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Essay Plan Media

Practice Essay (C/W) 19/05/14

There is no such thing as a collective identity. Discuss with reference to the groups you have been studying.

Fashion today is towards the individual. Audiences, it would seem, want troubled protagonists to sympathize with, individuals with individual struggles and conflicts: struggles with identity, society, and ambition. But the truth of the matter is that the media industry caters to groups, rather than the individual (what money is there in appealing solely to one person?). The industry must condense the audience into tropes, groups, and so they must think of being able to appeal to masses, while keeping in mind the concept of the individual. After all, audience statistics are made up of hundreds upon thousands of individuals, each hoping to find themselves through the media. So what is needed is a character that is open to many different interpretations, that any and all individuals can project themselves through. I, of course, am talking about the superhero. 

Masked and mighty, the superhero is a beacon of justice throughout the world, and most recently, Cinema and Television have been dominated by them. Super is the word on everyone's lips, with the incredible success of Marvel's Avengers movie franchise, taking the impressive title of the second highest grossing film franchise of all time. Film studios have been churning out more superhero films than ever before, to cater to the hero-hype started by 2008's Iron Man. But the superhero has long existed, with the first superhero created by Jewish boys Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel in 1938, DC's iconic Superman. 

Superman, originally from planet Krypton, is an alien among men. Adopting a new, gentile persona, Clark Kent, he attempts to merge into American society. Superman's experience in fitting into Earth's society can be seen as a parallel of the Jewish-immigrant experience, something Superman's creators, Siegel and Shuster were more than familiar with. Superman, becoming the savior of the city, is accepted into society and praised as a hero: An outcast's fantasy. DC's Superman is not only a symbol of justice, peace, and the American way, but has become a form of wish-fulfillment. A vessel to tell the story of an outcast, who strives to be accepted into society. This symbolic character reflects the struggles of acceptance, and a vast amount of audiences sympathize with him. Social outcasts, immigrants, people forced to hide their true identity for fear of scandal or hostility are able to see themselves within Superman, whose tale has been told time and time again.

Superman, being the first ever superhero, has been template for countless more supers, retelling the story of the outsider, adapting with the times to bring newer, more relatable heroes. Marvel comics, rival to DC comics, introduced more rounded, human heroes, to rival DC's more god-like heroes. The X-men retell the story of the social outsider; mutants who deviate from society's perception of normality. X-men has very potent underlying themes of discrimination. The discrimination the mutants face is parallel to everyday struggles regarding racism and homophobia. Director Bryan Singer (X-Men, X2, X-men: Days of Future Past), mentions in interview that it was the themes of discrimination and identity that led him to take the project on, and it is something he has placed great emphasis on in the films. The characters of Magneto and Charles Xavier, presented as the leading forces of the mutants, have been compared to Malcolm X and Martin Luther King in their differing approaches to humanity. Both X-Men and X2 mention the Mutant Rights Movement, a clear parallel to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Along with bearing similarities with racial conflicts of the past, the X-men films draw similarities to the current issue of homophobia. X-Men(2000) establishes at the very beginning that a mutant's powers do not manifest themselves until adolescence, similar to how teenagers do not fully discover themselves until they come of age, (especially regarding sexual identity). X2(2003) plays upon the idea of homophobia in the memorable scene where teenage mutant, Iceman, comes out as a mutant to his parents. The conversation that follows mimics a conversation a teenager might have with his parents regarding their sexuality, his parents asking uncomfortable, misled questions like: "Have you tried... not being a mutant?"

Possible Exam Questions (Essay Practice)

"The representation of a particular social group can never be realistic." Discuss. 

INTRODUCTION: Why? Direct answer to question, why can mediation never be realistic? Reference to Buadrillard's SIMULACRUM theory. Distort truth to appeal to audiences. Perhaps example? 

Naturally the media can never portray a true representation of a certain group of people, of even of a particular person. This is especially true of fictionalised texts, such as is incredibly popular in film and television. These characters are written; essentially, synthesised, and therefore can never be a true portrayal of a person, but rather a simulation, mediated to audiences tastes. 

Recent film, Saving Mr. Banks (2013), for example, although based on true events and true people, is but a simulacrum. Baudrillard's theory regards simulacra as a mediation of the truth; distorting the content of both the story and the characters to create a derivative, but independent variation of the story; in this case, to appeal to audiences. Tom Hank's portrayal of a playful, over-friendly, un-threatening Walt Disney has been under scrutiny for being a dishonest characterisation of who many agree was both a sexist, racist and fascist  man. Disney, reasonably decided to omit these traits in their mediation of Walt, to present him as the likeable man the audience want to see. (Or, rather, what the Disney Studio want the audiences to see). 

