-grown programmes on Channel 4. And going on the feedback we receive, it can make a difference to people's lives. Covering male rape and self-harming in the way we did undoubtedly help teenagers who'd been through similar experiences. What makes is completely different though is the humour. We often cut from something very heavy and thought-provoking to something utterly silly and light-hearted in a way that no one else does. Life is like that. In any street one family may be in the middle of a terrible crisis while their neighbours are laughing and I think we reflect that.”

6.1 CATEGORISING AUDIENCES

• We can think about the categorisation of audiences in various ways. First of all, we

29 might divide audiences into mass and niche. Mass audiences tend to consume widely popular media texts such as soap operas and big football matches and they may read the tabloid newspapers, like The Sun and The Mirror. Niche audiences are interested in more specialised media texts, such as late-night art programmes and so on. Typically they read broadsheets like The Guardian. Though they are often quite small in number, niche audiences can be very influential: they are important to media producers because they tend to be very dedicated. • More obviously, audiences can be categorised according to things like age (Songs of Praise, anyone?), gender (women still tend to watch soap operas more than men do) and socio-economic grouping. This last one is more complicated. It splits audiences into groups known as A, B, C1, C2, D and E. In group A you would find society’s high- earners — lawyers, doctors and so on; the C groups would consist of “white collar” workers such as bank clerks; and groups D and E are made up of unskilled labourers, students, the unemployed and pensioners. The idea behind this is that your socio- economic position (i.e. your social class and how much you earn) is related to your interests (and also your probable level of intelligence). This is problematic: students and pensioners may be almost penniless, but surely students in particular might be interested in similar media texts as the people in groups A and B? However, the work of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu suggests that more highly educated people prefer “higher” forms of culture. • The four Cs (Cross-Cultural Consumer Characteristics) present a further way of categorising audiences. The issue here is to do with people’s psychographic profiles (that is, the way they think and feel). Groups in this model of categorisation include mainstreamers, aspirers, succeeders and the individual.

6.2 MODELS OF AUDIENCE RECEPTION

• There are various ideas related to the effect that media texts have upon audiences. The Hypodermic Syringe Model is one of the older and most debated of these. It is based on the idea that audiences are passive recipients of media texts. According to this model, which is sometimes referred to as the Mass Manipulation Model or the Magic Bullet Theory, we human beings are very heavily influenced by what the media tells us, and we base many of our ideas and actions upon the messages conveyed to us through the media. • Theorist Marie Winn wrote a book called The Plug-In Drug in which she talked about

30 “the glazed look” which characterises people, and children in particular, when they watch television. This glazed look implies an absence of active, critical thought. In 1938, whole families in the United States sat frozen in terror or even ran wildly into the streets because a voice on the radio had told them solemnly that Martians were invading the planet. This was a radio broadcast of H. G. Wells’ classic science-fiction work, The War of the Worlds. • It is probably safe to say that people are generally more measured in their response to media texts than this model suggests. We live in a media-literate society, in which people are prepared to question the ideas and values promoted by the media rather than just swallowing them whole. • Violence and the media is perhaps the major area in which audience reception is discussed. To what extent are members of society, and children in particular, influenced by the increasingly graphic depiction of violence in media texts? Can violent crime be blamed at all on this phenomenon? • Oliver Stone’s 1994 film Natural Born Killers saw its video release delayed due to a spate of so-called “copycat” murders. The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification — the people responsible for certifying films in this country) investigated ten of these cases and found that only two of the culprits had actually seen the film — one of those already had a record of violent crime and the other had previously expressed his intention to kill. • Opinions are divided on the extent to which media violence causes real-life violence (this argument is known as “the effects debate”). One the one hand, Mary Whitehouse has argued that “people learn from watching others” and, as such, “if you constantly portray violence as normal you will help to create a violent society.” You might say that video games go a stage further than preseting violence as normal — they actually reward players for “killing” on-screen enemies. On the other hand, Oliver Stone himself (unsurprisingly, for a film director) defends the role of the media. For him, the media is the modern-day equivalent of the witch — something on which we can blame society’s problems. • An experiment conducted by Albert Bandura yielded results which suggest, disturbingly, that young children will act violently if they have watched others doing so. This is often referred to as copycat violence. However, his famous “Bobo-doll” experiment was conducted in 1963 and is thus considered to be outdated. Critics such as David Buckingham actually feel that violence in the media can help children to learn about violence and its consequences, so long as they engage with such texts in a safe and structured environment. • Moral panics occur when the media reports an incident or spate of incidents and

