Applying Theories to A2 essay on Collective Identity: Representation of Britishness Theorist

Karl Marx Frankfurt School Daniel Chandler

Media Theory
The Media works as a tool to control the masses in society. He sees the Media as key in shaping societys beliefs and constructing hegemony. The effects model, which sees the audience as passive vessels, builds on Marxs view of the Media as a tool to manipulate and control audiences Representation and the identity CAGE (class, age, gender, ethnicity)Chandler explores how the media produces a construction of reality, and feeds into the national identity/ consciousness of Britain Hall argues that the media appear to reflect reality whilst in fact they construct it. The ideologies which are encoded in Media texts by producers can shape society. The Media plays a key role in constructing our world/society, rather than reflecting it back to us. Uses and Gratifications Theoryaudiences actively chose media texts to fulfil specific needs (Entertainment/Identification/Social Interaction/Escapism/Education)

Applying it to Representation of Britain

When watching mediated versions of Britain audiences will adopt the hegemony in certain media texts, which in turn will feed into their understanding of Britain and what it means to be British. This is a simplistic view of the Media, however it is important to think about how the Media plays a role in shaping our beliefs and values, and in constructing our own identity of being British. The most important aspect of cage when analysing the representation of Britain is arguable the C of class, as the gulf in the representation of Britain is created by the class differences between commercially successful US funded films and low budget UK film council funded social realism films. In order for us to understand how Britain is represented in film and TV we need to identify how British identity is represented and this seems to revolve around class more than anything else Mediated versions of Britain in film and TV are encoded with values and ideologies (from their producers). These are more apparent in social realism films where directors are commenting on issues in British society, and use films as a way to voice concerns. Juxtaposed against these are US funded films which construct a utopian view of British society in order to provide audiences with escapist representations, or more cynically to keep the lower classes in their place and not disturb the balance of power in society. Audiences are offered different representations of Britain to fulfil different needs; therefore the Media will have many representations at any one time. Directors such as Shane Meadows and Ken Loach social realist films offer audiences a form of social education, and in some cases identification. Juxtaposed to these representations are Hollywood funded

Stuart Hall

Blumier and Katz

representations of Britain as seen in Richard Curtis Films which offer audiences a form of escapism.

Richard Dyer

Utopian Solutions Theory audiences seek compensation/solutions for problems in their lives through the Media.

Similar to above- the different representations of Britain offer audiences different solutions. This is straight forward when looking at Hollywood romantic escapist representations of Britain, however slightly more complex when looking at social realist films. These films, often screened in a handful of cinemas, are predominantly viewed by an educated middle class audience who see these texts as cultural works of art, fulfilling their need for cultural capital.