Self Directed Research
Books
Backlash:
The undeclared war against american women
By susan Faludi
More than a label:
Why what you wear or who your with doesnt define who you are
By Aisha Muharrar
Beyond Beauty: Girls speak out on looks, style and stereotypes
by Jane Pratt
Delicious Links
Notes on The Gaze
Involved media theorist
to MediaStudies med4 representation women ..
Mean Girls (Pardeep)
Focuses on the question i am focusing on
to MediaStudies blogs A2coursework ghs ...
America's Next Top Model (Roohdip)
Relates to my independant study as it focuses on female representation combining with reality
Mean Girls (Sofia)
How are teenagers represented in Mean Girls?
to MediaStudies med5 med4 representation blogs A2coursework ghs ...
Friday 19 October 2007
Thursday 18 October 2007
Self Evaluation
SELF EVALUATION
Attainment - 2 - my work that i have done so far has been in quite good detail
Effort - 2 - i have made alot of effort in media so far but not as much as i could have
Punctuality - 2 -i have been to most of my lessons and the ones which i havent have been for valid reasons and i am almost never late
Submission and quality of homework - 2 - i have submitted most of my homework on time and put effort into all of it but sometimes have rushed it
Ability to work independently - 1 - i have got alot of information on my blog that i put there independantly
Quality of writing - 2 - to the best of my ability
Oral contributions in class - 4 - dont contribute in lesson as much as i should.would rather just listen
Standard of Module 5 blog - 1 - all my work is up to date and done in detail
Standard of Module 6 blog - 2 - could have been better but all the right information is there
WWW
-my blog is up to date
-my work is being submitted on time
-punctuality is good
EBI
-more contribution in class
-dont rush work
-organise when i do my homework to ensure better quality
Attainment - 2 - my work that i have done so far has been in quite good detail
Effort - 2 - i have made alot of effort in media so far but not as much as i could have
Punctuality - 2 -i have been to most of my lessons and the ones which i havent have been for valid reasons and i am almost never late
Submission and quality of homework - 2 - i have submitted most of my homework on time and put effort into all of it but sometimes have rushed it
Ability to work independently - 1 - i have got alot of information on my blog that i put there independantly
Quality of writing - 2 - to the best of my ability
Oral contributions in class - 4 - dont contribute in lesson as much as i should.would rather just listen
Standard of Module 5 blog - 1 - all my work is up to date and done in detail
Standard of Module 6 blog - 2 - could have been better but all the right information is there
WWW
-my blog is up to date
-my work is being submitted on time
-punctuality is good
EBI
-more contribution in class
-dont rush work
-organise when i do my homework to ensure better quality
Task 7 Key Words
Celebrity
An individual who has become the focus of media attention and is therefore widely known and recognised by the public..This related to my independant study as Lindsay Lohan is the celebrity in the movie and became even moe famous then she was once she had done this movie
Closure
The state of psycholocical harmony acieved when issues causing concern or distress to an indvidual are resolved and anxiety is removed or reduced..In the ed of Mean Girls the girls all go their seperate ways into other groups where they feel more happier and comfortable so everyone is happy at the end
Determinism
The marxist concept that individuls and istitutions have no choice in their behaviour because theirdecisions are shaped by socioeconomic forces beyond their control..The 'Plastics' are alll made to act in the same way due to the way they are shaped by society
Fabulation
The construction of moralising stories about the origin of conflict in society and the positive resolution of that conflict..This is kind of related to my idependant study, when Reginas's sister is watching an inappropriate music video and her mum and sister let her watch it
Femme Fatale
In the french film noir theory, a female charachter who uses her sexuality, often in devious, disreputable, secretive ways, to acheive the end she desires..In Mean Girls Regina uses her sexuality to take away Kady's crush from her, she is devious and is the villian of the film
Iconography
The distinguishing elements, in terms of props and visual details, which characterise genre..for example in mean girls it is sset mainly in a high school, just like any other teen movie, also there is alot of pink suggesting it to be a chick flick
Institution
Any of the organisations responsible for the production, marketing, distribution or regulation of mdia exts..Mean girls is distributed by paramount pictures a wide american institution suggesing a wide audience therefore heavy influence upon comsumers
Marxism Feminism
Ideology derived from the writings of the socialist Karl Marx. A feminist perspective which sees capitalism as the principal source of gendre inequalities..The plastics and Kady are all doing what they are doing due to a guy that they like and that they want, The ideology that females lives evolve around guys
Representation
The process whereby the medi construct versions of people, places and events in images, words or sound for transmission through media texts to an audience..Female teenagers are beingrepresented as bimbo's and girls that are all the same and have nothing different about them, also that thier lives evolve around boys etc..
