Representation contexts and television

 Revision:  theories of representation

bell hooks – Feminism is for everybody. Feminism can benefit all genders by removing stereotypical assumptions. Intersectional feminism: working class, gay disabled women have a different experience to other women. It is complex and political. Race class, gender, ability etc can determine how we are discriminated against, not just our sex! Intersectional feminism is the agreement that every trait affects each other. A black disabled working class lesbian clearly has a different experience to other women. Feminism is for everybody!

Judith Butler – Gender identity is constructed through the acts we repeat every day, called gender performance. Gender is a social construct. Gender performativity is how our performance of gender has an effect on the world around us. For example, Lena’s reaction to Simon entering the pub is a perfect example of gender performativity. Gender performance: our gender is performed by repeated acts. Gender is a social construct, and it means nothing. However, gender has performativity. It affects the world around us. A perfect example is Lena’s lustful response to Simon. Gender is complicated.  

Paul Gilroy – Othering. Certain groups of people are presented as other: presented differently to a hegemonic norm. E.g. Black people constructed as side characters, violent, 2 dimensional, the black best friend, the comic relief. A hierarchy in our society has been constructed. Some groups are even omitted entirely… Postcolonial attitudes have constructed a hierarchy where white people are in a position of power. PoC are routinely othered. For example, black people are often represented as criminals, comic relief, wise and noble, and not the main characters. Other groups that are othered include other minorities

Julie and subversive constructions of gender

• Explain Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity. Use The Returned to support your response. [15]
• How useful are feminist theories for analysing the representations in the set editions of Black Mirror and The Returned? Refer to at least one of the following theories in your response:• van Zoonen’s feminist theory• bell hooks’ feminist theory [30]
• To what extent are the representations in this episode you have studied typical or subversive?

1 - At home

• An establishing shot of the social housing estate where Julie lives instantly constructs her as working class. Social housing often has connotations of crime, violence and deprivation. Through intertextual, the audience has learned to associate the MES of grey concrete with crime. However, we cut to the interior of Julie’s flat, which is cosy, inviting. The MES of stacks of books and a teapot construct a reality of a binary opposition between Julie's sophistication and the place she lives. Julie’s representation rejects lazy stereotypes, constructing a complex representation. This is further complicated by the film Julie is watching, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which provides the audience with valuable information about Julie: she is normal, relatable, complex. She lives alone and watches violent horror movies: an atypical representation of gender. 
• Julie is dressed in a baggy, scruffy jumper, her oversized glasses, her popped collar, her slightly baggy jeans. Julie has dressed for comfort above style. Her performance and costume are clearly not to be looked at: she subverts the male gaze through her loose fitting costume and casual attitude.
• It exists as a binary opposition to the highly constructed and performative femininity of Claire
• By including a character that doesn’t perform femininity, the producers of the show make a daring claim that being stereotypically feminine is not the default mode for women, and a range of complex gender presentations can be included. 
• Julie provides the target audience a complex mix of stereotypically masculine and feminine stereotypes, providing audiences with a role model of alternative female identity. 
• Julie’s performance is blunt and dismissive. She tells Mr Costa to “calm down” in a flat and professional way. She is unwilling initially to leave the flat, shrugging in an annoyed manner. She is professional and medically knowledgeable, working into the night to help her patient. 
• We begin with an establishing shot of a social housing estate, which has connotations of poverty and crime. It is symbolic of working class identity and instantly constructs Julie as a working class woman. We cut to an interior slow PoV tracking shot entering Julie’s living room. The soundtrack of atmospheric noises positions the audience in a tense mode of address, proairetically suggesting that there is imminent danger. However, it is revealed that Julie is lying on a sofa watching a violent horror film: the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This infers that she is a fan of horror films, yet is calm and unaffected by them. The blue light of the television barely lights the room, yet here it connotes comfort and relaxation. The Flat is cluttered yet cosey, filled with stacks of books on every surface, connoting that Julie is intelligent and educated, constructing a complex representation of working class women. 
• Julie’s costume is casual. She wears a baggy jumper, a dress shirt, and slightly baggy distressed jeans. Her outfit is not stereotypically feminine, yet instead demonstrates a casual performance of gender, Julie wears functional clothes. Yet her baggy costume rejects the stereotypical notion of women as spectacle. Her costume does not reveal any aspect of her body. She is completely unobjectified. Her glasses are symbolically nerdy, a character trait that is reinforced through other media, and helps communicate o the audience her complex character. A process of intertextual relay.
• Julie’s performance as she talks with Costa is professional, yet also blunt and terse. She seems vaguely annoyed, yet she is helpful. She uses an educated lexis. A home help is a stereotypically feminine job, yet he manner is subversive. 
• Julie’s performance of gender can appeal to a variety of audiences. People with a similar profession will find the representation appealing and empowering. We may also take pleasure at Julie’s assertiveness, and the fact that she does not become a victim, challenging gender stereotypes. Intersectional feminism. 
• Julie forms a binary opposition with Claire, helping to reinforce her character. 
• She provides the confidence with a concrete frame of understanding, calm, yet also assertive and knowledgeable. 

2- Julie comes home

• This montage uses a number of elements which provide intertextual relay to the horror genre. This not only positions the audience within the expectations of the horror film, but also helps to construct Julie as an atypical, relatable woman.
• Horror conventions throughout this sequence include the creepy victor lying just out of view, the dark, isolated setting, and a lone, vulnerable female protagonist. However, subversively, Julie is not worried or perturbed by this situation, suggesting she has done this many times before. Her representation as a tough working class women is complex and subversive, while also being completely relatable. 
• The setting is dark, but also completely lit: a binary opposition. The artificial lighting constructs an unglamourous, working class reality for Julie. She forms a binary opposition with the upper middle class lifestyle of the Seurat family, allowing the show to target a range of audiences.
• In one striking shot, an OS shot from Julie’s living room, we see victor in ELS HA, a stereotypical horror convention. The child Victor in the night-time scene forms a terrifying binary opposition, that positions the audience in a sense of dread. However, Julie’s reaction is understated. “What is he doing here”. “Hello, can I help”. Here, Julie’s blunt performance ounce more subverts the hegemonic expectation of maternal instincts
• Julie’s neighbour, Mme Payet serves as a  binary opposition to Julie’s performance of gender. Mme Payet is intrigued by the developments in Julie’s life, and attempts to form a friendship with her based on their gender. However, Julie sees her as an uncomfortable inconvenience. She stands far too close to Julie, she is sexually inappropriate and oversteps her boundaries. Mme Payet wears a revealing robe, which again contrasts with Julie’s costume, and helps construct a reality where to be a woman is complex.
• The entire sequence is not only highly conventional, but functions as a cliché of horror films. Examples of cliches include the creepy little kid, the spooky soundtrack, the very low key lighting, and the creepy, isolated setting. However, Julie reacts to this horror with complete indifference. She does not look around in a paranoid manner, and she does not appear afraid in any way. In horror films, women are routinely stereotype as terrified victims. Yet even reacting to the episode’s most frightening moment, Victor standing alone in the grass, Julie merely reacts with ‘what’ he doing here?’
• For Julie, being in this environment is routine and depressing rather than scary, constructing a relatable mode of address for a working class audience 
• The poster for a low budget horror film creates a contrast between the sophisticated fear of Les Revenants and the trashy horror of what is being advertised. 
• Julie is scruffy. Her hair is scruffy, which rejects feminine stereotypes. Her jacket is unflattering, yet Julie provides the audience with an alternative and complex representation of femininity. 

