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Influence of media on public perception
Influence of media on society positive and negative points
Positive influence of media
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By using a diverse cast as main characters instead of just as supporting roles, allows for a annihilation of the typical roles in society. Through Annalise Keating, the main character of How to Get Away with Murder, shatters the gender, and sexuality roles of society along with breaking down the racial stereotypes of how a dominant black woman is represented in a drama based tv show.
The typical woman on a drama tv show is either white, or straight, and the majority of the time both of these. Women in shows on tv are also expected to have children or at least a reason on not having kids. Keating is none of these instead she embodies the growing trend of the third wave feminism movement and a progressive mindset. Keating has a fierce exterior which she manipulates to prove her emotional strength both in and out of the courtroom. By accepting difficult cases with unforgiving clients, or at home by claiming that she has never nurtured anything in her life, which further disproves the role that women must have children. Keating continues to pull away from the stereotypical woman in a marriage with a man, reinforcing this notion is comes from her husband’s
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All to often racial minorities or queer characters are “Given secondary or tertiary storylines that can be thrown away” (Butler), this is because of the possibility of the viewers negatively reacting to characters that do not fit the norm. However, the creation of characters that do not fit in mold of being white, straight, or the stereotypical man or woman, are progressive and can challenge the different roles of society. Having a diverse cast, or a lead minority character allows for the better representation of minority and queer groups of people, which further enables the breakdown of the damaging roles that society
In The Murder of Helen Jewett, Patricia Cohen uses one of the most trivial murders during the 1800’s to illustrate the sexiest society accommodations to the privileged, hypocritical tunneled views toward sexual behavior, and the exploitation of legal codes, use of tabloid journalism, and politics. Taking the fact that woman was made from taking a rib from man was more than biblical knowledge, but incorporated into the male belief that a woman’s place is determined by the man. Helen had the proper rearing a maid servant, but how did she fall so far from grace. Judge Weston properly takes credit for rearing her with the proper strictness and education. Was Helen seduced at an early age and introduced to sexual perversions that were more persuasive that the bible belt life that the Weston’s tried to live? Was Helen simply a woman who knew how to use what she had to get what she wanted? Through personal correspondence, legal documentation, census reports, paintings, and newspapers we are able to make our own determinations. Cohen provides more than enough background and history to allow any one to make their own opinion how the murder of a woman could be turned into a side show at a circus.
This show lacks diversity. The majority of characters are heterosexual, white, and middle class. The only exception is Fez, an immigrant and the only coloured person on the show. Throughout the show, Fez is depicted as stupid, and as something to laugh at; the backing track laughs after almost everything he says. As far as I could tell, there are no queer characters, or any mention of queer issues, in these episodes.
Shameless is an American TV series based on the self-destructive and dysfunctional family of Frank Gallagher, a single father of six children. The program is set in Chicago and illustrates a story of an alcoholic father who spends his day getting drunk, while his kids learn to take care of themselves. Fiona, the eldest daughter, takes responsibility upon herself at the age of 15 to become the caretaker of the family both physically and financially. Although the Gallagher’s do not have the structure of a nuclear family, they still hold the functionalist perspective of having a matriarchal family system, with the sister leading the family. They fit with the functionalist theory, however not in the generic stance of having a mother and a father
I reached many other people since last week, some of them did not show much interest in doing the interview when they heard it was about homosexual representation analysis; the other people were unable to do the interview because the lack of time or other reasons. Anyway, diverse interviewees were picked to convey a considerably fair research for the attitudes toward the homosexual representation in the show Glee. These three chosen interview subjects not only vary in race (Both my boss and my roommate are Asian-American and my friend’s sister Lily is Caucasian) but also in gender (My boss is male and the other two are female). Because the main focus of the show Glee is about daily life of a group of high school students who attend their school glee club, the audience’s age range is unavoidably narrow. Despite the fact
The shift in casting more female leads in crimes dramas has overall been a positive thing in the television industry for younger viewers. However, their roles and how they are portrayed must be taken with a grain of salt. They are portrayed unrealistically for an interesting storyline. It gives young viewers a false impression of women and how they manage a career, motherhood, and relationships.
The 1970s was an era of great innovation in the television industry in regards to broadcasting politically and socially relevant fictional programs; however, despite its progress in representing social and political movements and more complex minority characters, television’s representation of women remained stagnant, if not regressive. In an era of highly visible second wave feminism, how can that be? One possible reason is evident in the case of The Mod Squad, in which the emerging contemporary crime drama genre renegotiates women’s role in television programs masking their immobility and rendering its regressive feminine politics of inferiority and adherence to traditional gender norms more overt through narrative and plot adjacency, thus
However, well beneath the surface of the plotline, the viewer can also find himself or herself looking at a struggle for survival that is greatly affected by the roles of genders. Collins asks many questions regarding this; such as “If young girls do not see themselves reflected in media, will this diminish their sense of importance and self-esteem? Will boys conclude that women and girls are unimportant, as well? Will girls lack role models? Will adult women feel disenfranchised? Does the under-representation of women constrict societal perspectives and information in important ways?” (Collins). If Becky had not followed the standard gender role that the frame of time presented itself, she may have seen herself surviving the endeavor, despite almost no chance of her doing so. It is one of those things that today’s society may be glad to have moved past, because there is no reason for anyone to lose their life because they rely so heavily on the opposite
Katharine Brynne, one of them, is a mother who lost a homosexual son, killed by homophobics, and is haunted by the fact she rejected him. Katharine is also a woman who must deal with her racism, fueled by the fact that the men who killed her son were black. She is also an exuberant and open-minded woman who is willing to take risks and to accept the reality she sees about herself.
