Year 10 Media Studies (GCSE)

Representation

Yr 10 GCSE

Representation
Monday 19th September 2011
LO: To understand how people, places and events are represented in the media Keywords: Stereotype; Bias; Realism

Do NOW!
It is not possible to talk about true representation in the media. Do you agree or disagree? Write a paragraph explaining your answer using examples. (Consider news stories, documentaries, reality TV shows etc)

What is REPRESENTATION?
Representation is concerned with the way that people, ideas and events are presented to us. This could be representation in magazines, news, soap operas, films and so on. It may include representation of people, places, events.

Realism
A television documentary, for example, appears to offer us a representation of the world as it exists. We call this realism. But we also look upon soap operas as examples of realism, although they are works of fiction performed by actors.

The Treachery of Images 1928-9 Rene Magritte

Activity whose truth?

1. With the person sitting next to you 2. Google images of either Chris Brown or Lindsay Lohan 3. Select one photo that you think they would like to use to represent themselves (for a Facebook profile for example) 4. Select one photo that you think their parents would like to use to represent them 5. Select one photo that the paparazzi would like to use 6. Put the images on a PowerPoint slide 7. Answer: Which represents the real person? How is representation biased in the media and why?

Consider what these pictures reflect. Why is representation important? What factors influence the production of representations? What effect does it have on society?

REPRESENTATION and BIAS

WOMEN IN THE MEDIA

Brainstorm:

How are women represented in the media?

(For example - are they generally the heroes in Action films?)

WOMEN IN THE MEDIA

Find some examples of how women are represented in a negative way in advertising, this can be in print or television. Add them to your PP presentation. Answer: Why are they negative? Are there any that represent women in a positive way? Why have advertisers taken this new approach?

STEREOTYPE

Look up the definition and write it in your books.

STEREOTYPE
List as many media stereotypes as possible.

Here are some words to help (stereotypes are often offensive): Old people Obese people Successful businesswomen Homosexuals Country people Christian people Muslim people Jewish people Teenagers Posh people On your PP presentation, create a collage of these media stereotypes

STEREOTYPING DISABILITY IN THE MEDIA

Consider popular television shows

In your books answer:

How many people with disabilities are portrayed?

How old are they? What story-lines are they involved in? What conclusions can you draw about the stereotyping of people with disabilities on these sorts of programmes?

For analysis
Richard Dyer (1983) posed a few questions when analysing media representations in general. 1. What sense of the world is it making? 2. What does it imply? Is it typical of the world or deviant? 3. Who is it speaking to? For whom? To whom? 4. What does it represent to us and why? How do we respond to the representation?