The defamation of Jade Goody: Class in Reality TV

As Charlie Brooker once said when discussing the cruel treatment of Jade Goody by the media "of course the press doesn't care about anything they just want to sell more papers." And in fact the media did play a big role when demonstrating how society reacts to class, and how we use terms such as "chav" to categorise people, how we single out the ones who are less worthy of meaningful success. Take Jade Goody for example, she was titled as 'talentless' by the general public yet they are the reason why Jade Goody was thrusted into the public eye. Big Brother aired in the UK on the 18th July 2000, and still remains on our screens today. The show acts as a reality TV "hybrid", as relatively normal people live out there everyday life, yet are still constantly aware they are being filmed and are constantly encouraged to take part in challenges put together by the producers of the show. Providing this glimpse into reality seemed to shock the rather conservative British audience, as prior to the introduction to Big Brother, or prior to the introduction to satellite and cable the access to different forms of entertainment were limited, therefore there was a peak focus on the lives of the middle class on our screens. The British public weren't used to outspoken characters like Jade Goody, who seemed to 'have no talent' yet still sparked so much attention, so how did the media and public react? Well of course they slandered her! Labelling her a 'pig' and 'scum', ridiculing this young girl, well yes Jade Goody's behaviours weren't always perfect, but had she been from a middle class background would she have been more easily forgiven? I believe the answer to that question is yes, the general public are intimidated by people like Jade Goody, she rose to success regardless of her background, and she was condemned for that. The hidden prejudice among the representation of the working class, still plagues the media today, the working class will only be shown if the story line directly focuses on their background. Ken Loach has directed many fantastic social-realist films that have given a real in-depth look into the lives of the working class, however his films such as 'I, Daniel Blake' contain a main focus on the hardships of living below the poverty line. It's a shame really, because I can't connect to characters who flounce around with their Prada bags, and get whatever they want by fluttering their lashes or flicking their hair, but how can we open up space for the working class character when the public condemns them when they appear?

Mini Exhibit- Diary entries

19/10/18
Receiving this initial task, the first thought in my head is: where am I going to find a shoe box? But secondly it opens up ideas of whether I'd feel more comfortable representing myself or someone else? It's something I will have to think on.

29/10/18:

I have begun putting together my exhibit, I have begun by sticking envelopes all over the inside of my box, with addresses very personal to me on them. Each address is for a place I once called home throughout my life, whether it be the first house I can remember living in, my home in Brighton, or the campus my boyfriend is living on. Above the envelopes I've drawn little images of what makes these places home for me, with the address of my childhood best friend's house, I've drawn cups of tea and a TV playing 'The Apprentice', because that is what I associate that home with. I also think that it also helps to represent my own culture.

04/11/18:

I've written words from poems that reflect my everyday life and emotions I've experienced in the past few years. I've used the Halloween make-up to colour my box, to represent an event that is popular in my every-day culture.

What's Rafel Nadal looking at? Lecture 3.

Previously in lectures we have analysed the male gaze, and been shown examples of it such as a scene from the film 'Carry on: Camping' which was intended to have a comedic effect, but it really drives home what many theorist have been exploring, the representation of gender. While also boiling it down to the seemingly simple yet incredibly complex question of 'what is gender?'. For many years society has turned to 'essentialism' to understand this question, we look for what is the essence of a man or a woman, so we can understand the distinguishing differences between the genders. In the lecture we were shown google image results of what appears when you google 'the essence of a man/woman' it feels so easy to boil a woman down their physical attributes, but then associate men with hardship and strength 'a traditional bread winner'. However these stereotypes are extremely dated, and your everyday cave man is sitting round trying to place a wild diverse society into boxes, which is near impossible. As David Gauntlett argues there is not only "more room for a greater variety of identities to emerge, it is also the case that the construction of identity has become a known requirement" this deters away from our natural instinct to understand where everyone belongs in the world, and encourages us to construct our own identity.
Still there is no escape from controversy or differing opinion, which brings me back to the title 'What's Rafel Nadal looking at?' while Gauntlett believes there is more room for a greater variety of identities, however this isn't without resistant. Nadal's advertisement for Armani jeans brings many questions of gender and sexuality into play; the image is naturally promiscuous, women may look at this image and be attracted to it, men may feel envious, or some men may be attracted to this image too. So when looking at the theories of Foucault it causes you to question who holds the power relations? Is it men or women, and does this have to matter? You could simply boil it down to the face that the photographer withholds the power relations, as he directed this photo, but it does introduce back the idea of 'the male gaze'. It could also potentially disprove theorist such as Mulvey, who believe that only women exist as a visual spectacle, but honestly does it matter what Nadal is actually looking at?

