Understanding Hegemony
The idea that the media continually reproduces images of a dominant group as superior or powerful. Westerners have middle class white males as their dominant group. Other groups such as disabled and female are seen as inferior. However, this dominance is so subtle that the white men do not realise they are doing it and nobody challenges it. As Antonio Gramsci says - the media ‘manufactures consent’ which allows this unethical domination to sip under the radar. It is the messy relationship between the media and society which causes consequences for the western society such as inequality; as the white middle class males are put on a social pedestal. For example, I looked at how Western journalists report on the film industry and found that accompanying the image reflected this point in an article by Vanessa Thorpe concerning film industry as every actor featured was male and all but five were white. The other less represented social groups that are less often represented as powerful and significant such as; people from working class, women and people with disabilities. Draws in an example I have looked at where working class are represented and their issues are conveyed in Ken Loach's 'Sorry we missed you' and 'I, Daniel Blake'
Hegemony causes consequences because the power rests solely on the successful manipulation of cultural and social institutions in the media which leads to limited representation of ethnic and social groups.
Hegemony causes consequences because the power rests solely on the successful manipulation of cultural and social institutions in the media which leads to limited representation of ethnic and social groups.
- Only 13% of working film directors in the UK are women
- 54% of today’s top journalists were educated in private schools, only 7% of the population attending private school in the first place which immediately cuts down their ability to interact with working class and unprivileged people
Corrupt system: Hegemony causes consequences for representation because it means a large population of people becomes under represented causing them to have a disadvantage when getting jobs and difficulties feeling like a worthy member of society.
Pluralism refers to the flip side to hegemony, the idea that in order to change their way we all think we need to see many varied representations of people from varied social groups. For example, a Poster of legally black which challenges hegemony by breaking from the predominately white, middle class stereotype associated with the film ‘legally blonde’. This is a more meaningful as we are breaking from the same social group intoxicating the media. However, pluralism is not possible as long as it is dominated by privileged white people.
Cultivation Theory is the Polar opposites of the passive and active audiences. Suggests that although we do not pick and choose the media we consume, we are not oblivious to the effects of repeated ideas which are constantly reproduced, over a period of time it can subtly affect our views.
Behaviourist theory believes that the media has a direct impact on our behaviour which can cause a negative or positive influence depending on the content. For example, Donald Trump claimed that violent video games and films were to blame for the school shootings in Florida; this my change audiences’ behaviour towards video games and films with violence, casting them into a negative blamed light.
Magic bullet theory puts across that the media fires messages into our brains, we are passive consumers who believe everything that we're told. This supports the idea that hegemony is not challenged as we believe everything we hear is right and valid and not subject to inequality. Similarly, the Hypodermic needle theory tells us that media messages are injected into our bloodstream which explains why this can effect our behaviour, because it becomes part of us.
