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Showing posts with label Jennifer Delve. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jennifer Delve. Show all posts
Gays in Film
Written by Richard Dyer
From: Jump Cut, no. 18, August 1978, pp. 15-16
''Since the gay movement began we have insisted on the centrality of the media as a carrier, reinforcher or shaper of our oppression''
- backs up the ideology that the representation of gays in film being stereotypical shapes the way that people view homosexuals in society.
''A very common stance of straight critics, and alas of many within the gay movement, is that films should show that gay people are just ordinary human beings''
- homosexuals should be represented as themselves and the way they are shown should not just reinforce stereotypes, it should represent themselves. The way they act and behave should be they way they would do in every day life, not in the way that the audience would expect a typical gay to act in a film.
''There is no real difference between being gay and being straight''
-Self explanatory.
''We are right to be angry about the succession of pathetic, ridiculous and grotesque figures that are supposed to be up there on the screen''
- I entirely agree. The way gays are stereotyped is ridiculous and pathetic. The representation is wholly wrong and inaccurate.
''
From: Jump Cut, no. 18, August 1978, pp. 15-16
''Since the gay movement began we have insisted on the centrality of the media as a carrier, reinforcher or shaper of our oppression''
- backs up the ideology that the representation of gays in film being stereotypical shapes the way that people view homosexuals in society.
''A very common stance of straight critics, and alas of many within the gay movement, is that films should show that gay people are just ordinary human beings''
- homosexuals should be represented as themselves and the way they are shown should not just reinforce stereotypes, it should represent themselves. The way they act and behave should be they way they would do in every day life, not in the way that the audience would expect a typical gay to act in a film.
''There is no real difference between being gay and being straight''
-Self explanatory.
''We are right to be angry about the succession of pathetic, ridiculous and grotesque figures that are supposed to be up there on the screen''
- I entirely agree. The way gays are stereotyped is ridiculous and pathetic. The representation is wholly wrong and inaccurate.
''
Gay and Lesbian Criticism
Written by - Anneke Smelik
'Stereotypes of gays and lesbians such as the queen and dyke reproduce norms of gendered heterosexuality because the indicate that the homosexual man or woman falls short of the heterosexual norm,: that they can never be a 'real' man or woman.''
- just because of a persons sexuality, they cannot be 'real' if they do not fit the norm in society.
'A theoretical critique of stereotypes helps to explain the normative and normalizing effects of heterosexual hegemony. The question is therefore no how to get rid of stereotypes (as they are both efficient and resilient), nor how to replace them with positive images (which leave the heterosexist imperative intact), but how to achieve complexity, diversity, and self-definition)'
- How do we represent homosexuality in a different way to the normal stereotypes that are presented in film?
'A theoretical critique of stereotypes helps to explain the normative and normalizing effects of heterosexual hegemony. The question is therefore no how to get rid of stereotypes (as they are both efficient and resilient), nor how to replace them with positive images (which leave the heterosexist imperative intact), but how to achieve complexity, diversity, and self-definition)'
- How do we represent homosexuality in a different way to the normal stereotypes that are presented in film?
Homosexuality in the Media
Published on- http://ocw.usu.edu/English/introduction-to-writing-academic-prose/homosexuality-in-the-media.html
May 22nd 2007
''It can be rare to see homosexuality portrayed on a media screen so when speaking about a homosexual identity, it has proven difficult to do so without some form of stereotype''
- Proves that sexuality is difficult to portray in film and other media text without the characters falling into generic stereotypes that most homosexual characters do.
''The identity of the homosexual seems to stem from a stereotype itself, sometimes as if homosexuals have created their identities based on these stereotypes. When it comes to men, the ideal is effeminate''
- This point backs up the idea that the stereotypical homosexual male is based on other stereotypes of homosexual males.
''Homosexual male identities are formed from stereotypes of femininity and are perhaps, not true identities at all. They have perhaps been formed by the need to no longer be invisible in media productions, and hence, the public have allowed the stereotype to take over the homosexual identity in order to make it easier to understand this very identity''
-Homosexuals need not be hidden in in film and TV, so therefore the stereotype has been created,
''Before television and film, there was no real visual connection with homosexual traits that could be made in a public domain.''
