Theory Table TV DRAMA

THEORY TABLE: 

Levi Strauss: RED

Todorov: BLUE

Neale: ORANGE

Barthes: PURPLE

Van Zoonen; PINK

Bell Hooks: GOLD

Gilroy: GREEN

Gauntlett: DARK BLUE

Hall: PINK

Baudrillard: MAGENTA

Bandura: DARK GREEN 

Curran & Seaton: BROWN

Butler: BLACK

Hesmondhalgh: BURGANDY

Livingstone & Lundt: YELLOW

LEVI STRAUSS- Structuralism is the study of the hidden rules that govern a structure. 

Levi-Strauss thought that the human mind could be investigated by studying the fundamental structure underlying myths and fables from around the world (which he saw as one unitary system). He developed the idea of the ‘binary opposition’ – that the system of myths and fables was ruled by a structure of opposing terms, e.g. hot-cold, male-female, culture-nature, raw-cooked. 

Many writers have analysed media products using the idea of the binary opposition, but seeing the overall system as ‘ideology’ rather than ‘human consciousness’. 

HOMELAND APPLICATION:

 Insiders v Outsiders; Al Qaeda v US; Cruelty v Bureaucracy

Opening shots of the prison in Bagdad vs the smart office setting in the US.

The streets in Bagdad that are busy, uncontrolled and dangerous vs the calm, clean and organized streets in the US.

Methods of torture in the flashback scenes with Brody in comparison to the clean professional method that he is being interviewed in the US.

THE KILLING APPLICATION:

TODOROV- narratology is the study of narrative; in this case of narrative structure- how the parts fit together to make a whole.

All narratives can be seen as a move from one state of equilibrium (where nothing need occur) to another, new equilibrium. The disruption to the equilibrium is what drives the narrative towards a new equilibrium. 

The movement from the initial equilibrium to the new equilibrium entails a transformation (e.g. the hero expresses their heroism and defeats the villain) – this transformation expresses what the narrative values.

HOMELAND APPLICATION:

Abu Nazir’s plot & Brody’s release disrupt the equilibrium, which is implied. Narrative drive is for Carrie to thwart plot.

Left with an enigma- what is Brody’s plot?

THE KILLING APPLICATION:

NEALE- genre theory is about what genres are, and about how and why they are created, change endure or decline. 

Neale argues that genre is a process by which generic codes and conventions are shared by producers and audiences through repetition in media products. 

This means that genres are not fixed, but constantly evolve with each new addition to the generic corpus (the body of products in a genre), often playing with genre codes and conventions or becoming hybrids with other genres.

Generic codes and conventions are not just established in media products but in products that refer to these products such as critical writings or advertising and marketing material, what Neale referred to as ‘the intertextual relay’

HOMELAND APPLICATION: 

Female protagonist in spy thriller; mental health issues.

Homeland is set in both Baghdad and USA

THE KILLING APPLICATION: 

Closing scene - finding the car- links the crime, the family, the politician and the detective.

The Killing is set only in Copenhagen 

Nordic Noir - hybrid - police procedural drama with elements of family drama and melodrama. - attracts female and male audience.

BARTHES- semiology is the study of signs. Signs consist of a signifier (a word, an image, a sound etc.) and its meaning – the signified.

The denotation of a sign is its literal meaning (e.g. the word ‘dog’ denotes a mammal that barks).

Denotations signify connotations – the associations of the denotation (e.g. ‘dogness’ – the thoughts and feelings associated with dogs).

Denotations and connotations are organized into myths- the ideological meaning. These make ideology seem natural. For example, a bulldog might activate a myth of Britishness.

HOMELAND APPLICATION: 

Streets in Baghdad mainly consisting of men- women not allowed to go outside without a man present. 

Brody’s flashbacks 

Carrie taking medicine as part of her daily routine – she isn't as perfect as her appearance and job role might lead you to believe. 

THE KILLING APPLICATION:

VAN ZOONEN- feminist theory – ideas of femininity and masculinity are constructed in our performance of these roles.

Gender is what we do rather than who we are and changes meaning depending on cultural and historical contexts.

The concept of patriarchy may be applied to the ownership and control of television, the recruitment and ethos of television professionals and the representation of gender.

HOMELAND APPLICATION: 

Carrie although strong and in a masculine role of leadership, has several flaws that make her unstable as a leader and strong woman, thus showing the power of patriarchy reinforcing subtly the inferiority of women to men in positions of power.

