Critical Context
Academic Source
What makes a source academic:
- authors credentials (e.g. expert in their field like a professor at university), list of references/bibliography (a good source will have a list of works the author has used), publisher
- The content in academic sources has usually been peer-reviewed, which means that it's been reviewed by experts on its topic for accuracy and quality before being published.
- Examples include: books, academic journals, academic websites, magazines
Advantages and disadvantages of each format
Books
Advantage
- Easily available
- Huge range of books on different topics
- books undergo many checks before being published therefore information is likely to be reliable
Disadvantages
-Time consuming to find and extract relevant information
- Books can be expensive
- Might be outdated
-Books can be biased
Academic Journals
Advantage
-Written by experts in their field e.g. university professors
-Well researched and lots of detail
- Up to date research
- Contain a bibliography
Disadvantage
- hard to find
- high cost to purchase or subscribe to services
- can be too specific and not relevant to what your essay is on
Magazines
Advantage
- Up to date information
- Could have lots of facts and statistics
-Easily available
Disadvantages
-Can be made more for entertainment and not academic research
- There is a cost e.g. subscription cost
- Not as extensively quality reviewed as journalists
Websites
Advantages
- Very easy to access
- Can be kept up to date easily
Disadvantages
-Websites e.g. wikipedia can be easily changed - might not be credible information
- Might not be quality checked - not always reliable or of an academic standard
- There are a huge amount of websites - hard to find and sift through relevant information
Good tools to use:
Archive.org
Google scholar
Critical perspectives
Its important that I apply the relevant critical perspective to my chosen subject area which is: To what extent are the working class negatively portrayed in British television shows? Here are the main critical perspectives that I have looked into. I believe representation theory especially the role of stereotypes will play a key role in my essay and you can read more about my research into this further down into the blog.
Audience theory: Stuart Hall a key cultural theorist came up with how people make sense of media texts. An active audience engages, interprets and responds to a media text in different ways and is capable of challenging the ideas encoded in it. A passive audience is more likely to accept the messages encoded in a media text without challenge and are therefore more likely to be directly affected by the messages.
Stuart Hall also suggested three main responses an audience may have to a media text e.g. preferred reading ( When the audience responds to the ideas in the way the media producer wants them to), negotiated reading (When the audience responds by accepting and rejecting certain elements), oppositional reading (When the audience understands the preferred reading but choses to oppose it.)
A good example of this:
Narrative theory:
Example:
A good example of this is in the BBC TV Show: 'Sherlock'
Auteur Theory
Auteur Theory is a way of looking at films that state that the director is the “author” of a film. The Auteur theory argues that a film is a reflection of the director’s artistic vision; so, a movie directed by a given filmmaker will have recognisable, recurring themes and visual queues that inform the audience who the director is (think a Hitchcock or Tarantino film) and shows a consistent artistic identity throughout that director’s filmography.
Andre Bazin was the founder, in 1951, of Cahiers du cinema and is often seen as the father of auteurism because of his appreciation of the world-view and style of such artists as Charlie Chaplin and Jean Renoir.
Example:
The actor and film-maker Quentin Tarantino is a great example of an auteur. He has a very distinctive style. He is known for long, intense dialogue, humorously dramatic violence, and frequently nonlinear scripts, Tarantino undoubtedly has a signature mark. A well known common theme throughout his films is the revenge plot, exemplified in films such as Kill Bill, Inglorious Bastards, and Django Unchained, among others. Other recurring elements include: similar camera angles and shots (car trunk POV shots, mirror shots, close ups on lips and feet, etc.), the usage of black and white, violent awakenings, and dance scenes, Mexican standoffs, opening definitions, recurring props (samurai swords, record players, televisions) and more.
Furthermore, Tarantino frequently uses the same cast members and technical crew. Some of the actors that have appeared in Tarantino films include Uma Therman, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Waltz, and Michael Madsen. Tarantino himself has also had multiple cameos in his films.
Genre:
Genre Theory Films can be organised according in to three principal groups: setting, mood, and format. A genre can be defined as a group of movies that share similar elements such as scripts, types of actors, scenes, film techniques, camera shoots, sound, music, illumination, edition, etc.
Most theories of film genre are borrowed from the literary world. The basic genres include fiction and documentary, from which subgenres have emerged, such as docudrama. Other subgenres include the courtroom and trial-focused drama known as the legal drama. Types of fiction which may seem unrelated can also be combined to form hybrid subgenres, such as the melding of horror and comedy such as in the Shaun of the Dead. Other popular combinations are the romantic comedy and the action comedy film.
