Media and Collective Identity

A2 media studies Critical Perspectives Exam Prep Re-cap Collective Identity in the Media, magazines and start British Cinema HOW DO THEY ALL LINK?

Collective Identity • The individuals sense of belonging to a group; the idea that through participating in social activities (reading magazines watching films) individuals can gain a sense of belonging and in essence an ‘identity’ that transcends the individual.

• This basically sums up the notion of ‘COLLECTIVE IDENTITY’

Gauntlett is a link between the two “Identity is complicated. Everyone thinks they have one. Magazines and talk show hosts urge us to explore our identity. Religious and national identities are at the heart of major international conflicts. Artists play with the idea in modern society. Blockbuster movie superheroes have emotional conflict about their true identity. And the average teenager can create three on line identities before breakfast... Thinking about self identity and

individuality can cause some anxiety- at least in cultures where individuals are encouraged to value their personal uniqueness. Each of us would like to think- to some extent- that we have special, personal qualities, which make us distinctive and valuable to the other people in our lives (or potential future friends).�

But does this mean anything? Is individuality just an illusion? Maybe we are all incredibly similar, but are programmed to value miniscule bits of differentiation.

(Gauntlett 2007a 1.14)

The Identity Theorists

Elaborate cultural muck spreader Marxist

Feminist

Barton, Althusser and Winship offer variations on a theme that gender magazines do some damage, and that there is a correlation between the representation of gender in their pages, the readers acceptance of them and problems in society.

A different view comes from David Gauntlett, who puts forward the idea that we pick and mix our media and select in more or less regular ways how we form our identities in relation to them. This theoretical intervention, it is REALLY important to add, is the outcome of sustained and detailed audience research.

“A focus on identity requires us to pay close attention to the diverse ways in which media and technologies are used in everyday life, and their consequences both for individuals and for social groups” (Buckingham 2008) Feminist: Winship’s notion of complicity is about being prepared for the reward of gratification to recognise the ideal version of ourselves despite the anxiety it will cause.

In British cinema too?

In British cinema too?

Identity in Magazines

Presentation of self: the clothes we wear, the media we consume, the people we like.

The combination of these practices amounts to an idea we have of how others see us, described by (Goffman 1990) as the ‘presentation of self’.

“These days, the insinuation that all gents are satisfied by 29 cans of Stella and a slightly stained copy of Razzle is as quaintly outmoded as the suggestion that the lady loves milk tray. Nevertheless, ZOO and its brethren seem to act like some elaborate cultural muck-spreader, coating everything in an impermeable layer of tits and ass and porn and fighting. And the intimation is that any bird who cant handle that can feck off and take her scented candles with her” (Barton 2004)

Higher stakes of how the Media represents identity. • The stakes get higher for identity when people feel marginalized, victimised or in anyway prejudiced against because of their identity. • Minority ethnic groups, gay people, disabled people, the elderly, the police, people from Birmingham, teenagers (and countless others- this is just a selection) may all, at times, have cause for complaint about how others make assumptions about them because of their identity. • Effects on society.

MEN’s HEALTH FOUR ideas are represented in every issue, in which case we can say that these are the DOMINANT DISCOURSES operating in the magazine.

•Quick fix problem solving •Male Narcissism •New male sensitivity •Male superiority / manipulation.

Comparison • A comparison of NUTS with MEN’s HEALTH helps us to review two very different examples within the broader category of the male magazines.

• Whereas NUTS is explicit in its sexism and reduction of the male gender to it’s stereotype (whether knowing and playful or not), Men’s health lays claim to a more sensitive, aspiring version of the gender.

• However, we might argue that most of it’s quick fix approaches to everything- from ‘impressing the boss’ to ‘getting a six pack’ and ‘making her beg for more’ – are based on a traditional hunter gatherer discourse about male behaviour.

• There is little complexity or subtlety in its pages, so whereas the mode of address is very different to NUTS, perhaps the discourse, or IDEOLOGY, in both magazines is closer than it appears at first glance.

Gauntlett 2002: 180 In post-traditional cultures, where identities are not ‘given’ but need to be constructed and negotiated, and where an individual has to establish their personal ethics and mode of living, the magazines offer some reassurance to men who are wondering ‘is this right?’ and ‘Am I doing this ok?’, enabling a more confident management of the narrative of self.

In British cinema too?

British Cinema We need to tackle this from three angles.

ONE • The British film industry and how production and exchange of film are shaped, in the UK, by new patterns of convergence and technology. You should be familiar with this as it is similar to the music industry.

• This is relevant because the ways in which Britain is represented on screen is hugely influenced by economic and political contexts, such as funding, the relationship of British film to the USA and the rest of Europe.

• Also- audience shifts, government agendas and the relationship between culture and commerce.

TWO You need to think about British films as cultural products THREE How British films represent the changing nature of Britain and its people • has British cinema has always suffered from a “Burden of representation”

DONT THINK LIKE THIS… You’ve got to avoid simplistic binary oppositions between ‘cultural’ British films and ‘commercial’ Hollywood films.

Basically- there are commercially HUGE UK films that offer little cultural reflection and Hollywood films that offer really challenging and artistic representations.

Historical

The British film industry British films are defined by four categories: 1. An entirely British film, funded by UK finance and staffed by British personnel 2. Majority British funded and staffed by a majority of British personnel 3. Co-funding 4. US films with some creative input from the UK Where does the hugely successful Harry Potter franchise come?