Senna, Seminar 2

Following our screening of the documentary 'Senna' which we mutually agreed was the observational style of documentary, we were encouraged to look deeper into this film and with the help of our readings, we all came up with some insightful ideas about the documentary. My initial reaction to this film was I felt that I had a clear understanding of Senna's passion for racing, it was so deep and religious that I found myself almost forgiving him for any wrong doings he may have done during his time as a professional race car driver, because it was all clearly driven (ha!) by his passion. So much so that it did lead to his tragic death, I was shocked by how much this film could emotionally impact me even though it was made up of a collection of interviews and found footage. The use of a sound bridge throughout the film created a more harrowing effect to the film, which demonstrated to me that a voice over, or 'the voice of God' isn't necessary when trying to evoke an emotional response from the audience. Therefore I believe 'Senna' was successful at telling this man's compelling story. During our seminar about 'Senna' we were put into groups to discuss 'representation' within the film, it begun with the discussion of gender representation, or the lack thereof. 'Senna' is one man's story, but even the interviews lacked any female perspective, yet we still were shown 'the male gaze'. Senna was a successful man, and it seemed that he believed that this warranted inappropriate behaviour towards female journalists; though the film was made in 2010 the uncomfortable atmosphere of these scenes were never addressed. Senna still remained the hero. As I previously mentioned my initial reaction to this film was that I felt I had a clear understanding of Senna's passion; in our readings we were told to look at Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe's exploration of discourse, which has a clear but more complex similarity to semiotics "This totality which includes within itself the linguistic and the non-linguistic, is what we call discourse". I found that once I understood this term it acted as a great way of defining Senna's passion: a machine becomes a religious experience when Senna is competing in a Grand Prix. I found it difficult to wrap my head around, but did deepen my exploration into this intriguing documentary.

Representation- Documentary, Lecture 2

In this weeks lecture we began by looking at photographer 'Martin Parr', I was intrigued by Parr's work as often photographers aim to make their work as glossy and professional as possible. Whereas Parr's work, be it still professional, aimed to capture reality which involves making people look as ridiculous as possible. I was confused as to how this would segway into documentary, however it became evident that documentary itself often escapes from the flashy studio lights and colouring that Hollywood films have, and focuses on capturing their version of reality. For Parr his interpretation of reality treats the everyday person as flawed, but also through the comedic tones of his photography suggest that this is okay. In documentary we see how the filmmaker wants to represent their own truth through different types of documentary modes, these modes were created by theorist Bill Nichols, and define the genres within documentaries. The most intriguing genre I found was 'reflexive', it is the genre I find I connect with the most, because I enjoy documentaries by filmmakers such as Michael Moore and Louis Theroux the reflexive style is furthered by the characters these filmmakers take on of the 'klutz'. These often results in a rather satirical piece of film-making, and plays back into the 'Martin Parr' style of photography, of making others look ridiculous and pointing at the gaping flaws the everyday person can have. The session reignited my fascination with documentary, and the various forms it can come in.


Some of Parr's work: https://www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards/2017-outstanding-contribution-photography-martin-parr

Understanding Media: Representation - SEMINAR 1

In today's seminar we looked into semiotics, and different types of representation. However I was most intrigued by our discussion on Lily Allen's music video for her song 'Hard out Here'. One of my peers made a comment that they believed this would "divide the class", however we all seemed to come to a general consensus of what we felt about this video. The reaction to Allen's video showed the audience taking a constructionist approach, as some critics claimed that Allen intended the video to be racist. Prior to our seminar the class were told to look at an article by 'The Guardian', which seem to take an opposing view to her video; in the article the writer claims that Allen was "blindsided by her own privilege". The responses to this video played well into our previous discussion of semiotics earlier on in the lecture; to the writer of that article Allen's costume seem to signify her 'superiority' to the women of colour dancing around her. However others, including Allen herself claim that this was simply to do with Allen's own insecurity. The discussion was insightful, and really opened my eyes to how different people can interpret and create their own meanings over pieces of media, and for Allen herself who may have had good intentions, she still needs to make sure she manages the power she has in limelight, and make room for different kinds of female oppression to be represented in her videos.

Understanding Media: Representation - LECTURE 1

This week we had a lecture introducing ideas about representation, and it made me realise how digital media acts as a great history book when exploring how socio-political ideologies have changed over time. In the lecture we were shown a clip from a well-known comedy film called 'Carry on: Camping', I had been previously aware of this film, as I know my parents are big fans of it. In the clip we were shown a group of women in bikinis, who are being gazed at by a group of men, though they are being admired for their physical attributes the scene still manages to ridicule them. The women are presented as 'air-headed', as the focus remains on their bodies, and how pleasing this is to the men surrounding them; this is intended to create a comedic effect. Older generations which include my parents see this as comedic, because that sort of slapstick, yet still offensive style was the norm in the 60s, yet in this day and age it would cause a lot of controversy, and also just wouldn't be viewed as very funny. This is due to the examples of great female representation that we now see in the media, our lecturer juxtaposed this clip with a music video for the song 'PYNK' by artist 'Janelle Monae'. The video could almost be seen as a response to pieces of media like 'Carry on: Camping', as the video doesn't require the need for the male gaze to sexualise women. In fact Monae shows women that they can sexualise themselves, and therefore be proud of their sexuality through her powerfully feminine music video. She re-appropriates the feminine identity, and uses it to empower women, which has the complete opposite desired effect that 'Carry on: Camping' has. This lecture really displayed how the media can be used as a platform to either empower on degrade women, however with the current social and political climate there leaves no more room for sexism, as we will constantly combat it, and choose to simply build each other up instead. Slapstick sexism has gotten old.

Videos referenced:
Carry on Camping scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UklIMCtUxTU
PYNK- Janelle Monae: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaYvlVR_BEc