Gender and representation theory:
Representation theory also covers class. For example the media represents class in different ways. The working class are often mocked and portrayed as benefit scroungers. These representations can be seen in Popular shows such as Little Britain with Vicky Pollard and Channel 5's benefits street - these will be great examples for my essay.
The middle classes are often represented in more of a positive way on property shows for example witch feature well-off families wanting to purchase beautiful homes. Middle class families seem to be over-represented on day time T.V. especially – in shows such as homes under the hammer, escape to the country and antiques shows featuring typically very high wealth/ income families, and yet presenting them as ‘the norm’.
What makes a source academic:
- authors credentials (e.g. expert in their field like a professor at university), list of references/bibliography (a good source will have a list of works the author has used), publisher
- The content in academic sources has usually been peer-reviewed, which means that it's been reviewed by experts on its topic for accuracy and quality before being published.
- Examples include: books, academic journals, academic websites, magazines
Advantages and disadvantages of each format
Books
Advantage
- Easily available
- Huge range of books on different topics
- books undergo many checks before being published therefore information is likely to be reliable
Disadvantages
-Time consuming to find and extract relevant information
- Books can be expensive
- Might be outdated
-Books can be biased
Academic Journals
Advantage
-Written by experts in their field e.g. university professors
-Well researched and lots of detail
- Up to date research
- Contain a bibliography
Disadvantage
- hard to find
- high cost to purchase or subscribe to services
- can be too specific and not relevant to what your essay is on
Magazines
Advantage
- Up to date information
- Could have lots of facts and statistics
-Easily available
Disadvantages
-Can be made more for entertainment and not academic research
- There is a cost e.g. subscription cost
- Not as extensively quality reviewed as journalists
Websites
Advantages
- Very easy to access
- Can be kept up to date easily
Disadvantages
-Websites e.g. wikipedia can be easily changed - might not be credible information
- Might not be quality checked - not always reliable or of an academic standard
- There are a huge amount of websites - hard to find and sift through relevant information
Good tools to use:
Archive.org
Google scholar
Critical perspectives
Its important that I apply the relevant critical perspective to my chosen subject area which is: To what extent are the working class negatively portrayed in British television shows? Here are the main critical perspectives that I have looked into. I believe representation theory especially the role of stereotypes will play a key role in my essay and you can read more about my research into this further down into the blog.
Audience theory: Stuart Hall a key cultural theorist came up with how people make sense of media texts. An active audience engages, interprets and responds to a media text in different ways and is capable of challenging the ideas encoded in it. A passive audience is more likely to accept the messages encoded in a media text without challenge and are therefore more likely to be directly affected by the messages.
Stuart Hall also suggested three main responses an audience may have to a media text e.g. preferred reading ( When the audience responds to the ideas in the way the media producer wants them to), negotiated reading (When the audience responds by accepting and rejecting certain elements), oppositional reading (When the audience understands the preferred reading but choses to oppose it.)
A good example of this:
Preferred Reading - in The Lion King, some people would believe that Simba is the good guy and Scar is the bad guy (this is how filmmaker wants you to think).
Oppositional Reading - in The Lion King, some people would believe that Simba is the bad guy and Scar is the good guy
Negotiated Reading – in the Lion King, some people may believe that Simba is a good guy but has a bad side to him. And that Scar is a bad guy but does have a good side to him.
Oppositional Reading - in The Lion King, some people would believe that Simba is the bad guy and Scar is the good guy
Negotiated Reading – in the Lion King, some people may believe that Simba is a good guy but has a bad side to him. And that Scar is a bad guy but does have a good side to him.
Narrative theory:
Traditionally, narrative structures followed a formula which was identified by the theorist Tzvetan Todorov.
Todorov studied classic fairy tales and stories.
He discovered that narratives moved forward in a chronological order with one action following after another. In other words, they have a clear beginning, middle and end.
Todorov also suggested that the characters in the narrative would be changed in some way through the course of the story and that this would be evident by the resolution.
Example:
A good example of this is in the BBC TV Show: 'Sherlock'
- Sherlock and Watson are relaxing at the start of the episode, then an action or character will do something that creates a case for them to solve.
- They begin their quest to find a solution and apprehend the villain.
- The narrative continues until they confront the villain at the climax.
- Once the disruption is resolved and the equilibrium is restored, Sherlock and Watson can relax again.
- That is until another case comes to their attention in the next episode.