Stereotype
The social classification of a group of people by identifying common charachteristics and universally applying them in an often oversimplified and generalised way, such that the classification represents the value judgements and assumptions about the group concerned..In mean girls the girls are stereotyped in a negative way and their stereotypes are bought out alot in mean girls
An individual who has become the focus of media attention and is therefore widely known and recognised by the public..This related to my independant study as Lindsay Lohan is the celebrity in the movie and became even moe famous then she was once she had done this movie
Closure
The state of psycholocical harmony acieved when issues causing concern or distress to an indvidual are resolved and anxiety is removed or reduced..In the ed of Mean Girls the girls all go their seperate ways into other groups where they feel more happier and comfortable so everyone is happy at the end
Determinism
The marxist concept that individuls and istitutions have no choice in their behaviour because theirdecisions are shaped by socioeconomic forces beyond their control..The 'Plastics' are alll made to act in the same way due to the way they are shaped by society
Fabulation
The construction of moralising stories about the origin of conflict in society and the positive resolution of that conflict..This is kind of related to my idependant study, when Reginas's sister is watching an inappropriate music video and her mum and sister let her watch it
Femme Fatale
In the french film noir theory, a female charachter who uses her sexuality, often in devious, disreputable, secretive ways, to acheive the end she desires..In Mean Girls Regina uses her sexuality to take away Kady's crush from her, she is devious and is the villian of the film
Iconography
The distinguishing elements, in terms of props and visual details, which characterise genre..for example in mean girls it is sset mainly in a high school, just like any other teen movie, also there is alot of pink suggesting it to be a chick flick
Institution
Any of the organisations responsible for the production, marketing, distribution or regulation of mdia exts..Mean girls is distributed by paramount pictures a wide american institution suggesing a wide audience therefore heavy influence upon comsumers
Marxism Feminism
Ideology derived from the writings of the socialist Karl Marx. A feminist perspective which sees capitalism as the principal source of gendre inequalities..The plastics and Kady are all doing what they are doing due to a guy that they like and that they want, The ideology that females lives evolve around guys
Representation
The process whereby the medi construct versions of people, places and events in images, words or sound for transmission through media texts to an audience..Female teenagers are beingrepresented as bimbo's and girls that are all the same and have nothing different about them, also that thier lives evolve around boys etc..
Stereotype
The social classification of a group of people by identifying common charachteristics and universally applying them in an often oversimplified and generalised way, such that the classification represents the value judgements and assumptions about the group concerned..In mean girls the girls are stereotyped in a negative way and their stereotypes are bought out alot in mean girls
Sunday 14 October 2007
Task 6 textual analysis
'Mean girls' is directed by Mark S. Waters and is a teen movie mainly aimed at young teenage girls. It is produced by paramount pictures who are a large American institution therefore this movie would have been distributed to various parts of the US and UK. The scene from 'Mean Girls' which I am analysing is when Kady, Gretchen and Karen go to Regina’s house where Kady meets Regina’s mum for the first time and then the plastics rediscover their old burn book which is a book where they talk about other people in a bad way and write it in the book.
The scene starts with the four girls being driven by Regina in her car to her house. It is an expensive car for a 16 year old to have .You would expect a grown working person to be driving around in that type of car. Immediately you see that Regina comes from a rich family. A pan shot of the car is shown as it enters the gates of the house, this shot goes well with the style of the car and reinforced the fact that it is smooth and expensive. You can tell all about her and her families status just by looking at the car she has.
The next thing we see is a long shot of Regina’s house, which looks like a mansion from the outside. The long shot of the house is there to give the audience a good view of the size and see how big it is emphasising her rich background and that she gets things easy and doesn’t need to work hard to get what she wants. This represents the children of rich families and how they turn out spoilt due to them not working for things in life.
As they get our of the car there is a long shot of Kady showing the expression of shock on her face as she gazes at the house followed by her saying ‘Wow, your house is really nice’ This tells us that not many people are as lucky as Regina to have such a big house and that much money. Regina replies with ‘ I know, right?’ This shows that Regina knows she is lucky but is not appreciative of it as she doesn’t say thanks for the compliment.