- There was not much of an obvious homosexual stereotype before homosexuals were being portrayed in the media.
''Society allows for stereotypes to be made of homosexuals. The idea that they must be a certain way, otherwise they are not gay at all, shows that society will accept seeing homosexuality in media only of it presented in a way they best understand.''
- What the audience wants, the audience gets. This article suggests that if a character does not live up to the homosexual stereotype, then they are not even homosexual at all.
May 22nd 2007
''It can be rare to see homosexuality portrayed on a media screen so when speaking about a homosexual identity, it has proven difficult to do so without some form of stereotype''
- Proves that sexuality is difficult to portray in film and other media text without the characters falling into generic stereotypes that most homosexual characters do.
''The identity of the homosexual seems to stem from a stereotype itself, sometimes as if homosexuals have created their identities based on these stereotypes. When it comes to men, the ideal is effeminate''
- This point backs up the idea that the stereotypical homosexual male is based on other stereotypes of homosexual males.
''Homosexual male identities are formed from stereotypes of femininity and are perhaps, not true identities at all. They have perhaps been formed by the need to no longer be invisible in media productions, and hence, the public have allowed the stereotype to take over the homosexual identity in order to make it easier to understand this very identity''
-Homosexuals need not be hidden in in film and TV, so therefore the stereotype has been created,
''Before television and film, there was no real visual connection with homosexual traits that could be made in a public domain.''
- There was not much of an obvious homosexual stereotype before homosexuals were being portrayed in the media.
''Society allows for stereotypes to be made of homosexuals. The idea that they must be a certain way, otherwise they are not gay at all, shows that society will accept seeing homosexuality in media only of it presented in a way they best understand.''
- What the audience wants, the audience gets. This article suggests that if a character does not live up to the homosexual stereotype, then they are not even homosexual at all.
Representation of Sexuality in Science Fiction
MediaMagazine51 - February 2015
Written by - Dr Steve Connolly - a media studies tteacher, exeminer and freelance media and film studies consultant.
''Initially, Captain Jacks' sexuality is only hinted at - probably because Dr Who is considered to be for family viewing and references to any kind of sexual behaviour, heterosexual or otherwise, need to be kept oblique''.
- Basically saying that ANY form of sexual behaviour shown in 'Torchwood' and other family viewing shows, whether it be heterosexual, homosexual or otherwise, need to be kept minimal due to the audience of the show.
'' This costume is traditionally very masculine and, indeed, there are many aspects of Captain Jack's appearance which are hyper-masculine (he is tall, muscular and well built, with short hair and clear cut features''
-This reminds the audience to not confuse gender with sexuality. A man can be homosexual, but that does not make him any less of a man or any less masculine.
Written by - Dr Steve Connolly - a media studies tteacher, exeminer and freelance media and film studies consultant.
''Initially, Captain Jacks' sexuality is only hinted at - probably because Dr Who is considered to be for family viewing and references to any kind of sexual behaviour, heterosexual or otherwise, need to be kept oblique''.
- Basically saying that ANY form of sexual behaviour shown in 'Torchwood' and other family viewing shows, whether it be heterosexual, homosexual or otherwise, need to be kept minimal due to the audience of the show.
'' This costume is traditionally very masculine and, indeed, there are many aspects of Captain Jack's appearance which are hyper-masculine (he is tall, muscular and well built, with short hair and clear cut features''
-This reminds the audience to not confuse gender with sexuality. A man can be homosexual, but that does not make him any less of a man or any less masculine.
The Celluliod Closet
A documentary showing how homosexuality is depicted in film in North America. It uses various different films throughout.
This representation of Margret Thatchers death is very negative. The adjectives 'barbaric' and 'a terror' have very negative connotations such as cruelty and nuisance. Although, this is a newspaper report that is stating only what singer Morrissey has said, it is very negative. The words used such as 'attacking' the prime minister rather than 'speaking' about the prime minister show how strong the words that Morrissey used against Thatcher were.
