Applying Marxism
1) What does Marxism suggest regarding power in society?
The Marxism theory suggests that the mass media in maintaining the status quo, suggesting power is concentrated in the hands of a narrow elite. The larger companies make lower classes rely on them to regulate the power consistently.
2) Why is The Apprentice a good example of the media reinforcing capitalist values and ideologies?
Every week the people with less power than the bosses are sent out with the objective of making as much money as possible in order to please the people in charge. Alan Sugar, a white male that dresses in suits on every occasion we see him, holds all the power over the 20 regular people. This is a micro representation of society according to Marxists- A few people hold all the power over a mass of people.
3) Come up with three examples of media texts (e.g. TV programmes, newspapers etc.) that either fetishise working class life (e.g. EastEnders presents quite a harmonious East End community which probably doesn't accurately reflect East London 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'.)
5) Look at the bullet points on page 4 of the factsheet:
When making a Marxist reading of a text, look out for representations that:
In terms of Capital, the elite are shown to be only a handful of people in a mass of unfortunately ordinary people. The Younts seem to hold more money than everyone on the street put together, even though they arguably work 10 times less than each of them. This representation isn't challenged, however, and this might be because the producers wanted to show a completely honest and non-suggestive view of London and not because they wanted to deliberately reinforce these unwritten rules as 'natural'. In Capital, being a member of a mass is shown to be normal as that is what sees to make a community- they all as a mass suffered the same problems and they are for that reason, quite literally, brought together to find a solution. This, again, may have been done to show a true representation of London and not to suggest that this is why we should all conform to being part of a mass. On the other hand, it can be argued that the producers wanted to show this effect, or convey a message that his is what we are living like:mindlessly conforming to the mass mentality. The characters all accept the power of the elite and people in charge indirectly- each of them accept the housing prices rising while the people responsible are nowhere to be seen in the actual show.
The Marxism theory suggests that the mass media in maintaining the status quo, suggesting power is concentrated in the hands of a narrow elite. The larger companies make lower classes rely on them to regulate the power consistently.
2) Why is The Apprentice a good example of the media reinforcing capitalist values and ideologies?
Every week the people with less power than the bosses are sent out with the objective of making as much money as possible in order to please the people in charge. Alan Sugar, a white male that dresses in suits on every occasion we see him, holds all the power over the 20 regular people. This is a micro representation of society according to Marxists- A few people hold all the power over a mass of people.
3) Come up with three examples of media texts (e.g. TV programmes, newspapers etc.) that either fetishise working class life (e.g. EastEnders presents quite a harmonious East End community which probably doesn't accurately reflect East London 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'.)
- The Royle Family: This show fetishises working class life and arguably even lower than that as the family works harmoniously and have a great love for each other along with a sense of humour. They also rarely are shown to have any serious problems.
- Only Fools and Horses: This show, similar to The Royle Family, shows working class people to be hardworking and loving towards their family with great humour. It also highlights how hard it can be for regular people to make a living when they haven't necessarily done anything to be put in that situation.
- Benefit's Street- Viewers have claimed that this show reinforces stereotypes rather than showing an honest and fair representation of people who are on benefits. 'So gripping was this poverty porn that, after the broadcast, voyeur tourists arrived in the street all week to shout abuse at its residents or simply to gawp like Victorian visitors to the lunatics of Bedlam.' (source: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/as-benefits-street-shows-we-are-quick-to-demonise-and-slow-to-understand-9053628.html)
5) Look at the bullet points on page 4 of the factsheet:
When making a Marxist reading of a text, look out for representations that:
- 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)
Now apply those bullet points to Capital. Think about the setting, characters and narrative strands - how many of the bullet points apply to Capital? Does Capital reinforce or challenge the values of capitalism? Give examples from episode 1 to support your points.
In terms of Capital, the elite are shown to be only a handful of people in a mass of unfortunately ordinary people. The Younts seem to hold more money than everyone on the street put together, even though they arguably work 10 times less than each of them. This representation isn't challenged, however, and this might be because the producers wanted to show a completely honest and non-suggestive view of London and not because they wanted to deliberately reinforce these unwritten rules as 'natural'. In Capital, being a member of a mass is shown to be normal as that is what sees to make a community- they all as a mass suffered the same problems and they are for that reason, quite literally, brought together to find a solution. This, again, may have been done to show a true representation of London and not to suggest that this is why we should all conform to being part of a mass. On the other hand, it can be argued that the producers wanted to show this effect, or convey a message that his is what we are living like:mindlessly conforming to the mass mentality. The characters all accept the power of the elite and people in charge indirectly- each of them accept the housing prices rising while the people responsible are nowhere to be seen in the actual show.
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