TELE 3010 1nd Edition Lecture 16 Outline of Last Lecture I Beginning of Issues in Media Representation Outline of Current Lecture I Ideology II Ideological Analysis of Media Current Lecture Ideology Ideology is about a system of meaning meaning that when we talk about values how do all of those things work together as a system It helps us define the world Judge the world And explain the world We have constructed the world around what we know For example Capitalism versus Marxism For the United States we are used to a capitalistic society and in our eyes that is the right way We think this is how the world works Marxists societies look at capitalistic societies differently because to them Marxism is how the world works Language itself is ideological There is differences in meanings between words For example RIOTS versus REBELLION LA Riots movie 1992 They beat Rodney King in the movie What is the best way to discuss this in the press From these riots came this discussion Property Rights if someone breaks the window of your property in an act of political violence your property rights have been violated THEREFORE it is sufficient for police to come in and protect the properties rights It s justifiable Equality of opportunity Legitimacy of state violence Open political system VERSUS LA Rebellion 1992 History of racial repression and discrimination argument for rebellion is that there is a history of this type of black oppression Inequality of opportunities and outcomes State violence targets people of color Political system is about white elite control idea of police operating in the favor of the These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute white elites The point is that depending on the word that is used in the news or media there can be meaning and justifiable reason to defend each case and there is a different system of critique Ideology helps us make sense of the world of experience but also justifies action Ideology is central to the courses of action that one is going to take Karl Marx on Ideology Ideology as a mechanism of social control by ruling classes Social classes based on material control of resources who owns factories and industrial production Economic base Maintain control through the superstructure like religion schools media culture All of these institutions are controlled by how people think Subordinate classes experience a false consciousness that the worldview supports the interests of others and not their own class Ruling class ideas serve the ruling class interests but are seen as universal serves all interests The American dream for example working hard and rising from nothing We love this idea But for lots of people that never happens but yet they still might believe in this dream It s a driving force for getting up every day Marx says that we have come to see the ruling class interest that interest being the american dream as something real but for a vast majority its not Where did Marx go wrong The ideas that ruling classes have might not necessarily be false It might be okay if we support ruling interest even if it doesn t benefit us economically connection between economics and interests is not straightforward citizens don t always have to think economically first The economic bases doesn t always determine the superstructure in straightforward ways just because we own the means of production doesn t mean that the superstructure is connected Correcting Marx We need to move from this social class idea to more culture Ideology is not determined but is a process a negotiated relationship with room for opposition and contestation Antonio Gramsci Italian Marxists Ruling groups maintain power through force and consent He believe Marx didn t get things right Consent as a much more efficient way of ruling society Consent legitimacy Make our ideas seem legitimate in your mind Ruling groups exhibit cultural leadership their worldview is accepted as the universal way of thinking Gramsci wanted to look at things like media and other news In that process of cultural products we will see our ideas as the universal idea of thinking Hegemony their might be dominant ways of thinking but their are opportunities to contest that a process of domination not an imposition of ideas whereby people see ruling ideas as natural common sense and taken for granted property rights for example are natural it never final always in the making it allows for opposition and contestation it does allow for opposing ideas to be present Incorporates opposing views into the basic ideological framework Hegemonic thinking is produced In schools religion media sites where we produce and reproduce ways of thinking about society How does hegemony work with hip hop there is a bragging dimension I made my money and now I m an elite I ve become a capitalist myself bitches and hoes as acceptable Ideological Analysis of Media 1 Connect textual representations to broader historical political cultural social and economic factors to see what meanings are produced and which are preferred over others When talking about rap and hip hop why do urban areas look the way they do etc 2 Concerned with power ways in which systems of meaning are part of the process of wielding power If you can get people talking about something then you re halfway home That is how the capitalistic society dominates 3 Is Concerned with domination ways certain groups have their interests accepted as the general interests of society Media Texts Sites where cultural contests over meaning are wages Representing different interests with unequal power Cultural sites where ideas of the powerful are circulated as truth competing truths are typically marginalized or dismissed entirely Generally adopt the dominant assumptions and draw on common sense views of the world Reproduce basic stories and values that underpin hegemony What we should have gotten from the films Color Adjustment Celluloid Closet is that we saw historically these meanings Cosby Show for example They were the perfect family and were African American In what ways does this reproduce basic values of hegemony While Claire Huxtable was smart and independent there was still a patriarch of the family Theo is going to challenge his dad and his dad is going to put him in his place Examples 1 Magazines centrally driven by advertising and consumption magazines are about how we