Tessa Perkins - representation

 Stereotypes

A stereotype is an ideological expectation of certain types or categories of people relating to their personalities, race, how they act etc. etc.

In everyday life we place people into catergories or stereotype relating to media concepts, for example we may think pretty girls are naturally horrible or people who like maths are nerds. Some stereotypes can be based on negative views and some are based on good intentions.

There are 5 assumptions about this theory and stereotypes;

1. Stereotypes are not always negative
2. They are not always about minority groups or the less powerful 
3. They can be held about one's own group 
4. They are not rigid or unchanging 
5. They aren't always false 

Not always negative 

People assume that stereotypes are negative e.g youths in hoodies are seen as troublesome however youths can also be seen as positive because students can achieve good grades and are seen in a positive light.

They are not always about minority groups or the less powerful

people assume that stereotypes are aimed at/ targeted towards the less powerful but this is not always the case, we can make assumptions and stereotypes about upper class minorities in the same way they would make assumptions about lower class people.  

They can be held about ones own group

For example collectively as a representation of people we are based as a group within Wyke College, with in our group we are stereotyped. We stereotype based on our assumptions. This makes each of us feel part of the larger community.

They are not rigid or unchanging

Once a stereotype has been created it is very hard to change however Perkins states that over a period of time, that it can change and develop an example of this would be Miley Cyrus or Britney Spears.

Implications of stereotypes

Stereotypes are always erroneous in content and they are usually negative concepts however they do have some aspects of the truth to them.


How does this theory apply to my chosen music band?

Every music artist or band has a stereotype/reputation based on how they appear to the audience which is based on looks and actions. This influences the audience's interpretations of the singers/bands over time.

The stereotype of my chosen band

Greenday has the representation of an emo/ indie rock music band. They present themselves as a band that write their own indie rock genre songs which most people connote indie rock with death or depressing issues. However Greenday's main singer Billie Armstrong writes all of his songs based on things that have happened to him or problems/impacts that affect people in everyday life. if you read the lyrics to the songs we can see the links to what each song is about. For example the song I have chosen to analyse 'Wake me up when September ends' is about the death of the main singers father.

Other band's/singer's that link to Greenday due to stereotypes

Other bands that link to Greenday through stereotypes are bands such as; Evanescence, Fall out boy, Simple plan, Linkin park, My chemical romance, All time low, Blink 182, Avril Lavigne and The red hot chilli peppers. Each of these bands share similar stereotypes of producing 'emo music' are known for influencing teenagers to listen to indie, rock music and dressing in an emo or goth way. However most of the songs written by these bands or singers are based on the life decisions or problems that appeal to the target audience because they find the sing lyrics relatable.

How my chosen Band act as positive role models

Greenday act to suit their genre of music, however they do not in any of their songs or interviews say that people have to act like them. The songs they produce/write do not entice or tell people to smoke pot or take drugs like The Beatles did in the 60's with their song ' I am the Walrus', The lyrics to Greenday songs are often inspirational or relatable for the audience.

Richard Dyer theory -representation

Richard Dyer developed the theory of the idea that the viewer's perception of a film is heavily influenced by the perception of it's stars and that the publicity materials and reviews determine the way that audiences experience a media text.
With this  idea in mind, Dyer analysed the critics, magazines, advertisements and the films themselves, to explore the significance of 'stardom'.

Quotes from Richard Dyer;

• "Star's are commodities that are produced by institutions"
• " A star is a constructed image, represented across a range of  media and mediums"
• "Star's  represent and embody certain ideologies"

Dyer also states that  a star  is an image, not a real person they are constructed, as any other aspect of fiction is, using a range of material and methods e.g. advertising, magazines and featuring in films and music products.

Icons and celebrities are constructed by institutions for financial gain and target one specific audience/group of people to make profit

Star's create a persona that is desirable to a target audience but is not actually a true presentation of themselves.

Desirable female celebrities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 4 key components;

1. Star's as constructions
2. Audience and industry/ institution
3. Ideology and culture
4. character and personality

Star's are constructed , artificial images even if they  are represented as being 'real people'. In fact star's are reconstructed versions of themselves for a reason - to get money from the audience.•Stars are manufactured by the music industry to serve a purpose — to make money out of audiences, who respond to various elements of a star persona by buying records and becoming fans.
Record companies nurture and shape their stars  as the TV talent show processes have shown us. They tend to manufacture what they think audiences want, hence the photocopied nature of many boy bands, teen bands
The institution want to make money out of their constructed stars and create constructs of stars they believe an audience want to copy. 

Stars represent shared cultural values and attitudes that promotes a certain ideology about themselves as an artist and what they want an audience to see what they believe in.

