2. Representation refers to the construction in any medium, especially the mass media of
aspects of ‘reality’ such as people, places, objects, events, cultural identities and other
abstract concepts. Such representations may be in speech or writing as well as still or
moving pictures.
all media texts are re-presentations of reality. This means that they are intentionally
composed, lit, written, framed, cropped, captioned, branded, targeted and censored by
their producers, and that they are entirely artificial versions of the reality we perceive
around us. When studying the media it is vital to remember that every media form, from a
home video to a glossy magazine, is a representation of someone's concept of existence,
codified into a series of signs and symbols which can be read by an audience.
3. John Berger- said: “men act and women appear”
Berger points out that traditionally, men and women have different types of social
presence. Men are measured by the degree of power they offer. The power may be in
any number of forms, for example moral, physical, economic etc. A man’s presence
suggests what he may or may not be able to do to or for you. In contrast to this, a
woman’s presence indicates what can or cannot be done to her. Every thing she does
contributes to her presence. She is born into the keeping of men, and from childhood is
taught to survey herself, with the result that her being is split into two, the surveyed and
the surveyor. Her own sense of being is replaced by a sense of being appreciated by
others – ultimately men. He acts, she appears, and she watches herself being looked at.
‘The surveyor of woman in herself is male: the surveyed female. Thus she turns herself into
an object – and most particularly an object of vision: a sight.’
How does this theory link to the horror genre?
John’s theory on representation is shown in horror genre films and they take advantage
of this representation of women been seen as weak and vulnerable. However it has
came to my attention that many horror films have started to go challenge this
representation. In recent horror films the female characters are the survivors and the
men are the ones to die first. Also some films also have the women as the villain that kills
the men which tells the audience that the women is in control and have all power which
subverts the theory. Examples of these horror films that have turned the tables on the
gender stereotypes and representation are films such as I Spit on your Grave, Jennifer's
Body and Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003).
4. Karl Marx and Antonio Gramsci – Marxist perspectives
Karl Marx was interested in power. He did a lot of work thinking about how societies
are structured and how they are unfair. His main idea was that the masses (he called
them the proletariat) were controlled or dominated by the elite (the bourgeoisie). The
powerful elite (bourgeoisie) own the means of production and therefore they have
power over the workers (proletariat). This unfair social dominance serves the elite but it
is exploitative of the workers and society is kept like this because it suits those at the top.
The main way this is done is through the superstructure of society (the way people are
influenced) namely religion, education, law, politics. He called all this stuff the
‘ideological state apparatus’. If this didn’t work, then the bourgeoisie would crush their
working classes using the military state apparatus like the army and the police.
This theory is represented in some horror films were the bourgeoisies has a lot of power
and control over the lives taken the film. A example of this is the film ‘The Purge’ this
film clearly follows the theory and represents the society as unfair. In the film we see the
government as the bourgeoisies sending in military state apparatus to kill innocent
working classes that are less wealthy, in a way of lowering the population. Also there
are the wealthy families that have a sense of power and dominance to buy
proletariat's and kill them for there own entertainment. There are also horror films such
as Cabin In the Woods that also follow this representation theory of wealthy, controlled
and dominated characters in society given the power to end peoples lives.