Carrie embodies the oppositional gaze that refuses to conform with expectations of women and provides a character to identify with that challenges the patriarchal ideologies.

Carrie often sexualised in her outfit choices.

THE KILLING APPLICATION:

Sarah is respected - reflects cultural context of Denmark's views on gender equality.

BELL HOOKS- feminist theory – Intersectionality refers to the coming together of gender, race, class and sexuality to create a white supremacist capitalist patriarchy which dominates media representations.

Women should develop an oppositional gaze that refuses to identify with characters that reinforce patriarchal ideology and politicizes the case.

HOMELAND APPLICATION:

THE KILLING APPLICATION:

Pernille - working class mother 

GILROY- white superiority – Gilroy describes a ‘myth of black criminality’ and attributed statistical differences in recorded criminality between ethnic groups as being due to police stereotyping and racist labelling.

HOMELAND APPLICATION:

West vs. East and the representation of the East and the methods they employ.

The Middle East will accept bribery because they are less fortunate than the Americans.

The white Americans have nice clothes while the Middle East people have old, dirty looking clothes.

THE KILLING APPLICATION: 

GAUNTLETT- representation and identity -  the media have a complex relationship with identities.

There are many diverse and contradictory messages that individuals can use to think through their identity and how to express themselves.

The success of popular feminism and increasing representation of different sexualities created a world where the meaning of gender, sexuality and identity is increasingly open.

Self expression leads to a stronger sense of participation in the world by making and exchanging.

Audiences get a sense of their own identity from the media products they consume. May learn something about themselves and and teach them about their identity.

In newer media products we get a much more diverse range of representations and identities.

In the past we had very simple, straightforward representations (men being strong and manly, women being housewives)

HOMELAND APPLICATION: 

Homeland offers diverse and contradictory representations that audience can use to think through their identity as they have the time and resources to develop implied representations through Carrie and Brody.

Local representations that resonate with international audiences. Middle East and US representations. This increases the diversity of representations to reach an international audience, Homeland was successful in several international locations as a series. 

This assumes the power of the audience as active agents so may underestimate the power of media conglomerates in shaping culture and identity.

Carrie realising the truth, showing her as a contradictory character that can be respected for her insight. As a part of her mental health illness that helped her identity the 'tell'.

Her ability to be an anti-stereotype in terms of a woman, drinking, avoiding relationships, focused on sex rather than conversation.

THE KILLING APPLICATION:

Sarah is career focused, she picks and chooses between her job and her family life. She is presented to us as a maternal figure, when she realised that the Birk Larsen's daughter was the girl missing. Camerawork focuses on her eyes with a close up, showing her realisation and empathy. The non-diegetic sound shows how she is feeling at the realisation, how she has pieced it together and the fear/dread she feels for the family and their potential loss. This contradicts her relationship with her own son as she is shown to know very little about him as they are driving in the car.

Sarah identifies herself as more than a mother, she is a detective - career focused.

We can identify with Sarah - career focused, determined, independent woman.- cancels flight for job

Identify with Pernille - caring, loving mother - enjoys life - kitchen dishwasher scene

HALL- representation theory – Through stereotyping and ideology those in power try to fix the meaning of a representation to a preferred reading that suggest there is only one true meaning.

Meaning is created by a representation but it is what is present and also absent and different that create the representation.

Stereotypes and how they are constructed should be pulled apart and deconstructed to identify what they tell us about ideology.

A representation implicates the audience in creating its meaning. 

To create deliberate anti- stereotypes is still to attempt to fix the meaning.

HOMELAND APPLICATION: 

Homeland attempts to create a dominant meaning through the use of ideology of East vs West to support the preferred reading of those in power (US)

Looking at Carrie, her representation is created through a lack of elements in her characterization, closeness, compassion, success outside her job.

Looking at the stereotypes of Carrie and the Middle East that are created, what does this tell us about the ideology that is created within the programme and wider industry.

THE KILLING APPLICATION: 

BAUDRILLARD- Postmodernism is the idea that society has moved beyond modernism - either modernism in art & culture (early 20th century) or modernism in the sense of a belief in progress, which dates back much further.

Baudrillard argued that, as modern societies were organised around production of goods, postmodern society is organised around 'simulation' - the play of images and signs.

