The word representation itself holds a clue to its importance. When we see a person, place, object or idea being represented in a media text, it has in some way been mediated by the very act of representation. A representation is a re-presentation (literally – to present again), and so the images and ideas we see on screen, in print or online are ‘removed’ from the original object. The media intervene and stand between the object and what we see – the act of communicating the image or idea in some way changes it.
Representations are always, in some way, filtered through someone’s point of view, and carry particular meanings or values. In other words, they are ideological. Thus an understanding of how representations work helps us to identify the way media products create ideological meaning.
2) How does the example of Kate Middleton show the way different meanings can be created in the media?
A picture editor selects the photo from a whole series of images to be used to illustrate a news story. The image may be cropped, resized and, in some cases, photoshopped.
• A news editor will decide on the way the story will be presented, and the use of captions to pin down, or anchor, the meaning of the image.
• The photograph of Kate Middleton in the newspaper is a re-presentation of what she looks like, with people
controlling and manipulating the image at various stages throughout the process.
• The Duchess herself, the person, is some distance away from the image that is reproduced.
Media meanings can often be fabricated without any truth by having pictures used that only convey one emotion (i.e. anger) or by photo shopping the images.
3) Summarise the section 'The how, who and why of media representation' in 50 words.
Choices are made/rejected. Representation = combination of
selections and rejections. Rejected parts don’t carry the meaning the producer
wants to communicate. Wallpaper used to dress the set of a soap opera lounge will
create ideological meaning. The wallpaper itself is not ideological, but
combined with other representational choices; helps to create ideological
meaning of the overall representation. Values are seen as genre codes for soap
operas. This repetition of values and ideologies feel very ‘natural’ to the
viewer. Barthes argues that the ‘naturalisation’ of ideas in this way, hides
the ideology from view. It is present within the text but we don’t recognise it
because it comes across as being normal/natural. This is not saying that the
media has a direct/immediate effect on audiences. However, it suggests that
certain ideas go unquestioned, leading to ‘the silencing of difference’
(Barthes).
4) How does Stuart Hall's theory of preferred and oppositional readings fit with representation?
Hall argued that audiences do not necessarily accept the ideology of texts passively, but instead draw on their own cultural and social experiences to create their own interpretations. In his view ‘meanings’ and messages are not fixed by the creator of the text, but depend on the relationship between the reader/ viewer, and the text. In the wallpaper/ family values example above, you may support the implied ideologies, and therefore you might accept the intended meaning. However, some audiences may only partially accept the meanings being offered by a text; Hall calls this the negotiated position. Other audiences
might reject them completely (the oppositional position).
5) How has new technology changed the way representations are created in the media?
Social media allow us to construct selective and controlled representations of the public identity we
wish to communicate to the world. self representation by Zoella, aka Zoe Sugg – the celebrity YouTube vlogger recently outed for hiring a ghostwriter for her hugely successful first novel Girl Online. Zoella’s expressions show she is aware of the camera and poses carefully to create the visual image that supports her video persona. Part of her appeal is that she is perceived by her 2.6 million Twitter followers as a ‘normal person’ rather than a celebrity media construction; but this identity is carefully constructed and maintained. Her audience identify with her, and she offers an aspirational lifestyle that her fans admire. Indeed the wave of support from her 6 million YouTube fans when she temporarily ‘took a break’ from vlogging when the ghostwriting was exposed seems to confirm their knowing acceptance of her highly constructed personality.
6) What example is provided of how national identity is represented in Britain - and how some audiences use social media to challenge this?
National identity is invariably raised during national sports competitions. During the 2014 World Cup, The Sun sent a free newspaper to 22 million households in England which represented its own concepts of ‘Englishness’ by symbolic references –queuing, the Sunday roast, Churchill and The Queen – to heroes, values and behaviours that the paper (and its owners, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corps) defined as appropriate expressions of ‘English identity’. However, social media forums and comment pages allowed many people
to voice their rejection of the messages. Through self representation, they were able to show that they distanced themselves from the values in the tabloid newspaper.
7) Finally, think about this week's representation theories. Watch the trailer for classic action movie Taken and write an analysis of the representation of people, places and groups in the trailer using terminology and theories you have learned this week:
The representation of men is very stereotypical as Liam Neeson plays the stereotypical powerful, white father who will do whatever it takes to get his daughter back. The daughter is also portrayed as the stereotypical young, pretty white girl (Fitting the male gaze) who is unable to protect herself, showing Dyer's viewpoint of those with the power stereotypes, stereotype those without power. The main character is positively stereotyped as being highly intelligent and incredibly skill full at hostage-rescue since he is able to remain calm and instruct his daughter on what to do. The villains are also stereotypically eastern European men with strong accents.
Our summary of each theory may help you here:
Dyer: stereotyping and power
Medhurst: value judgements
Perkins: some stereotypes can be positive or true
Mulvey: the male gaze
Levi-Strauss: representation and ideology
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