By having dominant desirable ideologies it allows the audience to see their star qualities and make them more desirable. Conveying their beliefs and opinions out side music and film helps a celebrity create a star persona. Stars promote their ideologies within culture to make them a consumerable house hold name. Audiences tend to copy or idolize ‘stars’ so promoting their own beliefs makes them more desirable.

Dyer says stars provide audiences with ‘ideas of what people are supposed to be like’ and because of this audiences feel the need to conform to these constructions.
A star creates a character based on themselves and what they feel the audience want to consume they promote an image what they feel is desirable for an audience.
Dyer states they are constructs of what an audience wants to consume. They are a construction of them selves Stars are characters that create personalities to present to an audience. Audience consume this idea and the character these stars re-present to an audience. 

Hegemony

Star's represent shared cultural values and attitudes to promote a certain ideology and this is also what makes them a 'star' by having such a powerful influence on an audience. Examples of this would be Katy Perry making her target audience believe she loves them by calling them her Kitty-Cats.

Star's provide audience's with 'ideas of what people are supposed to be like'' Star's create character based on themselves. They are constructs of what an audience want to consume

Star's use motif's and logo's to represent themselves as a 'brand', these are usually used as iconic things that symbolise a singer or a band. These are used so that as soon as the audience see the motif or the logo they instantly recognise who that logo/motif belongs to. For example the Red Hot Chilli Pepper's use their logo on their albums and include in their music videos.

Paradox

Dyer suggests that there are two paradoxes and that the star is both ‘ordinary’ and ‘extraordinary’. He states the star needs to be like us to be able to relate to the audience but also offer something that we do not have in order to deem them special enough to be stars.

How does this theory imply to my chosen music video?

 My chosen music video follows some of the conventions of this theory, such as the band being superior and desirable to us as the audience. When watching the video we can see that the camera angles are always from a low angle so that we are looking up at the band performing the song, however we only see the band performing through certain parts of the song. The music video  starts off with the narrative then it jumps in-between the narrative and the performance. N/P/N/P/N/P/N/P/N/P/N/P/N being the sequence of the music video. The logo of green day appears on the drum set behind Billie J. Armstrong (main singer) which we can see in every camera shot of Billie singing. This is so that the audience instantly know that they are Greenday. Greenday has the expectation of the audience to act rebellious however the normal behaviour we have associated with Greenday is jusrt an act which is connoted with their genre of music.

The history of music video's

The start of music video's 

In the 50's music video's didn't exist for any of the songs produced around that time. However there were some artists that made short films in which they sang and performed their songs. Elvis is a prime example for this, Elvis was known worldwide therefore he produced short films in which he sang his songs but he never ever performed live outside of America. People would go to the cinema to watch these 'short films' to see Elvis sing, this method was a good idea to help promote Elvis as a brand. The reason for promoting Elvis as a 'brand' was to produce entertainment through the use of media for the audience to consume, therefore most celebrities and stars are seen as brand as they don't fall into the categories of their consuming/ target audience.

****Insert picture of Elvis*****

The next band to promote short films in which they performed their songs were The Beatles in the 60's. When The Beatles decided to stop touring they made a series of promotional films for their singles.  Although the most well-known song performed by the Beatles in one of these short films was ' I am the Walrus', the song ' Strawberry fields forever' really caught the audience's attention as the song performance consisted of reverse, slow motion, fades, camera filters and slow mixes, and a collection of unusual, slightly imposing camera angles. 
***insert picture of the beatles and song links*******

The Beatles weren't alone in making short films to promote their singles, Cliff Richard was filmed as a pop star in featuring a film preforming his songs. Bob Dylan on the other hand filmed his music video's in one shot without any editing, jump cuts or transitions.

The next band inline to awe the audience with their camera angles and pull focus shots were ABBA with their song 'Knowing me, Knowing you' in 1974. Leasing on from them Queen released their song 'Bohemian Rhapsody, they produced the song's music video with a  film/video tape which became a promotion video on tape. Bohemian Rhapsody was unique because not only did it reach number one of top of the pops for 6 weeks but it also included the use of the latest technology to film their music video and the opera section of song.
***** b.r LINK*****

Music video's began to make short stories that became short films. Michael Jackson's Thriller; released in 1983  has since been listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the “most successful music video,” and is the first music video added to the National Film Registry. It's impact was wider than this, influencing musicians and film directors alike ever since.
****thriller link & pics****

Laura Mulvey's theory - representation

Laura Mulvey's theory is known as the 'male gaze theory', this theory is based on how women are represented in the media industry in films, music videos  and advertisements.The male gaze occurs when the audience is put into the perspective of a heterosexual man. A scene may focus on the curves of a woman's body, putting you the viewer in the eyes of a male However it is only the Male Gaze theory if these curves are highlighted with specific conventions such as slow motion, deliberate camera movements and cut aways .The theory suggests that the male gaze denies women human identity, relegating them to the status of objects to be admired for physical appearance this ‘masculines’ the audience.The theory suggests woman can more often than not only watch a film from a secondary perspective and only view themselves from a mans perspective

