How queer sexuality is mediated in "Glee".
Tareq Mohamed MCS 101: Ass. 3, Option 7 April 28, 2014 * One Step Forward, But Still Miles To Go * How queer sexuality is mediated in GLEE Introduction Long gone the days where seeing any gay character on television was abnormal and shocking. Today, most shows on TV have one or two characters that are gay. However, they’re just there as an excuse for diversity; only a few number of them actually explore gay relationships or give them equal screen time and emotional depth as their heterosexual counterparts (Deb, 2012). This addition of multiple different depictions of same-sex couples and gay and lesbian people by television is being widely praised by the LBGT community as it makes the idea of homosexuality more common and representative of the actual community (Purcell, 2014). However, people who go solely off the media’s depiction of gays and lesbians could have a skewed view of what they are actually like. This could be detrimental for youth who are developing their ideas of what homosexuals are actually like as this is their only source of information on it (Purcell, 2014). Whenever a new television show comes around with a gay character, the first question people ask is “Is he/she playing a realistic depiction or is he/she just another cliché?” But it seems no matter how the character is portrayed or
The Portrayal of Women in The Walking Dead TV Show.
Ashley Armstrong Professor Day HSOC 141 28 June 2012 The Portrayal of Women in “The Walking Dead” In the past decade, few cable television shows have enjoyed as much commercial and critical success as “The Walking Dead”. Based on the comic book series of the same name by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard, “The Walking Dead” consistently draws high Nielsen ratings (generating on average between 7-8 million viewers per episode); its season two finale was “the most-watched basic cable drama telecast in history”[1]. The series also has enjoyed critical success [2, 3], receiving a Writers Guild Of America and a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Television Series Drama [4,5]. But the series is not without its critics. In particular, “The Walking Dead” has drawn considerable criticism for its negative treatment and portrayal of women. These critics contend that even though “The Walking Dead” includes a variety of female characters (which is not common for a science fiction/drama series), the series tends to portray these women characters in negative, stereotypical ways. Some of its harshest critics argue that the series’ treatment of women has significantly set back the female empowerment movement; others go further and conclude that the “The Walking Dead” is blatantly misogynistic, “robbing women of (their) individuality,
REALITY SHOWS AS A REFLECTION OF A CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY
REALITY SHOWS AS A REFLECTION OF A CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY Summary The aim of this work is to understand the phenomenon of the new television program - reality shows, in the other words, the TV program that is based on a real life. A post-modern society and their way of thinking changed dramatically in the past few decades, with the appearance of the Internet and other communication services to become known and famous, became easier than ever. Because of all these alterations, the concept of fame changed and being famous just for being famous is something new now. Notably, it is very important to understand the real meaning behind the “new” type of fame and why it is the one of the main influences for the participants. As a result, I will try to find out what kind of people want to be a part of this creation and for what reason most of them will be identified as narcissists Essentially, do reality shows reflect the realism of humanity or is it just a new way of entertainment? This and the rest of the issues will be analyzed along the article. Key words: reality shows, narcissism, fame, post-modern culture, entertainment There have been many deep changes in the realms of culture, media, and related technologies, as well as a change in their social meaning in the past few decades. In the first half of the 20th century, in an age before television, cinema was a form of
representation of ethnic minorities in eastender
Advertising and Media BA Module: MP0501 Cultural Identities and British Television Word count: 1714 (excluding bibliography and title) 5/5/2009 STUDENT NUMBER: S013351 Student name: Fahmida Begum The representation of ethnic minorities (especially of Black and Asian origin) in the BBC Soap Opera EastEnders This essay will be exploring and critically examining how ethnic minorities are represented in the British soap opera EastEnders' and how accurate their portrayals are and its affectivity on representing reality. 'Ethnic minorities' are those who are the 'minority' in context to the rest of the population in terms of race, culture and religion. Within the UK this includes: Asians, Blacks, and Chinese etc. The essay will begin by giving an outline of the soap opera genre and a brief history of EastEnders'. It then goes into further depth of current and past characters from different ethnic groups and whether this was positive or negative representation. In exploring these issues, the essay endorses the lack of representation within the soap and its effect it has on the audiences understanding of other races through how characters are represented in the soap. Soap Operas are serial dramas set in a domestic setting; they deal with everyday issues and are very character based, the plots often rely on the actions of more than one character. Hobson
How does the Television Drama Series Shameless, Disrupt Stereotypes of Working Class Ideologies?
How does the Television Drama Series Shameless, Disrupt Stereotypes of Working Class Ideologies? Introduction Ideologies are ideas presented as truths and as White mentions in terms of TV, 'the ideological perspective assumes that television offers a particular construction of the world rather than a universal truth' (1992, p. 172). Television programmes bring along a certain set of definitions, underlying assumptions, standards of performance and norms. These ideological methods are generally seen as 'universal' and aid in naturalising the events and stories we see on television (White, 1992). From a Marxist position you would argue that as the dominant bourgeoisie class owns and operate the television industry, their ideologies and beliefs are reflected in the industry and therefore all viewers are buying into these ideas that are represented as universal truths. As mentioned within the title, what this research aims to investigate is the way in which the television drama Shameless goes against the dominant (mostly negative) stereotypes of the working class. In order to carry this out, first we will be taking a look at theoretical work from secondary sources on representations of class, family and gender. This should provide us with the basic knowledge and foundations to which we could then critically analyse episodes (in this case two episodes) of the British drama
Violence and the Media
Violence and the Media In Manteca, California, two young boys murdered a disabled man by violently kicking, stabbing, beating, and finally choking him. When being questioned by the police as to why the boys poured salt in the dying mans wounds, one of the boys responded, "Oh I don't know. I just seen it on TV" (Levine 71). In today's society, these situations are becoming extremely common. Violence on television is overwhelming, and the negative affect it has on viewers is frightening. The overall pattern of research findings indicates a positive relationship between television violence and aggressive behavior. An article from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry states that "the majority of evidence from more than 3,000 research studies over two decades shows that the violence portrayed on television influences the attitudes and behavior of children who watch it" ("Children and TV Violence"). It has become evident that violence glamorized on television causes viewers to learn aggressive behavior. According to Leonard Eron, an expert authority on media, "There can no longer be any doubt that heavy exposure to televised violence is one of the causes of aggressive behavior, crime, and violence in society" (Levine 4). There are a variety of reasons one might expect viewers to learn aggressive behavior from the media. The abundance of violent acts on
ANALYSE THE USE OF PERSUASIVE LANGUAGE IN PRINT ADVERTISEMENT.