The ‘plastics’ are all wearing mini skirts with high heels and are loaded with make-up on . This is how they dress and present themselves everyday even at school. The short skirts tell us that the girls like to show of their legs mainly to impress guys and get noticed by them. The same applies to them wearing make up, so they get the attention that the want from boys. This is a common image for girls to have in teen movies if they are the ‘popular’ ones. Their dress and how they look and appear to people depends on the way that guys like them to look. This is an accurate representation of teenagers as they aspire to be ‘popular’ girls that want to get the guys they want.
In the house is Regina’s little sister who is in front of the TV dancing to Kelis - Milkshake. The video for that song is inappropriate for a girl that young to watch. She is being corrupted at a young age as we see her imitating the dances she see’s on the TV. This is reflecting on how children are being exposed to too many things that they shouldn’t see on TV especially as they end up copying what they see therefore getting into older thinking at a young age which is resulting into what teenagers are like today, image obsessed, only interested in boys etc..
The mis-en-scene brings out a theme of pink which reflects on their girly image and typical girly teenager views and lifestyle but this is not necessarily every teenage girls favourite colour in which they would associate themselves in but in this case it is as the girls are all wearing something pink. The mis-en-scene is also bright and sunny , there is no dullness showing that Regina leads a happy life and is a happy person but this is contradicted when the girls all start to look in the mirror and complain about their bodies. This contradiction could show that even thought they seem happy on the outside to other people they have their insecurities as well and which is a relevant representation of any teenager these days.
One of the girls puts the radio on and they all agree on listening to a particular song. This emphasises that the ‘plastics’ are all the same and have the same tastes in music, clothes and in their thinking. None of them are different from each other and have no special qualities that makes them different. This is a accurate representation on girls who aspire to be ‘plastic’ or ‘popular’ because they wants to be like all the other girls that are like that so they all end up being the same.
The girls are showed to be bitchy and backstabbing towards other people as they have a burn book where they right bad stuff about everyone in their school. This makes them think that they are better than everyone else in their school and also makes them look stuck up and rude towards other people meaning they are probably not liked by other people as much as they think they are.
Regina’s mum is in the scene. She is represented as an unfit mother that doesn’t know how to bring up her children as Regina shows no respect for her mother and she is letting Kylie( Regina’s little sister) be exposed to Hip-Hop videos that influence her to dance inappropriately for her age. Her mum is also wearing pink as she tries to fit in with the ‘plastics’ representing the rich mothers of having a young brain and not being mature enough to raise children properly as they have their other priorities such as looking good and having fun else wear. We clearly see that Regina’s mother has these other priorities such as looking good as her boob job is mentioned by Gretchen as they were entering the house. This clearly tells us that she is materialistic and this is probably why Regina has turned out to be the person she is.
The primary audience for this movie are young female teenagers as they are likely to be interested in watching a teen movie as they are aspiring teenagers wanting to be ‘popular’. The secondary audience would be older female teenagers simply for entertaining purposes and to use as a form of escapism as older teenagers of around the age on 18 and over would not be as influenced by popularity ideologies that this film brings across but could relate to the insecurities that the ‘plastics ‘convey to us.
The main ideology that the film brings out to its audience is that all girls that are ‘popular’ are mean and stuck up and no matter how popular you are there is still a chance you will still be insecure about yourself as you saw when the ’plastics’ were looking at themselves in the mirror picking out something they didn’t like about their body. Also it doesn’t matter how rich you are, it doesn’t make you happy or necessarily a good person as Regina is rich and popular and she isn’t fully happy neither is she a good person.
The film consists of Todorov’s theory of narrative roles such as a protagonist who is this film is Kady played by Lindsay Lohan. She is also the hero of the film. Regina George is the villain. However roles change at the end when there is a resolution to the film. All of the characters end up happy and comfortable in the situations they are in.
The scene starts with the four girls being driven by Regina in her car to her house. It is an expensive car for a 16 year old to have .You would expect a grown working person to be driving around in that type of car. Immediately you see that Regina comes from a rich family. A pan shot of the car is shown as it enters the gates of the house, this shot goes well with the style of the car and reinforced the fact that it is smooth and expensive. You can tell all about her and her families status just by looking at the car she has.
The next thing we see is a long shot of Regina’s house, which looks like a mansion from the outside. The long shot of the house is there to give the audience a good view of the size and see how big it is emphasising her rich background and that she gets things easy and doesn’t need to work hard to get what she wants. This represents the children of rich families and how they turn out spoilt due to them not working for things in life.
As they get our of the car there is a long shot of Kady showing the expression of shock on her face as she gazes at the house followed by her saying ‘Wow, your house is really nice’ This tells us that not many people are as lucky as Regina to have such a big house and that much money. Regina replies with ‘ I know, right?’ This shows that Regina knows she is lucky but is not appreciative of it as she doesn’t say thanks for the compliment.