Often a female character has no real importance herself, it is how she makes the male feel or act that is the importance.The female only exist in relation to the male Laura Mulvey's theory is broken down into 3 categories;

• How Men look at Women 
• How Women look at other Women
• How Women look at themselves

How Men look at Women 



Many people say that the media has an influence on us, as the mass audience. However the media only shows  us what we want to see whether it be for sports programmes or for loved up, romantic movie scenes. Laura Mulvey says that by looking at music video's, we see women through the male perspective or supposedly how women should be seen by men. Mulvey states that from seeing women from the male perspective that women are viewed as objects and their purpose is to gratify the male audience. Mulvey says that because women are objectified in music videos and such like, men see women in this light in reality as well. We can see that Laura Mulvey's theory is implied in music video's such as Rihanna's 'Rude Boy' video and the Scouting for girls  music video for 'She's so lovely'. The lyrics to both of these songs suggest the woman as being there for sex and  it references women as being an objectified prize for satisfying the male gender. Rihanna's 'Rude Boy' video demonstrate Mulvey's explanation on how men view women as sex objects, if you look at the cinematography used in the music video. We see close up's of certain parts of Rihanna's body parts, such as her breasts, her lips and her hips. From the camera angles used in the music video's, you could imply that the perception of Rihanna is from the male gaze/ male view.  From the media given the insight to men that it is okay for them to see women as objects for their satisfaction, men then see it as okay to use it on women on everyday life/reality.

How Women look at other Women 

Like men, women watch these women on music videos and understand that they are viewed as an object. This leads women to make judgments on each other based on how other women dress, what they wear, body shape and the way they act. The dominant representation of women in the media gives women in reality a comparison for them to create an ideal identity of themselves. The media represents women as slim bodied women with curves and long luscious silky hair with flawless skin that has been airbrushed in photos. In some of these photo's we see of celebrities or models, we could say that the women pose half naked or wearing provocative clothing because they want to be desired by the male target audience. This gives us as the audience they idea that all women want to be looked at and desired like all women in the music or film industry. Women in this day and age can now look at the way women in the media represent themselves and include some of the ways that the women look in the media to the way women look in reality. Therefore women change their identity to match the identities that celebrities only want us to see.

Rihanna Selfie                                                                              Woman taking a selfie; trying to look                                                                                                          like Rihanna            

How Women look at themselves 

Charlize Theron                                                                    Self-conscious woman

From the representation of women, we see that the media symbolise woman as not only objects but these beautiful/ 'fit' creatures that are there to be desired by men. The women used in media texts such as music video's are shown as 'fit, toned and tanned and ready' as the quote from Katy Perry's song California girls. From the media using women that look like this they create a stereotype of expectation of what women should be/ act and look like, this itself can raise self confidence issues in women in the audience. For example women look at actresses or models such as Megan Fox, Jennifer Laurence, Charlize Theron or Kiera  Knightley. Mulvey  states that from the use of these women that woman in reality begin to see themselves in a negative light because they do not fill the expectation/stereotypes of women in the media texts that we consume as an audience. However the representations of women that the media give us of these women aren't always the real deal. For example in many pictures of models and celebrities, they are photoshoped and edited so that the model/person in the image looks  more appealing and flawless to their target audience. The identity presented to the audience isn't the true personality of the celebrity therefore the audience is being a presented with a fake identity of their favourite celebrity. Therefore this implies that celebrities give the audience a fake impersonation of themselves and with their photos and images edited means that they aren't any different to every day people. Never the less, this still creates a negative on women because they feel as though they can't fulfil the stereotypes or expectations of women in music videos or in films where the women are seen as 'beautiful'. Over all the conclusion given is that woman strive to be perfect, if they are celebrities or not even though the 'perfect image' they strive for doesn't exist.



How does this theory imply to my chosen music video?

My music video doesn't follow the conventions  of  Laura Mulvey's theory. The music video consists of a couple going through the difficulty of money issues such as struggling to find money to pay for rent and such like. The guy in the music video then decides to join the army and be on the front line in order to be able to provide for both of them financially, the video has jump cuts from the guy fighting in the war to the girl waiting for him to return home. In away you could imply that the girl belongs to the guy therefore she waits for him, like an object waiting to be used again. The girl used in the video is very beautiful therefore there is the connotation of beautiful girls being used in media texts. However listening to the lyrics of the song 'Wake me up when September ends' by Greenday actually dennotate the death of the Bille Joe Armstrong's (the main singer) Dad.

The actress from 'Wake me up when September ends'