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.

Decent essays

• Range of Theorists which are relevant to the representation you are writing about/focusing on
• Use terminology and references
• Use examples from the media eg films, adverts, magazines
• Clear explanations and detail
• Structure your essay so that it flows and makes sense
• Refer back to the question throughout the essay

Gauntlett's theory

David Gauntlett focuses on the idea of using visual methods to get the brain working in a different way. He used methods such as drawing, collage and video. He believes its a more switched on, hands on process which will get more truthful results. He says that making people define their identity through visual methods gives them time to think about it, it also makes them become creative. One of his way's of using visual methods to represent identity is by the use of lego which allowed the people to use the lego to create a metaphor of their identity and life. Therefore, he wanted to explore how people think about their own self identity. It is beneficial because creating images about themselves may be hard to word, or phrase.

• Identity is complicated, however, everybody feels that they have one.
• The average teenager can create numberous identities in a short space of time, especially by using the Internet and social networking sites.
• The relationship between people's sense of identity and the media is not straightforward as individuals interpret messages differently.

Media and Collective Identity-Examiners Feedback

One very strong centre facilitated rich learning where candidates were able to utilise the ideas of Gauntlett on identity along with Judith Butler and a range of others very well in relation to film and magazines (with the exception of Lacan whose ‘mirror stage’ was usually misunderstood). There did tend to be an overwhelming sense of a prepared answer with almost all candidates beginning with ‘Gauntlett says ‘identity is complicated’) but whilst this may have been dull for the examiner after a while, candidates are not penalised for this approach. Other candidates considered the representation of youth and urban communities in music and other media and answers varied from sensitive and informed negotiations of the nature of subculture in 2010 whilst weaker candidates set up unhelpful and crude binary oppositions and crass generalisations about whole swathes of young people, ironically perhaps. Most pleasing was the ability of some candidates to take highly contemporary examples – eg the music of Dizzee Rascal and discuss them in theoretical contexts such as hegemony, democracy and representation and, again through Gauntlett, negotiated ‘self-help’ gender representation. A key piece of advice for centres is to move candidates away from generalised ideas of how ‘the media’ represent people and ideas and towards more ‘micro’ level discussions of how people give meaning to particular kinds of media in relation to their identities.

Britain on Film-BBC 4

The programme 'This Sceptred Isle', is very different compared to modern day programmes on television today. It is aparant that a lot has changed within the last 50 years based on roles played by men and women, views about sexuality and the way different ages are portrayed within the media. The entertainment in Britain today has changed compared to the entertainment shown in this programme. For example, Morris dancing was very popular as well as going to the circus. However, Morris dancing is only common in some parts of Britain today such as Cornwall. The lifestyle in Britain has changed and the society is much more multicultural. Programmes such as Eastenders on BBC 1 has a range of different characters; ranging from; Black people, White people, Asians and Homosexuals. Whereas, in this programme the majority of the characters were white, therefore a lot has changed in terms of the different ethnicity's living in Britain today and the different ethnicity's portrayed in the media.

Within the media today a lot of programmes focus on sex, this shows that the topic is more openly spoken about now and is more common. Sexuality is also more positively portrayed in the media than it was in the 1960's. For example, programmes such as 'Sun, sex and suspicious parents' focuses on what people aged 18+ get up to on their holidays which normally includes sex, drinking a large amounts of alcohol and nudity. Therefore, society today seems like it does not have boundaries.

In the era that this film was made, being homosexual was frowned upon, not widely spoken about or even shown in the media. However, more programmes now include homosexuals as well as television hosts  such as the host of Big Brother and the host of the show 'The Graham Norton Show'. Therefore the attitude towards Homosexuality has changed drastically within the last 50 years. It is now accepted in Britain and there are now campaigns for marriage equality.

In 'The Sceptred Isle' it showed mainly white middle class people going to University in Britain. It also showed only a small fraction of people choosing to go onto higher education this was because getting a job was more important to. However, different classes now go on to University in Britain today and larger proportions of people do from a number of different backgrounds.