While this episode features a lack of ethnic diversity, there are examples of sociocultural othering. Victor is constructed as other, different, strange and creepy. Children in horror films are a popular convention as they are unpredictable. They lack reason, guidance and structure. Victor standing outside the flat is a perfect example of a binary opposition, and of othering. It constructs children as being different, other and abject

Explore how representations in the set episode of The Returned may position audiences. [15]

Audience positioning: how the audience are placed in a media product, by the producer. This can be used to align the audience with certain characters, ideologies and emotions.

Simon and Lena walk home 

Genre codes and conventions 

Genre theory 

Genre fluidity

Camera work - framing and composition shot types, angle, position, movement 

Lighting and colour

Editing – pace, type of edits, continuity

Narrative construction, related to narrative theory

Sound – dialogue, music

Mise-en-scene – setting and location, props, costume/dress, hair/make-up

• A further complex representation of gender can be found in the scene just ten minutes later, where Simon is walked home by Lena. This helps to position the target audience in a number of intriguing and relatable ways. 
• The setting and scenario is highly relatable to the teenage target audience. The MES of the streetlights create a relatable and convincing representation of a suburban street scene. The dialogue is terse, stunted, and positions the target audience with Lena
• Lena asks Simon a range of questions, partly because she is interested in him, and she wishes to sleep with him. However, these characters are mismatched and awkward. Simon always walks a few paces in front of her, which subverts the idea that he is well-mannered and gentlemanly. However, this performance of gender has a very real affect on Lena, who appears to be more interested in him as the walk continues
• The couple form a binary opposition, not only in terms of costume and appearance, but also in terms of personality. Additionally, Lena is taller than Simon, subverting the hegemonic expectation within TV that the male will be taller than the female counterpart. Lena on the other hand wears a casual and complex, and constructs a complex representation of women .
• Lena shouts ‘de rien, connard’ (thanks for nothing, motherfucker!), a subversive response that contradicts stereotypical representations of women. Lena’s sexual frustration may be relatable for the target audience who have positioned themselves with Lena, and may wish to see the voyeuristic fantasy of Lena have sex with Simon.

Simon meets Lena in the Lake Pub

• Simon’s character is constructed through his stressed, anxious and determined performance. He is interested in one thing, his fiancé. In fact, the relaxed and attractive environment of the Lake Pub does not interest Simon, who’s nervous performance sees him scan around the room, desperately looking for Adele.
• Simon is hegemonically attractive. He is masculine, with mid length curly scruffy hair, and a suit with an unbuttoned, un-ironed shirt. This demonstrates his relaxed, carefree attitude, which may appeal to a heterosexual female audience. In fact, Simon is sexualised and even objectified through his attractive appearance and slightly revealing costume. This flips and subverts Van Zoonen’s assumption that women are surely used as spectacle, as clearly, the tracking shot encourages the audience to gaze on Simon.
• This ideology is reinforced through Lena’s performance, where she gazes at Simon with undeniable lust. In fact, Lena performatively and assertively shoes away her would-be- boyfriend in order to drink with Simon and take him home. Seeing her as vulnerable, the boyfriend seeks to protect her, yet lena shoes him away, reinforcing her confidence in handling this situation. 
• In this sequence, we are clearly aligned and positioned with Lena, and forced to gaze on Simon as an object of sexual desire. This is reinforced through the use of mid shot in the conversation scene, that focuses on Simon’s revealing costume, and constructs Lena as being modestly and even slightly masculine in her appearance. 
• The representation of gender in LR is highly unconventional, and helps the show to appeal to a younger audience of as similar age to Lena, who will take pleasure in her carefree and fun representation. This not only suggests that representations of gender have changed over time, but also suggests that they have become meaningless: a very postmodern conclusion
• Simon is constructed as a hegemonically attractive yet also sophisticated young man. This sophistication is constructed through his costume. His suit is clean, black, timelessly stylish. However, his formal attire constructs a binary opposition with the setting. Simon is not wearing a tie, and has several buttons undone, constructing a sexually objectified representation of young men. This sexualised representation of a young men reflects a dominant hegemonic representation of masculinity.
• Simon enters the pub, constructed with a tracking shot, instantly positioning the audience with Simon. However, Simon’s determination can be off-putting, He is blunt, he is rude, he is forceful. He therefore additionally functions as a spectacle for the heterosexual female audience 
• Simon’s performance is clipped, rude and forceful. He speaks in slang (ouais instead of oui), and his broody, standoffish representation is constructed through his lack of eye contact and complete lack of small talk. He is solely interested in one person: Adele, his finance. This representation of loyalty and romance is somewhat atypical for the representation of a young man, and positions…
• Lena, however, is purely interested in Simon, sexually. Lena is forward, confident and flirtatious. She laughs, makes eye contact, and leans in to Simon. We can read this representation as a stereotypical construction of a teenage girl, who will appeal to and position the female target audience with her. She provides the audience with the potential to adopt her identity, and to take inspiration from her confidence 
• The scene positions multiple audiences through the hegemonically attractive central characters. The setting of the pub stereotypically aligns younger audience, and provides the audience with an escapist fantasy of friendship and sexual relations. 
• Van Zoonen argues that women’s bodies are used as a spectacle for heterosexual men. However, this sequence presents the highly unconventional ideology of Simon clearly not being interested in her. However, Lena gazes at Simon constantly, and does not hide her sexual desire. This intradiegetic gaze reinforces Simon’s function as a spectacle, once more creating a subversive and atypical representation of men. 

