MediA IssueS & DebateS

'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.

posted by Dinni @ 10:42 am