Marxism & hegemony: blog tasks

Task 1: Mail Online review of Capital

1) Re-read the Mail Online review of Capital. Why does it suggest that Capital features a left-wing ideology?

This article suggest that Capital is features a left wing ideology as they present the characters differently depending on their character type. This means that ethnic minorities are seen as the victims and are hardworking which makes the audience sympathise with their situation. Whereas, Roger and his family are portrayed as insensitive and hard-heated as they're successful and come from a higher background. 

2) Choose three quotes from the review that are particularly critical of Capital and paste them into your blogpost. Do you agree with the criticisms? Why? 

"But that concept went nowhere. The residents were bemused, but not scared"- This means that this article criticises the plot as it was not intriguing and that settled a narrative that was not understandable.

"Everything British came in for a dose of loathing"-  I agree with this statement as he portrayed the other family characters as wholesome and caring which signifies that ethnic minority holds just amount of family values as a traditional white family.However, it portrayed Roger's family as not loving and only caring about their income rather than family. 

"Capital was as stuffed full with fashionable causes as Jeremy Corbyn’s function diary" - This criticism was illustrating that this series was full of unattainable promises about representation to fit the left-wing agenda and to please that audience. 

3) What scenes or characters from Capital could be read as promoting left-wing ideology?

The characters that promote the left-wing ideology would be the Asian family as when they had reported the mysterious postcards and the officer had came Ahmed (the father) was professional and telling the ifficer about his compliant however the cousin Usman was being rude and saying that the police is no good anf favour white people. 




Task 2: Media Factsheet - Applying Marxism 

1) What does Marxism suggest regarding power in society?

Marxism suggests that power is held by the elites that control the money as they would have the most influence. This means that only a small percentage of people are opinion leaders that have impacts average citizens lives. 


2) Why is The Apprentice a good example of the media reinforcing capitalist values and ideologies?

The Apprentice is a good example of the media reinforcing capitalist values as they Lord Sugar is the superior leader and holds the power to help out a business he believes in.  

3) Come up with three examples of media texts (e.g. TV programmes, newspapers etc.) that either fetishise working class life or demonise working class life or poor people (e.g. The Daily Mail and The Sun newspapers regularly demonise people living on benefits with headlines referring to 'scroungers'.)

1) An example would be the media text (magazine) GQ men's and women magazine as it flashes the professional wealth of the rich. 

2) Another example would be the TV show Power as it shows the struggles of coming from a bad background and how that lifestyle will follow your future actions. 

3) The documentaries about children from poor background going through harsh sitattion and how the system fails them an example would be The trial of Gabriel Fernandez. 

4) Look at the bullet points on page 4 of the factsheet:

• show the values of the power elite as beneficial to the mass
• show queries or challenges to the base as meaningless, foolish or anti-social via ‘failed revolt’
• show the subdominant position of the masses as a naturalised idea
• show the values of the power elite as ‘natural’ or ‘right’
• show that being a member of the mass is a good thing
• show the masses accepting the values of the power elite
• show the values of the power elite as being ‘for the good of the masses’ (even when unpleasant)

Task 3: Media Magazine feature on BBC drama The Casual Vacancy and ideology

Finally, go to our Media Magazine archive and read the feature 'The Beeb, The Mail and JKR' in MM53 (page 20). This focuses on the politics of The Casual Vacancy, another BBC three-part drama based on a book by JK Rowling.




Answer the questions below:

1) Why did the Daily Mail suggest The Casual Vacancy promoted a left-wing ideology?

The casual Vacancy promotes a left wing ideology as it makes fun of the wealthier residents and shows their lavish lifestyle. 




2) How does the article suggest characters, narrative and setting are used to promote a left-wing ideology?

There are different characters shows the indifference such as the young mother and son seeking help as they are poor however Barry another character is seen as the hero. 



3) What research is quoted regarding BBC bias and what did it find? Do you think the BBC is biased?

The BBC can be seen as biased as some articles they put out favour some parties more than others. In my opinion, the BBC is not biased as it reflects the vales of different political parties which means that its not biased rather objective and in-depth. 





4) Gramsci's theory of hegemony suggests people are kept under control through active consent - the control of 'common sense'. How could you apply the Daily Mail or the BBC to the idea of hegemony and dominant ideologies in the UK media?

The daily mail is more right wing as they are against immigration, racism etc. This means that their viewers accept their views and opinions and possibly are all right wing as well. As a result, the daily mail premeditated a biased agenda as they're more likely to favour right-winged values.