The
text I have decided to choose to analyse over the summer is
"Jersey shore". This is a reality TV series which follows the
lives of eight housemates spending their summer together at the jersey shore (US).
Media Representations
In this TV series, both men and females are being represented.
However both are being represented in a different way. as you can see when
watching the episode, the main focus are on the male characters and they are
represented as the more dominant characters as they go from one girl to the
next and take advantages of the girls.This makes the
girls be seen as alternative and not that important and when you watch the
series its almost as if they they are stereotyped as "sex
objects" or "toys" because the men just have sex with them and
then shut them out of their lives. the stereotypes are not fair or accurate at
all in this series as throughout each episode it shows men taking advantage of
women. There is only short glimpses of romance which would represent both men
and women as being on the same level of representation.
Moreover, some people would
find the show outrageous due to the behavior and language they use sometimes
which might offend some people especially the Italians as they use some
offensive terminology towards each other but the characters use it as daily
words, how ever it is a realistic view of how they really are and how they live
their life. They are being represented by the MTV institution – whos primary
target audience is teenagers/young adults aged 15-25
Narrative
The major themes of the
narrative are glamour, drama, relationships and conflicts. This creates
quite superficial values and ideologies, although these types of things are
apparent in most peoples lives, it deviates from the more important issues
concerning society.The role of such features as sound, music, iconography,
genre, mise-en-scene, editing etc within the narrative is to make the film
more exciting and helps make you understand the narrative better.
Jersey shore
is aired on every summer and so far it has aired full 3 seasons and half of the
episodes of season four up to date as, they record the episodes just before
summer. Once a week on Thursdays it airs an episode on MTV which lasts about 42
minutes that shows how they spend their summer at home, outside and together.
The narrative
started in season one when eight Italian strangers were invited to New Jersey
and live together in a house also the main part of the show was if you were
living in the house you had to work so the eight members of the cast had to
work at a designing t-shirt shop. The main narrative of season one was that
they all got to know each other, two of the characters fell in love however
they were on and off and they ended breaking up and one of the cast member got
punched in the face by a man, there were lots of fights in the house between
the girls and the boys towards the end of season one there was a lot of
tensions between the cast mates and as they left new jersey there was plenty of
unfinished business.
Genre
The genre of
the text is a reality TV show which is based on real events and realistic facts
that is or has been going on. Jersey shore is mainly about the eight characters
being together and going out together with some ups and downs. The cast members
are working class people that get paid for every single episode they produce;
therefore it is showing an overview of how working class people live their life
but in an Italian version. The conventions it uses of a reality TV show is that
there is no pattern or knowing what to expect next and there is a confidential
room where the cast members can just go in and speak their mind.
The major generic conventions
in this text are that it is their real lives and that the dialogue of what the
‘characters’/people say is unscripted. However, the fact that these people were
selected specifically for the type of people they are gives an aspect of it
being constructed, additionally, they are put into or encouraged into their
situations by the producers of the show for the purpose of creating some kind
of drama. This show has also been likened to the soap opera genre due to the
constructed situations they get into. The generic themes of this text are
glamour, drama, relationships and conflicts.
The characters are generically
determined to a moderate extent – they are their own person and have not been
scripted to say anything in particular and take their own course of action.
However, the producers put them into certain specific situations, for example a
place they might bump into someone they dislike, to cause them to create their
own drama (conflict or conversation).
Media Institutions
Jersey shore
is aired on MTV, formerly an initialize of Music Television,
is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981.
The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air
hosts known as VJs. Jersey shore is shown after the water shed period time as
the show includes offensive language and sexual content which means it is
targeted at the older age. As MTV is based around celebrities and music they
assure that who ever they appear on their TV must either have something to do
with music or dramatic reality TV show which turns out to be successful, jersey
shore is one of the successful realities TV shows they air as it has become almost
international.
Media Audiences
Jersey shore
main audience is working class CDE people aged between 16 to late 35 as the
cast members them selves are old around their 30 therefore it is acceptable up
to that age. It is targeted to both males and females as it includes male and
female members in the show therefore the show relates to both sides and
probably live their life in some kind of way the same.
The probable audience readings
of this text are that they are not very intelligent which therefore makes it
more entertaining and funny, “drama” and gossip is a factor in society that
cant be avoided, they live materialistic and superficial lifestyles.
