AQA Media Studies for A Level: Revision Guide

AQA Media Studies for A Level Revision Guide 82 • This process of mediation allows the producer to encode ( Hall ) meaning. The producer will try to x meaning in the representations to help encourage the audience to decode the intended meaning. The producer cannot guarantee that the audience will do this, of course. • Stereotypes : often used to communicate simple ideas, quickly and easily. Audiences recognise stereotypes and are able to interpret complex ideas from simple media language combinations. Stereotypes simplify and reduce, so are often seen as negative – especially when the stereotype re ects inaccurate or prejudicial ideas. All stereotypes assume that everyone within, for example, a group shares the same traits. A common stereotype of teenagers is that they are lazy. While this is true of some teenagers, it is not true of all of them but simply feeds into negative ideas of this age group from an adult perspective. Stereotypes are part of a constructed reality created by media representations that may relate to an objective reality in some way but do not re ect the full truth about the subject of the representation. • Not all stereotypes are negative . Some create positive ideas about a group – for example, the stereotype that gay men are interested in interior design and fashion. This stereotype is not particularly harmful or derogatory but is still limiting the group to a set of interests that will not be shared by all members of the group. If we deconstruct this stereotype further, though, we can see that it positions gay men in the ‘domestic sphere’ – a traditionally feminine location – reinforcing the idea that to be gay is to be less than masculine in some way. • A countertype : a conscious attempt to create an alternative idea that challenges traditional stereotypes. Twentieth-century media saw non-white groups represented using a range of lazy and often racist stereotypes. Some media products attempted to counter the ideas that they communicated by creating new ‘types’ – for example, the wealthy and successful black family in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air or the tough private investigator in The Good Wife . Subverting racial stereotypes in The Good Wife .