Applying Marxism

1) What does Marxism suggest regarding power in society?

 Marxism suggests that the power was in the hands of a minority (the elite) who could access the capital and use their money and power to acquire more wealth. The mass population had only their labour to help them earn a living. The elite would use those with less power to maximise their profits in order to get the most productivity at the lowest cost possible. 

2) Why is The Apprentice a good example of the media reinforcing capitalist values and ideologies?

 The Apprentice is a good example because Lord Alan Sugar has all the power reinforcing the 'superior' position of the capitalist elite. He has used the capitalist system to create his wealth and is shown using this power to provide a source of income for the winner of the competition. People who are too creative and challenge the authority are fired which reinforces capitalist views that those with money and power are more important than those without it. 

3) Come up with three examples of media texts (e.g. TV programmes, newspapers etc.) that either fetishise working class life (e.g. EastEnders presents quite a harmonious East End community which probably doesn't accurately reflect East London life) or demonise working class life or poor people (e.g. The Daily Mail and The Sun newspapers regularly demonise people living on benefits with headlines referring to 'scroungers'.)

 - The Telegraph published an article in early Jan 2018 titled "Being working class is rubbish. Labour should abolish it, not fetishise it." This newspaper definitely demonises the working class and their headline clearly shows how they feel. 

 - Coronation street fetishises the underclass and working class which isn't an accurate representation.

 - The Daily Mail demonises the working class and refers to them as 'scroungers' and 'work shy'.

 5) 
  • show the values of the power elite as beneficial to the mass: using the police and PI to help solve the mystery of the postcards and messages being sent to the people. 
  • show queries or challenges to the base as meaningless, foolish or anti-social via ‘failed revolt’: an example would be Quentina trying to fight for her to continue living in London.
  • show the subdominant position of the masses as a naturalised idea: this could be that the residents are unable to figure out who has been harassing them without the help of the police which reinforces certain capitalist views.
  • show the values of the power elite as ‘natural’ or ‘right’: a good example would be of the police officer doing his duty and helping the residents.
  • show that being a member of the mass is a good thing: an example of this is when the Asian shopkeeper helped out Arabella and gave her some coriander from his own house, also when he helped the elderly lady to her house. This suggest that being apart of the mass means there is a sense of community and goodwill, the members of the mass are there to help each other when needed.
  • show the masses accepting the values of the power elite: When Roger was expecting a huge bonus but only received £30,000 he had no other choice but to accept the money. 
  • show the values of the power elite as being ‘for the good of the masses’ (even when unpleasant): an example of this could be getting rid of immigrants such as Quentina so there is more jobs available and houses for British citizens.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mise-en-scene task

Image
In this picture we can see that there are two very different costumes: one which is very robotic and futuristic and the other that is futuristic but heroic as well. There are a few people who are wearing the same costume where their faces are hidden suggesting that they all do the same job and work for the same person. Their costumes have shiny metallic look enhancing the futuristic robot aspect of it. The other actor who looks like he is on a mission is wearing  long drape over his shoulders suggesting he is from another region than those storm troopers. That actor looks like he ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time suggesting he is a good-hearted  character. The lighting suggests that it is quite early in the morning for these people, but also the setting suggests that this has been set on another planet suggesting to someone who hasn't seen this film that it comes under the Sci-fi genre. Also, in the background, you can see these futuristic dystopian buildings enhancin
Read more

Sound analysis

Image
Clockwork Orange (1971) The director is suggesting that that the family is quite obnoxious, every chance they get they will start to argue and cause a commotion. The family is immature and violent as they start to fight in public. The director has used fast paced non diegetic sound such as a voice over as well as contrapuntal sound. The use of classical music played over a fight scene suggests that it is humorous and that things like this have happened before. It also suggests that their family is not taken seriously by many people because they seem to be very violent. The variation of pitch from high to low added a quite dramatic effect but also added tension to the scene, while the classical music calmed the viewers at the same time. Funny Games (2001) The director is suggesting that this family quite modern and accepting of all sorts of music. The use of diegetic sound was important because the characters dialogue was in another language which gave the audience a better
Read more

Capital: Representation questions

To what extent do the  representations  in Capital reflect the  concerns of modern 21st century London life?   [25 marks] To some extent I agree that the representations in Capital reflects the concerns of the modern 21 st  century London life. Capital provides us with a range of representations that vary because of people’s social class, ethnicity and wealth. These representations focus on some concerns such as immigration, wealth and job security. Within the opening scene of the flash back, the audience are shown Petunia’s past and how things have changed since then. The passing of time suggests how society has changed and developed over the years and how London is now made up of several different cultures. London is presented as quite diverse and accepting of people with different backgrounds and suggests that this is because of the increase of immigration. During the opening scene, Petunia mistakes Ahmed’s ethnicity which suggest that the representation of Asian people i
Read more