Collective Identity Media Script

Collective Identity is about how identity is represented in the media, whether that be new media or traditional media forms. We can see a change in the way different identities are represented over time through Film and Television media forms.

A past example of British male representation is the 1966 film Alfie. The film stars Michael Caine as Alfie, a young man who leads a promiscuous lifestyle until some life reversals make him rethink his purposes and goals in life. The director and writer obviously aimed to target cultural issues of the time,  after the Second World War people began to live more prosperous lifestyles and felt more freedom in their lifestyles. Alfie is an obvious example of this, he completely contrasts with the more traditional male stereotype in almost everything he does, causing the audience to believe in a more traditional attitude to aspects such as gender, status and abortion laws.

Later on in the film, Alfie is forced to change his attitude towards women as another naive young women, Annie, tries to do everything she can to please Alfie. However we becomes flippant with her, after telling her than he doesn't appreciate having the same type of food over and over again. This results in the first rebellion from a women against Alfie, as she packs her stuff and leaves without any command - this could be seen as a real turning point in Alfie's character.

Media Theorist David Gauntlett would suggest that “Media has a role in thinking about identity because media productions enable us to think about life through frames and narratives. These narratives have turning points and themes which we can reflect on life with.”

Another example of British male representation is through TV show "Life on Mars". After being hit by a car in 2006, Sam Tyler awakes in 1973 and finds himself working for his predecessor  at the same station and location as 2006. This contemporary production show the importance of power in Western society, we learn that Sam Tyler represents a very fast-paced, modern lifestyle who could stereotypically have an obsession with monetary value. Also Tyler awakes as a Detective Inspector, one rank lower than his 2006 rank of Detective Chief Inspector. Throughout both series Tyler appears confused about whether he has died, gone mad, in coma or has actually travelled back in time. From the audience's perspective it doesn't really matter how Tyler is now in 1973, it educates us all on how far equality has come, and the value of both men and women.

A key scene is where Sam tries to bring in the women officer when they are discussing a case, as she has a professional advantage with a Psychological degree. The was of-course quite controversial for the 1973 police officers, making it clear to our modern day audience how wrong their attitudes to equality and status were.

Tyrannosaur is our modern day example, the film completely destroys any male stereotypes we had before. The main character, Joseph, a lower class man suffering from depression after his wife's death, appears more violent and troubled. However, the film proves that our preconceptions of people are completely wrong. Infact Hannah, a Christian charity-shop worker, is the one who murders her own husband after being continually mistreated and abused. This is a huge shock for the audience, which is perhaps the aim of the director, causing us to realize that stereotypes are very misleading. Therefore, David Gauntlett's theory that we are all forced to choice an identity is also wrong as Tyrannosaur proves that we don't attempt to fit media stereotypes and often can contrast with these dramatically.

Looking to the future, it will be very difficult for media to represent anyone with the use of a stereotype. Although is it clear that we are gradually beginning to address issues of equality and gender through media, which can only be a good thing.

Online Identity

After watching the documentary "Catfish" directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, we are now able to discuss some issues related to social networking and online identity.

What issues does this film raise about online identity?
Anyone can effectively create a fake persona online. There is a large amount of freedom and very little regulation of the content that we create, or the things that we say. The documentary addresses the dangers of getting too involved with an online relationship, especially when you've never met the other person in real life.

Do you think that social networks alter the values of authentic experience?
Much of an experience or relationship can be created on social networks, for example, the conversation element. Howevere, nothing can replace the real physical relationships and experiencing something first-hand. It is hard to distinguish a real person from a fake through text conversations, showing that we are far to easy to accept an indentity without a voice or a face.

Do you think social networks can affect the representation of individual identity?
The real identity and the online identity are two separate things. It is much easier to assume or add things to our online identity, which we also subconsciously do to get more attention of appear popular, as there is no regulation of our 'true' identity. We can use multiple social networks to be become a deeper, more rounded personality/presence online.

How do social networks encourage participatory culture?
Social networks work in a viral or participatory sense, meaning that family and friends online are all encouraged to respond to each others posts. This also leads to large, and very public community or shared personal information. Features such as statuses, suggested friends, comments, 'liking' and retweeting cause everyone to have knowledge of something. The freedom of this participatory culture is almost based on gossip or rumour.

