media lang + rep theory evaluation

Semiotics – Roland Barthes

strengths

• Can be used to analyse a lot of media products​

• Can be used to unearth the meaning of a media text.​

• Meaning is created by the producer ​

• Myths are easily recognisable

weaknesses

• Ignores possibility for audience to have different readings (Hall). (what about social, cultural and historical context of the text) ​

• Ignores the intentions of the producer in creating specific myths which influence audience understanding​

• Ignores the intentions of the producers in creating semiotics for power (Curran and Seaton). ​

• Ignores the different ways audiences may use the text for pleasure (Blumler and Katz)

Structuralism  – Claude Levi-Strauss ​

strengths

• Binary opposites are easy to identify​

• Narrative resolutions can help audiences diagnose which oppositions a product favours.​

• Oppositions can help audience recognize genre. ​

• Oppositions can help audiences recognize the dominant hegemony in society and the message of the product.

weaknesses

• Ignores possibility for audience to have different readings (Hall). ​

• Western media predominantly and consistently favours white over non-white causing damaging stereotypes (Gilroy).​

• Binary oppositions are reductive and can cause stereotyping (Hall) and reinforce patriarchal values (Van Zoonen). ​

• Western gender binaries mask the complex nature of sexuality (Butler).​

• Lacks diversity – is the world so black and white?

Genre Theory  – Steve Neale 

strengths

• Explains genre evolution​

• Understanding genre can help audiences determine specific pleasures/uses and gratifications of a media product. ​

• Genre can help an audience understand the Binary Oppositions and position themselves. ​

• Genre can help audiences decode meaning.

weaknesses

• Oversimplifies - Some genres are incredibly complex or deliberately cross boundaries​

• Genres can influence audience ideologies through stereotyping and repeated representations (Hall / Van Zoonen/ Butler).​

• Media concentration has led to fewer experimental forms as producers rely on tried and tested media formats to garner mass appeal (Curran and Seaton).​

•  Repeated mainstream genre tropes reflect dominant ideologies and these can exclude marginalised people (hooks)​

Post-Modernism –Jean Baudrillard ​

strengths

• Postmodernism recognises the fluidity of current society and how the influx of media content is moving reality further away. ​

• Helps audiences consider the "larger than life" constructions of reality in the media and if these are reflections of reality.​

• His ideas about simulation are even more true today, in a world of AI, virtual reality, deepfakes, and endless digital content.​

• He forces people to question whether "truth" or "reality" really exist independently​

weaknesses

• Most audiences can separate media from the real word​

• The use of media for audiences to represent themselves (in a hyperreal way) ignores the choices audiences have made in their own representation ​

• Ignores the choices audiences make in engaging with this content to form their own identities (Gauntlett).​

• We understand that media representations are REPRESENTATIONS! – and we pick and mix (Gauntlett)

Tzvetan ​Todorov – Narratology

strengths

• Helps audiences recognise the social and cultural context and ideologies of the media product, through how the problems are presented and then resolved.​

• Allows audiences to understand the story and position themselves​

• Helps confirm the genre of the narrative and provide audience pleasure as the expected "resolution" is achieved by the characters.

weaknesses

• Story structures are continuously adapting and changing, rather than based on an "ideal" story structure (Neale & Genre) ​

• Levi-Strauss would argue that stories focus more on the way narrative present oppositions rather than the way those oppositions are transformed. ​

• Narratives are not always linear

Representation Theory  – Stuart Hall 

strengths

• Audiences are able to recognise social groups and better understand the narrative (stereotypes help audiences understand meaning and position themselves). ​

• Representations reflect the dominant hegemony and intention of the media producer. ​

• Stereotypes help audiences understand characters, build character relatability and reinforce genre & narrative expectations. ​

• He highlights how media often represents dominant ideologies (race, gender, class, etc.) and how marginalized groups are stereotyped or misrepresented.​

• encourages people to think critically about how images and messages are constructed

weaknesses

• Gilroy says racial stereotypes are framed by cultural/social/historical aspects so it is harder to challenge black stereotypes as they are so deeply engrained into British cultural psyche. ​

• The internet is allowing audiences to create their own representations which may subvert stereotypes/dominant hegemonies (Clay Shirky).​

• Sometimes it’s unclear how much blame should be placed on media producers versus audiences when harmful representations happen.

