Representation - Theorists

Representation - Theorists

 

Representation is one of the key concepts in media studies and is constantly bringing up headlines in he press, these usually are about people being offended at content that has been shown on television or radio. An example of this is the reaction to the comedy series 'Come Fly With Me'



This series draws heavily from the sketch how 'Little Britain' the two actors portray a number of characters that you would find in an airport such as pilots, airhostesses, and terminal staff. These characters are grotesquely stereotypically and are often women meaning the male actors are in drag, however the show came under criticism because of the controversial portrayal of some ethnic characters.

Many people were unhappy with the way in which the actors 'blacked up' to portray certain characters many people believed that this was a throwback to how racism was portrayed on British TV during the 50s and 60s when casual racism was apparently acceptable.

This is a prime example of how people perceive things differently as although the show gained many complaints however many people enjoyed the show and it continued to have a number of successful episodes.

 

 

 These are some examples of theorists concerning representation: 

Angela McRobbie – post feminist icon theory

Laura Mulvey – male gaze/female gaze

Stuart Hall – dominant, oppositional and negotiated readings of representation

Richard Dyer – stereotypes legitimize inequality

Levi-Strauss – binary oppositions and subordinate groups

David Buckingham – representation and fragmented identity

David Gauntlett – “identity is complicated, everyone’s got one”     

Baudrillard – hyper realism

Tajfel and Turner – intergroup discrimination and stereotyping    

Andy Medhurst – stereotyping is shorthand for identification

Tessa Perkins – stereotyping has elements of truth

Judith Butler – queer theory