Representation Theorists

Representation Theorists

Baudrillard – Hyper Reality: “Some texts are difficult to distinguish in terms of the representation of reality from a simulation of reality e.g. Big Brother. The boundaries are blurred as codes and conventions create a set of signifiers which we understand but in fact the representation is a copy of a copy”.

Judith Butler – Queer Theory: “Gender is what you do, not who you are with the theory contesting the categorization of gender and sexuality – identities are not fixed and they cannot be labelled e.g. potentially androgynous representations like Gok Wan.

Carol Clover – Last Girl Theory (Horror): “In many horror films, like Halloween typically the last girl that survives is pure, chaste and virginal while all of her friends with looser morals have been killed. Even the name of the last girl is often unisex e.g. Sidney, Teddy or Billie and has elements of androgyny and sometimes also a shared history with the killer”.

Richard Dyer – Stereotypes Legitimize Inequality: “A way to ensure unequal power relations are maintained is to continually stereotype – GTAV is a misogynist video game where players have the opportunity to kill prostitutes in their own violent way – the game is entirely male point of view and arguably serves to maintain dominant male culture”.

Stuart Hall – Dominant, Oppositional and Negotiated Readings of Representation: “Stuart Hall’s theory (see audiences) is also useful in understanding how some representations reflect the dominant culture e.g. patriarchy, women in The Sun and in Men’s Magazines like FHM. However, some representations can be negotiated or even misunderstood (oppositional) as in Four Lions which was accused of being a racist text due to its representation of British Pakistani Muslims”.

Angela McRobbie – Post Feminist Icon Theory: “Lara Croft, Lady Gaga and Madonna for example could be identified as post feminist icons as they exhibit the stereotypical characteristics of both the male and female – strength, courage, control and logic but also are willing to be sexualized for the male gaze. This control element of their own representation is crucial in understanding the theory”.

Andy Medhurst – Stereotyping is Shorthand for Identification: “One way that texts like Waterloo Road and Skins for example allow for audience identification is through stereotyping and giving characters an extreme representation”.

Laura Mulvey – Male Gaze/Female Gaze: “Women on the front cover of FHM are sexualized and objectified for the male audience while the same can be said for male models in perfume adverts, sexualized for a female demographic”.

Tessa Perkins – Stereotyping has Elements of Truth: “Although stereotyping can have negative effects often it is based of some degree of reality but distorted and manipulated for the purpose of entertainment values”.

Levi-Strauss – Binary Oppositions and Subordinate Groups: “Levi-Strauss’ theory (see narrative theorists), like Dyer is a way of understanding how representation are deliberately placed in binary opposition to ensure the dominant culture is maintained and the minority representations is seen as subordinate and marginalized. In Game of Thrones southern regional identity is often seen as the preferred culture through representation within the mise-en-scene – there is more money in the south, the southern King speaks with an elaborated language code, the buildings have cleaner lines, dress code is smarter and there is significant daytime shooting. In the North the scenes are often shot at night, characters are rougher, have long hair and beards and are often seen heavy drinking and shouting, talking in an aggressive way about battles and conflict”.