Participatory Culture - Henry Jenkins

The Internet enables us to

1) expand communities

2) extend opportunities

3) exchange knowledge across limitless geographical boundaries

Note - Not all countries have access to the same information which we do

- is culture diverse? - YouTube is predominately used by white middle class males ged 20-30 from america

What are the positives of participatory culture and why has it come about. (Points from the video)

• Everyone is a producer of media as well as a consumer.
• Technology amplifies Culture - we are the ones that demand technology advances.
• "Not everyone knows everything but everyone knows something".
• Participators interacting with other people's products.
•  The level of capacity to process information to 2nd nature to the young.
• If content is not openly available, people will steal it.

This links to our study because of the way people can participate using media, they can share media which they have made and enjoyed. People can share a YouTube video on facebook and this relates to their identity because they are showing their interests.

How are identities are being constantly being mediated?

Characters in Television and Films are constantly being mediated and being portrayed as archetypes rather than unique characters which go against the common character conventions portrayed in different genres.
The Character 'Gene Hunt' in 'Life on Mars' is portrayed as the ruthless cop. 'Life on Mars' is set in the mid 1970s and therefore the character archetypes which we would expect would be different to our modern day archetypes. Reflecting back on the past often means that we expect the stereotypical archetypes such as 'The ruthless cop' rather than a more common and accurate portrayal of a 1970s cop.

However the Character 'Alfie' is not mediated in the same way, as of the time. Alfie represented a new archetype in cinema because of the changing attitudes and ideas, to relationships and marriage, which came about in the 1960s. This archetype would have been uncommon as this type of male archetype would not have been widely representative of the male gender. Although this was new archetype in it's era, modern day audiences have viewed this archetype in many different forms since the film was created. i.e. James Bond represents a similar archetype, who does not care about relationships - therefore this has now become a mediated archetype.

Portrayal of social class has changed since the 1960s, nowadays the working class has been more widely represented in different forms of media. in Tyrannosaur we see a common modern day archetype being portrayed. This archetype is of a unemployed working class male. We see 'Joseph' as a un-employed, alchoholic and violent. the mise-en scene portrays him as working class because of the clothes he wears such as the tracksuit which he wears. this costume is synonymous with working class and 'chav' lifestyle. which is a often archetype of modern media.

Media and Collective Identity Questions

What collective does your example illustrate?
Through our three examples Alfie, Life on Mars and Tyrannosaur we represent a range of different British male identities over time. In Alfie we follow the main character, a young Londoner and stereotypical Casanova. He soon sees the flaws in his lifestyle, and consequences that his dominance, and mistreatment has on the women involved. By the end of the film we hope to Alfie in a better moral state, has he realises that what his previous actions are morally wrong.

In Life on Mars we follow another male character, Sam, who is involved in a car accident resulting in being transported back in time. The TV show clearly shows the opposition between current and past morals and beliefs, again particularly towards women, perhaps highlighting how far things have really come.

The final example is Tyrannosaur is set in the modern-day, as well as highlighting the issues between men and women, and within some marriages, it more obviously targets class and religion as big themes. A violent man, Joseph, confides in religious charity shop worker Hannah who has equally troubling problems of her own. In this example, we are able to see male identity in a weaker role, where the character does not have power or much money - this being an attempt from the director to highlight these common class conflicts.

How has the representation of that group changed over time? What examples do you have to support this claim?
Through these examples we have found that men and women have become increasingly more equal. The issues of sexism and gender have now been replaced with ones of class struggle, and the insignificance of the lower classes over higher classes. However it is always clear that conflict in these examples occurs due to some sort of power struggle.

In Alfie his dominance over the women allows him to have a very free lifestyle, but his soon realises that his modern principles are not in the best interests of others around him. Life on Mars ofcourse gives the male detectives more important roles in the policing system, with women's ideas (which could be equally relevant) labelled as skeptical or not worthy of listening too. Finally, Tyrannosaur we still see the stereotypical agression of male identity, but Joseph proves that male character can be just has helpless as female character - simply in different ways. The modern film puts our faith in the generosity of humanity, proving that stereotypes need to be ignored.

What are the advantages to representing this collective in this way?
The advantage of representing Alfie as free and non-caring or emotionless male, is that the director can easily combat current issues (1966) of cheating and 'sleeping around' which of-course result in abortion etc. Here the director/writer arguably supports a more traditional male identity - one that get's married, and works hard for the family, who is concerned about the house and finance - this simply being the welfare of others around them, particularly women.