Historical

The film council

• Because of this model, films get money from the film council and the national lottery but are expected to compete with blockbusters or settle for low budgets and inadequate marketing. Thus- some argue that the bottleneck in the system is preventing more serious films that actually represent Britain in more challenging ways from getting larger audiences. • So if you want to make a film in Britain- you have a dilemma.

What to do: Aim for the international market?

Our films are becoming increasingly American (as are TV, games- but no so much with our music) The dilemmas are summed up by Stafford (2002:6)

Historical

“Every memorable achievement to come out of the UK cinema since the war has come out of someone’s desire to say something, not to sell it” (Roddick 1999) His point contradicts that our media and government define success on the Hollywood model‘bums on seats’ and sales of DVDs.

“These places represent an everywhere Britain, where relationships have broken down and where people have become isolated and disconnected. THIS IS ENGLAND celebrates community; Red Road gives us the faint possibility of its return through individual acts of connection.... London to Brighton’s social message is bleaker, since it sees escape as the only option. Their Britishness is in their culturally specific address to audiences at home. (Murray 2008).

Theorists in Cinema

(Stafford 2002)“The choices for British producers are: make a lowbudget British film targeted at mainstream British audiences, hoping that the ‘peculiarly British’ subject matter will attract overseas audiences who will see the film as unusual. A lowbudget film could cover costs by careful sale of rights in the UK and Europe. Anything earned in America is then a bonus. Or, make a lowbudget film for a ‘niche’ art house audience in the UK and abroad. Or, look for partners in Europe and/or America and aim more clearly for an ‘international audience’.

The Burden of Representation This is a phrase that cannot be ignored when studying British film in relation to collective identity. It describes the way that the history of social realist British film can weigh on the shoulders of new filmmakers and producers.

Social realism

then is best understood as an approach to films which seek to make explicit connections to matters of public debate. IE- the economic system,

social relations, relationships between ethnic groups, various forms of exploitation.

British Social Realism • As the ‘burden of representation’ phrase suggests, the UK has a strong legacy of fiction- spanning theatre, literature, TV and film.

• It has always attempted to portray issues facing ordinary people in their social situations.

• This tradition has remained despite problems with funding and the lure of the US market.

• Next you’ll be considering some recent British films which we can analyse as texts that provoke a response in relation to collective identity- competing ideas about Britishness.

Socially realist films Should not be thought of as a genre or a type, but more of an approach.

Ken Loach – It’s a Free World (whose films fit into this approach) prefers to talk about his films more in terms of story telling which he hopes will resonate with the public. This is the same with the film we are focussing on, Cemetery Junction directed by Ricky Gervais.

Mike Leigh (just won the Fellowship BAFTA - this is the highest honour awarded) to avoid any suggestion that his unusual style of working (no scripts, total improve, not telling the actors what will happen until it does) can be pinned down to a form of realism.

Future – realism is becoming more popular – why?

New social realism (Murray 2008) “The work of film- makers today who may be creative, but are always grounded in the actuality of the events within their social contextswanting to examine the social realities that these fictional stories and people grow out of. Our experience as audiences is a constant frission of recognitionof places, of people we have varying degrees of contact with.�

CEMETERY JUNCTION

Official Sites: Official site Country: UK Language: English Release Date: 14 April 2010 (UK) Filming Locations: Taylor's Bellfoundry, Freehold Street, Loughborough, Leicestershire, England, UK

CEMETERY JUNCTION tells the funny, touching and universal story of being trapped in a small town and dreaming of escape. In 1970s England, three blue-collar friends spend their days joking, drinking, fighting and chasing girls.

Explanation.

In reference to “These places represent an collective identity, everywhere Britain, where on the one hand the relationships have broken down films represent and where people have become isolated and disconnected. THIS IS different issues so ENGLAND celebrates community; Red cannot be lumped Road gives us the faint possibility of its together as being return through individual acts of universally typical of connection.... London to Brighton’s how the UK is viewed social message is bleaker, since it sees on screen. But the escape as the only option. Their themes they explore Britishness is in their culturally specific address to audiences at (locations, environments and home.” (Murray 2008) gender are).

Case study: ‘It’s a free world’ Ken Loach’s recent film tells the story of a single mother who sees an opportunity to give her son a better future by setting up a recruitment film supplying cheap labour in London.

The development of the story comes when she realises that there is more money to be made in illegal supply, and the film then explores the various levels of exploitation and human rights abuse that follow.

But the ‘social realist’ approach means that we have to confront the complexity of the situation. Angie- the female protagonist, is not a faceless, ‘evil’ human trafficker, who we can simply hate in a straight forward good/bad binary way.

Instead, she is a mum with limited opportunities for aspiration, and she sees her business empire as no different to any other self-employed person.

So the real enemy is the capitalist system which leads to such exploitation.

In terms of collective identity, the film represents economic migrants as victims, but (like most Ken Loach films) the focus is on the way in which the poor or dispossessed exploit one another, drug dealers and corrupt employers etc. His interest is in how the system forces those at the bottom to turn on one another

What you need to know.

For each theme, it is mandatory to focus on these areas within your exam answer.

Historical: Not a great deal needed here, but you must at some

point in your answer show that you understand how relevant aspects of contemporary media can be compared to the past Contemporary: Most of your time will be spent demonstrating an up-to-date, accurate, theoretical and academic analysis of today's media

Future: Not the main focus, but to gain higher marks you will need to have some ideas about where the media are going next.

You: your own voice is crucial (what is your opinion)