Damon Wayans is asked to make a minstrel show for the new millennium and uses this as an opportunity to get sacked by introducing a very explicit and ridiculous show that expresses in a satire commonly racist ideas about Africans to the public, this eventually works against him and has a dangerously bad reactions to the majority of the cast.
Only Denotations and rough notes FOR NOW!!
-Reps of 2 dignified successful black characters, one is the main character Pierre Delacroix (Damon) who is a producer and also his female african american assistant. These reps are initially seen as being positive as they work against the stereotypes of having lower status occupations in general being in social grades of D/E.
- We also come to learn that Pierre's real name is actually Phillis which taps into the history of slavery and ownership
- Damon isn't liked until after Bamboozled in his workplace
- His boss "I speak more black when im with you" - Is there a concept of speaking black?
The Mis-en-scene in his office - Pictures of successful black people.
- Changes name from 'Manray' to 'Mantan' and 'Sleep&Eat'
- In the show we see stereotypical black roles i.e. Shoe shining and tapdancing.
- Damon's previous show 'Brown Knows Joe' wasn't a success and got cut.
- On the T-shirt of the girls brother and his rap group ' The African Hellacaust' and they are seen rapping and drinking.
- Damon calls the girl a 'Lamb'
- Hattie costume - Like a mammy is shown in the performances.
- 'Watermelon AKA Nigger apple'
-" I say nigger 100 times every morning, thats what keeps my teeth white"
- His father is an Alcoholic
- Sponsors of the show - 'The Bomb' - hard liquor..."It makes you get your freak on"...
- TimmiHillnigger - The man 'wigger'
- Halloween costumes = Blackface
- "never should have got romantically involved with my help"
Bamboozled 1 (2000) : The first poster is from the movie 'Bamboozled.' The main image is of the little girl on the right hand side, the location of where she is standing is hinted by the big yellow circle behind her implying the sun and the buds of cotton and grass images on where she's standing. This as well as the white buds of sweat on her forehead suggests she is or may be working in a cotton farm, this location is stereotypically associated with black people as it is a common workplace and material in Africa.
The girl herself follows the 'Pickaninny' stereotype with the bright red lips, exaggerated black, frizzy hair and the watermelon. Her bare feet connotes poverty which is a stereotypical idea about black people.
The color scheme of black, red and yellow as well as the font and bright red clown-like lips all signify this circus-like feel to the poster.
Also in the title the 'B' in 'Bamboozled' is bold and 3D to stand out from the rest of the letters, ironically 'B' also stands for Black.
Another copy i noticed is at the top left 'Starring the great negro actors' , the mention of the race is significant as in contemporary society this would be very unnecessary and unconventional to mention.
However the credits is conventional...
Bamboozled 2 (2000) :
Wm.H.WESTS - Big Minstrel Jubilee 1(30's - 40's) :
Starts of with close up of make-up products, focusing on the nail polish to advertise the logo and name and introduce the products. Then we see a girl pick up this nail polish and running down the stairs enthusiastically - we see a close up of her fingers picking the nail polish up and her feet running down the stairs and hopping over the bunny, this emphasizes her excitement and high energy. We then see a wide shot of all three girls in this clean room, their expressions are all smiley and lively, this is encouraged by the upbeat music, the narrative suggests that they are all either living together or had a sleepover, and they have just woken up, we notice this through the costume (pyjamas) and the close-up of the coffee.
We then see a number of fast shots of the girls using the make-up and trying on clothes, the close up of their faces expose their huge smiles and you can also hear the diegetic sounds of giggling and laughter, these all show their excitement and happiness. All the make-up is bright and fun like their mood, and look really easy to apply. We also see rummaging of clothes and shoes, and throwing everything around, messing up this tidy room. This shows girls in both positive and negative lights. Teenage girls are shown to be very energetic and healthy with the smiles and laughter, however it can also be perceived as it being very stereotypical and girls getting excited and over the top with their make-up and clothing, fitting in with the theory of girls paying too much attention to their appearance and being quite vain. This could be supported by the numerous mirrors and reflections we see throughout advert.