ANALYSE THE USE OF PERSUASIVE LANGUAGE IN PRINT ADVERTISEMENT. In the media today, the medium of advertising has proliferated to a point near market saturation. As a result, industry professionals have found themselves in a highly competitive field in which persuasion of the consumer is their primary goal. The contemporary consumer has little time in which to read a highly description of a product and therefore the percentage of text to image in advertising has dramatically reduced in comparison to texts from previous eras. When asked to analyse the use of persuasive language in a print advertisement I decided to use an advertisement from 1958 as during this era, it was more conventional of the medium to use a larger percentage of text to image. For example, in the Coca-Cola advertisement I have selected the percentage is approximately 30% text to 70% image. This means that there is likely to be a larger amount of text to analyse and a greater amount of persuasive devices employed. The word advertisement derives from the Latin 'adverte', which means to 'turn towards'. The way in which advertisements encourage consumers to 'turn towards' them is through the use of persuasive language; therefore the effective use of language is critical in any advertisement to connote the desired mood as well as the message. The language used in advertising is often described as 'loaded'
The show that I have chosen to critique is The West Wing, which is shown on NBC, Wednesdays at 9:00. The first episode that I watched is called Hartsfield's Landing. It broadcasted on Wednesday, February 27 2002.
The West Wing The show that I have chosen to critique is The West Wing, which is shown on NBC, Wednesdays at 9:00. The first episode that I watched is called Hartsfield's Landing. It broadcasted on Wednesday, February 27 2002. The West Wing was created by producers Aaron Sorkin ("A Few Good Men"), Thomas Schlamme ("Tracey Takes On") and John Wells ("ER"). This episode was directed by Vincent Misiano. It stars Rob Lowe ("St. Elmo's Fire"), Dule Hill, Allison Janney ("American Beauty"), Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff ("Relativity"), John Spencer ("L.A. Law"), Bradley Whitford, and Martin Sheen ("Apocalypse Now"). For its debut season (1999-2000), "The West Wing" was honored with nine Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series, which it won again in 2001. It holds the record for most Emmys won by a series in a single season (its first). Other awards include a Peabody Award for excellence in television, a Golden Globe nomination for Best Drama Series and three Television Critics Association Awards (official site). In the first episode I watched, "Hartsfield's Landing", President Bartlet (Sheen) returns from a visit to India to face a major foreign affairs issue. The Chinese government wanted to practice war scenarios where they would invade Taiwan. China threatened this because Taiwan was going to test weapons they bought from the United States. While in his
Media and Music
How Does The Media In The Music Industry Affect Individuals Taste In Music? The 'music industry' is a broad term consisting of various elements such as composers, A&R, record companies, musicians, publishers, record labels and so on where all these departments together create, perform, promote and preserves music. It first appeared in Europe in the 18th century, when performers and composers wanted to market and promote there music and performances to the general public. The Music Industry has now appeared almost all over the world. The music industry has often faced many challenges; the way it is at present is very different than the way it existed at the beginning of the twentieth century. Recorded music only came into action in the late 1800s. Until that time, composers and musicians earned their incomes from performances, and later, from sheet music sales. The introduction of such technologies as the gramophone and record player meant that performances could be recorded and played again and again. The music publishing industry recognized that this provided an excellent way to promote sheet music. With the advent of radio (another new technology), music was able to spread. Then followed television where music videos where played which relayed short films meant to present a visual representation of a music song. It could be said that the record industry is dying, but the
How Does The Media Represent Rap/Hip-Hop?
Rap music and hip-hop (a cultural formation of which rap music is only one component) have slowly found their way to the top of mainstream popular music culture over the past twenty to thirty years. Hip-hop is now the most important musical style. What jazz was from the 1920's to the 40's, or rock and roll was from the 50's to the 70's, hip-hop has been from the 80's onwards. Like most genres of music that have had mainstream popularity, hip-hop tends to have a bad reputation with mainstream media outlets, thus impacting on the public perception of the music and the culture itself. Throughout this research assignment we will be looking at the theoretical framework surrounding the negative representations of hip-hop in the media and carrying out a discourse analysis on a newspaper article. Before we go any further, let's briefly take a look at the history of rap music and the hip-hop culture in general. This will give us the basic understanding of where, when and why rap music and hip hop culture formed thus helping us to understand the representations of hip-hop. 'There is a general consensus among both academic and non-academic accounts of hip-hop that the style originated in the South Bronx area of New York during the early 1970's' (Bennett, 2000, p. 134). Rap music is something that's being done, where as hip hop is something that is being lived, therefore to understand