'Fawlty Towers' Vs. 'The Beano'...
The presentation of the female ‘tom boy’ character clearly rejects Laura Mulvey’s suggested theory of the ‘male gaze’, whereby she argues women are there to have qualities of being-looked-at-ness in order to appeal to the expected male audience, therefore women are passive in media texts. The cartoonists purposely masculinise her female feature i.e. her ‘spiky’ black hair and her conniving facial expressions, to portray her dominance over the boys therefore enabling them to depict girls as atypical as she betrays the behavioural characteristics expected of girls from the audience. As the text is contemporary, it reflects the social attitudes towards both males and females and how women, as a whole, are becoming more active. This is a total disagreement with Mulvey, but, on the other hand, showing the rise of feminism.
Additionally, ‘The Beano’ brings comedy and humour to its audience, similar to that of ‘Fawlty Towers.’ However, as this text was only 32 two years after the infamous World War Two, produces successfully mange to bridge the gap between the British and the Germans by depicting both cultures in a unifying manner (being civil under one roof). Nonetheless, the text still subliminally illustrates British as having a sense of humour regarding the war, and the German residents are disgusted and irate as Basil Fawlty persistently mocks Hitler, in order to comfort an upset German woman (a demonstration of the active male and passive female as Mulvey suggests). This clearly demonstrates how any had not accepted or some to terms with the horrific events of the war, even though this text was post-WW2.
This exploitation of the effect theory – whereby audiences are seen as passive of media texts and therefore develop a bias attitude; one of which producers intend to transmit – manipulates audiences into believing that Germans are still nationalistic and dislike the thought an event like WW2 being mocked in a satirical way. However, audiences are introduced to a figure of authority that surprisingly of which is of a black decent. As black were seen as deviant (Stuart Hall) this would have been seen as unusual t audiences, on the other hand, the Civil Rights Movement had come into effect, therefore this alteration of blacks being savage/deviant to people with dominance and authority shows the transition has take effect, not only in society but in popular media texts.
Additionally, as males are shown in powerful positions in ‘Fawlty Towers,’ it can be said that a patriarchal society is being represented. Similarly, in ‘The Beano,’ audiences are presented to a male teacher, once again emphasising a society which is male dominant. As this text is moderately contemporary, a suggestion of the feminist revolution not yet having the supposed impact are conveyed, but nonetheless is slowly beginning to alter society’s values and ideologies against women due to the representation of the ‘tomboy’ female character and showing the decline in male chauvinism.
'Viewers Ae Not Number'...
This story is about Channel 4 chief executive Andy Duncan critising TV companies for being concerned with money rather than what the public audeince are interested in viewing.
Mr. Duncan, speaking at the Marketing Society's annual lecture, made the observation as part of a wider speech on the importance of marketing and communications for TV companies in the digital age.
He said that the danger was that an unhealthy attitude to viewers had crept into the industry where "customers are something you check on BARB [the television audience data measurement body] or something that helps you make a programme [as a research tool] not someone you have a relationship with."
He added that the phone-in scandal showed the "deep seated" issues facing the TV industry at a time when media fragmentation meant that audiences had to be at the front of broadcasters' minds.
"Television's age on the internet is about to arrive," he stated. While the impact is difficult to predict there is no question, he said, that the "one big theme driving all of this is consumers."
"The day of marketing in broadcasting has truly arrived and it has to be customer-focused".
I think this story links in well with the theory 'Uses & Gratifications' as TV producers need to assume a more active audeince that choose what they want to watch, and for this to happen TV industries need to build up healthy relationships with their public, so they consume their texts. Duncan also commented on 'Televisions age on the internet'- i think this is paricularly important because it seems as though the internet will be taking over. There are so many popular shows such as Lost, Prison Break...etc which viewers would normally gave to wait weekly to watch them however, now by going on sites such as Peek-Vid, you can watch it in a matter of mintues (even though the quality isn't really they clear)! This is a serious issue that Tv companies have to face and make sure that what they distribute on air is no longer just a money making scheme but honest television which is there firstly for the viewers and secondly to make money!!
YouTube Vs. Viacom
MTV's owner, Viacom, launched a surprise attack on Google yesterday, filing a $1bn (£520m) lawsuit against the internet giant and its YouTube video-sharing website.
In documents filed with a US district court in New York, Viacom - which runs TV channels including MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount Comedy - accused the Silicon Valley firm of "massive intentional copyright infringement" on YouTube, which Google bought last year for $1.65bn.