Finally they all take one last look gathering in the mirror and admiring the final look and then leaving whilst conventionally taking the make-up products with them. However we are left with a wide shot of the room to emphasize the huge mess created, this can also be perceived both positively and negatively as the girls had a lot of fun and forgot about the room, and the mess being a sign of their enjoyment. Or it can be seen as the girls being careless, immature and tying together the fact that all they did was wake-up and get ready. Nothing productive was done.
2. NHS Condom Advert
This advert is for the NHS Condom - essential wear campaign for STI's. One critical debate is the increase in STI's and teenage pregnancies, In 2009 stats had risen after 4 years of teenage pregnancies.
The advert starts in the setting of a party, this immediately informs the audience of this teen genre as they tend to be associated with the party life, the first shot is of a girl and guy whispering on the left, the girl is dressed quite provocatively and unlike the guy we see her expression of smiling and laughing. Then the camera pans to show other couples being intimate, they specifically focus on these two people being intimate, and once again the girls expression is more exposed than his, we then see a close-up of her necklace and his jacket, the copy on them read different names of STI's to show where these couples are leading and this reminds them of the precautions they must take.
We then see three other couples doing similar things, being intimate and then we are reminded again with the STI's on their items of clothing. The second couple is being led by the girl and the STI is written on her belt. The third couple are in a back alley, the girl is shown quite dominant as she is taking his clothes off as well as hers, this emphasizes her control. Finally the fourth couple are shown in the bedroom, we hear the diegetic sound of the girl giggling, and then we finally a close up of her undies with 'gonorrhea' written on them.
I notice that the girls are more exposed through their clothing, actions and their expressions, this shows how they are possible more in control and enjoying it, the guys tend to be more faded and less focused on. This represents teenage girls as being arguably quite promiscuous and and behaving quite provocatively.
3. Home office Advert on Abuse.
This advert focuses on a young couple talking, the boy pressures her to have sex with him but she refuses, this leads to a lot of aggression shown but the boy.
We see a wide shot of the couple on the bed, in the girls room, they are sitting quite close but the girls body language is quite closed compared to the boy.We learn from this that they are likely to be in a relationship, they have a little banter and we learn how the boy is quite arrogant through the script. Then there is more of a close shot when the boy makes a move on her by caressing her leg, when she refuses he pressurizes her by blackmailing her saying that he will tell all her friends about her being 'frigid.' She still refuses because she doesn't want to be caught by her mum and then after getting a text from a girl friend we see his aggression as he throws the phone on the floor, the shots are pretty simple as there isnt much action at first and move from being close to wide to concentrate on the dialogue and action.
When she goes to pick the phone up we see him grab her hair from the back and pull her because he doesnt like the way she speaks to him. At 0.44 in the video here we see a high angle shot where we say the back of the boys head and the girl lower down facing him, this connotes his control and superiority as he has power over her. We then see close up's of her face to see her scared and pained expression.
The narrative then follows how he disapproves of her friends, and after this point there is an alter ego of the girl in a glass window shown looking into the same scene, she bangs on the window and screams for herself to leave the room. She begs to be let go and the close-up shows her crying, when he says 'look at ya' the camera shot is of the girls mirror reflection, following the narrative. The cuts jump (jump cut) back and forth from the alter ego to the real scene, the alter ego carries on banging, and her expression is of great concern. He eventually lets go after she gives into his initial demand, at this point the cut goes back to the alter ego who says 'NO.'The boy continues moaning waiting for her to make a move but she sits back down on the bed, throughout the jump cuts are shown of the alter ego screaming and banging on this transparent window, and we see her alter ego looking in from the window of the same scene. We then see the back of the boy removing his belt, the close-up signifies this stereotypical way of physical abuse that men use on women.
The copy says "If you could see yourself, would you see abuse." This is a very successful and moving advert that reminds the audience of the existing abuse both verbal, mental and physical.
The reps of teenage girls in this is vulnerable and passive. We see are shown this from the high angle shot and the narrative when she agrees to give in. We also see her as being quite social as the props of phones are used. Finally the alter ego suggests how girls are quite naive and inferior, when given the opportunity the character does nothing and the alter ego bangs on the window looking in on herself trying to take control of the situation by taking action. However in reality she can't and the girl remains on the bed and does nothing.
3.I have researched about the EDL by visiting official website http://www.englishdefenceleague.org/ and also some fan pages on facebook. I noticed how alot of the Youth in particular are unaware of their briefs and how their website is very subjective.