Bring up the topic of the underrepresented - Gerbner's Cultivation Theory.

The point I mean to bring up with this example is that the media is unable to reveal an untouched truth: writers, reporters, editors, directors, have the power to omit details they feel are best not shown. What is shown to audiences is always a mediation of the truth, and this is especially true in regards to the representations of social groups. Representations of characters of different races, genders, sexualities and social status will always be phased by bias, or stereotype. Gerbner's Cultivation Theory suggests that media is used to reinforce 'conventional beliefs and behaviours' of the audience. Gerbner implies that the media is a tool to maintain the audience's opinions on both society and politics, and perhaps is the reason why some social groups, such as women, people of different nationalities, sexualities and gender identities, and people with disabilities are vastly misrepresented, or underrepresented.

Introduce the Superhero - Brief summary of current hero-hype. Hero is a symbol for the outcast.

However, there is a way the underrepresented have found their way onto our screens and into the public eye, and it has taken the world by storm.
Super is the word on everyone's lips, with the unprecedented success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Avengers (2012)), every film studio is rushing to get a piece of the action, and the past 5 years have seen a burst of superhero films. But the superhero is not only a symbol for justice and the greater-good, but something far more intriguing: The Superhero is a vessel for the unfairly represented groups in society.

FIRST EVER SUPER: (HISTORICAL) Superman (DC) - Immigrant - Representative of Jewish immigrancy. Superman is vessel to tell otherwise untold story. 

From the first ever super, Superman, created by Jewish boys, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in 1938, the superhero has been a symbol for the outcast. Superman, a refugee from his war-enveloped planet, Krypton, is an alien among men: An immigrant. 

CONTEMPORARY - FOX's XMEN Franchise. "Mutants" representative of those discriminated against due to race/sexual identity/disability. 

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"Media representations are complex, not simple and straightforward." How far do you agree with the statement in relation to the collective group you have studied?

"Audiences use the media to construct their own identities."Discuss.

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https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1aNMV__gQMWNHSpNz34rU5T_Qi1uKlO8-ixQjUzlX9tA/edit#slide=id.g383e068b0_044

How are Superheroes representative of the 'outsider'? (Essay Practice)

How is the presentation of superheroes in media representative of the outsiders in society?

"The history of the Superhero is about the misfit, the unlikely hero; the ability to create greatness where there once was doubt." 

Sana Amanat (Marvel – Editor)

Superheroes, as much as they are domineering Hollywood these past years, and as much as they have evolved into Pop-Culture icons, are fictional, and therefore audiences cannot identify as a Superhero (no matter how much they would like to). So, by this rule, Superheroes cannot be a collective identity, however, they may be representative of one. The first ever Superhero,  DC's Superman, coming from a distant planet, having to integrate into a new, unfamiliar society, reflects perhaps the experience an immigrant faces. And Marvel's X-men are human beings with fantastical mutations, that separate them from the rest of humanity who perceive them as a threat; their experience being discriminated against by the majority can be representative of humans being discriminated due to race and sexuality. The Superhero is  a subversion of normality, a representation of the under-represented, and a vehicle to tell the untold story of the outsider.

"Young readers of Marvel's Comics, many of whom doubtless shared his 'nerdy' status, could empathise with Peter as a character, and so be inspired by his devotion to a superhero's career."

"The persecution of the mutants was a fitting allegory for the Holocaust, the civil rights movement of the 1960s, and all forms of racism and homophobia."

"(Professor Xavier and Magneto) are the equivalent of Dr Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm, one preaching understanding, the other ready to attain their goal 'by any means necessary'."

Video Bank

"Why not tell stories that are empowering, and aspirational, and challenge us to be better?
That is exactly what superhero stories do. The history of comics is about the misfit, the unlikely hero; the ability to create greatness where there once was doubt."

"For 75 years Marvel has been telling the tale of the outcast behind the mask. It's through his flaws and desires that we connect with the heart of the character. So that when he emerges as a hero, we have a real reason to champion him. Because we understand those struggles too, don't we?"

"We all want to be heroes, don't we? And wouldn't it be amazing if heroes looked just like us?"