Previously important social distinctions suffer 'implosion' as differences of gender, class, politics and culture dissolve in a world of simulation in which individuals construct their identities.

The new world of 'hyperreality' - media simulations (Disneyland and amusement parks, malls and consumer fantasy lands) - is more real than the 'real' and controls how we think and behave.

HOMELAND APPLICATION:

Have minimal intertextuality. Establish 'real' world. Ground narrative in real world events: 9/11, local politics. Mental health etc.

Brody interview - hyper-reality of CIA interview, and torture/war on terror

THE KILLING APPLICATION: 

BANDURA- Audience Theory- Bandura believes that the media can have a direct influence on the values and behaviour of audience members. The media can also have an indirect influence through social networks.

He argues that audiences may imitate behaviours they see represented in the media.

Human values, judgement and conduct can be altered directly by media modelling.

Media representation of aggression or violent behaviour can lead to imitation. (The Bobo Doll)

Different media have different effects. The 'new' media offer opportunities for self-directedness.

HOMELAND APPLICATION: 

In Homeland the representations of patriarchal society that are reproduced through the male characters in the CIA can reinforce patriarchal ideals in the mind of the audience.

David in charge - humiliates Carrie when she is late 

When she questions him about Thomas Walker - his response is offhand, dismisses her.

Saul supposed to be mentor/friend - doesn't believe her she is left pleading.

THE KILLING APPLICATION: 

CURRAN AND SEATON- Industry theory - Patterns in ownership & control are important in how the media functions. Media industries are capitalist and aim to increase concentration of ownership; leads to narrowing of opinions represented, affecting plurality.

Owners pursue profit at the expense of quality or creativity.

Media ownership is the most significant factor in how media industries work.

The concentration of media ownership means the industry is dominated by a small number of conglomerates- limits the viewpoints.

Despite the development of online media the established major media organisations continue to be dominant.

HOMELAND APPLICATION: 

The issue of ownership and control, the working practises of creators and the risk of profitability VS critical appeal in TV drama depending who is funding the production.

International dominance of American Streaming services- Netflix, in distributing many LFTV dramas, this can limit the representations that are created through the ownership control of the productions. Homeland is a Showtime production, sold to Channel 4 and then Netflix.

THE KILLING APPLICATION:

BUTLER- Representation theory- Gender performativity. - Gender is created in how we perform our gender roles - there is no essential gender identity behind these roles, it is created in the performance.

Performativity is a repetition and a ritual which becomes naturalised within the body.

Any feminism concerned only with masculinity and femininity excludes other forms of gender and sexuality. This creates 'gender trouble' for those that do not fit the heterosexual norms. 

Butler has influenced queer theory - theory which deconstructs and aims to destabilise apparently fixed identities based on gender and sexualities. 

HOMELAND APPLICATION: 

THE KILLING APPLICATION:

HESMONDHALGH- cultural industries - sees media industries as being dominated by a small number of conglomerates. The high production costs and ease of reproduction and sharing of media products means media industries use a number of methods to reduce risks. These include vertical integration, and the reliance on established genres, stars and narratives.

HOMELAND: 

Draws attention to the ownership and control purposes, such as American commercial- Homeland, compared to the European Public service ethos.

In homeland the risk of profitability is seen in the high budgets that then minimise the risk via formatting and the star system and co-production deals for the smaller European broadcasters.

Homeland we see famous actors alongside genre of crime/conspiracy that is successful in America. We do not see this in The Killing as there is not a high budget. However: in prioritising the effects of ownership and control on the content of television this theory may not aid in understanding how ideologies, audience choice or media language conventions may determine media content.

THE KILLING APPLICATION: 

LIVINGSTONE AND LUNDT- Regulation- Consumers are individuals who seek private benefits from the media and require regulation to protect them. Citizens are social, seek public or social benefits from the media and require regulation to promote public interest.

Media regulation serves a variety of purposes and must balance a range of consumer/citizen needs.

Regulation is needed to make sure the media promotes public interests.

Traditional forms of media regulation are being challenged by the online and globalised media culture resulting from technological developments such as the internet.

HOMELAND APPLICATION: 

LFTVD produced by European service broadcasters may be regulated in the interest of citizens. The Killing not Homeland.

LFTVD produced by American cable and streaming services are lightly regulated to avoid harm as they treat their audiences as consumers. Homeland focused on making money and the audience to consume the ideologies presented in their representations.

THE KILLING APPLICATION: