Planning: Binary Structures

The Binary Structuralism

The Binary Structuralism is the representation of a character. These characters within the media are taken through a process by which characters are analysed beyond what is merely shown.

The way these characters are analysed can be in various ways.

• The way they dress
• Their language
• Their location
• Where the location is shot
• And their interactions with other people.

Characters are represented by their relationship to power and the societal value that is connected to that power.

These groups are called Stereotypes.

Stereotypes are oversimplified definitions of a person or a type of person which can be seen as a narrow definition which do not allow opportunity to change which leads to prejudice.

In the media, the producers use stereotypes in their films because they are well known and because they are subjective (good or bad depending on who). Another reason why producers use stereotypes in their films are because they

 are easily understood to a wide range of viewers, it saves time to use them and can lead to easy comic situations such as the movie Borat.

Demographics

Demographic is the form of "Categorising people". An example of being demographic would be like, if they find a student wearing a uniform doing an activity that is usually frowned upon, the community would automatically think that the whole school has this behaviour.

Sentences usually start of as "This school makes them......"

  

As with the binary Structure

The binary structure is seen with the ideal-I, audiences often look for images which compliment their own self images. As of 2009, white British account for 80% of television viewers, Because of this, lots of television shows appeal to white people which creates a system that breaks it into two parts - Good and Bad.

Age

Age has ranges, Old, Middle Aged and Young.

Old- Old people have the money, the time, but they haven't got the energy. In modern society, Old people have power, However, in the media, old people are seen as weak and unable to defend themselves making them an ultra-conservative. The age range would be 40+ to be classified as Old.

Middle Aged- Middle aged people have the money, the energy but never any time. This is because normally, the middle aged group are normally the working group. This age group are known as professionals because they have the power over the other two groups. The age range is 21-40.

Young- This age group have the time and the energy but not money. the age group is normally 20 and below. To everyone else, they are seen as troublemakers because of stereotypes.

 Race

 EMG's (Ethnic Minority Group) are portrayed as subservient. Subservient means being prepared to obey others without any questions whatsoever. Examples of ethnic minority groups within the UK would be White Americans, Black Africans, Asians and so on. Often, ethnic minority groups are involved in drugs, violence and anti-social behaviour. Furthermore, they are self aware of the inability to climb the social ladder e.g. they are unlikely to be rich.

Class

There are  three different types of class that are stereotyped within the media. These are the lower class, the middle class and the upper class.

The upper class only associate themselves with other members within the same class. If they were to interact with lower classes, then it would usually be in employer/employee relationships. They are usually seen as highly educated/albeit ignorant to the plights of the lower class.

The lower class are always portrayed as having no work or skill, addicted to drugs/alcohol/both and if they have children, they are usually bad parents. In addition to that,  they do not care about

 Gender

Both male and female are stereotyped within the media. However, women are objectified are sexual objects for men. This means that the only time that a man would want a woman is when they want sex. They are also often subservient to men in both professional and personal relationships. An example of a woman being subservient to men in professional relationships would be that the woman either be a secretary or a receptionist and they would have to obey the rules and the boss (male) had ordered them to do. An example of a woman being subservient to her man in a personal relationship would be when the man would go to work and be the breadwinner of the family and he has ordered the woman to do the cooking, cleaning and the gardening etc. On the other hand, the male would be powerful, dominant and wants everything to be done exactly the way he wants. 

Sexuality

When it comes to media, homosexuals are often portrayed as ultra-feminine or ultra-masculine depending on the gender. Usually, male homosexuals would be seen as ultra-feminine. For example they would talk like women (" work it girlfriend") and they would usually wear skinny clothing such as skinny jeans and crop tops. In addition to that, female homosexuals would often be portrayed as ultra-masculine. For instance, they would talk like men (" What's up bro") and they would wear loose clothing such as tracksuits, trench coats and sometimes have might see them wearing clothes that have been made specifically for men. Their work roles are usually hospitality or industry based (designers, bar, club etc.) Furthermore, they live the party-boy lifestyle i.e. sex, drugs and obviously partying.



Region


Regional representations are often ignorant to the ideals of mainstream culture. Regional representation often very heavily stereotyped. London is the biggest region in the UK as this is where most people live so this means that the TV shows most satisfy that region.