task four - additional web research

media magazine

1. "There is a complicity between the terrorists and the media. These attacks were made for TV: the terrorists didn’t choose a political target, and they showed no interest in political bargaining. Instead, they were using violence for effect, to generate attention and blast their cause on to the international stage"

2. "9/11 was the model here, for both the terrorists and the media. Where Beslan had screaming children, 9/11 had the towers collapsing, bodies falling, expressions of horror on onlookers’ faces. For days afterwards, the papers were filled with images that documented the event from every angle. Radio stations replayed the last calls from victims to their loved ones. Journalists reported the life stories of the dead and the grief of their relatives"

3. "people watching the news at the time were not protected by the usual mediation of the attacks by news reporting...the audience saw events of the day unfold live on air and the public were drawn into the story in a way they had not previously experienced"

4. " This was the first attack on US soil from a non-American source since Pearl Harbour in 1941 "

5. "The ‘war on terror’ was not a war like those that had gone before. The enemy was hidden and unidentifiable and the fear was that they could strike again at any time"

6. "Hollywood’s response was to create heroes. Classical Hollywood narrative provides reassurance and this structure was applied in the retelling of stories which gave us powerful heroes who save the day. These fantasies responded to the post 9/11 context and provided some comfort in a time when danger seemed very close"

mediaguardian

7. "Since Labour came to power in 1997, it has introduced five major pieces of terrorism legislation: the Terrorism Act 2000; the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001; the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005; the Terrorism Act 2006; and the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008"

8. "planning to attack the Danish newspaper that printed cartoons portraying the prophet Muhammad"

empire online

9." Though the style is low-key and the comedy deadpan, what these guys are about is absolutely real: nail bombs, explosives, collateral damage, the whole nine yards. But the genius of this film is to take us into their world; we don't know what the motives are, or how they came to be radicalised, but we do know that they've assembled into a half-arsed cell by the time we meet them"

10. "conflicting emotions while the one-liners are flowing that the only thing you can do is give in to its demented logic and laugh"

11. "The traditional, liberal way to deal with anything as bold and brilliant as this is to look for the flaws, to find that bit of the canvas that isn't quite shaded and say, 'Look! There's a bit missing!"


used quotes:

12. "suggests that our knowledge of the world is constructed by media representations"
Andrews, M. Burton, J. Stevenson, E. (2009). p. 182


13. "ethnic minorities are continually misrepresented by racial (and racist) stereotypes"
Laughey, D. (2009). p. 78.


14. "Media stereotyping occurs when the roles and behaviour on personal characteristics of a particular group are portrayed in a limited fashion"
Williams, K. (2003). p. 131.


15. "“The hegemonic model acknowledges that much of the media is controlled by a relatively small group of people (who are generally male, middle class and white) and that the viewpoints associated with these groups inevitably become embedded in the products themselves.”
Baker, J. Clark, V. Lewis, E. (2003). p. 113.

task three - historical text analysis and research

How has society has changed over the years and how these changes are reflected in different media texts?

die hard 2:

differences
- terrorism is set in America
- the terrorists are Russian or eastern European
- they have many more fire arms and tend to have a well planned strategy
- the terrosists are white
- english speakers vs non english
- equilibrium to disequilibrium to enquilibrium
- sense of comedy within seriousness
- 1 man against the world
- hero is the police man, who is shwon to be average

reasons why:
- in reality we have become accustomed to terror
- we accept that one day terrorits will strike
- 9/11, 7/7 have occured in the past
- media producers have up to date issues and debates to focus on

task two - additional book reading

books to refer to:

1. FERGUSON, ROBERT Representing 'Race' : Ideology, Identity And The Media

2. GAUNTLETT, DAVID Media, Gender and Identity

3. LACEY, NICK Image and Representation / Key Concepts in Media Studies

4. MACKINNON, KENNETH Representing Men

5. MALIK, SARITA Representing Black Britain: Black And Asian Images On Television


6. POOLE, ELIZABETH, media representations of british muslims

7. Muslims and the news media, Elizabeth Poole

task one - textual analysis

issues and debates

1. representation and stereotyping
clip represents the terrorist to be uneducated and also lacking common sense. it may highlight the audiences view of the terrorists- one view which shows them to be lead astray by their partners in crime, and dealing with the pressure of being bullied and then being compelled to take the necessary action but stereotypically being unsuccessful.

2. post 9/11 and the media
media portrays the terrorists to be motivated to cause destruction, however the ways they approach the plans are chosen to be comic. this is backed up by the idiotic remark made by the characters-'i used different voices every time i go in'.

theories

1. gender and ethnicity
the men are show to be narrow minded. they wish to become terrorists but ironically, in this clip, are shown to be hopeless as they seem to fail the tasks they are given. the emphasis on the ethnicity is bought upon by the use of the traditional Muslim clothing long with the head piece

2. cultivation theory
media is using the Muslim men, and the one white converted Muslim to be shown as terrorists. in this clip a wide variety of ethnicity's are represented-all to be sinning, but believing that they are doing right.

3. hypodermic needle
this theory is key in this clip. the Muslim men are portrayed to be terrorists working in the UK, and the audience, despite acknowledging the production is of the comedy genre, are passive. a negative portrayal of all Muslims is made and this may cause division in terms of segregation.

migrain

M
connotations of the chemicals reinforce that they are terrorists
zoom on fessels face emphasises his idiotic statements
diegetic sound through the camera that one character is holding

I
non Hollywood production, film4
independent cinema
dumbing down of characters and the terrorists projects
no star studded line up

G
comedy genre
setting is of everyday city life, UK
one off production
well known sound track used to portray the binary opposition between actions and views

R
Muslim men
unfair, does not represent society
racist portrayal
challenges stereotypes- one of the men is not a terrorist

A
men and women, 16-35
wide ethnicity's- some may be offended
entertainment may cause moral panic

I
not multi cultural
focus on one culture- negative
encourage social change
shown to be traditional values of terrorism

N
chronological narrative
equilibrium to disequilibrium
all protagonists are shown to be villains
violent intentions