Representation Theory:
Laura Mulvey
She was born on August 15, 1941 and she is currently 70 years old. She is a British feminist film theorist. She was educated at St Hilda's College, Oxford. She is currently professor of film and media studies at Birkbeck, University of London. She worked at the British Film Institute for many years before taking up her current position.She is a representation Theorist. During the academic year of 2008-09 , Mulvey was Mary Cornille Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Humanities at Wellesley College. Theory emerged in 1975.
Structuralisms/StructuralistPsychoanalysis/Mulvey/Mulvey2.jpg) |
Laura Mulvey Feminist film theorist
Representation Theorist
|
She argued that the cinema position the audience as male. The camera gazes at the female objects on screen often framing the character watching the female. Traditionally women in their appearance are coded for a strong visual and erotic impact which implies "to be looked at ness". As we(the audience) gaze at these women they are objectified and controlled.
An Example:
in Alexandra burkes new video "Let it go"
This video shows how men would watch this video and gaze at Alexandra Burke as the way she has dressed is quite seductive and provocative that the men would want to watch her in videos. Her appearance is quite appealing to us which is why the strong visual and erotic impact implies "to be Looked at ness", thus we gaze at her as she is objectified and controlled. Also from this video you can see she has worn such nice clothes which make her appearance look quite amazing as so this impacts the views on the audiences mind about the voyeuristic treatment of the female body as in one part of the video she is wearing a gold bra and then wearing beige colour trousers with gold chains attached and she is dancing between boys and girls which suggest that they are looking at her in the voyeuristic way.
Claire Johnston-Theorist 2:
Was born in 1940 and died in 1987. She was a feminist film theoretician. She wrote seminal essays on the construction of ideology in mainstream cinema (Hollywood and European auteur cinema).
- Among the first feminist critics to offer a sustained critique of stereotypes from a semiotic point of view.
- 2) Investigated the myth of 'Woman' in classical cinema.
- 3) Women are negatively represented as 'not-man'. The 'woman-as woman' is absent from the text of the film.
An example of this would be in the film fish tank women are preesented negatively as they are shown to be out of controll, violent and disrespectful and disgraceful. Mia is one woman who is reoresented negatively due to the body language and attitude she has.
RICHARD DYER
He identifies four different questions to ask of a representation. And they are as following:
http://www.slideshare.net/jphibbert1979/representation-7259964
He draws on Mulvey's Work to argue that ways of looking reassert male dominance. This is because he suggests that images of men aimed at women undermine those codes. When men are objectified they will attempt to resist the gaze of the camera-they may look away, close their eyes, wear sunglasses, look aggressive. They may be doing something , I.e. being active not just posing.
Stereotypes:
Media representations often use stereotypes as a cultural shorthand. HE argues that stereotypes are a way of reinforcing differences between people and representing these differences as natural. For example stereotypes about men and women reinforce the idea that they are so different from each other.
Marxist Theory:
http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/en/slaughte.htm
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/marxism/marxism13.html
Marxist theory emphasizes the importance of social class in relation to both media ownership and audience interpretation of media texts: this remains an important factor in media analysis. Whilst content analysis and semiotics may shed light on media content, marxist theory highlights the material conditions of media production and reception. 'Critical political economists' study the ownership and control of the media and the influence of media ownership on media content cannot be ignored. It also remains important to consider such issues as differential access and modes of interpretation which are shaped by socio-economic groupings. Marxist media research includes the analysis of representation in the mass media (e.g. political coverage or social groups) in order to reveal underlying ideologies. We still need such analyses: however oppositional it may sometimes be, audience interpretation continues to operate in relation to such content. Because of the distribution of power in society, some versions of reality have more influence than others.
an example of this would be
http://www.slideshare.net/sawtrymedia/media-and-collective-identity-feminist-film-theory
He draws on Mulvey's Work to argue that ways of looking reassert male dominance. This is because he suggests that images of men aimed at women undermine those codes. When men are objectified they will attempt to resist the gaze of the camera-they may look away, close their eyes, wear sunglasses, look aggressive. They may be doing something , I.e. being active not just posing.
Stereotypes:
Media representations often use stereotypes as a cultural shorthand. HE argues that stereotypes are a way of reinforcing differences between people and representing these differences as natural. For example stereotypes about men and women reinforce the idea that they are so different from each other.
An example of this would be in our music video Thin Black jeans where the band members are all young adult boys who would be objectified in the women's eyes as they are single and look like they are resisting to look directly into the camera.
Marxist Theory:
http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/en/slaughte.htm
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/marxism/marxism13.html
Marxist theory emphasizes the importance of social class in relation to both media ownership and audience interpretation of media texts: this remains an important factor in media analysis. Whilst content analysis and semiotics may shed light on media content, marxist theory highlights the material conditions of media production and reception. 'Critical political economists' study the ownership and control of the media and the influence of media ownership on media content cannot be ignored. It also remains important to consider such issues as differential access and modes of interpretation which are shaped by socio-economic groupings. Marxist media research includes the analysis of representation in the mass media (e.g. political coverage or social groups) in order to reveal underlying ideologies. We still need such analyses: however oppositional it may sometimes be, audience interpretation continues to operate in relation to such content. Because of the distribution of power in society, some versions of reality have more influence than others.
an example of this would be
Post Modern Theorist:
Jean Baudrillard- Simulacra:
http://www.slideshare.net/sawtrymedia/media-and-collective-identity-feminist-film-theory