The lawsuit is the latest flare-up in a running battle between the two companies over a host of clips taken from TV which have subsequently appeared on the video sharing site.
It is the largest case of its kind faced by Google, which faces a series of accusations from a variety of sources. Many established media owners - including book publishers and newspapers - are concerned that Google is unfairly profiting from their work by running advertising alongside content shown on its website. Last week Microsoft joined the fray by accusing Google of a "cavalier" attitude to copyright, which threatened the long-term futures of many creative industries.
Copyright is obviously a serious offence between lucrative businesses; therefore I think that Google should have made a decent arrangement with Viacom before allowing MTV clips to be distributed on YouTube. On the other hand, YouTube make sure that viewers of the site agree to Terms & Conditions before posting up certain clips, therefore it is out of the control of YouTube to monitor everything that has been put onto the website. I do think that filing a lawsuit is a bit unnecessary as I am sure that everything must have been a misunderstanding, Viacom needn’t be so childish.
Comparing texts and exploring the media issues and debates that they raise..
Gill Scott-Heron’s ‘The Revolution will not be televised’ (1972) and Dj Vadim ft Sarah Jones ‘Your Revolution’ (1998) directly focus on the issues and debates centered around the media, and its overall influences on society. However both pieces of music concentrate on different aspects of the media: Scott-Heron protests about how the media sub-stand the black culture, whereas Jones feminist parody, challenges the subordinate stereotypes of women.
Scott-Heron strongly suggests that television subliminally sends out messages to the frail minds of the black public and feeds those degrading values and ideologies from the predominantly white rulers of the media of the time. Advertisement, in particular, manipulate the minds into thinking that that certain products are needed in order to feel good, however Scott-Heron attacks these suggestions and continuously states ‘The revolution will not be televised.’ He establishes on the point of advertisements utilising the effects theory whereby false ideas are injected into passive audiences (hypodermic needle model) by the ruling class until they are progressively less able to criticise it, but Scott-Heron directly rejects these – ‘The Revolution will not go better with Coke’. During the 1970’s, however, media was not as widespread as it is in contemporary society; nonetheless the influence of media would be far greater than it is now as audiences in the 70’s were not as media-literate.
On the other hand, Jones comments on a feminist revolution as opposed to a black revolution; however this text make references to Gill Scott-Heron’s therefore you can classify it as a post-modernism piece of music. ‘Your revolution will not happen between these thighs’ vividly depicts her feminist nature as she feels she must make sexual references. Mulvey’s theory of passive females and active makes can be applied as Jones claims throughout the sexual exploitation of black female’s in popular music. The song does not hesitate to expose the feminist analysis of some of the famous rappers such as biggie smalls and LL Cool J, however she masterly denounces their macho lyrics – ‘Your revolution will not find me in the back seat of a jeep with LL.’ As well as targeting black ale artists, she does not refuse to also single out all those female artists that ‘gladly give up [there] behind/ Just so [they] can get signed.’ She undermines Foxy Brown and resents any comparisons made between herself and Brown- ‘I’m Sarah Jones/Not Foxy Brown.’ This portrays Jones satire attitude towards females that sacrifice their own self-respect as a way to make a name for them.
Scott-heron also establishes on this representation of back people, however he states that they are all victims of the predominately white-cultured media. He cries out for unity within the black community, and claims after the revolution they will not be gunned down by ‘pigs’. This is similar to how Michael Moore’s ‘Bowling for Columbine’ (2002) where he reveals that black ales are being portrayed as deviant by the media. The Marxist theory is applicable as the main issue being raised is this under representation and negative depiction of black people due to the hegemonic values and ideologies.
In ‘Your Revolution’, Jones is specifically out to promote feminism by satirically emulating other artists such as LL Cool J. This deliberate intertextuality allows this text to be seen as a pastiche. Her mention to black music artists suggests that she is challenging the misogynistic music culture and the values and ideologies that have been promoted with it abut the ways women are degraded. Jones particular viewpoint is that women do not need to objectify themselves in order to gain success, therefore Jones is supporting pluralism – rejection of the concept of a mass culture. Women are just as capable of succeeding without having to lower the self-respect
To conclude, both texts broadcast their viewpoints to its audiences successfully. They raise media issues and topics which can still be debated in today’s society. Many theories can be applied according to what both Jones and Scott-Heron are protesting.
