Advertising Marxism
1) What does Marxism suggest regarding power in society?
- Marxism suggests that the elite hold all the power over people that are not involved in that specific group, for example the working class.
2) Why is The Apprentice a good example of the media reinforcing capitalist values and ideologies?
Because Alan Sugar is shown as the boss and he is the most important character however the young people who come onto to the show do not have such a high status and him and they are kind of seeking his approval.
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'.)
In "reality" shows such as "The Only Way Is Essex" the life of an Essex person is made to seem like it is glamorous and full of drama and spa days however this is a very inaccurate representation of what life is in general because Essex is more then what they are portrayed to be.
In the Daily Mail, the lower class ( working class) are made to seem very evil, youths that wear hoodies and in particular black youth are portrayed as criminals and that they only want to cause trouble in the streets however this is not a fair representation and it creates an unfair stereotype towards people that fit into these groups
4) Look at the bullet points on page 4 of the factsheet:
When making a Marxist reading of a text, look out for representations that:
- Marxism suggests that the elite hold all the power over people that are not involved in that specific group, for example the working class.
2) Why is The Apprentice a good example of the media reinforcing capitalist values and ideologies?
Because Alan Sugar is shown as the boss and he is the most important character however the young people who come onto to the show do not have such a high status and him and they are kind of seeking his approval.
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'.)
In "reality" shows such as "The Only Way Is Essex" the life of an Essex person is made to seem like it is glamorous and full of drama and spa days however this is a very inaccurate representation of what life is in general because Essex is more then what they are portrayed to be.
In the Daily Mail, the lower class ( working class) are made to seem very evil, youths that wear hoodies and in particular black youth are portrayed as criminals and that they only want to cause trouble in the streets however this is not a fair representation and it creates an unfair stereotype towards people that fit into these groups
4) Look at the bullet points on page 4 of the factsheet:
When making a Marxist reading of a text, look out for representations that:
- show the values of the power elite as beneficial to the mass
- show queries or challenges to the base as meaningless, foolish or anti-social via ‘failed revolt’
- show the subdominant position of the masses as a naturalised idea
- show the values of the power elite as ‘natural’ or ‘right’
- show that being a member of the mass is a good thing
- show the masses accepting the values of the power elite
- show the values of the power elite as being ‘for the good of the masses’ (even when unpleasant)
Now apply those bullet points to Capital. Think about the setting, characters and narrative strands - how many of the bullet points apply to Capital? Does Capital reinforce or challenge the values of capitalism? Give examples from episode 1 to support your points.
In my opinion Capital reinforces some of the ideas we can find in Marxism for example the idea that "challenges to the base are eaningless, foolish or anti-social." I feel that this idea is shown through the story of Quintina. In her story, Quintina is the immigrant character, who is illegally working and staying in London. Her actions of working as a traffic warden and cashing her cheques, show her as challenging typical conventions and constructs. However, by making a Marxist reading, it is clear to see that her deportation back to her home country, represents a failed revolt which suggests that attempting to go against the base is foolish and futile. This idea is also reflected through the initial concept of the mysterious postcards that are posted through the letterbox of each fresident. This attempt to challenge the elite, proves to be "meaningless" and "foolish", as the person behind the postcards is eventually caught and arrested.
In my opinion Capital reinforces some of the ideas we can find in Marxism for example the idea that "challenges to the base are eaningless, foolish or anti-social." I feel that this idea is shown through the story of Quintina. In her story, Quintina is the immigrant character, who is illegally working and staying in London. Her actions of working as a traffic warden and cashing her cheques, show her as challenging typical conventions and constructs. However, by making a Marxist reading, it is clear to see that her deportation back to her home country, represents a failed revolt which suggests that attempting to go against the base is foolish and futile. This idea is also reflected through the initial concept of the mysterious postcards that are posted through the letterbox of each fresident. This attempt to challenge the elite, proves to be "meaningless" and "foolish", as the person behind the postcards is eventually caught and arrested.
Comments
Post a Comment