Economic contexts and television

To what extent have economic factors influenced these shows?

Economic factors have influenced these shows to a large extent. However, for both shows, a more complex approach has been taken to minimise risk and to maximise profit. Rather than targeting a mass, mainstream audience, both shows actively target and engage a niche and cult audience, to construct an audience who will obsessively engage with these shows. Cult TV has a history, and classic examples of TV shows that construct a Cult audience include Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Twin Peaks and The X-files, all well documented successes that paved the way for these two shows. 

San Junipero 

• References a range of cult and contemporary media tat helps to establish a cult audience. Heaven Is A Place On Earth is a cheesy pop song, here given a new meaning
• The MES of the theatrical poster for The Lost Boys, a cult vampire film with a cult audience 
• The reference to Max Headroom additionally situates the narrative within the 1980s, and again is another example of a cult tv show 
• Yorkie is established as a marginalised outsider. Her costume, in particular her shorts mark her as queer coded, appealing to a queer audience. Additionally, her glasses and withdrawn performance code her as a stereotypical nerd 
• The science fiction elements of this show are unconventional and often difficult for non fans to comprehend . The central themes of uploading consciousness, of simulation and digital life after death will appeal to a cult audience 
• Positioned as, or with Yorkie. Yorkie is engaging to a queer audience, as well as audiences who are social outcasts, and feel excluded. Yorkie’s glasses function as a symbolic code, constructing her as shy and nerdy, and therefore she will appeal to a similar audience 
• The nerd representation is reinforced with a deluge of intertextuality. The intertextual relay constructed through the Lost Boys poster, Max Headroom, and vintage arcade games such as Bubble Bobble, Top Speed and Gradius. The cult audience are positioned as an obsessive fan, taking pleasure at seeing their favourite things on screen 
• The 80s setting constructs an intense sense of nostalgia. Audiences can construct intense nostalgic relationships through media, which is an essential theme that this episode cultivates.
• The single strand narrative allows the show to explore themes and questions of death, simulation, the effects of tech and euthanasia 

Les Revenants  

• Clearly influenced from the the structure of Twin Peaks, and the use of mysteries and a clearly defined aesthetic instructs the target audience that this will be a cult TV show with the sorts of mysteries that will be worth analysing.  
• The soundtrack to LR seems to be a clear intertextual reference to the famous Twin Peaks soundtrack. Clearly paying homage to Twin Peaks. Additionally, the natural, beautiful setting, and the vagueness of the setting and the narrative clearly pay homage to Twin Peaks 
• Julie is a queer nerd. She is coded as a non stereotypical representation of a woman, and will resonate with fans who will identify her her status as an outsider. 
• Themes of depression, trauma and mental illness. These themes are dealth with in a mature and non-condescending way, and will relate to audiences who have experienced similar. 
• The show uses heavy symbolism throughout. The use of the iconography of a dead wolf, and dead animals in the opening sequence are highly polysemic, and encourage the devoted cult audience to interpret this in multiple ways
• Themes of isolation, and growing up in a small town, allows a marginalised and unrepresented audience to engage 
• The first scene of Les Revenants is more subtle, however, does make intertextual reference to cult 1991 TV show Twin Peaks. The show also uses conventions from classic zombie films, and features posters for the exorcist, and a brief clip from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
• Starts in medias res, before frankly depicting the deaths of a bus load of teenagers. This grisly and gruesome mode of address appeals to a cult audience 
• A theme of mystery and hermeneutics, that encourages the active audience audience to research , discuss and engage with the show 
• With various characters, a multi strand and complex narrative is constructed, allowing the show to appeal to multiple cult audiences. It also increases the confusion, deliberately causing points of discussion. Questions the audience are forced to answer include victor’s presence, why certain characters return, and how is this even possible 
• Les revenants makes explicit intertextual reference to Twin Peaks. The gentle, countryside atmosphere combined with a serial killer narrative is a clear reference, and weven the iconography of the water pouring in to the lake in both title sequences suggests a deliberate reference. This deliberate reference allows the cult audience to identify Les Revenants as a cult show 

Attitude online MEGAPOST

This post is a hodgepodge mix of different concepts and ideas! Dig in and remember that the component 2 exam is synoptic, which means discussing audience in a representation question for example is very desirable! 

Also, please remember the Attitude is an evolving, constantly changing text, with new articles every week. It is absolutely essential that you support your response with examples from the website!

Attitude online - introduction

Audience targeting

Audience construction - is where a producer MANUFACTURES an audience through a process of acculturation, essentially telling the audience who they are. 

Cultivation - is where the audience is exposed to the producer’s ideology repeatedly, eventually changing the audience’s ideology

• Many articles feature representations of gay men. For example, an article about the actors from the show Heated Rivalry focuses on their outfits to the Oscars, constructing a reality where queer coded characters are notable 
• An article about the 2032 world pride event is notable for the target audience as it features a huge gay event that the target audience is interested in . The pride flag anchors this reading, and constructs a target audience who are interested in expressing themselves, and Pride
• Many articles feature coverage of homophobia. For example, a reform MP calling for pride flags to be removed allows the audience to be involved in gay activism, and cultivates an audience who see themselves as vulnerable and politically involved
• There is a big emphasis on often sexually explicit content and sexuality. This helps to target a gay audience aware of kinks, queer sexuality and sexual subcultures. Heavily sexualised images often fetishizing young men construct a reality where to be gay is to be hypersexual
• The website focuses on coverage of trashy TV, gay icons, and camp culture. This constructs an audience who are interested in stereotypically girly, camp content 
• Serious political articles will be addressed from a gay perspective. For example, an article on EU law-making focuses on the right to self-identify gender, and an article on the politician Zak Polanski FOCUSES ON HIS SEXUALITY AND VIEWS ON TRANS IDENTITY. this IS SIMPLY BECAUSE THE target audience are almost certainly gay!
• The website is trendy, up to date, and focuses on the current zeitgeist, with an obsession over celebrities, and suggests the target audience skews younger 
• The website plays into many gay stereotypes! There is a specific section for theatre tickets! There are articles on kink culture, BDSM, leather and other fetishes. There is lots of discussion about Soho in London, a queer friendly community. There is a dedicated style section, cultivating a stereotype that gay men are obsessed with fashion. By embracing stereotypes, it’[s easier for producers to target audiences, and for audiences to identify with the identities in this online magazine. 
• The online magazine presents an escapist utopia for the queer audience, where everybody is gay and every story is about gay people!