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This representation of the death of Margret Thatcher is relatively positive. It is a BBC news report, which was released as soon as her death had been confirmed by her spokesman. Her death was confirmed through a single line statement which read 'Baroness Thatcher died this morning following a stroke'. Although the news report is from the BBC, it is more bias in the way it talks about how much she achieved during her 21 years of being the prime minister. The news report also includes an insert clip of Thatcher unveiling a portrait of herself in 10 Downing Street, which is obviously a very positive representation as if the BBC were being negatively bias towards her, they would show the crowds of people celebrating her death.
Representations of Women in Advertising
The encoders of the advert have tried to give a more realistic representation of women, by using those who have an average weight, different heights and different skin colours.
Text 1. Magazine cover from Rolling Stone 2013
The image is from the magazine Rolling Stone in 2013. The way she is positioned is provocative as she is leaning against the edge of a swimming pool, with no clothes on and licking her own shoulder. The smudged mascara underneath her eyes reinforces the constantly repeated ideology of her that she lives a 'crazy' lifestyle. It shows her as moving away from the 'old Miley' who played the character Hannah Montana.
The producers/encoders of this text have presented Miley Cyrus in a very provocative way. The photographer has framed her in a medium long shot, which allows the reader to see the majority of her exposed body. She has a lot of gold jewellery around her neck and on her wrist, which has connotations of fame and wealth. The smudged make-up around her eyes shows that she is departing from the typical 'cover girl' look, and heading towards a sort of gothic look.
Miley Cyrus is being
Text 3. Hannah Montana Forever DVD cover
Genre Essay - Insidious (2010)
Insidious (2010) is a hybrid genre movie of horror, drama and mystery. The film stars Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne and was directed by James Wan (who has previously directed films such as Saw and The Conjuring). The story is centered around two parents, whose son suddenly enters a comatose state and his body becomes a vessel for a demon in an alternate dimension.
The trailer shows many of the different conventions of a horror film. One of which, is characters. The film contains the generic horror film parents, the child who becomes harmed in some way (in this case, it is that a demon occupies his body), the actual demon and the 'exorcist'.
Media Diary - Week 4
The album that changed my life.
Personally, I've never been a big believer in 'this band changed/saved my life!!!'. But, an album that did change my music taste entirely was 'A Beautiful Lie' by 30 Seconds to Mars.
Discovering it in 2008, 3 years after it release, I remember being astounded by the bands' sound. As a naive and impressionable 11 year old , I searched for some of their other music. I was not disappointed! In 2002, 30 Seconds to Mars had released a self titled record, which was even better than the show stopping A Beautiful Lie. The lyrics on the self titled concept album are centered around human struggle and self determination. This is shown through many personal lyrics on all of the tracks. One set of lyrics that has stuck with me for almost 6 years now is the opening track of the album, 'Capricorn (A Brand New Name)'. It opens with 'So I run, hide, tear myself up and start again with a brand new name'. What I have taken from these lyrics is that anybody can change their life completely around if they are determined enough to do so,
whether this was Leto's initial intentions or not.
With A Beautiful Lie, came 4 singles. These 4 singles brought beautifully directed music videos. The video for 'The Kill' contains intertextuality as it is solely based around the Stephen King classic 'The Shinning'. It was essentially the single that gave the band their 'big break', winning awards such as the 2007 Kerrang! Best Single, Best Video of the Year and Best Rock Video at the MTV Australia Video Music Awards. The video for 'From Yesterday' was the first music video ever shot in the People's Republic of China in it's entirety. The lead singer, Jared Leto, directs all of the bands music videos under a 'secret' identity, 'Bartholomew Cubbins', but lets be real, it's not fooling anybody that this is Leto's incredible work.
In 2013, I FINALLY got to see 30 Seconds to Mars live, after what seemed like an eternity. I was not too keen on their latest album 'Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams' as it seemed more like an album filled with pop ballads rather than alternative rock songs. When I saw them, Jared Leto's voice was incredible live and I still believe that Shannon Leto is one of the best drummers out there. However, their set was only 14 songs and after 5 years of waiting I was kind of disappointed that they were playing their more recent songs and nothing from the self titled album, yet included a cover of Rihanna's 'Stay'.