Postcolonial ​Theory  – Paul Gilroy

strengths

• The media reflects simplified representations and stereotypes of black communities which nurture fear and reinforce the dominant hegemony.​

• Highlights on-going racism​

• Media organisations are predominantly white and western and will reflect this dominant hegemony, which will then influence the world (cultivation theory) ​

• Gilroy’s ideas fit today’s world, where migration, multiculturalism, and global media flows are reshaping identities and cultures.

weaknesses

• Ignores the fact that audiences can use a variety of media (especially with the internet) to create their own identities (Gauntlett). ​

• bell hooks ‘what about class and gender too?’​

• The internet allows audiences to create a wider array of representations than only those in the dominant hegemony (Clay Shirky). New technology allows audiences to engage in participatory fan culture and form online communities (Jenkins). 

Feminist Theory – Liesbet van Zoonen  ​

strengths

• Representations of women can help position our understanding of historical & cultural context and the changing role of women​

• Representations of women can help audiences understand the ideology of the creator. ​

• Highlights objectification​

• Helps audiences to criticise gender inequality

weaknesses

• Contemporary media products give audiences a much wider diversity of gender-based identities to shape their identities and resist the ideological pull of the patriarchy (Gauntlett). ​

• The use of labels like "male" and "female" mask the complex nature of sexuality (Butler). ​

• Audiences may read texts in a different way than the original encoding (Hall). ​

• Marginalized women will always be represented as less powerful than their white counterparts (hooks) 

Intersectionality Feminist theory – bell hooks 

strengths

• Helps audiences to consider unrepresented groups with less of a voice. Intersectionality widens our understanding of oppression​

• Helps audiences consider social groups who may be excluded from movements (such as feminism and LGBT activism etc). ​

• Makes feminism inclusive​

• Intersectional media celebrates diversity and gives voice to social groups, influencing how they then see themselves (Guantlett, Gerbner)​

• Encourages political activism to create change 

weaknesses

•  Contemporary media products allow unheard voices to have platforms and develop their own representations (Jenkins, Gauntlett, Shirky) but these can still sometimes be controlled by dominant powers and  larger companies (Curran and Seaton). ​

• Compared to theorists like Van Zoonen, bell hooks’ feminist theory is more about social structures and activism than about how specific media texts represent gender.

Gender Performativity – Judith Butler 

strengths

• Challenges fixed ideas of Gender - Butler shows that gender is fluid, not fixed ​

• Encourages audiences to recognise gender stereotypes​

• Opens space for non-binary, trans, and queer identities.​

• Meaning about a text is immediately implied. ​

• Meaning reflects the patriarchal dominant hegemony of Western culture. ​

• Meanings of gender subversion are clear.

weaknesses​

• Contemporary media means that heteronormativity does not completely dominate, and audiences can create their own version of identity (Gauntlett). ​

• Modern media means that audiences can create new understandings of gender (Clay Shirky, Jenkins).

Identity ​Theory – David Gauntlett  

strengths

• Highlights audiences' ability to be active in their own ability to create their identities ​

• emphasises the changing nature of media representations (how the media does not exist in isolation – it both constructs but also reflects modern social norms). ​

• Helps understand what audience may engage with a product, but also who might be explicitly targeted through specific representations and identity conventions.​

• Positive –active/embrace of the media

weaknesses​

• Contemporary media landscape is not diverse but saturated with stereotypical portrayals that reflect wider social inequalities which leads to problematic portrayals of minority groups (Halls). ​

• Portrayals of black women are largely absent from the media and, when they are present, they are prone to produce overly sexualised portrayals (hooks)​

• British media narratives don’t offer diversity but are stuck within a colonial mindset that positions non-whites as threatening, primitive or uncivilised ​
  (Gilroy). ​

• focuses more on audience creativity and less on how powerful media institutions can still shape dominant ideas about race, gender, beauty, etc.