Identity in Fetish Daddy: Inside the luxury fetish house’s new London shop – after it designed this latex apron for Jake Shears in Pillion

• The article is somewhat hidden in the sexuality subheading within the lifestyle heading. By separating the more explicit content from the less explicit content, it allows Stream media the opportunity to target different preferences
• The inclusion of a fetishistic lifestyle and its situation within a more hidden part of the website creates a representation of gay men as others, as outsiders. By othering gay men, Attitude constructs a sense of community that distinctly exists away from the mainstream heteronormative orthodox, again constructing a sense of community.
• The use of lexis such as ‘fetish daddy’ explicitly speaks to gay men who are into kink. Terms such as bear, twink, daddy, etc communicate explicitly to a queer audience. It also acts as a deterrent for straight people, creating a safe space for the target queer readership.
• The article follows a capitalist and consumerist logic, advertising the opening of a new fetish store in London. It potentially encourages the target queer audience to visit the shop and to explore their interests and sexual desires. 
• Other gay men may not be into fetish gear, and the article allows this audience the opportunity to explore what they are not into, further defining a complex representation of queer sexuality
• The article may also be educational for a queer audience without the contacts and support network that others may have. The designer of this material, Ollie Spradley, is constructed through a mid shot, and directly addresses the audience in an angry, confident glare. His crossed arms suggest authority and power, and learn a potential way of performing being gay. 
• The article constructs a hypermasculine fantasy to the target audience, and presents a queer identity that is distinct from the camp, effeminate type often seen in mainstream media.
• The article provides sexual gratification, exclusively for a gay audience, again constructing a sense of pride and inclusion
• The article focuses on a physical store that will provide a sense of community for the target audience. This reinforces a reality that to be queer is an identity that can be related to a physical space
• However, this article is an exception to the general representation of highly sexualised, buff, young hairless men in Attitude Online. It can be argued that, with a few exceptions, Attitude presents a straightforward representation of hegemonically attractive men.

But why? By leaning in to stereotypes, the website can quickly build an audience through the use of a commonly held cultural symbol. It also makes a huge assumption about the target audience and their sexual preference. In this way, Attitude online constructs a stereotypical queer audience who have similar interests to one another. The huge advantage of this is that Attitude can effectively target this mainstream queer audience. 

Stuart Hall in a nutshell

• Hall’s argument that stereotyping, as a form of representation, reduces people to a few simple characteristics or traits Hall’s argument that stereotyping tends to occur where there are inequalities of power, as subordinate or excluded groups are constructed as different or ‘other’.
• Hall’s work focuses on the use of stereotypes by the media - arguing that stereotypes work by reducing characters to simplistic physical characteristics and behaviour traits. Hall argues that stereotypes reflect the amount of power that social groups have within society, and that negative stereotypes reflect, in Hall’s view, social inequalities or the wider views of society. In other words, the construction of specific groups as ‘outsiders’ or ‘others’ by media products mirror their social exclusion from wider society.

Roland Barthes argued that media products are constructed through a complex set of codes that connote meaning. Evaluate this semiotic theory. Make reference to Attitude Online to support your answer [15]

Knee jerk reaction - Semiotics = really useful average audiences, gay audiences, and producers. However, other theories eg Butler better???

Plan

• Representation 
• Naturalisation 
• Symbolic codes
• Hermeneutic codes enigma code
• Proairetic codes
• Fetishisation
• Positions 
• Situates 
• Mode of address
• Stereotype
• MES
• Anchorage 
• Escapism 
• Myths - challenges heteronormativity… homonormativity
• Hegemony
• Visual codes 
• Connotes
• Cultural codes
• Gender perf
• Butler
• Steve neale genre
• Binary opps
• Narrative
• Web 2.0 
• Symbolic code 
• Genre
• Hermeneutic code
• Proairetic code
• Denotation and connotation
• Polanski
• Fetishistic 
• MES
• Encoding
• Queer coding 
• Stereotypes
• Shot types
• Zeitgeist
• Intertextuality 
• Fonts
• Codes are how we make sense of the world
• Clothing and outfits 

1. One way in which Attitude constructs a complex set of meanings is through the straightforward and highly conventional layout of the website…
2. Another way in which Attitude presents complex connotations is through the precise and highly leading selection of images, which in turn construct a highly appealing and often complex representation of queer identity
3. The complex set of codes presented in Attitude even extend to the fashion and lifestyle section, where the use of lexis is highly involving…
4. Finally, we see a highly leading and connotational procession of elements being presented in the supplementary material of the online magazine, most notably the advertising, which provide audiences with a range of digitally convergent interactive features that spread beyond the remit of the online magazine

Attitude and the ghettoization of gay identity 

Ghettoization within the A-level media studies curriculum

Ghettoization refers to the ‘housing’ of one group within a specific physical or metaphorical location. This can be forceful (e.g. the Warsaw Ghetto) or can occur naturally (e.g. Jewish communities in Golders Green and Muswell Hill). We can also apply this term to media… and even the media studies course!

• Attitude - gay people
• Have you heard George’s Podcast, Black Panther, Formation - Black Identity
• Woman, Tide advert, Zoella  - sexist representations of women 
• I Daniel Blake, 17 Going Under - working class people in north of England
• Super.Human (IDB) - people with disabilities
• Black Mirror, Assassin’s Creed, Les Revenants… broad representations of white people… hegemonic representations of societal norms
• Adbusters, Les Revenants, Black Mirror, - these texts feature majority white representation, and a complex range of identities. These texts present complex, intersectional identities. 

Paul Gilroy argued that as a result of colonialisation, even after the fact, we still have societal systemic prejudice against minorities (eg ethnicity, sexuality, gender identity…)

bell hooks argued that we should problematise everything, and look for issues, even within systems that we trust!

