Ideology: Further Reading Tasks

Ideology: Further Reading Tasks


Page 34: The World Of Mockingjay: Ideology, Dystopia And Propaganda

What view of capitalist ideology is presented in the Hunger Games films?
The Hunger Games is about a post-apocalyptic America where thirteen districts exists purely to serve the capital city of the country, names 'The Capitol'. Every district is poor; people struggle to survive on small amounts of food and minimum wages, while they work to provide coal, technology, food, power and other services to the Capitol. Each year two children between the ages of 11 - 18 are sent from each district to partake in The Hunger Games, an annual, event that involves forcing each child  to kill another until only one is remaining. The Games serve to keep the districts under control, as punishment for previous rebellions, and to warn them to stay in line. There is a negative view on capitalist ideologies. This is evident in the way they show capitalist views through the 'Capitol'. Furthermore, these views are then reinforced through violence and civic means. 

In this article we see different theories and how these theories are interpreted by different people in society. The Hunger Games films suggest that the media is one of the most important ways of influencing/manipulating people in to agreeing with a certain set of ideologies. This is evident in the way that the city of Panem was ruled by a dictatorship for over 75 years.I believe that we are controlled or we are influenced by how the media portrays certain aspects of reality creating a false reality in how and what certain members of society really do. For example, football can be claimed to be using camera shots to show a tackle as being either dirty or clean. Another example would be the weather and how they would say it is raining which would then tell the audience to go out in the correct clothing and attire.



Page 48: They Live - Understanding Ideology


The four acceptable ideological beliefs are:

1. People should put their families first.
2. People should work hard for their money
3. Women should believe in feminine ways, and look after their appearance.
4. Good should overcome evil.

Gramsci's theory of hegemony suggests those in power maintain their control through consent and not through the use of force. He argues ideologies are constructed through ideas and elite social groups are able to dominate through ideas and not through strength and fear.

Louis Althusser offers a way of udnerstanding how we are controlled through power. He tlaks about how Repressive State Control is when the elite use methods like the army, Police,Courts and the Government to dominate the less powerful. He also goes on to say that religion is also a key way of controlling the masses. 

Louis Althusser's big idea was that the public should keep on consuming and purchasing goods which will then in turn make them happy. This idea best serves the elite who are the manufactures and owners of the means of production. This theory suggests that it is common sense to keep on purchasing products.

Ideology and Binary Opposition

Ideology



Watch this clip from BBC Question Time with Russell Brand and Nigel Farage. The BBC deliberately placed the two against each other and the episode resulted in far more people watching and tweeting than usual.

A) What examples of binary opposition can you suggest from watching this clip?

The subject that was being debated on that weeks 'Question Time' was politics. The two debaters were two very influential opinion leaders. It questioned whether people would listen to people who irrelevant to politics or whether they would listen to people with a key roll in politics. The binary opposite in this episode of 'Question Time' would be Russel Brand and Nigel Farage. Russel Brand's words carry power as he is a very well known celebrity who has beaten addiction his views are that immigrants are not at fault because middle class people are receiving less disposable income. Whereas, Nigel Farage is believes that it is based solely based on Immigrants constantly claiming benefits and not providing anything in return. So we could say that another binary opposition is Rich and Poor.





Ideology of my own video






The subject of this video is the output of funds that go to more developing countries. The binary opposition in this clip is Migrants Vs Immigrants and Poor Vs Rich. Nigel Farage has been criticised for his extreme views on woman and immigrants since this news story.

12D Cover Work - Mon 7/12, p1/2

IDEOLOGY

The Hunger Games

This article is about how The Hunger Games demonstrates ideas of media theory. The Hunger Games is about a post-apocalyptic America where thirteen districts exists purely to serve the capital city of the country, names 'The Capitol'. Every district is poor; people struggle to survive on small amounts of food and minimum wages, while they work to provide coal, technology, food, power and other services to the Capitol. Each year two children between the ages of 11 - 18 are sent from each district to partake in The Hunger Games, an annual, event that involves forcing each child  to kill another until only one is remaining. The Games serve to keep the districts under control, as punishment for previous rebellions, and to warn them to stay in line.

The vital ideology to the way Panem is run; those in power control idas as well as resources. There is a dictatorship that is run under President Snow, a man who believes more in his own supreme leadership than the people of his country. He invests his creativity into the Games, he smells of blood and roses, and he purposefully aims to obliterate an hopes for rebellion. He believes that "hope is the only thing stronger than fear" and he deals with rebels by spreading fear through the districts. In the instant where Peeta is kidnapped, the Capitol Use civic and ideological power to maintain power and status.

They Live

In this article we see different theories and how these theories are interpreted by different people in society. The article talks about how not all ideologies are negative and how some of them could be true or positive. It then goes onto say that most ideologies have been created by the elite and upper class.

Representation 500 words

Representation With Theories:





White American men are represented in a variety of ways. For example, the three god like figures in the avengers are white masculine macho men. This reinforces the dominant representation of white American Men. This follows Berger's theory of 'Ways of seeing' as the men are seen to be the characters of most importance and power. Furthermore, the police officers that are seen defending the earth appear to all be white men. This reinforces the stereotype that men are patriotic and courageous.

Woman are also represented as being weak and inferior then men. This is evident in the way that the first shot of a woman is one with anguish and horror. This reinforces the stereotype of women needing men to protect them. On the other hand, Woman are represented as being strong and powerful. This is evident in the way Black Widow being able to kill a squad of men. This is effective as it shows how men and women are on an equal status in society at the moment. Furthermore, it reinforces the Mulvery's theory of the Male Gaze, this is evident as Black Widow is wearing skin tight clothing to show her curves.

Representation Cover Work: Mon/30/Nov

Representation

MM50

The article is about how the media are always representing woman as being "size 0" and the effects this has on the audiences behaviour and consumer habits. The article then goes on to state that brands such as Dove and celebrities such as Naomi Campbell are going against the idea that the ideal body size is 0 even though majority of the US population are size 14 or above.

The catalyst which started this debate was the film "A Perfect 14". This film is a documentary that challenges the idea of beauty and what is beautiful or normal, with the rejection of the traditional concept of what a woman should look like.

The 'Female Gaze' in this article challenges the 'Male Gaze' as it refers to how woman look at other woman and see what they do not have that makes them so beautiful. Whereas, the 'Male Gaze' suggests that men look at woman because of their beauty.

In my opinion I believe that women are represented as being beautiful and thin. I also think that the media are doing a good job because it is getting other females to think more about their health. I also think that it is because some of the media are effectively using both the hypodermic needle theory and the two step flow theory to manage and maintain how the audience perceive the ideal women.

MM51

A media text has three ways of being read:

Dominant

Oppositional

Negotiated 

An understanding of media texts helps us understand the reason for why the writer chose to represent certain people in a negative or positive way.

It then goes to show the audience a picture of a drawn pipe, it then suggests that the pipe shown is a re-presentation of what Magritte's saw. 

Media text create a false image of what reality really looks like. For example if the queen was shot from a High angle shot she would be portrayed as a weak character. Whereas, if she was shot from a Low angle shot it would make her look powerful and wealthy