31 links them to a perceived social problem, which is then presented as something we are all to fear as a threat to our society and its values. In the 1960s, sociologist Stan Cohen studied media coverage of the fights between Mods and Rockers and noted that youths in general were being portrayed as unruly and dangerous. Famous examples of moral panics include: fear of violent films and video games after the murder of James Bulger in Liverpool and, again, after the Columbine high school massacre in the United States; Islamophobia and fear of terrorism in the wake of 9/11 and the London bombs in July 2005; and the “hoodies” scare which has prevailed in Britain this century. • Moral panics generally happen in three stages. Firstly, an event occurs and is reported by the media. Then, connections are made between the event and wider problems in society as a whole. Experts are cited in the media as saying that this is merely “the tip of the iceberg” and that society is under threat from this new menace. Eventually, the public are gripped by fear and indignation, and may even campaign for changes in the law to counter the dangers. • The Uses and Gratifications Model finally starts to credit audience members with some intelligence and individuality, and is therefore associated with an active audience. According to this model, which was developed by theorists Blumler and Katz in 1974, audiences engage with media texts according to what they want to get out of them. You might want to watch The Lord of the Rings, for instance, to escape for a while from the grey drudgery of the town you live in; this would be an example of diversion (or escapism). Your love of romantic comedies might be attributable to the fact that you wish your own personal relationships were as blissfully perfect as those seen on television. Or you might construct your personal identity around the look and characteristics associated with a particular celebrity. Lastly, you might watch the news or the weather, or even a quiz show like University Challenge, in order to gather information about the world; this is referred to as surveillance. • In 1977, Richard Dyer expanded the idea of escapism. What does it mean to “escape” from reality when, say, watching a film? For Dyer, this escapism can take one of three forms. Sometimes, it involves the obliteration of our daily reality: a film like Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings is set in a world or universe so far removed from our own that we have to temporarily erase the everyday reality we know in order to fully engage. Or we might contrast the world on screen with our own — preferring, for example, the cosy storylines of romantic comedies to our own complex and difficult lives. Lastly, escapism might work through the incorporation of the ideas seen on screen into our own lives in an attempt to make the latter easier and more enjoyable. Think about the (false) optimism you experience after watching a

32 “feel-good film” and you will understand this point.

6.3 SAMPLE AUDIENCE QUESTION: How do different audiences react differently to the same media text? Explain using your own detailed examples.

• Audience readings of media texts come in three main categories. A preferred reading (sometimes known as a dominant or hegemonic reading) occurs when the audience accepts the message intended by the producers (this is what is supposed to happen with the target audience). An oppositional reading is when the audience questions and even disagrees with this message and with the values promoted by the media text. A negotiated reading is where something between the above happens: the audience generally accepts the text and its values but audience members play an active role in making up their minds about it. There is also an aberrant reading, which is when the audience interprets a text in a way in which the producers simply had not anticipated. • Below are some suggested texts and some advice on how to talk about them in a question like this. Notice that each text is explored from a different point of view (e.g. age of audience, gender of audience and so on).

Life on Mars • The age of the viewer is likely to influence his or her response to the series, particularly its representation of 1970s’ attitudes. • Sam Tyler is probably in his mid 30s, which helps to position the target audience. • There are also jokes which will appeal to people who remember the 1970s. • Men in their late 30s to early 40s (the target audience) may look back with nostalgia at the 1970s, even preferring the dubious style of policing, the racist and sexist attitudes, to today’s more liberated society. • Younger viewers are more likely to be shocked at, for instance, the behaviour of DCI Gene Hunt (even if they find him funny).

CSI • The level of engagement of the viewer is likely to influence his or her response to the series, particularly its representation of forensic science. • The show’s narratives and use of scientific terminology appeal to audiences who will have a primary engagement with the text (i.e. they will give it their undivided

33 attention). • Such viewers are more likely to realise that the show’s representation of forensic science is quite far removed from reality. • The show’s glossy style (establishing shots of US cities, photogenic young characters, sharp fashion sense) appeals to more passive viewers, who may have CSI on in the background while doing other things. • This is known as a secondary or tertiary level of response; such viewers may be more likely to accept the show’s representation of forensic science as realistic. • In the United States, there is a phenomenon known as the “CSI effect”: due to the success of CSI, many jurors are so convinced of the reliability of forensic science that it is influencing jury decisions.

The Girl Next Door • The gender of the viewer is likely to influence his or her response to the film, particularly its representation of women. • This film is something of an oddity in that it uses many of the conventions of the romantic comedy genre but is primarily aimed at males. • The adolescent male audience is positioned by the high level of sexual innuendo, the slapstick humour and the casting of Elisha Cuthbert, whose sex appeal is emphasised throughout. • Members of the target audience are likely to respond positively to the idea that the nice, down-to-earth kid can win the affections of a highly attractive former porn star. • Female viewers are more likely to be critical of the film’s objectification of women, and particularly with the idea that, while Danielle is “too good” to be a porn star, some women, apparently, are not.

The Simpsons • The cultural competence of the viewer is likely to influence his or her response to the series, particularly the humour. • Matt Groening: “The more you know, the funnier it is”. • Many of the jokes in The Simpsons require that the viewer understands fairly specific references to film, television, literature, art and history. • Similarly, a lot of the humour is very specifically American and so will be lost on foreign audiences. • Viewers who don’t understand these jokes are not necessarily stupid; they simply don’t have the cultural competence to appreciate them (i.e. they haven’t read the

34 poem, or seen the film, or studied the aspect of history, to which a certain joke refers). • Example 1: Krusty the Clown, performing badly as Shakespeare’s tragic hero King Lear, asks the critical audience to “Lighten up: it’s a comedy!” Those viewers who have read King Lear will know that it is, in fact, one of the bleakest works of literature ever written. • Example 2: In one episode, former US President George Bush Sr. talks about the importance of parental discipline. He claims that he himself was “spanked by Grover Cleveland on two non-consecutive occasions”. Historians might know that Grover Cleveland is the only US President to be elected on two non-consecutive occasions. Hilarious!

