Wednesday, 24 September 2014

Important links for Postcolonialism continued

M.I.A - Born Free
http://vimeo.com/11219730

Public Enemy - Harder Than You Think
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPHO5Brsd3E
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/publicenemy/harderthanyouthink.html

White People Stole My Car - Racist Google Correction
http://loyalkng.com/2009/09/30/google-is-racist-white-people-stole-my-car-results-in-black-people-stole-my-car-wtf/

Complying to Angela Barrys Stereotypes:

Troublemaker: 
Chris Brown - I Can Transform Ya
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFC1sUf4-Pc
Chris Brown & Rihanna - tattoo article
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/craig-and-marc-kielburger/chris-brown-tattoo-_b_1885499.html

Media Spiral linked to Angela Barry's Stereotypes (Racism link)

  • Black people are seen in the media as 'troublemakers', 'entertainers' and 'dependents'.
  • Blacks being shown as troublemakers by the media can urge many more black people to become troublemakers to fit their stereotype.
  • Media can then cause a hype about the amount of troublemakers there are which causes a moral panic.
  • People become scared of the situation and therefor attempt to be like troublemakers too.
  • More people are living up to the stereotype of blacks in the media because they are scared of the exaggeration of the situation, therefor the cycle continues as more people panic as the media panics.

Wilkins' Media Amplification Spiral

The media amplification spiral is a theory that suggests that mass media take issues out of context, and therefore cause a long chain of events from the one exaggerated story, for example knife crime.

  • A small group of people commit a crime.
  • The media’s values pick up on an ‘interesting story’ and a ‘problem group’ is identified. 
  • The media produce headlines, stories and photographs to interest readers and viewers. 
  • To maintain readers’ interest, the crime is taken out of context through exaggerated reporting.
  • People become scared of the people committing the crime, so join the people committing crime. 
  • A moral panic develops. Public concern is aroused at the real or imaginary ‘threat’ to society; the media campaign for ‘action’ to be taken against this perceived threat. 
  • More social control – politicians, police and magistrates respond to public demand as shown in the media, and law-and-order campaigns are begun to stamp down hard with deviants. 
  • More crime happens as people are scared of it, so more people carry knives etc to protect themselves, and the process repeats.

Tuesday, 9 September 2014

Angela Barry's identification of stereotypes




Angela Barry identifies 3 stereotypes commonly used to represent black people in the media. Firstly, Angela identifies the 'troublemaker' stereotype as one associated to blacks in the media. The people who are given this representation may or may not be a trouble maker, but they are given only this representation, and so the audience do not think anything different of them. This theory can apply to many black people such as Chris Brown, who is nearly always a dominant troublemaker through the media (such as the Rihanna incident) and his drug use etc. Also, the London 2012 riots were seen by most of the nation via the medias representation, which dominantly showed black males as the main rioters.


Additionally, Angela identifies blacks to be stereotyped as the 'entertainer'. This carries connotations that these people are not 'intelligent' or 'sophisticated' enough. People that this may apply to can be music artists like Nicki Minaj or Pharrell Williams, or comedians/tv stars such as Kevin Hart, Lenny Henry and Will Smith, and maybe even sports stars such as Lewis Hamilton and Ashley Cole.

The last stereotype that Barry identifies as representing blacks in the media is 'dependent'. This means that black people are seen in the media as not being sufficient for themselves and always depending on people of white culture. This can include tv advertisements such as WaterAid, where only black people are featured and represented as 'desperate' and 'in need of help' from us. This is a false representation of black people as most are self-sufficient, but representations like this give white cultures the impression that the whole continent of Africa is dependent on our help and input.

Sunday, 7 September 2014

Postcolonialism links:

Bengali in Platforms:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qTY6-xKHpM
http://www.metrolyrics.com/bengali-in-platforms-lyrics-morrissey.html
This song was written in 1988 by Morrissey, in a time where immigration in the UK became popular. This song is signifying the artists views on cultures known as 'the other', in this case a Bengali boy happened to be the subject. Bengali in Platforms says "Life is hard enough when you belong here", which is a more polite way of saying 'Foreigners don't belong in the Western Culture' and that they make life harder for westerners. The song is very hypocritical because the artist is slating the Bengali boy for trying to embrace and live with the Western Culture, when in reality that is what people of our society today would hope for in an immigrant.

Skin Whitening documentary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9T9SNi-u6M
This video is a documentary focusing on skin whitening techniques and importance of colour and self-esteem in Jamaica. The video consists of Jamaican interviewees sharing mixed opinions on the subject, some saying that lighter skin shows worth and power, whilst others saying that it is important to love yourself although whitening techniques are signifiers of power and wealth which give people below the poverty sign a sense of worth and admiration. The warped representation of white hierarchy due to the slave trade is shown in the documentary to have a large impact on the way Jamaican culture deals with their identity.


Racism in the United Kingdom:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_the_United_Kingdom
This is a wikipedia page which highlights and talks in depth about the issue of race in the UK. The page talks about how race riots can take place when there is hate between communities that have racial difference, and gives examples such as the Bradford Riots, which took place between whites and Pakistanis, and the Birmingham Riots, which took place between Asians and blacks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUgk3pWrnUY 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU28Pv26nNQ&feature=related - 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnS53fNfpkE 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPZydAotVOY&feature=related 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/uk/2002/race/what_you_told_us.stm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket_test  

Tuesday, 2 September 2014

Eminem - Not Afraid (Rap Video Analysis)

Video :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5-yKhDd64s

Lyrics: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/eminem/notafraid.html

Analysis: 

  • Uses direct adress to engage his audience via lyrics and video - "Come take my hand" whilst pointing to the camera. Also says "Holla if you feel like youve been down the same road", connecting to his fans/audience, unlike many other rappers who rap about their audiences ambitions/aspirations, eg. Cars, money, glamorous lifestyle.
  • Acts as a superhero in part of the video to show connotations of strength, power and being unstoppable in relation to the songs topic. (overcoming drug addiction)
  • Violence and aggression are shown just like stereotypical rap videos, although to represent the depth and meaning in the lyrics and the emotion he feels about his words.
  • His body language also supports the passion for his lyrics, shows enthusiasm and the fact that he is not creating a persona solely for a video.
  • There are no conventional props of a rap video featured in this (chains, cars, money, baggy clothes etc.) No rap signifiers worn during the video.
  • The video for 'Not Afraid' is not a staged studio based video as he is using the video as a mode of address to get across the 'real' feeling he wants to portray. This also contradicts rap stereotypes.
  • In the lyrics, Eminem refers to his old music as "ehhh", which supports the fact that there are no sexualised women featured in the video (as there was a lot of sexualisation featured in the videos from his old albums).
  • The atmosphere in the video is very grungy/non saturated, which depicts the mood of the audience and also pinpoints the songs tone. The video later gets brighter to represent 'seeing light at the end of the tunnel' in terms of his recovery from drugs. 
  • Running past mirrors in the video signifies that Eminem is running away from his subconcious/old self. Breaking through them also is a signifier to support the idea that he is breaking away from his old self and becoming a new person.
  • Lyrics and video cleverly link by saying "facing my demons" and featuring Eminem running past mirrors which reflect him as a ghost/demon.
  • The first 3 lines of the song suggest that 'haters' turned him to drugs and ruined his music/career.


AQA Comms and Culture A2 Link

http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/communication-and-culture/a-level/communication-and-culture-2625