Media Studies OCR Exam Blog - Kate Ovington

'THE DIFFERENCES IN THE CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF LONG FORM TELEVISION DRAMAS REFLECT THE DIFFERENT VALUES, ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS OF THE AUDIENCES THAT CONSUME THEM.' HOW FAR DO YOU AGREE WITH THIS STATEMENT? The contrasting nature of codes and conventions within the LFTVD genre very much stems from the need to reflect the different values, attitudes and beliefs of the consumer in order to engage and target individuals personally, regardless of whether the show is for a global mass audience or niche national one.  Netflix, a large international media company, has to extend the codes and conventions in order to reflect audiences on a global scale, making sure consumers can connect with the product regardless of geography. Whereas, smaller PSBs like DR only need to appeal to it's niche nordic audience so codes and conventions will differ. Where Netflix has a need to appeal to a global audience range in order to increase it's market share, DR is projecting to a niche audien...

EVALUATE THE USEFULNESS OF BUTLER'S THEORIES ABOUT GENDER PERFORMATIVITY IN UNDERSTANDING LONG FORM TELEVISION DRAMA. (10 MARKS) Butler's theory of gender performativity argues that gender identity is not something we are born with, but something we express through performance; Butler challenges the notion of fixed binary identities of sexuality and gender in order to take into account people who don't fit the perceived heterosexual norms of modern society. Within Stranger Things, it seems that gender identities become more fixed as the characters get older, having a better understanding of the ideological archetypes idolised by the world around them. Where adults have a clear grasp of the dominance prejudices have over society in the 1980s, Children don't yet and hence we see a fluidity in their gender performance through the show. Eleven is a clear example of Butler's theory at play. With a shaved head, she is mistaken for boy by Benny, but not only that, she exte...

KEY IDEAS: // Gender is created in how we perform our gender roles - there is no essential gender identity behind these roles, it is created in the performance. // Performativity is not a singular act but a repetition and a ritual that becomes naturalised within the body. // Any feminism concerned only with masculinity and femininity excludes other forms of gender and sexuality. // This creates 'gender trouble' for those who don't fit heterosexual norms. // Butler is an important postmodern writer and has influenced queer theory - theory which deconstructs and aims to destabilise apparently fixed identities based on gender and sexualities.

KEY IDEAS: // Participatory culture is the idea that the development of new media allows the audience to be active and creative participants rather than passive consumers.  // Fans construct their own meanings + theories and share them online with others. Feedback between fans and producers fuels representations. // Audience members become textual poachers, taking aspects from media texts to create their own content. (e.g. fan-fiction) //Convergence culture - media i shared, adapted, and consumed constantly on a range of different platforms.  //Spreadable media - content that is adapted by audience members for their own purpose and shared with others. // The development of online media has allowed audiences to participate in media culture, adapting media products to create their own content which is shared with online audiences.

KEY IDEAS: // Repetition of ideas builds up over time until audiences think it's true, changing the dominant ideologies of society. // Suggests that the media can influence the audience over a long period. // Found that people who watch a lot of television were likely to have a more negative view of the world (mean world syndrome) than people who didn't watch a lot of television. // People who watch a lot of television were likely to have similar views (mainstreaming). // The media can influence audience perceptions of the world over a long period of time through the repetition of similar messages.

KEY IDEAS: // Feminist critiques of the media focus on challenging patriarchal and sexist representations. // Intersectionality considers the way in which multiple identities and systems of oppression overlap, e.g. in relation to multiple identities that create an individual identity (gender, race, social class, sexuality etc.). // Intersectional approaches to feminism draw attention to the importance of considering how the interactions of identities results in oppression. // Hooks argues media representations often reflect these oppressive ideologies.

KEY IDEAS: // Hall suggests that when analysing representation the focus should not be on the relationship between representation and 'reality' but on the potential meanings constructed. // A key focus for representation analysis should be on who or what is represented, who or what is not represented, and suggestions of difference. // Representations may intend to fix meanings in a 'preferred reading' but audiences can contest meanings.