Race: your articles

Milo sent in these clips late - but they're from great films, to be fair. His comments are below each clip:

To Kill A Mockingbird clip:

This clip shows racism within the judicial courts of America in the 20^th century through the jury refusing a man’s innocents because he is black, even though his innocents is clear. The clip shows black people in the deep south as being isolated, alienated and criminalized.

 

Boyz 'N the Hood clip:

This clip shows the brutal and unfair treatment of black people by the police in Los Angeles, even by officers who themselves are black which may subvert stereotypes of black people sticking together and trying to fight the racist system because a black cop has joined that very racist structure.

Wasim sent these two thoughtful contributions:

http://racialbechdel.tumblr.com/

This link is of a site based of the bechdel test, however, it differentiates itself by using a series of questions based on race to decipher whether certain films pass the test or not.  The main questions asked are whether there are more than one characters of colour in the film, whether said characters converse with each other and whether their conversation was about a white character.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jan/18/hollywoods-race-problem-film-industry-actors-of-colour

This article is about the little screen time actors of colour have in the film industry, and suggests interesting ideas about how to tackle the issues risen, it also brings to attention the typical portrayals of coloured people found in movies; such as the ‘black thug’, the ‘awkward desexualised Asian’ etc.


Gokce found an article based on votes made by the public and how they believemedia coverage represents ethnic minorities.

and this racist ad:

This advert launched in 2007 by intel advertising a new, faster duo processor has been marked as a racist.  Having a white manager standing over six athletes, whom all happen to be black, bowing in perfect symmetry before him can be seen as a connotation of slavery.

Nile googled 'racial stereotypes in the media' then sent me this. From his phone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBnYJe96KaA&sns=em

He also sent me this without reading it:

http://racist-stereotypes.com/

Rebecca sent me these three articles and had clearly given them some thought:

Different races should be portrayed positively

The need for diversity in fashion

Black people are victims of more crimes:

Amelia had this to say about the clip beneath:

The clip I chose is from 12 Years A Slave and is called "Run N*igger Run". It shows a white man exclaiming and commanding a black slave who is running and is in haste carry out an errand in order to excuse his consequence. This supports the ideology that black people are inferior to white people. The diegetic sound of the loud breaths coming from the black man express his fatigue and distress and make the audience sympathise with the black man. The extreme long shot used here also separates the black man from the white man as, during that time, the two races were separated in society due to the apartheid, which was then lifted following Martin Luther King's fondness and anger towards the racism that black people faced.

I also found this article which portrays positive discrimination that black people experience.The example used here is about a black applicant being chosen for the role as atv presenter due to her race. Although this shows acceptance and development within the world, it comes with many critiques as some black people are merely angered due to the fact that she wasn't employed because of her excellent and outstanding qualifications, but rather based on the fact that she was black.

Sebastian found the exact same clip as Nile:

But at least he said this:

Subverts the dominant ideology that white males are polite and aren’t criminals

Subverts the dominant ideology that black males are violent and thieves by showing a white person robbing the store whilst the Asian shopkeeper is too busy harassing him for his race.

Reinforces the dominant ideology that Asian people are less tolerant and more weary of black people because they follow racial stereotypes.

He also found this:

And said this:

Reinforces the dominant ideology that black people are trouble makers: Black man seen shooting, Dwayne Johnson generally seen in the centre of mayhem in most shots.

However this is also subverted when a cop at the end of the video is seen to be black and acting more rational than Dwayne and his friend.

Reinforces the dominant ideology that black people supress white people; at the end of the movie “You don’t get to say that, right on! Come on brother…” And a fist bump which shows their unity.

Subverts the dominant ideology that black people look out for themselves: woman screams help me in a fire and the main character rescues her.

Efeosa sent me a link with this subject line:

This article talks about Adele and how she casted a black guy in that hello video to address police brutality.

You might want to read the article for an actual opinion.

