Theorists. - Homework.

Theorists and Theories

To begin with, the Cultivation theory is an important theory that applies to the complete subject of media. The Cultivation is a theory that helps us understand the long term effects of media products e.g. Televisions.These long term effects may be small and gradual whilst also being indirect, but they further deeper into being cumulative (Increasing) but also significant. This may be a slower method, but it becomes a more accumulative effect. 

George Gerbner was the male figure who developed this theory in the mid 1960's. During this research project, he focused on whether and how watching television, may influence viewers ideas of what the everyday world is like. Furthering on from this George Gerbner, argued that the mass media cultivate attitudes and values which are already present in a culture. Due to this being already being present in a culture; the media maintains and propagates (spreads and promotes) these values amongst members of a culture, which then binds it all together. Gerbner's main argument is that television tends to cultivate middle-of-the-road (Avoiding extremes / moderate) political perspectives.

Moving on from George Gerbner, the french theorist Jean Baudrillard formed the basic study of the future debate concerning collective identity. Baudrillard is mainly known in Media for his best known concept on Hyper-reality.

Jean Baudrillard, believes that the signs and symbols of our culture have no basis in reality but have created a new world, one that is a simulation (to pretend to have something one does not have) of reality and construct a perceived reality. This french theorist also believed that even though, we're now in a post modernist world, the illusion has officially disappeared which then allows the media texts to accurately or neutrally reproduce reality or truth. Finally Baudrillard introduced the idea of hyper-reality, with blurred boundaries between the real and the fictional. An example of this hyper-reality is Disney world, which exists in the real world yet it based on a fictional make believe one.

Thirdly, the theorist Roland Barthes argued that representations are mythic in the sense that they have an appearance of being natural or commonsensical. Furthering on from this, the representations are believed to be problematic and the simulations of realities which don't exist. This becomes a blurring between what is real and what is not. An example is celebrity images. This complete Hyper reality theory was actually developed by Jean Baudrillard.

Fourthly, another important theorist is Richard Dyer. The Matter If Images is a theory in which Dyer created. Within this, he explained how we are seen determines how we are actually treated. Then how we treat others is based on how we see them. Before moving onto how we see them comes from representation. Furthering on, Dyer also believes that we our own personal experience of the group being represented might be the media text that the representation is in. 

Another theorist is David Chandler. This specific theorist, explains how representation refers to the construction is any medium of aspects of 'Reality' such as people, places, objects, events, cultural identities and other abstract concepts. He also explained how representation always involves 'the construction of reality'


Henry Jenkins is a male figure who has decided that over the web 2.0, he is able to post videos and posts to remind us how we're now apart of this advanced technology which is never ending, through contributing. He is also explains how we were once spectatorial consumers, but now have developed into a participatory audience due to the slow and yet gradual change of media. This change has allowed us to write our own posts on many internet sites, as well as uploading our own thoughts and opinions in a video onto the network site 'Youtube'.

The theorist Anthony Giddens is also shown for his contribution about media. His main belief focuses on the influence of ideas on people's and actions.

Collective Identity

Collective Identity

Key Words:

• Conforms / Challenges
• Male Gaze
• Mediation
• Denotation / Connotation
• Stereotype
• Representation

Blurred Lines.  - Music Video.

Looking at the collective identity of women in the popular music video 'Blurred Lines', we can tell that the process of mediation represents women in a slight stereotypical view. This stereotypical view is based upon women being sexual and desirable, but also more submissive towards the male gender. Due to the denotation of these women; licking their teeth, revealing a large amount of skin but also allowing to be controlled by the male gender, the audience are lead to the connotation that these women are actually sex objects whilst also being used for male pleasure. This leads onto the subject of male gaze. As this music video clearly shows, the male gaze is based upon 'middle aged men' creating this piece of media for an audience of 'middle aged men', with the representation of women and how they're dressed to catch attention. Following on from this, the male gaze is also based on how the singers can appear to be looking at the women in their outfits, in the close up shots of the camera work. This shows that these camera shots that were focused on the close ups of the male singers faces and gazes, were apart of the mediation. The complete music video, conformed to the stereotypes of society. 

Chandelier - Music Video.

In this selected music video 'Chandelier', the representation of a young girl imitating an older women against the song with mature themes, after a million views in the first 24 hours of the actual video being revealed, the audience had extremely mixed opinions. Whilst the denotation reveals a young female wearing; a lot of make-up, a leotard in which makes her look naked but also a more grown up look with a white wig. This follows through to the connotation, that the young girl which imitates an older women, is trying to grow up too quick in the most inappropriate manner. With the mediation, being so focused and carefully processed to create this overall music video, the music video really challenges the stereotypical view of younger females. On the other hand, the denotation does show this young girls extremely fluent yet mainly innocent dance through out the music video except the scene of the imitating a suicidal death with curtians. This connotation alone, shows the ambitions and forms of art this young girl has practised and learnt with procession to develop the overall future. As a following opinion from most of the audience, this revelation of the young girl, is a positive outcome to let her find her own way into success and fame. This keeps the conformation of stereotypes, as the young girl is represented into wanting to be a personal dancer. 

Sket - Film.

The film known as 'Sket' both challenges the stereotypes of females but also conforms, depending on the situation. With the opening scene being carefully processed through mediation, the first full amount of footage denotes a group of young females beating up a man laying on the floor. Their appearances are all not shown to be cared about as they have been shown to have chosen the more 'aggressive' yet 'manly' clothing e.g. hoodies and body warmers. As well as appearances being quite aggressive and more of a male form, the attitudes of these females goes beyond challenging; abusive language, violence, no sympathy and assertive towards strangers. This only leads the audience into the specific connotation of how women can be more focused and assertive than the male figures of this world today. The connotation also develops and furthers into other subjects about how women can change so suddenly due to small impacts on their comfort zones or how women have started to become more of the dominating side of relations with other people than men have. Furthering on from this, a comparison of types of women are also shown through representation. The following scene after this violence was shown to be a more timid female; who gets pulled around by men, tries to hurry away from the trouble and also focuses more on her appearance as she keeps covered and keeps a clean and feminine look. This obviously conforms to stereotypes of women. The mediation purposely chose to show a juxtaposition between what society stereotypes women to have to be, against the challenges women go through to go against anything stereotypical.

Blurred Lines (Parody) - Music Video.

In parody's, women especially can change or copy a selected media copy to make their own edition. This links into and reveals the self representation (image a subject or subjects have of him or herself based on their own interpretation) the figures have. This specific parody of Blurred Lines, obviously has been based on a group of females interpretation that the media does not need to show women as sexual objects, as they can be just as much as anything male figures can be.