Essay on Collective Identity

“Media representations are complex, not simple and straightforward”. How far do you agree with this statement in relation to the collective group that you have studied?

Media representations are complex, not simple and straightforward.The representation of Britishness has changed throughout the years in the media. Because of this people are constantly changing their views and opinions about Britishness. The media is an institution which is used to communicate messages to the audience. These messages may be complex and may be interpreted in different ways depending on the individuals background and other factors. In this essay I will discuss the different representations of Britishness, how these have changed throughout the years and the different theories relating to the collective identity of Britishness.

Hegemony is the dominant ideology which something everyone sees as normal. The dominant classes views are seen as more important than the working classes. Gramsci claims that they are more accepted and believe that Western ideology is mainly taking Britishness away. This is shown in print media, such as magazines where Amercian celebrities are used on the front page of British magazines. Also, working title is a British film company, however its ownership is American. The characters in these films are portrayed as posh, mainly from a middle class background and having a proud to be British attitude/ identity. This exports a particular representation of Britishness, however other film companies portray British characters in a negative way. For example, the characters in 'This is England' are shown using inappropriate language; swearing, racist and very violent towards other people. As well as this, people from other countries may have a different perspective and opinion about what they think Britishness is like. Therefore, the representations of Britishness is complex, not simple and straightforward.

Gender is not always presented in a simple and straight forward way in the British media. Women are normally presented in four different roles; a Mother, a Grandmother, a Virgin or a Whore. This is very stereotypical representation of women and Feminists believe the media represent women in this way to maintain the old stereotype. Therefore, women are sometimes portrayed in a negative way. However, patriarchal society has broken down within some parts of the media as television programmes such as Waterloo Road present positive representations of women. This is shown as one of the head teachers of the school is a female. The roles that women are given in the media therefore has changed slightly, as they are now given greater/higher roles. In the 1960's, films such as a 'Taste of Honey' show that pressures and struggles were placed on women. Where as, in the media today they shown as having free will and independence. The way that women dress and act in the media is also very different, in the 1960's the programme 'Britain on Film' shows that women entered a lot of beauty competitions, wore long dresses and skirts and perms were the hair style in fashion. However, women in the media today are shown wearing short skirts and dresses and wear lots of heavy make up. Feminists, such as Mulvey believe that they are represented in this way for men's sexual pleasure. This is referred to as the male gaze and the common features include the camera focusing on the characters curves, busts and legs. These changes in the media support this view that media representations are complex, not simple and straightforward.

Sexuality is another topic within the media that has also changed drastically and because of this the audiences opinions and views has also changed. For example, in the 60's homosexuality was frowned upon and was not accepted by people in society. It was a topic that was not specifically and openly spoken about. However, programmes in the British media such as Eastenders contains homosexual characters. There are also a lot of homosexual television hosts such as Graham Norton, this has changed the negative portrayal of homosexuality into a positive portrayal. It is now accepted in society and tolerated, where as in the 60's it was illegal. There are also laws against people who are homophobic to prevent these acts and threats towards homosexuals from happening. This suggests that media representations of sexuality are very complex and not simple as they have changed significantly.

The representation of young adults and teenagers in Britain has also changed within the last 50 years. In the programme 'Britain on Film' they were portrayed as happy and cheerful. They were enthusiastic when speaking about Britain and embraced Britishness. However, the teenagers and young adults are portrayed differently in 'Fish Tank' . Baudry believes that inactive viewers are unable to differentiate between the world of film and real world. This is because according the the Hypodermic syringe model the audience is passive and believe everything that they see, hear and read about in the media as it feels like what is being shown is real. This supports the view that representations are complex and not simple.

In conclusion, there are a number of theories and evidence that supports the view that the media representations of Britishness is complex, not simple and straightforward. For example, the Feminist and Hegemony theory. I also agree with the statement as the representations of British has changed drastically in the past 50 years and is continuing to do so. People also have different opinions and perceptions of what is portrayed in the media, therefore making the representations not so straightforward.