Mag cover and TV drama imge

Laura Mulvey

The Male Gaze

Laura Mulvey is a film theorist who came up with the idea of 'the male gaze' this is the theory that suggests film audiences have to 'view' characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male.  The camera lingers on the curves of the female body and events that occur to women are presented largely in context to a man's reaction of these events.  Laura and other feminists believed that this relegates females to being seen as 'objects' or 'props' in films, and could affect how the next generation think of women.

Criticism

Some women enjoy being looked at E.g. Beauty pageants.  The Gaze can also be directed toward members of the same genders for several reasons, not all of which are sexual, such as in comparison of body image or clothing.

Stereotypes

What is a 'stereotype?'
- A simplified representation which focuses on certain characteristics of a group and assumes these to be shared across all group members
- Inherent within a stereotype is a judgment on this character
Eg. 'All women are bad drivers'
'all millwall fans are gypsies'
'all tottenham fans are jewish'
'all muslims are terrorists'


How do the media use stereotypes?
- To communicate complex information about a character, time period, location etc. as quickly as possible
- They do this, as they do not simply create stereotypes, they reflect the stereotypes that have already been created in modern culture
- By using these stereotypes, the media can be said to be reinforcing the ideas behind the and consolidating the views they contain
- Often the media is criticised for creating stereotypes, but they are usually part of the audiences way of thinking bout the world anyway

Camera Angles

Denotations and Connotations

Logos

Apple - Stands for the company who make computers, tablets, iPods etc.  It's a well known logo because they make the best phones and tablets, also they were one of the first to make touch screen products. Most young and elderly people probably wouldn't recognise this because they don't use apple products. 

Citroen - This logo stands for the french car company Citroen who are well known mostly to every age and gender except for every young people as they don't tend to take an interest in cars or be very observant when looking at them.  To people who don't recognise the logo, it could also be read as parallel lines.

Male symbol - this symbol maybe isn't as well known as the other two above because it isn't seen in everyday life whereas the others we see on TV a lot.

McDonalds - This is a symbol that is known world wide as they are a multi national fast food chain, we see it on TV, busses etc nearly everyday.

Male and women toilets - We see this sign in most public toilets that we go to so many people who regularly stop at service stations, restaurants etc will know this sign

The Rolling Stones - Lots of people all over the world will know this logo because it was on the '40 Licks' album by the rolling stones who are one of the greatest bands in history.  We see this logo on a lot of things such as magazines and T-shirts

Olympics - This symbol is also known world wide as the Olympics logo, people in Britain will especially know this due to us holding the Olympic games last summer

Union Jack - People all over the world should recognise this flag as it is the British flag and Britain is a very well known place across the world

Star of david - Judaism is one of the most popular religions in the world therefore many people recognise and associate The Star Of David with their faith.