Examples of ghettoization and demarcation in gay culture 

• Pride parades, festivals etc - a space explicitly for the celebration of gay identity.; Straight people are allowed to join, on the basis that they are allies
• Gay music, queer music - eg Death Goals, Xiu Xiu, hyperpop, digital hardcore
• Gay clubs, gay bars, gay pubs - these gay spaces are based on vibes, and the attitudes of the potential audiences. These spaces are deliberately discriminatory in order to provide a safe space for queer people 
• Gay dating apps - Grindr etc. Provides gay audiences with a private service that deliberately excludes straight people through it’s explicitly gay content
• Gay websites forums, Instagram accounts - hypermodality and digital convergence allows for extreme segmentation
• Gay TV and film and podcasts  - Heartbreak High, Heated Rivalry, But I’m A Cheerleader!, Brokeback Mountain, The Doom Generation
• Gay districts, e.g. Canal Street, Soho, the whole of Brighton - by promoting gay districts as a tourist attraction, gay audiences who have more disposable 
• Pride month - a festival specifically for queer people! Clearly every day is gay if you’re gay. However, this festival allows for recognition and publicization of queer identity, even if it has been commercialised 
• Coming out (of the closet) - telling people you are gay, inferring that previously the individual had to hide away
• Gay clubs, gar bars, gay pubs - these spaces are exclusionary! They deliberately attempt to put off non queer from entering, so queer people can meet similar, but mainly to allow gay people to feel safe 
• Websites, including social media accounts. The internet allows for extreme ghettoization, through algorithmic, hypermodal and convergent structures 
• Gay films, music, gay art, gay TV, all marked by themes of gay identity
• Gay districts, e.g. Canal Street in Manchester, Soho in London, the whole of Brighton… These districts allow gay people to form communities
• The Pink Pound - the idea that gay audiences have more disposable income, and are more likely to spend money on experiences, eg the theatre, clubbing, holidays…

In what ways does Attitude Online deliberately exclude heterosexual audiences in order to construct a definite queer community?

• The perspective of each news story is not subjective but objective, and assumes a gay perspective. We are positioned as a gay person. For example “Jamaica’s prime minister states strict gender policies will not change: ‘A man is a man and a woman is a woman’” positions the audience as queer, and as being enraged and frustrated by the perspective of the Jamaican government
• The sexuality tab, now hidden in various menus used to be more open, and was labelled simply ‘Boys’, is explicitly focused on queer sexuality. It focuses on very specific niches and fetishes which may make some audiences uncomfortable
• Lots of specific names and people important to gay culture. E.g. “Adult film star Seth Peterson dies aged 28, fiancé announces”, not only appeals specifically to a gay audience familiar with pornography, but also excludes a heterosexual
• Politicians and other famous people will be featured because of their sexuality. For example, Zack Polanski, while discussing issues of capitalism and green policies, is featured because he is gay. This excludes straight audiences who have heard this information before , but positions gay audiences in a valuable mode of address
• Men's bodies, including straight men’s bodies are sexualised for the assumed gay audience. Liesbet Van Zoonen explores Laura Mulvey’s notion of the male gaze, where women are placed as spectacle for a heterosexual male audience. However, in Attitude, women are rarely sexualised, but men are hypersexualised, a gay male gaze! Contextually, sexualised images of women are normalised, due to patriarchal hegemonic values. In the article “6 kinky, not entirely SFW photos from the BOYS! BOYS! BOYS! Archive”, men are presented as a provocative spectacle to challenge certain audiences. 
• Coverage of pop stars such as George Michael specifically target a gay audience and celebrate diversity within the music industry. Openly  gay musicians allow gay fans not only an entry into his music, but also allow them to express their own identity…
• Zack Polanski is a mainstream politician and head of the green party. He is also gay, a fact that is incidental to most people. However, to the gay, male target audience of Attitude, this does matter! While his interview does not explicitly discuss his sexuality, his inclusion will give gay men a sense of identity that extends beyond the usual sexualised representations. He’s presented as smart, sophisticated, and relatable, constructing a reality where gay men can occupy diverse positions. 
• Throughout the website Attitude will ghettoise and construct people as gay, allowing a focus on gay themes and issues. “NASCAR driver Daniel Dye suspended over ‘gay voice’ jibe at David Malukas” picks a specific queer issue, the demonisation of a stereotypical, effeminate and camp way that some gay men talk. While this may seem minor for a heterosexual audience, this attack on queer identity demonises and dehumanises gay people, which is completely relatable to the gay audience, who may have been victims of hatred.
• When heterosexual men are mentioned they are either demonised (as above), or hypersexualised… for example “Heated Rivalry’s Hudson Williams makes red carpet debut with girlfriend at Vanity Fair Oscars party” constructs the heterosexual actor Hudson Williams as an object for gay male desire. The images selected openly sexualise Williams, which may put straight male audiences in an uncomfortable position. Hegemonically, women are sexualised for a heterosexual male audience (the males gaze). However, attitude positions the gay male audience in a gay gaze, completely breaking hegemonic norms.

Target audiences - Appealing to an audience that are already primed and already exist. For example the Daily Mirror targets working class left wingers through covering topics like working class identity and positioning the audience as working class. 

Constructing audiences - how the producer makes an audience that doesn’t yet exist. For example, the Super.Human advert constructs an audience of sports fans who are now interested in the real issues and struggles of the paraathletes

Cultivation theory is how the ideologies of the media are grown over time through repeated exposure. Eg AC franchise cultivates an ideology that violence is acceptable and cool

By cultivating ideological perspectives over time, audiences can be effectively constructed, for example through themes of social cohesion. For example, the British public perception of homosexuality has changed dramatically over the century, through positive representations of queer people in the media.

How does attitude cultivate, position, target and construct its gay British male audience?

• The layout of the website is simple, straightforward, and clearly using a template. This targets the gay male target audience through constructing a reality where the focus is on the news and articles as opposed to the aesthetics of the website. 
• The article covering the BFI Flare film festival begins with the headline and standfirst: Attitude Loves: From the BFI Flare film festival to gorgeous male nudes, here’s six things we’re into right now - Movies, men, and fresh coffee... Is there anything else one needs?” - this cultivates a stereotype of gay men as being extremely sexually motivates, and obsessed with appearance.
• Another highly stereotypical aspect is the categorisation of gay men in to different archetypes of gay men. For example, we see highly sexualised representations of bears (a big hairy gay man), being involved in fetishes (e.g. leather), twinks (young looking gay men) construct a reality of hypersexuality and a world where gay men are extremely interested in sex. 
• Clicking on the nav bar brings up a range of subsections that play into gay stereotypes. Fashion, theatre, pride and queer friendly holidays are all represented, constructing a stereotypical reality of being a gay man. By presenting such specific stereotypes, it allows Attitude Online the ability to explicitly target its mainstream stereotypically gay audience. Queer culture may be about reclaiming stereotypes and empowerment through othering.