In Life on Mars male identity is shown as contrasting, for the modern day audience it is a realization as to how much equality has changed and how far humanity has a whole has come. It illustrates that the world, and British workers, have become very obsessed with speed and detail, perhaps trying to create a realization of the culture that we have lost.

Tyrannosaur is the most intense of all three productions. It's clear advantage being that the British male, Joseph, is a character that we begin by not liking for killing the dog and for his attitudes towards life. However, as the story progresses Joseph comes more forgiving, and it proves that our preconceptions of the modern-day lower class stereotypes are in-fact very wrong. The film is intense and depressing, but it highlights the harsh realities of our society, which of-course have a place to be addressed. The treatment of women is also addressed, with the other character Hannah suffering from rape and abuse - again it crushes our stereotypes of a stable British marriage.


How can you express your identity in the world?
Through these productions we are able to see a range of elements in life which create our identity, almost everything we do gives us a label or places us in a specific stereotype. For example, in Alfie the London culture, the accent, the Casanova attitude to life, and his treatment of women. In Life on Mars we could additionally see Sam's career as a police man, and his modern-day attitudes as having an effect on his identity. Tyrannosuar of-course specifically highlights class, religion and marriage as elements which enable us to express who we are. From our own knowledge we can see that money, clothing, sexuality, ethnicity, race and gender are some basic elements which give a sense of identity to an individual.

What barriers are there to expression, what facilities are there to express identity?

There are subconscious barriers, for example, on social networking websites you choose to represent parts of your identity rather than who you are in reality.

Tyrannosaur

Tyrannosuar represents a different type of identity for British males. We follow the main character, Joseph, an unemployed widower with a drinking problem, who also suffers with continual rage and violence. After meeting Hannah, a religious charity shop worker, he attempts to turn his life around with her assistance and advice. However, we find that Hannah also has a problem of her own, she is a victim of abuse in her marriage and it is slowly destroying her too. There is a transition in the film as Hannah begins by taking pity on Joseph, but soon Joseph finds that he needs to help Hannah instead. As a whole the film has deep religious connotations and proves that abuse and domination of men is still a problem in the 21st century.

One key scene would be the Joseph's second visit to the charity shop. Joseph talks with Hannah, and brings a sense of realisation to her life, and perhaps the audience as well - that the world is not as nice, and easy as we would all like to think. There are clear class issues that Joseph highlights in his dialogue, representing himself as a symbol of harsh realities.

Another key scene could be the funeral, where Hannah realises that these lower class people are perhaps even more forgiving, and community-like her Christian friends, her family and even her family. This is a definate social comment, and proves that we all too easily stereotype the lower class like Joseph. There is also religious connotations, with the writer questioning how God could create evil in the world, and how women could suffer from such sexual depravity.

Life on Mars

We watched the first episode of Life on Mars which was a good example of both the present and past worlds which the narrative follows. Below are some notes on male identity.

• There is one female police officer in the past world, but she doesn't do many police-related tasks. However, Sam can't understand why she is mistreated and not used even though she has a psychological degree. The male identity of the past would have looked down on this, it was controversial and skeptical to treat women this way and put faith in them.
• In the future, there is also one women police officer, she is mistreated (although this is not common) and dropped from the case. This results in her kidnap. It could be argued that Sam's mistreatment of the female officer is the reason for her kidnap, almost as if he learns to respect women better in the past world.
• The first discussion n over a murder, in the past world, uncovers that technology is quick or detailed enough. Through this we are able to see Sam's frustration, and represent the modern day male identity as a fast-paced lifestyle, needing things in a rush, and having an obsession with monetary value.
• Also women refer to men by their professional title such as "D.C" or "D.I". Whereas, men refer to women in a more objective sense, and often call them by their actual name.
• There is a women's department in the past world, showing a form of segregation between the higher status of males and the lower females. It may also be a much needed segregation for the women officers.
• When they interview Dorrah, a witness to the murder case, Sam simply questions and does not really get his point across. Although Gene Hunt is far more rough proving that the male identity did not have as many boundaries are were far more free to dominate over women.
• Sam attempts to bring in the women officer when they are discussing the case, as she has a professional advantage with a Psychological BA. The other detectives look down on him, and believe that it's controversial.