LP - Really unsure about the LP
4. I have also been reading alot of Magazines including Heat, Sugar, TeenVogue, Cosmogirl (In particular an Article on Heidi Montag and how she had several operations at once in order to look perfect) and watching some shows to notice the patterns on womens obsession of their appearance and this huge pressure to look perfect. Some issues include, crazy diets, plastic surgery and eating disorders. I can research on how women teen magazines may differ to older women magazines and if the same ideology comes across.
LP - Ad campaign to address the dangers of trying to look 'perfect' or the first few minutes for a documentary on a males perspective on this issue.
Still being very unsure, i will continue to research on each topic and discuss it with my partner/peers to come to a conclusion on what exactly i want to do.
Some analysis of the Youtube Matrix Blue/Red pill scene.
The movie is called 'Matrix', this initially grabs my attention as it sounds very similar to marx or marxist which is most likely not on purpose but quite interesting.
The scene opens with the sound of lightning and a man with dark glasses, these props as well as the dim lighting connote mystery and tension and immediately put the audience on edge and keeps them hooked.
The whole concept of there being two worlds and being under control is strongly suggested through the script m0re than anything else, however an interesting technique is used when he is offered both pills, his reflection is shown on a close-up both lenses of Morpheus' glasses along with the pills which strongly links to the whole ideology of two worlds and two options.
I also noticed in a close up of Neo's face when he is being told about being a slave and not knowing the truth half of his face is in shadow which emphasizes this concept of living a lie and not knowing the whole truth.
Finally at the end when he takes the red pill and drinks the water,the scene closes with the sound of lighting which could suggest danger and unease in his choice of pill and suggests to the audience of possible problems occuring.
Some ideas of Marxits Theory on Reality Tv.
They would believe that it is bad for society as its representations are bias and are just used to fit the ideology of the producers which would normally be white, middle-aged men.
That Reality Tv creates moral panics and a non realistic view of society.
Media benefits capitalist class and exploits working class.
False Consciousness
"False consciousness" is the Marxistconcept that the Proletariatare misguided as to their own desires and wants, and will not properly understand their true beliefs and desires until they are enlightened. More specifically, it is the belief that within the structures of Capitalism there is a disconnect between the real state of affairs and the way they phenomenally appear.
The Marxist theory is a conflict based theory that thrives on the idea that the economic self interest of the dominant social class is the most powerful force in society that control the subordinate classes in order to maintain the status quo.
In relation to media the classic theory is that the owners of media companies and corporations use their control over cultural production to help keep capitalism going. Such material are therefore bias and just used to reinforce the status quo. Furthermore they believe that audiences tend to be hegemonic. (Passive and Accepting) - See it as 'common sense', the self evidently natural' - Fiske.
In this context...
Media Companies = Dominant and Ruling class.
Example: 1. 90% of the music industry is controlled by just five companies and one of those, Sony, Is also a major player in the media industry
2. Rupert Murdoch - Owns 50% Sly, Fox, News over the world-'The times' and other, Various other companies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arcJksDgCOU\
After seeing the clip from matrix we notice a metaphor of marxist theory as the general public are actually slaves to the dominant Matrix 'system'.
Today we looked at a Guardian article and the 1990's movie 'Boys Dont Cry' to explore the representations of Transgender teens.
We noticed that both resources convey messages about the troubles transgender teens experience throughout the critical debate on gender identity through scenes and research.
The article included many examples of moving image focusing on transgender teens, they also examined the confusion between sexuality and gender.
The movie represented examples like violence,crime and sex which is stereotypically associated with teenagers, this relates to the audience demographic of teens.
The new media allows deeper investigation of the topic as it is a place where individuals can comfortably talk about their experiences and problems without feeling targeted (through social networking sites, blogs, discussion boards) as they are allowed to speak anonymously. This way they are able to speak openly without any fear of stigma and also read and discuss about other people in similar situations, this helps them grow more confidence. They are also able to read up on more details and information to understand if it is okay to feel the way they do and what the next step/options may be.
1.'Where candidates are working in a group on a production piece they may choose to produce similar research studies or they may wish to focus on different texts, themes, issues or debates relevant to their chosen production piece.' - Can we work in groups?