Queer coding - using certain visual narrative codes to imply a character, setting, or theme is queer without explicitly saying it

What examples of queer coding are in the trailer for But I’m A Cheerleader? 

• The acting style is camp, trashy, silly, over the top. Referencing commonly held gay stereotypes, it embraces a trope 
• Women’s bodies are sexualised through a female gaze, positioning the target audience as a gay woman
• The MES of the extremely tight shorts sexualises men in a stereotypically gay way
• The colour scheme is overwhelmingly colourful, symbolising camp identity, and also gay pride 
• There is a big focus on sex, and heterosexual sex is represented as being disgusting
• The inclusion of RuPaul as a gay icon
• The use of explicit phallic imagery lurking in the background
• Challenges Christian ideology 
• Explicit queer lexis, and references to being gay
• Straight relationships are constructed as weird, disgusting and creepy
• The colours are vibrant, colourful, stereotypically gay!
• The acting style is trashy and playful 
• The casting of queer icons
• Highly sexualised costumes, e.g. short cheerleader skirts and tight, tiny jeans… 

Applying Gilroy to Attitude

Cultural imperialism - Where one culture is seen as being more powerful and dominant than other cultures. Hegemonically, heterosexual identity is considered dominant, standard, normal 

Hegemony - The rules and restrictions that we follow in society through conformity and consent. For example, a hegemonic relationship may manifest as a man, woman, and two children, the nuclear family…

Heteronormativity - The hegemonic assumption that everybody is straight. For example, everybody in every film ever is straight… unless it is pointed out that they are gay!

Othering - Grouping everyone that isn’t ‘us’ in a single category. The process of making ‘everyone else’ different’

Queer coding - the process of symbolically making something or someone gay. Like all codes this is constructed through media language. Queer coding is a method of targeting gay audiences by using commonly held assumptions about queer culture

Attitude Online constructs a reality where gay people are other, as different, as QUEER. This word suggests being odd, different, strange, unnatural… Yet the term queer can be a part of gay identity and pride. By presenting gay men as different, it challenges norms of heterosexual hegemony, and constructs a reality gay men are not the norm and this is OK! The use of the term allows for queer to be reclaimed and reappropriated, giving gay men power.

TV industry revision MEGAPOST

media language

Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of semiotic approaches to television analysis. Refer to Roland Barthes’ theory of semiotics and the set editions of Black Mirror and The Returned in your response. [30]

Knee jerk reaction - Barthes theory is generally extremely useful to the analysis of TV, though there are some alternatives that help analysis 

Barthes’s theory:  a deep dive

• Codes are aspects of a media product that create meaning

• For Barthes, everything is a code. Gesture, costume, narrative, queer…

• Barthe’s symphony of codes include

• Symbolic codes (a deeper meaning)

• Proairetic code (something is about to happen)

• Hermeneutic (mystery, ask question)

• Referential code (intertextual, references something else)

• Myths - a device used to impart a lesson. Help us to understand the world. Eg: the patriarchy, religion, marriage, the TV industry, beauty standards… etc…

Why is Barthes so important to the analysis of media?

Explains the way we perceive the world and how important media is in this 

His theory of codes is incorporated into many other theories. In works with binary oppositions, and forms the foundation of Neale's genre theory, postmodern theories of gender, and especially Stuart hHall’s theory of representation 

It is relatively straightforward, and can be used almost anywhere

Barthesean convention	Eg from San Junipero	Eg from Camille
Referential codes	The dress up montage utilises a stunning range of referential codes to not only appeal to the young, intertextually aware target audience, but also to distract from the upcoming plot twist. The first song selected is Girlfriend in a Coma by The Smiths. This tiny snippet of music was extremely expensive to licence, yet the symbolic function proairetically tips the target audience off for many upcoming events. Simply put, Yorkie IS the girlfriend in the coma. However, the rapid fire montage also refers to The Breakfast Club, the video for Addicted To Love and so on, constructing a rich intertextual tapestry, allowing the target audience to understand Yorkie's intentions and inner struggle	The sequence makes extensive use of classical horror archetypes in order to construct a series of important and exciting meanings for the audience. Firstly, Camille is a young girl, stereotypically cast as a terrifying threat in horror films. In Heredity, Poltergeist, The Shining, The Exorcist and many more, little girls function as terrifying symbolic codes, as they subvert stereotypical expectations of the role of young women in patriarchal society. Indeed, Camille subverts gender expectations through her practical costume and her incessant chatter
Symbolic codes	The costumes that Yorkie wears are symbolic of nostalgia and desire and aspiration. In particular the fetishistic black dress worn in the montage references the video to Brian Palmer’s Addicted to love. Yorkie here plays the role of a highly hegemonically attractive backing dancer, performatively utilising her gender in order to seduce Kelly. This helps us to understand Yorkie’s internal thoughts	The upper middle class, elegant, and performatively rich kitchen not only symbolises the wealth and status of the Seurat family, but it is also segregated into two sections through the MES of a stylish concrete pillar. This functions as a symbolic code, dividing both the characters and the diegetic realities that both of them exist in. Simply put, Camille should not be, a fact that is subtly stated through set design
Proairetic	The montage itself functions as a proairetic code, suggesting that Yorkie intends to impress Kelly. Yorkie’s motives are sexual, positioning the target audience as a gay woman. This surprising situation challenges hegemonic and heteronormative assumptions of sexuality, positioning the target audience in an exciting and interesting mode of address	The sequence uses proairetic codes in a variety of highly manipulative and ultimately misleading ways. Firstly, the extremely suspenseful soundtrack, composed by Scottish metal band Mogwai is highly atypical, situating the target audience in a highly unpleasant and anxiety producing mode of address. The editing anchors this sense of anxiety through a montage of CUs of Claire's face, positioning us with the middle aged, middle class French woman, and therefore in a position of vulnerability. However, our proairetic expectations are subverted when Camille launches into a disarmingly normal monologue about her day. The confusion for the audience is emphasised.

In San Junipero, the mirror is used as a symbolic motif for introspection and the consideration of the self. It also draws attention to the hyperreal, of an idealised projection of the self that can never live up to scrutiny. In the dress up montage, Yorkie rejects various intertextual simulations and instead assumes the role of ‘herself’. Yet, demonstrating the alarming complexity of the episode, the Yorkie we see in San Junipero is herself a simulation, a digital and idealised avatar of a long disabled and elderly woman… Here, Barthe’s notion of semiotic analysis, in combination with ideas of the postmodern, helps us to understand exactly how complex notions of identity and selfhood truly are!

While Barthes’s semiotic theory is extremely important in understanding Les Revenat’s often obtuse usage of the symbolic, it is through the binary opposition that we truly begin to understand this esoteric and complex narrative. Here, the symbolic code constructed through the MES of the dividing column constructs a visual dimatric opposition not only between mother and daughter, young and old, but also between different genre expectations. The emergence of Camille from the roadside, apparently ‘from the dead’ and the mother’s stultified, frightened reaction utilises the generic codes of the horror film.The panicked confusion contrasted with Camille’s nonchalant teenage boredom situates the audience in a highly confusing mode of address, where the traditional interpretations of the symbolic order no longer impart the meaning that they should do.

Representation

How useful are feminist theories for analysing the representations in The Returned and San Junipero? Refer to at least one of the following theories in your response:

• van Zoonen’s feminist theory

• bell hooks’ feminist theory [30]

Knee jerk reaction - due to both episodes being predicated on notions of the female experience, both of these theories are extremely useful 

Representations reconstruct reality 

Deep dives 

Van Zoonen’s feminism

• The role of women in media products

• Women function as spectacle for perceived heterosexual male audience

• Men and women are represented and reconstructed through media language 

• Heavily based on Roland Barthe’s theories of semiotics 

• Gender expectations have shifted over time. They are fluid

bell hooks’s feminism 

• Intersectionality: the idea that there are lots of different parts of our identity, not simply ‘male/female’

• Rejects gender binaries

• Some groups more vulnerable than others eg queer black disabled women 

• Experience of women will be different

• Feminism is political. We should challenge

• Feminism is for  everybody: toxic expectations of women also apply to men 

• Beyonce is a terrorist. Media images can cultivate manipulative ideologies, and can even damage audiences. 

	San Junipero	Camille
Women as spectacle for a male gaze	Yorkie is constructed as a spectacle for the male gaze in the opening montage, when she is approached by a stereotypically nerdy guy. His glasses, his intense fandom of arcade games and his timid, unconfident performance all construct him as such. Yorkie is constructed similarly, with glasses, non-gender conforming outfit (connoting awkwardness), and her performance as she excitedly plays the game. However, this example of a classic meet cute is subverted when Yorkie is triggered by the image of a violent car crash. This extremely complex representation of gender expectations positions the audience as Yorkie, an atypical positioning as Yorkie is a queer female protagonist.	The audience are positioned not as Simon in this sequence, but instead as the female characters. As Simon and Lena walk through the underpass, we are positioned as Lena, feeling frustrations as ASimon rudely rejects her advances. Furthermore, as Adele stands in her new build house admiring herself in her wedding dressing, we are positioned as her as Simon emotively bangs on the door. This positioning as two heterosexcual women and their relationship to a mysterious and hegemonically attractive man subverts traditional notions of the male gaze.
Gender is constructed through media language	THe deep focus tracking shot that follows Yorkie around the room constructs a binary opposition between the stereotypically awkward and distant Yorkie, and the integrated, excited, happy, and exclusively hegemonically attractive dancers. The club itself ios a hyperreal version of reality. Yet Yorkie clearly does not fit in to this perfect world, constructing a reality where Yorkie feels ostracised as she she lacks the hegemonic normative qualities of a woman	Adele’s reaction to her ex husband apparently coming back from the grave is conventional, even stereotypical. The CU of her face emphasises her distress, anchored through the ECU of the door handle being rapidly pulled. This intertextual reference to the horror film situates Adelle as apparently the emotional victim. Simon, conversely, is constructed as stereotypically masculine, the MES of his black suit anchored through the ECUs of his hegemonically dark and mysterious face. However, Simon simultaneously is subversive of this stereotypical assumption. Simon is hysterical, possessive, intense and hyperemotional, all subverting stereotypical assumptions of a hypermasculine man.
Gender roles and expectations	Both episodes explore themes of gender roles, in particular stereotypical and archetypal female roles that exist in media. For example, Yorkie dresses up as a range of different female archetypes from popular culture who have all functioned as spectacle for a hegemonic heterosexual male audience. Additionally, Les Revs uses classic slasher archetypes to situate women in a context of threat and danger against a powerful, aggressive and sexually coded male threat. Therefore, both shows use these stereotypical assumptions to subvert and challenge hegemonic, patriarchal expectations of women.

In the opening montage, as in the rest of the episode, Yorkie performatively demonstrates a complex and intersectional representation of female identity. By simply playing videogames and wearing glasses, she is constructed as a stereotypical ‘nerdy girl’ archetype, which in turn has a performative effect on our cocktail sipping nerd. However, Yorkie’s perceived performance here is complex and misleading. In actuality, this queer woman has no interest in this particular sphere, and her character is significantly more complex than a simple archetype, as she pursues a toxic, manipulative and ultimately fatal relationship with the obscure object of her desire. This is not only a perfect example of the potentiality for gender roles and values being shifted through modern media configurations, but also the vastness and complexity of the intersectional identity, that extends beyond simple value judgements. 

Les Revenants plays with gender expectations throughout the series. Simon resembles a dreamy fantasy from a paranormal romance narrative. With his sleepy eyes and grumpy attitude, he resembles Edward Cullen from the Twilight narrative. 

Industry

‘Television is a global industry.’ To what extent do Black Mirror and The Returned support this claim? [30]

Knee jerk reaction - Both TV shows very much support this claim, as both are clearly international productions that have been constructed, shaped and marketed to appeal to a global audience

• Hesmondhalgh - international productions minimise risk and maximise profit

• However fans may claim this makes TV shows too mainstream 

• San Jun - mainstream!

