Alvarado's Theory (Stereotypes of Ethnicity)

EXOTIC



This shows a different ethnicity to be very exotic in their ways. We see Nicki Minaj dancing with native costumes and native dancers. She is in her home country and shows many traditional items. To us, it is very exotic as we are not used to things like this!
_______________________________________________________________________
DANGEROUS

This article in the Daily Mail shows Indian people to be rather dangerous after attacking an innocent Russian man, who had rang a sacred bell without knowing its importance.
_______________________________________________________________________
PITIED



When we watch this advert, we feel pity for those involved and feel like we want to help. They use very emotive techniques to make us feel this way.

Textual Analysis Revision

VISUAL CODES:

• Clothing and physical appearance
• Gesture and body language
• Facial expressions
• Settings
• Use of colour
• Any use of graphics (anchorage?)
• Denotation/Connotation
• Intertextuality

TECHNICAL CODES:

• Shots - range of shots and why they're used - wide shots? close ups? high/low angle shots?
• Any camera movement?
• Editing - the way scenes change from one to the next
• The pace of the text- fast? slow? why?
• Lighting
• Mise en Scene - what's in the shot?

AUDIO CODES:

• Sound - diegetic (natural sounds from within the scene) and non diegetic (sound from outside the scene- music added in)
• Any ambient noise
• Voice over
• Music

Audience Revision

Audience:

• Groups/individuals targeted by producers as the intended consumer of texts
• Some viewers/consumers/readers might not have been the intended audience due to wide availability of texts
• Identification of target audience is crucial for marketing/advertising - categorised according to factors including age, gender, etc.
• Considered active/passive depending on point or view.

Passive:

• Hypodermic needle
• Two step flow
• Cultivation theory

Hypodermic Needle:

People do not question, they just accept

People trust what they see in the media

Injected with ideologies

Controlling the media will help to control their population

Two-step Flow:

This theory implies that a more active audience will discuss the media texts with each other. If the text is discussed with someone who has respect (opinion leader) then we may be passive enough to accept their received views of the text [think of how we listen to TV and Film critics]. Bloggers and make up gurus encourage this.

Cultivation Theory:

This theory implies that a single text does not have much effect, repeated exposure will make the audience less sensitive (desensitised. Think of all the violence on TV and how we just accept it. It takes something very graphic or real to shock audiences now. 

Active:

• Reception Theory
• Uses and Gratifications

Reception Theory

Reception theory is an active audience theory which considers an audience as actively engaged in the decoding of a text.

There are different ways an audience can decode a text:

-Dominant or preferred reading [I enjoy...]

-Negotiated reading [I appreciate...but...]

-Oppositional reading [I hate...]

Uses and Gratifications

Personal identity (identifying themselves as part of an audience)

Information (finding out about the world, events, etc)

Entertainment (escape from reality, emotional release)

Social integration (discussions, companionship, camaraderie)

Construction and Mediation Revision

Selection
Whatever ends up on the screen or in print, a lot more will be left out. Someone will make a decision about what to include and what to omit. Think about how this affects your feelings on the piece.

Construction
The elements that go to make up the final text will have been constructed in a way that real life is now. Example: Big Brother is edited from 24 hours of footage to make a 45 minute highlights programme.

Focus/Mediation
Mediation encourages the audience to focus upon particular aspects of the text to push us to make particular assumptions and to draw conclusions. In drama we focus on a particular character.

Anchorage
Images without words are open texts, open to many interpretations. Once there are words in the form of a caption, a headline or a description, then the text becomes 'closed' and the audience is told the meaning.

Dominant Ideology
Whose point of view is presented through the text? People in positions of power communicate their opinions and beliefs. A recent example of a dominant ideology: thin = beautiful.
--Ideologies change: there has been a backlash to the thin catwalk models. Those in positions of power control how certain groups of people are represented, if they are.

Representation Revision

Representation
Class
Race/Religion/Region
Age
Sexuality
Handicap
Events/Issues

Class:
Upper - Royal and gentry
Middle - Educated professional people: lawyers, doctors, teachers. Cultured.
Working - Little education. Manual Jobs. Not very cultural.
Underclass - Long term unemployment. Career criminals.

Race: 
English, Russian, Polish, Indian, etc.
Religion:
Christianity, Judaism, Islamic, Buddhism, etc.
Region:
Northern, or as specific as 'Geordie' (Newcastle)

Age:
Teenager -> 13-19 years
Pensioners -> 60+ years
Middle aged -> 40-49 years

Sexuality:
Heterosexual
Homosexual
Bisexual
STRENGTH: strong (confident), weak (troubled)

Handicap:
Physical
Mental
Cultural (not encouraged to go on to further education)

Events/Issues:
What is actually happening

Reception Theory

BBC iPlayer - Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents: Series 4: Episode 5
Preferred reading: The preferred reading for Sun, Sex and Suspicious parents is around 18 - 25 years old as they can relate to the people featured in the programme. Both males and females are in the preferred reading and it is probably directed at people lower down the socioeconomic scale.
Oppositional reading: People a lot older than the aforementioned target age as they probably won't be able to relate and will be totally against the way the teenagers act. Also people higher up the socioeconomic scale.
Negotiated reading: People a bit younger as they might be interested in going abroad with friends in the future, and people a bit older as they may be able to relate to things that happened in the past. Also parents may be interested as they can relate to the parents featured in the show.