In the episode “Indians on TV” the audience is able to see how some Indian-Americans will use the stereotypical Indian accent to audition for parts that are ultimately stereotypical, such as a gas station clerk. Through the show they explore the relationships with parents, friends, colleagues, and romantic interests. Having the show air on Netflix, however, made it possible for Ansari to freely express his feelings and representations without filtering them. In one scene the audience sees Dev, the main character, receive an email chain accidentally that stated two Indian males can’t both have main rolls and they would have to “curry their favor” in order to be chosen as the main character. This email caused a whole out lash throughout the episode, however it began to involve other races such as African-Americans and Asian Americans. Having other races involved, Dev tries to compare their part in society and how they are viewed without see that all minorities have different struggles. Seeing that through the first scene in the cafeteria in Fresh Off the Boat, Eddie realizes that although his shirt has a black rapper on it, that doesn’t mean the only black minority in the room wants to sit with him or be associated with him. They come from different backgrounds and different struggles.
Furthermore, the general standardize is portrayed as “White dominance” being the “normal” and the fact of White characters being seen to determine the fate of the world allowing racial prejudice to continue in real world situations. Also the notion of inexcusable approaches of dominance, superiority and the mistreatment of marginalized groups in the magical world allow the audience to understand the mistreatment of classified groups such as the Jews and African
However, even given these tools, it is still characteristic of texts regarding principles of feminism to be written employing passionate diction. When Boxer ventures away from loaded words typically associated with feminism, she reflects an unintended consequence of radical change in sociocultural gender roles: maternal fathers. Although Boxer approaches the subject of “dead mothers” with the intention of criticizing the lack of important feminine roles, she truly illustrates a developing male character. Boxer asserts that by killing the mother, cartoon authors allow the story to progress with an andronistic agenda: patriarchal parental reflections are bellied only by minor plot conflicts (Boxer 4). However, her employment of conversational diction enables the reader to comfortably interpret the benefit of maternal fathers in feminism’s crusade. When Boxer writes that the majority of cartoon characters “live happily ever after in a world without mothers”, she illustrates not the disregard for need of maternal figures, but reaffirms their importance (Boxer 3). Regarding the maternal father as a fantastical or sensational concept only emphasizes the importance and power of women in contemporary society. Moreover, when Boxer invites her audience to take a “brief dip into reality” by mentioning the shockingly low percentage of single, American fathers, she reaffirms the jealousy
Perfume: Story of a murderer, a novel written by Patrick Suskind tells the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, a character that seems to have come into the world to face many challenges of rejection by a society that did not deal with “different” very well. The novel takes place in France. Since his birth, Grenouille was automatically treated unusual and rejected because of an abnormal condition, he actually did not have body scent, and people seem to take that as a terrible offense. He developed such hatred towards people because of their mistreatment, judgment and social alienation. His hatred for humanity was so intense that he went on a seven year journey to Massif Centrale to get away from society, putting himself in solitary confinement; which he ended up enjoying. Despite not having a scent of his own, Grenouille develops a strong sensitivity to smell scents and a tremendous ability to create perfumes, which ultimately becomes the cause of his rise and downfall in society, pushing him to do gruesome acts driven by his out of control desire to be “someone” in society.
Viola Davis has established herself on the hit drama, “How to Get Away with Murder” as a fierce leading woman. She was highlighted for her work when being the first black woman to ever win the Emmy title best leading woman in a drama, when accepting her honorable award she gave a speech that touched the heart of many Americans and hit close to home for many black women. She went to explain the hardships of finding leading roles as an African-American actress in a harsh industry. When accepting her Emmy award Viola Davis executed her persuasive speech beautifully by offering imagery, and pathos to compel the hearts of America to see the inequality in the industry changing the audience’s perspective on the opportunities provided for black women.
Her entire function within this movie is dictated by her husband. She stays at home, cooks, and prepares to bear children. “The particularly severe repression of female sexuality and creativity, the attribution to the female of passivity, and her preparation for her subordinate, dependent role in our culture” (Wood, 198). Detective Mills needs Tracy’s submissive role to support his dominant role because in ideology “men represent their real conditions of existence to themselves in an imaginary form” (Althusser, 16). Simply put, by objectifying her, he becomes the imaginary representation of the man: dominant and masculine. This embodiment of the typical subservient woman who must be placed on a pedestal and protected supports the films theme of the dominant male influence within social structure. Without her, he would not be able to represent his dominant role in society.
Today the issue of a diverse cast is focused more on the idea of race. This was most recently brought into the limelight when #OcarsSoWhite