Although I no longer feel the same way about 30 Seconds to Mars, they were the first ever rock band I got into and I am so thankful that I listened to them, otherwise I wouldn't have heard of some of my favourite bands today.
Media Diary - Week 3
Audience Classification
Text I have chosen to analyse this week is Skins (Series 5). Skins is a British teen drama TV Show that aired from 2007 to 2013. Series 5 was broadcast in early 2011, and brought a whole new cast/'generation' to the programme (see image, right). This season, like all others, follows a group of teenagers lives through their two years in Sixth Form. I think the predominant audience for this text is 16 to 18 year olds.
When looking at the Income/Status model, I think that the majority of the audience for Skins would be in Class E. This is because it has a target audience of teenagers, who are mostly attending school, which will make them students. Students are mostly unemployed so therefore they are at the lowest level on income. I think that Skins could also possibly target the working class (D). Each episode in series 5 targets a different character, although every episode contains all the characters.
I think when Jamie Brittain, Bryan Elsley and Ed Hime wrote skins, they had a certain audience member in mind. It targets both boys and girls, of around 17. The typical audience member would live at home with their parents and be at college / sixth form. They probably don't follow a religion specifically, but were brought up catholic. I think that the typical viewer would be white British as skins is set in Bristol.
On Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs (1943), I think that Skins challenges peoples love and belonging needs. Throughout the series, the characters are subjected to manipulation, drug abuse, violence and much more. A lot of their families are torn apart or disfunctional, which is why I think that it challenges these needs. However, I think it supports peoples social and esteem needs. This is because although the group of friends are arguing and fighting for a lot of the time, a sudden turn of events brings them together again.
There are 3 lifestyle categories that I think Skins would fit into. These are drifters, drop-outs and rebels. Drifters may enjoy this programme because they will be able to relate to the characters more than anything else. This is because not many of the characters know what they want to do once they leave sixth form. A lot of episodes end on a cliff hanger, which leaves drifters wanting to know more. I also think that Skins would appeal to rebels because rebels want others to fit in with their view of the world, which is exactly what the characters want to happen. As each episode is based around 1 of the characters, we get to see their view on things that are happening in everyone's lives. Lastly, I think drop outs would enjoy skins because none of them want commitment in any way. This is most relevant in relationships, particularly between Mini and Nick. In the third episode of the series, it becomes apparent that Mini isn't the most truthful to Nick, and that Nick doesn't actually like her, he's only using her to fulfill his own sexual needs.
When looking at the Income/Status model, I think that the majority of the audience for Skins would be in Class E. This is because it has a target audience of teenagers, who are mostly attending school, which will make them students. Students are mostly unemployed so therefore they are at the lowest level on income. I think that Skins could also possibly target the working class (D). Each episode in series 5 targets a different character, although every episode contains all the characters.
I think when Jamie Brittain, Bryan Elsley and Ed Hime wrote skins, they had a certain audience member in mind. It targets both boys and girls, of around 17. The typical audience member would live at home with their parents and be at college / sixth form. They probably don't follow a religion specifically, but were brought up catholic. I think that the typical viewer would be white British as skins is set in Bristol.
On Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs (1943), I think that Skins challenges peoples love and belonging needs. Throughout the series, the characters are subjected to manipulation, drug abuse, violence and much more. A lot of their families are torn apart or disfunctional, which is why I think that it challenges these needs. However, I think it supports peoples social and esteem needs. This is because although the group of friends are arguing and fighting for a lot of the time, a sudden turn of events brings them together again.
There are 3 lifestyle categories that I think Skins would fit into. These are drifters, drop-outs and rebels. Drifters may enjoy this programme because they will be able to relate to the characters more than anything else. This is because not many of the characters know what they want to do once they leave sixth form. A lot of episodes end on a cliff hanger, which leaves drifters wanting to know more. I also think that Skins would appeal to rebels because rebels want others to fit in with their view of the world, which is exactly what the characters want to happen. As each episode is based around 1 of the characters, we get to see their view on things that are happening in everyone's lives. Lastly, I think drop outs would enjoy skins because none of them want commitment in any way. This is most relevant in relationships, particularly between Mini and Nick. In the third episode of the series, it becomes apparent that Mini isn't the most truthful to Nick, and that Nick doesn't actually like her, he's only using her to fulfill his own sexual needs.
