Tim O'Sullivan's Theory of Ideology (1998)
A set of ideas which produce a partial or selective view of reality.
Ideologies are seen as beliefs that are widely held which are seen as common sense and become naturalised in society.
These can be seen in current society for example 'the male gaze' ideology where women are viewed as sexual objects to men. or also about the ideology of how there's specific clothes for specific genders.
To what extent do you agree to his theory of ideology?
- Ideology involves a widely held ideas or beliefs which are seen as 'common' sense and becomes accepted by society. Ideology helps us to make judgments about the world and the different views people have within it. It can also be argued, and is one mechanism by which a ruling group tries to deceive and control the ruled.
-Ideology implies that a powerful group can choose how and what messages are leaked to the media, and how that society view these people/messages in certain ways because of expectations.
- Ideology is controlled, the audience have to consume their opinion to be the right one, as the audience have no control.
-Terry Eagleton said "Nobody has yet come up with a single adequate definition of ideology." Eagleton may be right as far as the wording of the concept of ideology is concerned. However, scholars generally agree on the social nature of ideology: it is about social relations, consciousness, and power struggle which play important parts in carrying out ideological objectives.
-Because of Ideology we have ideas about the world that we live in. Because the media is so powerful it can control what and how ideas are portrayed to an audience/consumer. The more powerful you are in society, the more control you have over how messages are given to an audience.
I therefore do agree with his theory as it can be seen in society quite prominently.
Richard Dyer's Star Theory
-Richard Dyer discussed the theory of ‘stars’ being constructed for media texts, and create their own unique selling points.
(Think your Leonardo DiCaprio’s, Brad Pitt’s, George Clooney’s etc. )
-Dyer posits that these stars are created and manufactured solely for financial gain, supposedly constructed to represent ‘real people experiencing real emotions’.
-People can relate to the stars via their unique selling point, i.e. Lady Gaga appeals to a certain type of person. Thus creating the idea of hegemony (putting yourself in a stars shoes). Media industries use hegemony to promote their products to those groups of people.
social media has heavily affected this theory as shown by influencers. for example people will follow people specifically for them and the brand/content they create. and people will follow collaborations of these creators like how people would watch films for specific actors.
In the first poster RDJ is shown as the front most character, probably because at the time he was the actor people knew the most. In the second poster he's at the back because all the actors are of high value RDJ is still shown as the biggest though.
Levi Strauss- Binary Oppositions
Ying and Yang, Kirk and Spock, Skywalker and Vader. All examples of characters representing binary oppositions.
This is representation through contrast, showing two extremes of the same ideals, such as; good and evil, light and dark, men and women.
The theory of binary opposites is that all narratives have to be driven forward by a conflict that was caused by a series of opposing forces, e.g. a hero and a villain, until finally a sort of balance between them, or a resolution is achieved
Bend It Like Beckham Analysis
- What stereotypical representations can you identify?
- What archetypes/stereotypes are there?
- How are women objectified?
- What is the ideology of the text?
- What impact does the representation have on the audience?
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