Another key Narrative theorist Vladimir Propp suggested that every narrative has eight different character types:
1. The Villain — struggles against the hero; usually an older, ugly, sly and manipulative male. 2. The Dispatcher — sends the hero off on his quest.
3. The (magical) helper — helps the hero in their quest, usually less good-looking or clever, but essential to their success.
4. The Donor (often also a helper) — prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical or essential object in order to aid them on their quest.
5. The Princess (or prize) — the hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry her because of an unfair evil, usually because of the villain. The hero's journey is often ended when he marries the princess, thereby thwarting and beating the villain. The princess tends to be beautiful and good natured, but ultimately weak and passive, a pawn or prize to be won.
6. The Oracle – an older wise figure, usually male, who provides essential wisdom, information or clues to aid the hero on his quest.
7. The Hero or victim/seeker hero — young, brave and strong, traditionally almost always male; quick to accept his task and commence his quest; reacts to the donor, wins and weds the princess.
8. False Hero — takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess.
Andre Bazin was the founder, in 1951, of Cahiers du cinema and is often seen as the father of auteurism because of his appreciation of the world-view and style of such artists as Charlie Chaplin and Jean Renoir.
Example:
The actor and film-maker Quentin Tarantino is a great example of an auteur. He has a very distinctive style. He is known for long, intense dialogue, humorously dramatic violence, and frequently nonlinear scripts, Tarantino undoubtedly has a signature mark. A well known common theme throughout his films is the revenge plot, exemplified in films such as Kill Bill, Inglorious Bastards, and Django Unchained, among others. Other recurring elements include: similar camera angles and shots (car trunk POV shots, mirror shots, close ups on lips and feet, etc.), the usage of black and white, violent awakenings, and dance scenes, Mexican standoffs, opening definitions, recurring props (samurai swords, record players, televisions) and more.
Furthermore, Tarantino frequently uses the same cast members and technical crew. Some of the actors that have appeared in Tarantino films include Uma Therman, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Waltz, and Michael Madsen. Tarantino himself has also had multiple cameos in his films.
Genre:
Genre Theory Films can be organised according in to three principal groups: setting, mood, and format. A genre can be defined as a group of movies that share similar elements such as scripts, types of actors, scenes, film techniques, camera shoots, sound, music, illumination, edition, etc.
Most theories of film genre are borrowed from the literary world. The basic genres include fiction and documentary, from which subgenres have emerged, such as docudrama. Other subgenres include the courtroom and trial-focused drama known as the legal drama. Types of fiction which may seem unrelated can also be combined to form hybrid subgenres, such as the melding of horror and comedy such as in the Shaun of the Dead. Other popular combinations are the romantic comedy and the action comedy film.
Steve Neale’s theory of Repetition and Difference.
Steve Neale states that genres all contain instances of repetition and difference, difference is essential to the to the economy of the genre.Neale states that the film and it’s genre is defined by two things:
- How much is conforms to its genre’s individual conventions and stereotypes. A film must match the genre’s conventions to be identified as part of that genre.
- How much a film subverts the genre’s conventions and stereotypes. The film must subvert convention enough to be considered unique and not just a clone of an existing film.
Neale also states that Hollywood’s generic regime performs two functions:
- To guarantee pleasure and meaning for the audience.
- To offset financial risks of film production by providing collateral against innovation and difference.
Popular cinema relies on audiences finding pleasure in difference and repetition i.e. recognition of familiar elements and the way those elements are linked in an unfamiliar way or the way that unfamiliar elements might be introduced.
Genre is constituted by specific systems of expectations and hypothesis which spectators bring with them to the cinema and which and which interact with the films themselves during the course of the viewing process:
- To the film’s production team (producer, director etc) genre provides a template.
- To the film’s distributors genre provides assumptions about which audiences they should be marketing to.
- To the film’s audience genre identifies a liked of disliked formula and provides certain rules of engagement in terms of anticipation of enjoyment.
Example
Are good example of two movies in the same genre are Hunger Games and Divergent. Both of these films have similar target audiences, are in the same genre and as a result follow the same techniques and conventions however there are also differences in the movies. Both of these movies are about teens who are in danger and need to save everything - they were chosen however they didn't want to do it.
The difference between them however is that divergent is post apocalyptic and the way she needs to save the place is very different to that in Hunger Games. Apart from that though, both of these films are very similar. Furthermore this really conforms to this theory (Neales' Repetition and difference) that these films are following the same conventions to be in the same genre but some of the differences in the plot mean they are different enough to be seen as unique.