The audience pleasures are
mainly entertainment as there are rarely any deep social issues discussed and
it neither being educational. The uses and gratifications in this text –
Blumler and Katz’ theory – first and foremost; entertainment – audience may use
this show as a form of escapism or relaxation – it could be also said that
integration and social identity as well as personal identity are also the uses
and gratifications in this text.
I, as an audience member read
and evaluate the text mainly in a light-hearted and light entertainment manner.
My age, gender and background has influenced my reading and evaluation of the
text as this programme is mainly aimed at females which make it more acceptable
for me to watch.
Media
Languages/Forms
The
denotative levels of meaning are that there are men and women who are quite
young – between 20 to 30 years old, they are in a studio recording a promo for
the show. The connotative levels of meaning are that they are not that
intelligent as they keep saying “erm...” or not really paying attention to the
questions being asked.
The non
verbal structures of meaning are that the males are quite confident due to
their facial expressions – them being the first to make a move on girls. The
females come across as vain and worried about their appearance as they also
touch or fix their hair briefly, this is also the case with some of the males
too. Lastly their clothing is very high street like – something you’d
wear everyday. Also the females are wearing a lot of makeup. The lighting
in all the series are very high key, although it’s meant to come across
as “real” the high and low key lighting is exaggerated to make the scenario
seem idealistic to the setting.
The makeup is
quite perfect and gives them an airbrushed flawless look which connotes vanity.
The props used in the series 2 and 3 promos signify wealth; this includes their champagne, etc.
Media Values
And Ideology
There aren’t any major values
in this text as it isn’t very deep and is mainly created for sole entertainment
purposes. The ideology this text portrays is a theme of narcissism –
and that this is they way people should lead their lifestyles. And not caring
about much else in life. It also rids of the usual ideology that portrays
people as clever – the cast members don’t seem to mind being portrayed as dumb
– as it is mainly for entertainment. The
assumptions that underpin this text are that people from US are unintelligent,
only care about the way they look and are always in the center of drama or
confrontations – these aren't particularly positive assumptions.
The criteria that was used for
selecting the content presented was that the type of people they selected for
the cast wouldn't be afraid to speak their mind or to instigate as
this would create the drama element in the show. Additionally these people wouldn't particularly mind being portrayed in a negative way.
The main focus on
the male characters - they are represented as the more dominant characters
as they go from one girl to the next and take advantages of the girls. This
makes the girls be seen as alternative and not that important- they
are stereotyped as "sex objects" or "toys"
because the men just have sex with them and then shut them out of their lives. The stereotypes are not
fair or accurate at all in this series as throughout each episode it shows men taking
advantage of women
The men on the show portray metro-sexuality because they are highly
concerned with their bodies, hair, and clothes.( ladies desire most) On the
other hand, they exude macho-maleness because of their muscular bodies, often
confrontational behaviour, and sexual promiscuity with the opposite sexThey
like to dress
hyper-feminized.
They have long hair ( use hair extensions to
enhance this), apply tons of makeup, wear tight, revealing clothes and
always have
manicured nails.
Their outward appearance are seen as highly feminine
however, their behaviour blurs the lines. E.G The most famous Jersey
Shore star, “Snooki”, has
been shown swearing,
talking about sex and peeing outside in public - these
are masculine tropes and their behaviours do not represent, in any way a
feminine form.The Jersey Shore main attraction is to “juice heads”. This refers to an extremely
muscular, tan, attractive, Italian man.
The male gaze theory
Usually Italian American women have a stereotype and are
seen to take the expressive role in the family as the cook, housewives and
looking after the children and are in a patriarchy based family. Their norms
and values are based around familial ideology. The jersey shore girls show
how the new generation has changed their values in that they are more
promiscuous but they also try and keep the old fashion values The male
gaze theory can
be seen in Jersey Shore because we see the four girls in stereotypical roles
that woman play, most of the girls are seen as the sluts. This can be seen in
episode 3 season 3 when Snooki repeatedly keeps asking Vinny to
sleep with her while she is drunk, she is being represented as a slut to the
audience which is accepted as a norm which makes us believe that this is the
way a women’s role should be shown.
To conclude, It
is not surprising that the men are dedicated to objectifying and humiliating
women. Also Females being objectified and ranking women based on their
appearance.Moreover, E-media constantly reminds us that we’re not good enough,
we need to be fixed, and that our value lies in our youth and beauty. Our
culture teaches women that our worth is directly related to how we
look- Teaches us that the prettier you are the more successful you will be.