Media Diary Week 2
The media text I have chosen to talk about in this weeks media diary is Emma Watson's HeForShe campaign speech at the U.N headquarters in New York. The video containing Watson's speech was uploaded to the United Nations YouTube channel on 22nd September 2014. The video quickly became viral as it was a powerful speech about how gender discrimination effects both genders, not just women.
The purpose of the text is to galvanize as many boys and men into
becoming advocates to end all gender discrimination people face globally. She
also clarifies the common misconceptions about feminism, that it is not a 'man
hating' campaign and that all they want is for both genders to be treated
equally, (to receive equal pay etc).
Emma Watson is a huge A-List celebrity, having played one of the main
character roles in the film series 'Harry Potter', people may not take her
speech as seriously as she may like, and she addresses this in the speech. She
says:
''You might be thinking who is this Harry Potter girl? And what
is she doing up on stage at the UN. It’s a good question and trust me I have
been asking myself the same thing. I don’t know if I am qualified to be here.''
Although she thinks people may not take her seriously, personally I
think they should. Six months ago she was appointed UN Women Goodwill
Ambassador, which gives her every right to talk about this topic and most
certainly qualifies her to do so. It takes a huge amount of courage for
somebody who is so well known, to make a speech about a topic that has become
taboo over the years.
There has been a lot of different reactions to the video. A lot of
people are all for the HeForShe campaign, whilst others think that it is
sexist, still anti-male and will achieve nothing. For example, this is an article that TIME magazine
wrote on the speech
WATCH Emma Watson's HeForShe campaign speech here:
Media Diary - Week 1
The Maine - Forever Halloween
'Forever Halloween' is the latest album released by the popular, American alternative rock band, The Maine. This album is the follow up to their golden certified record, 'Pioneer'.
The album opens with the lively (in parts) track 'Take What You Can Carry'. This sets the tone for the entire album. Songs such as 'Love & Drugs' and 'Run' talk about how life in Los Angeles isn't all that it is hyped up to be, with lines such as 'in a city that is something, just not me'.
The slow tracks prove to be the most hard hitting on the album. The track 'These Four Words' changes the phrase 'I love you', that we are so accustomed to hearing, to a slowly sung line of 'These four words don't come easily, I, don't, love, you'. The song is sung in nothing short of a hauntingly style, which shows how much the band have grown and matured since their 2007 pop ballads such as 'Girls Do What They Want' and 'Everything I Ask For'.
Forever Halloween was a live recording. This means that the songs were recorded as a full band, rather than each instrument being recorded separately and then electronically put together. This depicts the sheer talent of the band, as not a lot of musicians would be able to do it.
The band have taken a risk, and created an album that shows how they are moving on from their old style/genre, and becoming a more mature sounding band. Although this may not be what fans wanted, they seem to be enjoying it with almost 50,00 of them purchasing it within it's first week on sale.
John O'Callaghan and the other members of The Maine have outdone themselves once again, producing such an excellent record.
'Forever Halloween' is a style of it's own, but fans of A Rocket To The Moon, Real Friends and You Me At Six will certainly enjoy it.
The first single from 'Forever Halloween'
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This image is an example of rule of thirds. The bottom third is the sea, the middle third is the sun and the top third is the sky. There are two points of interest on this image, the boat and the sun.
This is an example of foreground/background. The foreground point of interest is the bicycle, and the background point of interest is the bridge. The viewer of the photographs eyes will first be drawn to the bike, then to the bridge.
This image is an example of lines and shapes. The sand and sea have created interesting patterns and shapes. The sand also creates defining lines on the image.
This image is a representative of light and shade. The sun is shining onto the person riding the bicycle, which creates almost a silhouette of it. The bike is casting a shadow onto the floor, which is the shading in the image.
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