Stereotypes Commercial
Control
Images Icons Admiration Aspiration Hegemony
Idols Ideological
Control
e.g. Films give male stereotypes. David Beckham becomes a sporting icon and idol. The public admire him and aspire to be like him. To do this the public buy products linked to him (commercial control - e.g. kids, clothes, gel, boots) because they want to be like him. Therefore whenever he wears something, supports a certain label etc. the public copy exactly the same. This is particularly evident in the media and public reaction and interest in his hairstyles.
Stereotyping is often used in cross media context print images, for example, an advert for a wonderbra has a slim, pretty, big chested blonde. This is stereotypically 'sexy'. It is directed at women who believe that is how their men want them to look.
Media driven mass hysteria is a form of control and plays a part in the Government's power struggle to control the public. It is done by the media to the community. If the government want the general population to know about a certain story or headline they will inform the newspapers and it will be on the front page in order for the world to react to it. This is very evocative and provocative.
Each newspaper provokes a different reaction from the public. The newspaper dictates how people think and feel about different stories.
An example of this would be coverage of the September 11th disaster. Individual newspapers wanted a different reaction from people. When the incident actually happened many of the newspapers wanted everyone to feel sympathy and therefore many of them covered the story very sensitively. Some however published very gory, frightening pictures on the front pages evoking anger. A year later on the anniversary of the attack on the Twin Towers many of the newspapers were trying to provoke fear that it might happen again, revenge and anger. Some however tried to provoke support for the government in its war against terrorism. Other newspapers wanted you to feel sad and repeated earlier pictures of the disaster with supporting pictures of relatives left behind. That is Media Driven Mass Hysteria, when a form of media makes a large group of people feel a certain way about something all at once.
Another example of this is the coverage of the murders of children Holly and Jessica. Murders of women, men and children happen every day, but this particular murder was concentrated on great detail as was the murder of Sara Payne. No-one knows why this particular murder was picked. The picture of the two girls was in every newspaper, all over the television and their names constantly mentioned on the radio. Everyone lived in fear of their own child being taken and the suffering it would cause. Most of all it provoked an interest in who the killer could be and a strong sense of needing to help the police find out.
Media Driven Mass Hysteria is where a form of media makes a group of people feel a certain way about an incident or point of view. It is also a very good way to sell your newspaper, get people watching your news station or listening to your radio station.
Cultural identity breaks down into gender, colour, age, nationality, religion, sexuality and class. My focus is on colour, gender, nationality, class and sexuality.
The key issue behind how cultural groups are represented is to do with power. The way these groups are represented can either be dominant, subordinate, marginalized, oppressed, stereotypes or unconventional. Who or what lies behind these representations is ideology, patriarchy and hegemony (ruling class control).
Patriarchy is a form of social organisation in which the father or eldest male is the head of the family group and descent is dictated through the male line. It is also known as a system of society ruled by men.
The main characters of 'Terminator 2' that I am analysing are the mother, Sarah Conner, the Robot T101, Lab researcher, male white warden and the mexican. For 'James Bond' I am analysing James Bond, the Bond Girls and the enemies. Lastly, for 'East is East' I am looking at George the Dad, Tariq and Meenah.
'Terminator 2' is a post modern film which varies, supports and challenges stereotypes. The idea of the robot bodyguard is very stereotypical as he is a dominant male, muscley, strong, good at his job and handsome. The mother, Sarah Conner, is very much challenging the more stereotypical female as she is also strong, emotionally and physically but she also supports this stereotype as all she wants to do is protect her son. The black lab researcher and the male white warden both challenge racial stereotypes. These jobs are not stereotypically the kind that people of their race would generally be seen to be doing in movies. The Mexican supports stereotypes as everything in the persons home and surroundings are typical of the way people generally think of a mexican person to be living. The cactus, hats, caravans, accent, skin colour etc.
'James Bond' is completely stereotypical. The actors playing James Bond are always very chauvanistic, smooth, slick, strong, handsome and charming. The Bond Girls are known for being the sexiest women in the world however not entirely very clever. All of them are slim, big chested with natural amazing looks and are very charming. Girls want to be them and boys want the girls to be like them too. The enemies are usually foreign, extremely smart and intelligent although never as clever as James Bond.
'East is East' has different characters that both challenge and support gender, colour and nationality stereotypes. The father is a very stereotypical father and Muslim, strict with his children and wife, the dominant male of the house. He follows all the rules of his culture and religion and wants his way all the time. He is trying to force his children into being practicing Muslims so that he can look better in the eyes of other Pakistanis. His son Tajid is a stereotypical son in that he rebels against his father but on the other hand not stereotypical of his race in that his rebellion is in his desire not to be a Muslim. He breaks every rule of his religion. Meenah, the daughter, challenges gender stereotypes as she is a tomboy and very scruffy and not sexy. She also challenges culture stereotypes in the same way as girls of her race are often considered to be subservient, feminine and mysterious.
The traditional stereotypes of Asians, Blacks, Whites, Females, Males and Homosexuals:
Asians: Cooking, restaurants, corner shops, turbans, bindis, family,
strong culture and food.
Blacks: Drugs, guns, gangs, gangsters, very rich or very poor.
Whites: Post, stuck-up, 'crumpets and tea', beautiful women, dashing
men.
Females: Should only be in the kitchen, weak, dresses, dominated by
men.
Males: Not very nice people, dominating, chauvanistic, women
beaters, strong, have very high powered jobs or no job at all.
Homosexuals: Effeminate men, manly women, promiscuous, listen to cheesy
pop music (e.g. Abba, Steps), have HIV and AIDS.
The Television stereotypes of the same group:
Asians: Very strict religions, food places, good children of the same
religion, arranged marriages.
Blacks: Hip Hop/Rap/RnB music, the 'ghetto', poor, drugs, guns,
crime and poorly educated.
Whites: Typical english accent, post, have a dream, rich, well
educated.
Females: Beautiful, very thin, big chested, hopeless, damsel in
distress, dumb.
Males: Dominant, strong, muscley, hero, gentleman.
Homosexuals: Slim, camp voice, likes pop music, is attacted to every other
man, weak.
