CONTENTS 1 Representation: Men 1.1 Life on Mars 1.2 Casino Royale
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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.