Gender and representation theory:
Media and gender refers to the relationship between media and gender, and how gender is represented within media platforms. These platforms include but are not limited to film, radio, television, advertisement, social media, and video games. Initiatives and resources exist to promote gender equality and reinforce women's empowerment in the media industry and representations. A good example of the empowerment of women being shown in the media is the movie G.I. Jane (1997). The film tells the fictional story of the first woman to undergo training in U.S. Navy Special Warfare Group. Demi Moore plays the main leading role, and the move shows the strength and resilience that women can offer to the special forces - it highlights that women are more than just stay at home mothers but can have a successful career in powerful jobs.
Representation theory also covers class. For example the media represents class in different ways. The working class are often mocked and portrayed as benefit scroungers. These representations can be seen in Popular shows such as Little Britain with Vicky Pollard and Channel 5's benefits street - these will be great examples for my essay.
The middle classes are often represented in more of a positive way on property shows for example witch feature well-off families wanting to purchase beautiful homes. Middle class families seem to be over-represented on day time T.V. especially – in shows such as homes under the hammer, escape to the country and antiques shows featuring typically very high wealth/ income families, and yet presenting them as ‘the norm’.
The upper class and very wealthy are generally framed positively in the media: they are composed of everyday individuals who are generous and caring and should be emulated. Even when members of the upper class are framed in a negative light, the media illustrates that upper class criminals have remarkably good lives.
They are also represented as having very lavish lifestyles e.g. beautiful mansions, designer clothing and high-end cars.
Downtown abbey is a good example of how the working class family featured in the show, have beautiful houses, butlers, chefs and luxurious possessions.
Male Gaze: The Male Gaze theory, in a nutshell, is where women in the media are viewed from the eyes of a heterosexual man, and that these women are represented as passive objects of male desire. Audiences are forced to view women from the point of view of a heterosexual male, even if they are heterosexual women or homosexual men. For example in James Bond, Bond is the heterosexual masculine man who is clever, handsome and physically fit and the Bond Girls are seen more as just beautiful objects (certainly in the older movies) that are used by Bond for sexual gratification.
Female Gaze: Essentially it isn’t about asserting female dominance on-screen, rather it puts an emphasis on presence. Presence in the emotion, in the story and in the characters.
Queer Theory: In a nutshell it is an approach to literary and cultural study that rejects traditional categories of gender and sexuality. E.g. captain jack sparrow is a pirate which are typically seen as masculine straight characters, however Captain Jack acts camp and wears eye make up - he rejects traditional categories of gender and sexuality.
Stereotypes also play a key part in representation and portrayal. These are a simplified representation of a person, social class, groups of people or a place, through basic or obvious characteristics - which are often exaggerated. For example, Vicky Pollard from Little Britain is a stereotypical example of a working class teenage girl.They can be used to describe characters quickly, relying on existing audience recognition. Stereotypes are dangerous as they can lead audiences to generalise about people or places.
Stereotypes also play a key part in representation and portrayal. These are a simplified representation of a person, social class, groups of people or a place, through basic or obvious characteristics - which are often exaggerated. For example, Vicky Pollard from Little Britain is a stereotypical example of a working class teenage girl.They can be used to describe characters quickly, relying on existing audience recognition. Stereotypes are dangerous as they can lead audiences to generalise about people or places.
In fact, as my essay is to with the negative portrayal of the working class, representation theory will play a key part in my essay. Therefore I will ensure that I mention stereotypes which play a major role in representation. These stereotypes will include examples that I have mentioned above including Vicky Pollard in Little Britain. Furthermore for this critical perspective I will also talk about Stuart Hall and his thoughts and opinions on the role stereotypes play in the representation of a group of people e.g. social class.
By carrying out this research its helped develop my idea for my essay "To what extent are the working class negatively portrayed in British television". It has also helped me develop insight into the research that I will carry out such as looking British comedy shows like "Little Britain", "Harry Enfield and Chums" that use stereotypes such as Vicky Pollard to represent and portray the working class in a negative way. I can also look at the portrayal of the working class in other shows on British tv such as 'Benefits street' and 'Shameless'.
By carrying out this research its helped develop my idea for my essay "To what extent are the working class negatively portrayed in British television". It has also helped me develop insight into the research that I will carry out such as looking British comedy shows like "Little Britain", "Harry Enfield and Chums" that use stereotypes such as Vicky Pollard to represent and portray the working class in a negative way. I can also look at the portrayal of the working class in other shows on British tv such as 'Benefits street' and 'Shameless'.
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