Research on Britishness

How and why has the British collective identity changed over the last 50 years and how is this reflected thhrough the media?

• 2001: just over 87% said that they were White British. 1.2% Irish.
• 2011: just over 80% said that they were White British. 0.9% Irish.
• Mixed and multi ethnic groups: proportions in all of the groups increased between 2001 and 2011.
• England and Wales has become more ethnically diverse with rising numbers of people identifying with minority ethnic groups in 2011.
• White ethnic group is decreasing in size, however, it is still the majority ethnic group that people identify with.
• During the Middle Ages, the few black faces in Britain appeared to be entertainers linked to royal entourages. 1500-1700
• There was an increase in the number of African men, women and children resident in Britain. Approximately 14,000 black people lived in England by 1770.
• In Wales, Scotland and for Catholic participants in Northern Ireland they see the English as arrogant, superior and aggressive.
• However, young white people in England find it hard to distinguish between being English and British: the two appear interchangeable.
• British themes: old, Traditional, Hierarchical, Distant from everyday life, Political discourse and Parent to child.
• Britain is proud of welcoming new migrants who will add to the diversity and dynamism.
• Thanks to immigration Britain's demographic trends are healthier than in many neighbouring countries.
•  The Guardian's beautiful maps still show vast swaths of the country which are over 90% white Briton – Cornwall is 98%, where foreign-looking faces are rare.
• In the Mail melancholy writer Douglas Murray argues that the scale of immigration in the noughties has been too fast to absorb. 
• Associations with Britishness amongst young people include the Queen, tea and crumpets, and Big Ben etc, which are rather “old world” versions and do not reflect a contemporary Britain or social reality.
• For many young people Britain represents an old, hierarchical, traditional, political discourse that does not fit with the fresh, inventive, messy and often chaotic world of a teenager.
•  
 
 
 










 

Collective Identity 2

Love  Actually:

This film is written and directed by Richard Curtis so we expect it to have a similar mood and representation style to Notting Hill and Bridget Jones. The audience could be Americans because London is represented in a way that we know is not fully true. However, it does match some of the stereotypes that Americans have of English life. The film is is represented as a multicultural community.

The mise en scene at the beginning of this film shows all the characters smartly dressed in suits. This connotes that they are from an upper class background. The type of language they use and how they speak also illustrate the background in which they are from. In the background Royalist music is heard, this implies Britishness and Nationalism.

This is England:

This film was set around 30 years ago and the characters at the beginning of the film seem to be from a working class background. This is shown through how they speak, their behaviour and the costume that they wear. At the beginning of the film, a group of men are spray painting a wall. This is referred to as graffiti and is classed anti-social behaviour. It suggests that they do not work as it is set during the day and that they have nothing better to do. As they are adults they should also know better than this and should be setting an example to children.

The characters in the film are very racist towards Indians. This is shown through the language used towards the Indian shopkeeper such as swearing and foul language. An example is when they call him a "Paki cunt". This indicates that they are rude, spiteful and crude. The men also speak with a Cockney accent which connotes their social class; working class.

Racism is also shown towards the Indian shopkeeper when the group of men become very aggressive and violent towards him. One of the men use a sword type of weapon to scare the shopkeeper. This is so that the White man feels in charge and has a dominant position over the Indian man. All of the characters threaten the shopkeeper to make him feel intimidated. The group shows another sign of anti-social behaviour when they steal a large number of things from the shop before leaving.

Taste of Honey:

This film is set in a dark and depressing location; a graveyard. At the time when the film was set/made, white women were not allowed to get pregnant and mix with other races. This was not common and accepted by society aswell as families as it was frowned upon. However, the woman in this film finds herself in this position as she is pregnant with a coloured baby.

It is clear that she is poor, and not confident with herself. Her Dad is Irish and refers to him as being "daft" which means stupid and therefore is putting him down and does not think much of him.