A dominant representation is one which is repeated across the media over time and so are the values it carries, Discuss.
The dominant representation that is repeated through the media is how women are represented in reality TV programmes and throughout the media, this is how the women act in these programmes, there is a big demand for them to look aesthetically pleasing for the viewer’s so the directors look for women that take pride in their appearance unless it is for a reality TV programme that is based around how people look, this is the dominant hegemony and often a value that they hold.
Women often feel the need to look nice, and are often shot in different ways to make them ‘sexy’ for example in ‘the only way is Essex’ and ‘desperate scousewives’ they start having Botox really young around the age of 25 to ensure that they keep looking young and keeping their looks, this is so that they look aesthetically pleasing for the audience, this is their values and it also the values of most of the women in the world because this is the dominant hegemony, the theorist for this is Laura Mulvey as she describes the male gaze theory.
The view that is represented in the reality TV programmes is the reflective view because reality is one version that has been influenced by those producing it.
Baullidrard questions whether reality exists anymore but people have to audition to be on these particular reality TV programmes to see if they are eligible enough for them to be on the show, for example whether they are good looking enough or whether they are entertaining enough. It also has a sense of voyeurism because people get pleasure from watching people be humiliated, they can also build personal relationships with the people in the programmes because they are represented in the way that people can build these relationships with to make them view the programmes. Countertypes are repeated during reality TV programmes because they always have different types of people that are have the same values as other people in other reality TV programmes.
The values that are represented through programmes such as ‘tool academy’ are that the boys shouldn’t cheat and respect their girlfriends which is why they are on the show, the girls in this programme are made to seem vulnerable because they are constantly disrespected by their partners. Most girls share the same values that their partners should be respectful so we as women are able to build personal relationships with the girls in this programme. In programmes such as ‘big brother’ they use tokenism because they want to seem fair to the people watching, they usually put different personalities in the house to make the people clash because they have different values and they want fights and flings to happen, this is for the viewer’s entertainment, again questioning whether reality really exists anymore. Tessa Perkins describes that stereotypes can be good, in the case of reality TV, this is good because people can relate to the countertypes that are in the programmes.
The girls in reality such as ‘desperate scousewives’, they are made to seem vulnerable because they are looking for potential husbands in Liverpool, they are made to seem this way because they are sticking to the hegemony that they need a man in their life and that men are powerful compared to women.
The audience for these programmes usually range from 16-30 because reality TV has only become popular since 2000 just after the first big brother was broadcast, so it is unlikely for older people to watch these programmes because they feel alienated towards these kinds of programmes.
I do believe that specific values are carried through the media, because the same values are repeated through the media in different reality TV programmes.
representation(media) 