This document discusses how ideology is portrayed in films. It defines ideology as a set of ideas that reflect social values and influence beliefs and actions. Films can promote certain dominant ideologies around topics like family values, work ethic, consumerism, and gender roles. For example, many early Disney films portrayed women as dependent on men and finding romance as their primary goal. While more recent films like Sex in the City show how ideologies have evolved over time to depict women as more independent, they still reinforce the ideology of marriage as the ultimate achievement. The way things are portrayed in films shapes societal understanding and experiences of those topics in real life.

1. Ideology in films
Talia Smith

2. Ideology
 Ideology is usually defined as a body of ideas
reflecting the social needs and aspirations of an
individual, group, class, or culture which can influence
people’s beliefs and actions.
 Audiences can interpret these ideas differently
depending on the individual.

3.  An example is the Ideology of women; nowadays
women are seen as more equal within society.

4. Dominant Ideologies
 Family values – family units and marriage is ideal, getting married
and then having kids.
 Sex outside marriage is bad, having affairs is frowned upon.
 Work ethic – those who work hard become successful, lazy work
avoiders are looked down on.
 Consumerism – shopping is seen as retail therapy and being in
possession of many things is seen as a way to achieve happiness.
 Society – the ideologies about society are that it’s falling apart
when we are society

5. Ideologies in Disney
 Ideologies brought about by
disney films is that women are
dependent on a man, finding
love and marriage is the
ultimate goal.
 It also gives the ideology of
body image, these characters
are seen as commercially
beautiful when really they
have body proportions that
are not physically possible,
therefore distorting societies
ideas on body image making
women strive for something
not humanly possible.
The period of time the majority of disney
princess films were made was a time when
women were not seen as equal with men and
stayed at home cleaning and were under male
power. For example, Cinderella has to clean for a
living and Ariel was treat like a prisoner by her
father and was forbidden to educate herself with
the wonders of the sea (though she did anyway!)

6. Evolved ideologies
 In sex in the city it shows the
ideology of women has
changed over time as women
have become more
independent and have no
limits on how successful they
can be.
 However they still reinforce
the dominant ideology of
marriage being the ‘ultimate
goal’.

7. Ideology
 The way certain things and people are shown in film
contributes to the ways which these things are
understood and experienced in real life. Choices in
the form within film (mise-en-scene, editing, visual
design and literary design) convey particular
messages and give impacts on the viewers, with
repetition and time these become conventions.
Conventions maintain power in the way things
continue to be created and broadcasted.