The ‘plastics’ are all wearing mini skirts with high heels and are loaded with make-up on . This is how they dress and present themselves everyday even at school. The short skirts tell us that the girls like to show of their legs mainly to impress guys and get noticed by them. The same applies to them wearing make up, so they get the attention that the want from boys. This is a common image for girls to have in teen movies if they are the ‘popular’ ones. Their dress and how they look and appear to people depends on the way that guys like them to look. This is an accurate representation of teenagers as they aspire to be ‘popular’ girls that want to get the guys they want.
In the house is Regina’s little sister who is in front of the TV dancing to Kelis - Milkshake. The video for that song is inappropriate for a girl that young to watch. She is being corrupted at a young age as we see her imitating the dances she see’s on the TV. This is reflecting on how children are being exposed to too many things that they shouldn’t see on TV especially as they end up copying what they see therefore getting into older thinking at a young age which is resulting into what teenagers are like today, image obsessed, only interested in boys etc..
The mis-en-scene brings out a theme of pink which reflects on their girly image and typical girly teenager views and lifestyle but this is not necessarily every teenage girls favourite colour in which they would associate themselves in but in this case it is as the girls are all wearing something pink. The mis-en-scene is also bright and sunny , there is no dullness showing that Regina leads a happy life and is a happy person but this is contradicted when the girls all start to look in the mirror and complain about their bodies. This contradiction could show that even thought they seem happy on the outside to other people they have their insecurities as well and which is a relevant representation of any teenager these days.
One of the girls puts the radio on and they all agree on listening to a particular song. This emphasises that the ‘plastics’ are all the same and have the same tastes in music, clothes and in their thinking. None of them are different from each other and have no special qualities that makes them different. This is a accurate representation on girls who aspire to be ‘plastic’ or ‘popular’ because they wants to be like all the other girls that are like that so they all end up being the same.
The girls are showed to be bitchy and backstabbing towards other people as they have a burn book where they right bad stuff about everyone in their school. This makes them think that they are better than everyone else in their school and also makes them look stuck up and rude towards other people meaning they are probably not liked by other people as much as they think they are.
Regina’s mum is in the scene. She is represented as an unfit mother that doesn’t know how to bring up her children as Regina shows no respect for her mother and she is letting Kylie( Regina’s little sister) be exposed to Hip-Hop videos that influence her to dance inappropriately for her age. Her mum is also wearing pink as she tries to fit in with the ‘plastics’ representing the rich mothers of having a young brain and not being mature enough to raise children properly as they have their other priorities such as looking good and having fun else wear. We clearly see that Regina’s mother has these other priorities such as looking good as her boob job is mentioned by Gretchen as they were entering the house. This clearly tells us that she is materialistic and this is probably why Regina has turned out to be the person she is.
The primary audience for this movie are young female teenagers as they are likely to be interested in watching a teen movie as they are aspiring teenagers wanting to be ‘popular’. The secondary audience would be older female teenagers simply for entertaining purposes and to use as a form of escapism as older teenagers of around the age on 18 and over would not be as influenced by popularity ideologies that this film brings across but could relate to the insecurities that the ‘plastics ‘convey to us.
The main ideology that the film brings out to its audience is that all girls that are ‘popular’ are mean and stuck up and no matter how popular you are there is still a chance you will still be insecure about yourself as you saw when the ’plastics’ were looking at themselves in the mirror picking out something they didn’t like about their body. Also it doesn’t matter how rich you are, it doesn’t make you happy or necessarily a good person as Regina is rich and popular and she isn’t fully happy neither is she a good person.
The film consists of Todorov’s theory of narrative roles such as a protagonist who is this film is Kady played by Lindsay Lohan. She is also the hero of the film. Regina George is the villain. However roles change at the end when there is a resolution to the film. All of the characters end up happy and comfortable in the situations they are in.
Wednesday 10 October 2007
Delicious Links
How are teenagers represented in Mean Girls?
to MediaStudies med5 med4 representation blogs A2coursework ghs ...Sex & the City (Iena)
How does Sex and the City provide representations of women that challenge what they once were, and what does it suggest that they are becoming?
to MediaStudies med5 med4 representation women blogs A2coursework ghs ...
America's Next Top Model (Roohdip)
Relates to my independant study as it focuses on female representation combining with reality
to MediaStudies blogs A2coursework ghs ... on oct 15, 2005
How are teenage girls represented in Mean Girls?
to MediaStudies med5 med4 representation women blogs A2coursework ghs ...