Some other texts you might discuss: • Sicko: How might a British viewer’s response differ from that of an American viewer? • Skins: How might the response of teenage viewers differ from that of their parents? • Slumdog Millionaire: Would Indian viewers have responded in the same way as British and American viewers?

6.4 SAMPLE AUDIENCE QUESTION: Choose any media text and explore the gratifications an audience may get from it.

Any media text would be valid here, although some will naturally give you more to talk about than others. I have used the Tomb Raider games as an example. You could write about any text you wish (a film, a TV show, a magazine), but I recommend sticking to a formula like the one below.

NB This is a nice question but needs to be dealt with correctly. You must respond in an informed manner — Media Studies examiners do not like “common sense” answers which provide no evidence that you have been in a Media Studies classroom. You should, therefore, get into the habit of using the appropriate terminology.

1. Introduce the theory of Uses and Gratifications. It implies an active audience with the ability and intelligence to decide what they want from the media. The theory was developed by Blumler and Katz in the 1970s. 2. Outline Blumler and Katz’s four main ideas: diversion/escapism, personal relationships, personal identity and surveillance. Offer a brief explanation for each of these terms.

35 3. Discuss the pleasures of Tomb Raider which can be categorised under these ideas. For instance: • Female players may enjoy the positive role model offered by Lara Croft — she is a brave, independent woman, striding athletically into such male arenas as action, adventure and espionage: she is both Indiana Jane and Jane Bond. She takes on all challengers without fear: rats, bats, lions, tigers, bears, wolves, gorillas, crocodiles, genetic mutants, mummies, giant spiders and, of course, men (link to personal identity). • Male players (even if they would not necessarily admit it) may be attracted to Lara on some level — the game designers went to great lengths to sexualise her, transforming the conical breasts of the first game to a more convincing, rounded shape, ensuring her legs and waistline are as slender as possible and working on her clear skin and model-esque pout. Some of the camera angles seem to focus on Lara’s “assets” with a regularity which just cannot be accidental. When the player completes the second game, the heroine begins to undress for a shower. Just we think she will reveal all, she turns to the camera and says, “Don’t you think you’ve seen enough?“ at which point the screen goes black. Some lust-crazed male fans have even been known to live out imaginary love affairs with Lara, sending her letters and so on (link to personal relationships). • It is arguable that things can be learned by playing Tomb Raider. The games are set in a range of geographic locations (which may be unfamiliar to many players) and appeal to the player’s knowledge of mythology, with levels referring to Thor, Damocles, Neptune, Atlas, Midas and so on. However, this is not one of the main reasons why the game has been so successful (link to surveillance). • Surely the main attraction of playing Tomb Raider is the escapism it offers. Not only can we control a character of almost superhuman athleticism and bravery, but we can wander at will through a vast number of exotic locations: just in the first three Tomb Raider games, the player visits South America, Egypt, London, Venice, China, Tibet, the Nevada desert, Antarctica, the South Pacific, India and more. The game designers worked hard to evoke the flavour of these locations, using different textures and musical accompaniments to bring the settings to life (link to escapism/diversion). 4. It might be worth pointing out here that the critic Richard Dyer expanded the idea of escapism into three different types, of which the obliteration of reality seems perhaps most applicable to Tomb Raider 5. There are also many attractions which are less easy to categorise under the Uses and Gratifications framework. For instance:

36 • the mental work involved with solving puzzles, and the psychological pleasure of doing so; • the level of control enjoyed by the player: we are rewarded for skill and perseverance with progress to the next stage (this may seem obvious but think about how different this is from films or almost any other media form); • the cinematic quality of the game: for instance, the intertextual links with the Indiana Jones films, the incidental music which kicks in at moments of tension or suspense, or the detailed FMV sequences. 6. You could use the above points to suggest that the Uses and Gratifications model is quite a limited way of explaining why we like what we like — a media text offers any number of pleasures, not all of which can be easily categorised.

7.1 SAMPLE EXAM PAPER

TIME ALLOWED: 2 ½ hours Answer all questions.

The sequence is taken from ______.

1. Analyse the sequence, commenting on:  symbolic codes  technical codes  narrative codes [40]

2a. Suggest two possible audiences for this media text and explain how they have been targeted. [6]

2b. Choose two characters from the sequence and explore the way in which they are represented.

37 [9]

2c. With reference to your own detailed examples, explore the way in which ______are represented in the media today. [15]

3. In what ways do different audiences respond differently to the same media text? Explain using your own detailed examples. [30]

38