Marxism & hegemony: blog tasks
Mail Online review of Capital
1) Re-read the Mail Online review of Capital. Why does it suggest that Capital features a left-wing ideology?
Because it mocks the "misrepresentation" of the immigrant characters, them being represented overly positive.
2) Choose three quotes from the review that are particularly critical of Capital and paste them into your blogpost. Do you agree with the criticisms? Why?
The hardest worker on the street was an illegal immigrant, determined to pay her way and not touch a penny of benefits
A Muslim man whose only crime was to burn the odd Union Jack
The Polish builder had a heart of gold and his Hungarian girlfriend was as honest as Mother Teresa.
The person who wrote the reviews has a clear right wing mindset as most of the criticisms are of the positive representations of immigrants. I disagree to an extent as i believe that it is important to have a positive representation of these people in the media, however i understand the writers frustration of their representations being overly positive.
3) What scenes or characters from Capital could be read as promoting left-wing ideology?
The shopkeeper would be a promotion of left wing ideology because of what they offer to community. We see this in the scene when he gives Rogers wife the grocery for free due to "Christmas spirit". Capital shows a socialist ideology through the representations of the ethnic minority characters
4) What about the other side of the argument - are there any aspects of Capital that reinforce the status quo in capitalist London?
Media Magazine feature on BBC drama The Casual Vacancy and ideology
Now go to our Media Magazine archive and read the feature 'The Beeb, The Mail and JKR' in MM53 (page 20). This focuses on the politics of The Casual Vacancy, another BBC three-part drama based on a book by JK Rowling.
Answer the questions below:
1) Why did the Daily Mail suggest The Casual Vacancy promoted a left-wing ideology?
Because the casual vacancy seems to demonise the rich as they are portarys to be wanting to sell off the food banks and rehab centres despite the struggles the local people go through. The Casual Vacancy is a biased depiction of people who claim benefits in a left-wing ideology in the eyes of the Daily Mail because of the previous statements JK Rowling has made of her disapproval of benefit cuts.
2) How does the article suggest characters, narrative and setting are used to promote a left-wing ideology?
It draws sympathy towards the poorer people as we see the woman who goes through abuse, the woman who develops a drinking problem after her grievances etc.
3) What research is quoted regarding BBC bias and what did it find? Do you think the BBC is biased?
I dont believe the BBC is biased as it tries to promote different cultures within society through its programmes. However, it is fetishised and doesn't always have a realistic representation as we dont see any racism represented. An example is within Eastenders. The ethnic minorities receive no form of racism in an area which can be notorious for racism.
4) Gramsci's theory of hegemony suggests people are kept under control through active consent - the control of 'common sense'. How could you apply the Daily Mail or the BBC to the idea of hegemony and dominant ideologies in the UK media?
We can apply Gramsci's theory of Hegemony to the Daily Mail as they are quite disrespectful to Muslims and provide negative representations of Islam, which links back to dominance of ones social class over another. This shows how the elite are able to control the viewpoints of the population through propaganda. This also links to the hypodermic needle theory that the population are empty vessels which are injected with information.
1) Re-read the Mail Online review of Capital. Why does it suggest that Capital features a left-wing ideology?
Because it mocks the "misrepresentation" of the immigrant characters, them being represented overly positive.
2) Choose three quotes from the review that are particularly critical of Capital and paste them into your blogpost. Do you agree with the criticisms? Why?
The hardest worker on the street was an illegal immigrant, determined to pay her way and not touch a penny of benefits
A Muslim man whose only crime was to burn the odd Union Jack
The Polish builder had a heart of gold and his Hungarian girlfriend was as honest as Mother Teresa.
The person who wrote the reviews has a clear right wing mindset as most of the criticisms are of the positive representations of immigrants. I disagree to an extent as i believe that it is important to have a positive representation of these people in the media, however i understand the writers frustration of their representations being overly positive.
3) What scenes or characters from Capital could be read as promoting left-wing ideology?
The shopkeeper would be a promotion of left wing ideology because of what they offer to community. We see this in the scene when he gives Rogers wife the grocery for free due to "Christmas spirit". Capital shows a socialist ideology through the representations of the ethnic minority characters
4) What about the other side of the argument - are there any aspects of Capital that reinforce the status quo in capitalist London?
Media Magazine feature on BBC drama The Casual Vacancy and ideology
Now go to our Media Magazine archive and read the feature 'The Beeb, The Mail and JKR' in MM53 (page 20). This focuses on the politics of The Casual Vacancy, another BBC three-part drama based on a book by JK Rowling.
Answer the questions below:
1) Why did the Daily Mail suggest The Casual Vacancy promoted a left-wing ideology?
Because the casual vacancy seems to demonise the rich as they are portarys to be wanting to sell off the food banks and rehab centres despite the struggles the local people go through. The Casual Vacancy is a biased depiction of people who claim benefits in a left-wing ideology in the eyes of the Daily Mail because of the previous statements JK Rowling has made of her disapproval of benefit cuts.
2) How does the article suggest characters, narrative and setting are used to promote a left-wing ideology?
It draws sympathy towards the poorer people as we see the woman who goes through abuse, the woman who develops a drinking problem after her grievances etc.
3) What research is quoted regarding BBC bias and what did it find? Do you think the BBC is biased?
I dont believe the BBC is biased as it tries to promote different cultures within society through its programmes. However, it is fetishised and doesn't always have a realistic representation as we dont see any racism represented. An example is within Eastenders. The ethnic minorities receive no form of racism in an area which can be notorious for racism.
4) Gramsci's theory of hegemony suggests people are kept under control through active consent - the control of 'common sense'. How could you apply the Daily Mail or the BBC to the idea of hegemony and dominant ideologies in the UK media?
We can apply Gramsci's theory of Hegemony to the Daily Mail as they are quite disrespectful to Muslims and provide negative representations of Islam, which links back to dominance of ones social class over another. This shows how the elite are able to control the viewpoints of the population through propaganda. This also links to the hypodermic needle theory that the population are empty vessels which are injected with information.
Comments
Post a Comment