How are women represented in the media and how has their roles changed over time? Looking especially at The Stepford Wives.
to MediaStudies med5 med4 representation women blogs A2coursework ghs ...
Focuses on the question i am focusing on
to MediaStudies blogs A2coursework ghs ...
Teenage representation
to med5 MediaStudies ghs Blogs A2coursework representation women med4 ...
represntation on women
to med5 MediaStudies ghs Blogs A2coursework representation women med4 ...
Representation of women
to med5 MediaStudies Blogs A2coursework ghs representation women med4 ...
Notes on The Gaze
Involved media theorist
to MediaStudies med4 representation women ...
Key words
Stereotype
The social classification of a group of people by identifying common characteristics and universally applying them in an often oversimplified and generalized way.In mean girls the female teenagers are stereotyped as ditzy and all into their looks
Mulvey Laura
Feminist academic and media and film critic, responsible for developing theories of the male gaze.In mean girls the girls are dressed in a way to be looked at by males
Antagonist
The principal opposing figure or villain in the narrative.Regina George is the villian
Feminism
A Movement in which encounters the challenging of female roles, social constructions. This includes the fact of women being able to do more in the society and to be able and excepted in doing them. Female roles are challenged in the end of the movie by Kady (Lindsay Lohan)
Representation
Representation is where the media has identification for an individual. E.g. Representations provides us with a description of a gender, social groups, and individuals. Mean girls are represented as rich spoilt teenagers who love pink
Cosmopolitan
Magazine Cosmopolitan is a magazine, which encounters a ‘typical’ lifestyle of the woman nowadays. This magazine shows of the ‘new woman’ with career opportunities and making it focus on her and not the fact of having you life revolve around a man. This is reinforced by the endong of the movie
Chick Flick
A chick flick is a film which is targeted at female teenagers.chcik flicks main purpose is to entertain, with a bit of romance. it usually focusses mostly on teenage girls lifestyles. Mean girls is targeted towards teenage girls
Propp
(Propp Viadimir 1995 - 1970)the propp is the charcters role and narrative... This includes hero, villians, the helper of the hero, fake hero, a princess etc... the hero being Cady and villian Regina
Resolution
This is the conclusion of a problem occured during the film which then gets resolved in the end.
Split screen
A split screen is a editing technique, this is where the screen is split into 2 or more showing the same scene in one frame. With all the girls on the phone to eachother this is when shown in splitscreen
The social classification of a group of people by identifying common characteristics and universally applying them in an often oversimplified and generalized way.In mean girls the female teenagers are stereotyped as ditzy and all into their looks
Mulvey Laura
Feminist academic and media and film critic, responsible for developing theories of the male gaze.In mean girls the girls are dressed in a way to be looked at by males
Antagonist
The principal opposing figure or villain in the narrative.Regina George is the villian
Feminism
A Movement in which encounters the challenging of female roles, social constructions. This includes the fact of women being able to do more in the society and to be able and excepted in doing them. Female roles are challenged in the end of the movie by Kady (Lindsay Lohan)
Representation
Representation is where the media has identification for an individual. E.g. Representations provides us with a description of a gender, social groups, and individuals. Mean girls are represented as rich spoilt teenagers who love pink
Cosmopolitan
Magazine Cosmopolitan is a magazine, which encounters a ‘typical’ lifestyle of the woman nowadays. This magazine shows of the ‘new woman’ with career opportunities and making it focus on her and not the fact of having you life revolve around a man. This is reinforced by the endong of the movie
Chick Flick
A chick flick is a film which is targeted at female teenagers.chcik flicks main purpose is to entertain, with a bit of romance. it usually focusses mostly on teenage girls lifestyles. Mean girls is targeted towards teenage girls
Propp
(Propp Viadimir 1995 - 1970)the propp is the charcters role and narrative... This includes hero, villians, the helper of the hero, fake hero, a princess etc... the hero being Cady and villian Regina
Resolution
This is the conclusion of a problem occured during the film which then gets resolved in the end.
Split screen
A split screen is a editing technique, this is where the screen is split into 2 or more showing the same scene in one frame. With all the girls on the phone to eachother this is when shown in splitscreen
Thursday 4 October 2007
Jalna
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6230260013392947544&postID=90787066510506012
Tanya
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2011388675289093128&postID=154380972087232412
Nazia
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4862720983698072372&postID=4199500081481615970
Chintan
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2574997224413995264&postID=375903521120953657
Dips
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7017445002521195616&postID=8217961470735921244
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