Task 5 – Representation
The
vlog prior to this; I talked about the marketing for X-Men Origins Wolverine
and the way it was distributed to the consumers. In this final vlog, I will be
talking about the ways that XMOW creates representations throughout the film.
Representations also reflect ideologies and how people think through the media.
Representation
Representation
is the way something is presented. Practically any subject can be represented
in many ways. Media is currently the most common way of representing something;
everything can be presented in a form i.e. gender, age, ethnicity,
lifestyle/ideal lifestyle, class, communities, sub cultures and stereotypes.
Ideologies
are created through the way media presents subjects such as stereotypes of how
women are weaker than men; the only reason that an ideology exists is because
women are more commonly portrayed to be weaker in media. Media often
objectifies women and is represented as objects of sex and attraction (Mulvey
1975). The representation of men (Earp and Katz, 1999) as stated: ‘Equation of
Masculinity with pathological control and violence’.
Media
is a very large influence in current society and this is expressed in two
different schools of thoughts:
- Hypodermic Syringe (Theodore Adornor, 1930’s)
– The Hypodermic Syringe theory is where it is believed that the audience will
take in everything they see in media quite literally and believe everything to
be true. They just absorb the information and in a way, a more negative form of
thinking.
- Uses and Gratification (Gauntlett) –
The theory of Uses and Gratification is that people do not necessarily just
absorb and believe the information but instead absorb and adapt around the
information instead of literal thinking. Each person consumes media for their
own purpose and gratification, mainly escapism.
Both
of these schools of thought still follow the same principle in that the
audience still absorbs the information. One well-known issue is using the
information as a ‘copycat’. Copycats usually derive from moral panic in which a
person or a group of people create an even bigger issue from a subject on
media. An example of a copycat is a person committing a crime due to a game
he/she has played and they believe that what they are doing is fine. Situations
in XMOW can be quite impossible because of the nature of the movie and its
futuristic themes. Sensationalism is an example of something that can cause
moral panic; it is the process of creating an even bigger issue of something
that already has a substantial amount of attention.
Legal
and Ethical
With
the internet existing, sharing is far easier than before. This also means that
illegal downloading is a common occurrence. Illegal downloading is currently
one of the main drawbacks for films since the digital transition and is one of
the main parts that take away from profit. Illegal download however means that
the film was successful enough to be gain attention for illegal downloading,
although this isn’t necessarily true. Sales wise, illegal downloading and file
sharing causes the majority of sales drop.
Copyright
infringement is also quite an issue with media. Some forms of programs that use
a peer to peer system is one cause of copyright infringement such as programs
that use forms of ‘torrents’. There have been cases where the creators of these
programs were filed a lawsuit against copyright infringement. XMOW is no different to other forms of media
as it is most likely that the film has also been downloaded illegally and/or
shared publicly.
Media
follows ethics like any other subject although it seems slightly more flexible
in terms of being subtle. Topics with media such as journalism sometimes and
more often than not, become overly sensationalised. However, entertainment
media is different in terms of what ethics they follow and what they cannot do;
they are given a rating depending on the type of content the film depicts.
Subject of violence and sex and strong language can cause the age rating to go
up even with the section of such subjects are small compared to the rest of the
product.
Product
placement is an increasingly noticed form of marketing tactic. Companies pay
film productions to place a product of their choosing and is integrated into
the film. This is to create attention indirectly as it is not necessarily the
main focus of the film. However, it has a chance to create a lasting effect and
can be used to remind the consumer of the product. Stereotypes are also another
way for media to create representations that people remember easily. People
tend to remember stereotypes more often as it creates influences in people’s
perceptions.
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