He also did another subject line explanation here

This article talks about the increase of interracial marriages between people progressing (NEW YORK TIMES)

But at least that article is good.


Caitlin had nothing to say about these good links:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/dustin-hoffman-boycotts-oscars-been-872442

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2381819/victorias-secret-alabama-racism-shoplifting/


Keon had nothing to say about these:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juCMR8i3AYE
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvMTgh_u3y8


And Yasmine had nothing to say about these:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/10/black-lives-matter-uk-movement-work-starting

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/20/white-lives-matter-texas-protest-arrests


Samsam is awaiting execution.

Alicia Keys on not wearing make up any more

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38101656

Gender extract: Holby City

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo7VoFlqexQ

Social class summary

Social Class

The groups into which people are divided as a result of socio-economic inequality. People in class strata share a similar economic situation such as occupation, income and ownership of wealth.


The divisions between the social classes however are quite vague e.g. where the working class end and the middle class begin.


Class is also closely related to status and lifestyle.


The social class system is regarded as MERITOCRATIC. i.e. where social position is achieved by merit rather than ASCRIBED by birth. However the social class you are born into can have an impact on life chance and therefore movement into a higher class group is minimised. The upper classes in the UK achieve their position via inherited wealth, thus the majority of citizens could never hope to achieve upper class status.



　


Upper Class

Inherited wealth, ascribed status. Owners of the ‘means of production’ e.g. landowners, titled gentry, aristocracy etc.

Middle Class

Those in skilled non-manual and professional occupations (white collar workers). Middle class may be ascribed or achieved.

Working Class

Manual occupations, both skilled and unskilled.

Under Class

Excluded groups, usually due to poverty and lack of employment. Often presented by the media as deviant – addicts/spongers etc.

Looking at media representation of class is concerned with how different social groups are portrayed, the stereotypes used and the value messages communicated.
We are surrounded by images of class on TV, in film, and in print. These often perpetuate stereotypes which fuel prejudice.
Upper Class
The lives of royalty and the jet setting lifestyle of the rich are portrayed as a glamorous world we can only dream about e.g. Represented in the likes of Hello/Tatler etc. This image is contrasted by the use of the upper classes as a source of comedy, the working / middle classes poking fun at their lifestyle, the champagne swigging/polo playing set, the butt of many a joke e.g; They Think It’s all Over. This is often used to set this class apart, as most of us will never enter into this world, therefore ridicule overrides aspiration.
Middle Class
Images of the comfortable, white, middle class nuclear family is one of the most common images in the media e.g. advertising, sit com such as My Family. By accumulation we therefore associate this with the ‘norm’.
Middle class deviance e.g. racism, crimes such as insider share dealing/tax evasion is often ignored or presented in less hostile terms than working class crime.
Working Class
There are many mixed messages about working class life and sub-cultures. On the one hand many ads give a solid, romanticised view, often equated with the North e.g. Hovis/Warburtons/Boddingtons. Characters tend to be associated with qualities we admire e.g. ‘the jack the lad’, the straight talking, quick witted woman etc. On the other hand the working class can be portrayed as course, prone to violence and crime and party to all manner of social problems.
Underclass
The media tend to reinforce the popular prejudice that the poor are work-shy spongers living off the Government, some successful products have used this successfully e.g The Royle family. These stereotypes have a long history extending back to the Victorian era, where novels and images represented the underclass as a danger to society and its moral fibre

A really good clip on class

Watch and make notes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBLRtgzG0x4

Representation of class - holiday homework

How is the representation of class constructed in this extract?


Remember to:
- use technical elements of mis en scene, camera, editing and sound in your answer.
- talk about how these elements reinforce/subvert dominant ideology
- Watch it four times, making notes for the last three.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ekfdruvqko



Time yourself to write it in 45 minutes. Rule off then and continue if not complete.

Poster homework

Make a poster of the four elements of media (camera, editing, mis-en-scene, sound)

Must include 80 key words.