Post 6 - Representation Theory

Summary of theories which will benefit our group's short film:

Daniel Chandler:

He suggests that these are the key questions to consider when thinking about representation, particularly for a short-film. Therefore, these are the questions which our group will ask ourselves when making our short film.

What is being represented?

How is it represented?

Using what codes?

Within what genre?

How is the representation made to seem 'true', 'commonsense' or'natural'?

What is foregrounded and what is backgrounded?

Are there anynotable absences?

Whose representation is it?

Whose interests does it reflect?

How doyou know?

At whom is this representation targeted?

How do you know?

What does the representation mean to you?

What does the representation mean to others?

How do you account for the differences?

How do people make sense of it? According to what codes?

With what alternative representations could it be compared?

How does it differ?

A reflexive consideration - Why is the concept of representation problematic?

Marxist Approach to Representation:

Marxist approaches take as their starting point the idea that popular culture reflects the dominant ideologies of society from which it comes. A study of media texts will therefore reveal these ideas and beliefs and also the ways in which they are presented to construct ideas of what is 'normal' or 'common sense.'

Althusser was partly influenced by Marxism, and he theorised the idea of 'interpellation.' Media texts will interpellate viewers into the ideological roles required of them in society (as consumers, as law abiding citizens, women as mothers or sex objects.)

Gramsci and Hegemony - Subordinate groups in society are coerced into accepting the dominant ideologies of powerful groups by means of concessions made to them. In terms of the media, this has lead to studies of representations which appear to challenge dominant ideologies but which only offer concessions. These concessions do not overturn the existing ideological framework. For example, in 'Speed' Sandra Bullock appears to be a 'strong' woman as she drives the bus with skill and bravery; this offers a concession to female spectators who may then accept or overlook the fact that she is unable to effect a rescue of the passengers and has to be rescued by the hero at the end; so, the idea that women are subordinate is not overturned.

Another example of this is Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft in the film series, 'Tomb Raider.' She is constructed to be a strong, brave, powerful woman, and therefore could be perceived to be subverting the hegemonic representation of women, but actually, what is often overlooked is that she is constructed wearing hardly any clothing, and is very much sexualised, meaning that although at a first glance it could be argued that Lara Croft breaks the hegemonic view of women, but actually, she is merely just another sexualised object.

Analysis of Representation in 3 media texts:

1) The Representation of Race in 'Hotel Babylon:'

The extract of 'Hotel Babylon,' series one, episode five, constructs the representation of ethnicity using mise-en-scene. Costumes are used to show status and power between the different ethnic groups in this extract. For example, white people are portrayed as Police Officers and well-off hotel managers dressed in Police uniform and expensive looking smart business wear. Where as, the immigrants are shown wearing tatty overalls and aprons. This suggests that ethnic groups besides white people are somewhat of a 'lower' ranking and class. This is reinforced by the setting of the extract; a hiding place for the workers underground, beneath the main stories of the hotel. This again suggests that not only in a literal sense in this case, but that immigrants are beneath white people in this society, therefore reinforcing hegemonic traditional views of ethnic minority groups.

2) The Representation of Age in 'Friends:'

The extract from the US TV Sit-com 'Friends' constructs the representation of the elderly in a very traditional and hegemonic manor. The mise-en-scene of character movement is used to create comedic effect at the expense of an elderly character, being massaged by a significantly younger character, Ross. The elderly character is positioned lying face down, and is completely unaware of what Ross is doing to him. This connotes to the audience that elderly people are oblivious to what is going on around them, thus constructing a very negative representation of the elderly as a group. This is anchored by the mise-en-scene of sound; the non-diegetic sound of a laughter track encourages the audience, and indeed prompts the audience to laugh at the elderly man, thus reinforcing this traditional and hegemonic notion of the elderly.

3) The Representation of Gender in 'Dr. Who:'

Gender is represented in 'Dr. Who' very stereotypically hegemonic. Rose, the Doctor's female assistant has been constructed with the mise-en-scene of tight clothing, large hoop earrings, wearing lots of the colour red and a lot of make up. All of these micro elements sexualise her, something which stereotypically happens to women in the media when hegemony is present - such as British television. Rose states, "I'll let the Doctor describe it..." suggesting that she doesn't have as much authority as the Doctor. Furthermore, the camera angles are used to represent Rose as the smallest character, perhaps making her appear to be weaker than what she is - reinforcing a hegemonic ideology of women.

In conclusion, this research will be used to influence our short film when deciding how to represent our characters, particularly the protagonist for whom it is important that we represent in the correct way we want to. We shall need to bare in mind any potential hegemonic codes and values which may be in our piece, and must acknowledge and explain them if they were to be included.