• Camille - niche 

• LES Revs - Debuted on More 4, a secondary channel targeting a more niche audience. 

• Les Revenants won an Emmy in 2013 - international critical recognition!

• Mogwai, a scottish postrock band scored both series of LR, targets niche, cult, global audience 

• Budget of approx 6 million dollars million for San Junipero, big budget!

• 1.4 million domestic viewers for Les Revenants

• Black mirror won an Emmy for San Jun!!!!!

• BM moved to Netflix in 2016, previously produced and owned by channel 4 

• Netflix buying BM and commercialising it solely for profit is an excellent example of C+S’s power and profit theory

• LR had such a huge Niche audience a US version was made. Assumptions about American audiences were made, and the remake used American actors, and simplified the narrative

• LEs Revs was dubbed in to different languages, for example Italian, yet remained subtitled in the UK, reflecting different national tastes

• Black Mirror had a ride at Thorpe park, targeting a younger audience 

• Netflix created a poster for each episode in a 1970s style comic book, commissioning a Brazilian illustrator to create the striking images, targeting a niche audience of comic book fans

• Black Mirror & Friends | The One Where Ross Invents San Junipero | Netflix - this video creates a cross media promotion that only Netflix could manage, simply because Netflix has the rights to both Friends and Black Mirror. Additionally, this promotional video also targets a Gen Z audience through its simple and straightforward approach, short runtime and use of subtitles

• Black Mirror | Nosedive Featurette [HD] | Netflix - This short feature explains the episode in simple and straightforward language to a mass, younger and perhaps naive mainstream audience

• In Black Mirror, VR was used to map out the 3d set for Tucker’s Bar. Considerable access to technique 

• LEs Revenants is an adaptation of an earlier film by a different director, a proven cult classic

• LEs Revs has an established cult fanbase in Italy

• It was promoted with a lavish internet campaign, including an immersive 360 degree simulation of the town https://www.commarts.com/webpicks/les-revenants 

• THe budget for les revs was significant, with approx 1million/episode

• A cult TV show, with links to other established successes like Twin Peaks, The X-files, Buffy THe Vampire Slayer, Riverdale, Stranger Things, Smallville…

However, both shows, in addition to their clear international potential, also target a ‘domestic’ American and French audience respectively…

American appeal in San Junipero	French  appeal in Camille (opening credits)
Modeled on America, with an American, hyperreal construction of a town that will be familiar with American audiences  The feeling of nostalgia and vintage media, enticing a target American audience Western coded. The setting, themes, concepts, intertextuality all favouring a particular western cannon of culture	Quintessentially French setting of the French alps. Familiar to French middle class audiences  A chic, classy, stylish opening sequence, appealing to ba sophisticated french audience An exploration of sex and death, le petit mort, with the iconography of the couple making out next to a grave Moody, depressing, serious. Appeals to producers, allows a specific audience to be targeted

Audience

To what extent do social and cultural contexts influence audience interpretations of TV programs? Refer to the set editions of Black Mirror and The Returned to support your answer. [30]

Knee jerk reaction: To a huge extent! Social and cultural contexts are ESSENTIAL in influencing audience interpretations, and Stuart Hall’s reception theory helps us to understand this complex relation 

Plan 

Negotiated readings are affected by audience circumstances

Stuart Hall - reception theory

David Gauntlett - audiences use media products to construct identity 

Euthanasia - themes of a progressive and contraversial ideology, received differently by different audiences 

Jenkins and fandom: organised and motivated!

San Junipero - fan art shipping the main characters

Hegemonic norms

Preferred reading - supportive of the relationship

Oppositional reading - it’s a toxic relationship!

Deliberately polysemic

Themes of afterlife and religion - deliberately polarising 

Queer representations - problematic to some older audiences, challenges hegemonic norms

A circumstantial queer representation 

Representations of teenage sex in LES Revs will again polarise audiences. 

Frank and mature themes 

Les revenants: a representation of migrants explored in a symbolic way 

An allegory of migration, racism, sexuality, small town living…

Potentially highly offensive: oppositional reading: migrants as subhuman, different, other 

Feminist theory - SJ hegemonically attractive characters: Yorkie is constructed as being different, other, yet is played by an attractive actor, reinforcing hegemonic norms of attractiveness

Black Mirror: highly polysemic, allowing for complicated postmodern readings

Hyperreality - the sex scene in SJ is stereotypically constructed through crashing waves, billowing curtains and white sheets will appeal to a mainstream audience

Cultivation theory. Les Revs cultivates ideologies and themes of the supernatural. This unconventional representation challenges religious orthodoxy, conventional horror film narratives and the ways in which we deal with grief. It is deliberately complex…

Deliberately complicated to appeal to a niche and cult audience

However, the use of horror/scifi conventions appeal to a broader audience

Both shows situate themself within a context of popular music (The Smiths and Mogwai)

The horror genre, the crime genre….

Twin Peaks and cult television: a presold audience

Pick and mix: pick and mix the representations of the afterlife. Does it confirm or deny a christian god? 

Pick and mix - in SJ, queer audiences can construct a positive, fashionable lifestyle based on these representations!

Dystopian narrative - in a world with increasing technological invasiveness, SJ presents audiences with a relatable exploration of technology

Butler’s theory of gender performativity: increased freedom of women to challenge hegemonic norms will resonate with a younger female queer audience, and confirms the changing values 

Shirky and end of audience: based around the genre of simulation. A critique of audience agency 

A complex social context that is explored in the opening scene of SJ is that of the simulation. Baudrillard argues we live in a simulated world, with all representations a reconstruction of a reality that never existed in the first place. The nostalgic 80s is a comfortable world for the target audience, where everything was good and there were no problems. Yorkie therefore escapes into a hyperreal simulacrum in order to escape her own circumstances 

LR features a similar bar scene that also functions as a hyperreal simulacrum; an american style dive bar where cool teenagers hang out and shoot pool, just like an American drama. However, The Lake Pub scene in the first episode draws attention to another contextual concern. Firstly, it constructs a reality where young people are represented as fun and exciting only when drinking. Secondly, this scene LEna subverts traditional, patriarchal and hegemonic expectations, as she is the one attempting to instigate a sexual relationship. It constructs a reality where actual, real world issues are 

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One way in which social and cultural contexts influence audience interprets

A further context that certainly influences audiences in San Jun is….