ITV Player - Benidorm: Series 6: Episode 7
Preferred reading: I think that Benidorm is targeted at many people as there are factors which could appeal to most people; its main audience is families in C and below of the socioeconomic scale. It it targeted at both men and women and I'd say the average age is 13-50 but people of all ages watch it.
Oppositional reading: People who are higher up the socioeconomic scale would probably take an opposed view as it is not based on upper class people and they probably wouldn't be able to relate.
Negotiated reading: Most people would probably take a negotiated reading as they understand what is going on, but don't really act on the knowledge they have received. People who have never been to Benidorm or come across these kind of people would also probably take a negotiated reading.

4od - Jamie's Money Saving Meals: Series 2: Episode 11
Preferred reading: 25-50 year olds as the programme is all about money saving and it is between these two ages where people need to save their money (for children, wedding, new house, etc). It is probably aimed at people in E, D and C2 of the socioeconomic scale as they would be the types of people who need to save money. It is probably aimed at women as women are the stereotypical chefs of the house.
Oppositional reading: Younger people would probably find it boring and people higher up the socioeconomic wouldn't need to save money.
Negotiated reading: Men as they know what it is about but aren't really interested, and people slightly older or slightly younger.

Audience Task (12th Feb 2014)

www.hmv.co.uk

Preferred reading: 16-40 year olds in groups E, D and maybe C2 of the socioeconomic scale. 

- Uses and gratifications: will look on the website for information about new films/books/CD's etc, also may look for entertainment reasons. 

Oppositional reading: people aged 50+, and people who are higher up the socioeconomic scale.

Negotiated reading: people who are slightly young or slightly older than the intended age.
_________________________________________________________________________

www.club18-30.com

Preferred reading: 18-30 year olds, groups E and D of the socioeconomic scale.

- Uses and gratifications: will look for information about holidays, also for social integration as they will probably chat with friends about it.

Oppositional reading: people aged 40+ and are higher up the socioeconomic scale, strong religious believers.

Negotiated reading: people who are slightly younger as they may be planning for the future, and the same for people who are slightly older. 
_________________________________________________________________________

www.asos.com

Preferred reading: 16-30 year olds, groups D and C of the socioeconomic scale. Men and women but mostly women as there is more available for them and women are the stereotypical shoppers. 

- Uses and gratifications: they will visit the website for information about the latest clothes and maybe for personal identity.

Oppositional reading: people who are relatively young or quite a bit older. Also people towards the high end of the socioeconomic scale. 

Negotiated reading: people who are slightly older or slightly younger.
_________________________________________________________________________

Age Representation (Homework task)

Young people

This article featured on The Daily Mail website on February 9th 2014. It suggests that all youngsters are reckless and carefree, as we see a 19 year old woman strip to her underwear in a supermarket. The article creates a negative stereotype of young people, which is not entirely true. Further into the article the woman states that she thought she 'should just have fun' - is it really that bad for a 19 year old to want to have fun? Or is it taking things a step too far? Either way, the way it has been portrayed in the media is not beneficial for her or other youngsters. This article also says a bit about females: they are willing to do anything for 'likes' on Facebook, and feel the need to sexualise themselves for the benefit of others. Again, this does not ring true for all females.

Challenges of the stereotype

In the article entitled '10 reasons to cheer our teenagers' found on the BBC website, the stereotype of the typical teenager is challenged. We are given 10 reasons why teenagers are better than we think, and for once, teenagers are presented in a completely positive manner. Around 70% of news about teenagers is negative, so to hear something like this is completely different to what we usually hear. Many people assume that all teenagers are deviant thugs due to what the media presents, but they do not read articles like this. 

Old people

In this article we witness the usual stereotypes of the elderly: vulnerability and dependency. This elderly man was entirely dependent on his mobility scooter and when it was stolen he was left housebound. This is a typical stereotype of an older person, as many and inferior to young people (the thieves) and are reliant on mobility scooters to help them to get around. This article is positive towards the elderly, as it says about him being a World War II pilot which is an amazing thing, however it is negative towards the younger generation, as we naturally assume it was a youngster who did the thieving.


Challenging the Stereotype

This article looks at the elderly from an entirely new perspective. The stereotype suggests that old people are 'cute' and vulnerable, however this article from The Daily Mail implies otherwise. Coronation Street star William Roache has been accused of raping several 16 year old girls. Although it was said to happen in the 60's when he was not an elderly person, it has only been spoke about recently. It changes peoples feelings on him completely, and he is seen as creepy rather than cute. 

Stereotypes of Age
The media presents different ages in many different way, as shown above, but there are a few main stereotypes to each age. 
Teenagers

• thugs
• chavs
• irresponsible
• careless
• reckless
• unappreciative
• dumb
• dependent
• deviant
• materialistic
• lazy
• ignorant
• unmotivated

It is quite obvious that all of these words are negative, and personally I believe that this in unfair. Many teenagers are the complete opposite but unfortunately this is how the majority of society see teens. 

Elderly

• vulnerable
• dependent
• conservative
• forgetful
• incompetent
• wise
• experienced
• cute
• complainers
• geriatric

There is a mixture of positive and negative words here because many people see the elderly in completely different ways. When the elderly feature in the media it is usually not directly about them but about what has been done to them by others. This makes it hard for us to make a direct judgement of them.

Stereotypes of Age

Stereotypes of the elderly:


 This video breaks the stereotype of the elderly as it shows a 62 year old woman modelling lingerie for American Apparel. This is not stereotypical of the elderly as it is usually younger women doing jobs like this, and we assume the elderly are in their houses drinking tea.

Stereotypes of the young:

This article suggests that all young people are deviants, and do not care about breaking the law. Justin Bieber gives a bad impression of young people as he acts in a manner that could rub off on his fans. He is a role model for many, and the way he is acting will make other teenagers think it is acceptable. Some might say that he is just acting like a normal young lad, but it is not a great impression to give to 13 year old fans.