3. Starter 1
• A) 3 prison officers, 5 prisoners
– Officers in centre
– Prisoners around them
• B) 3 prison officers, 5 prisoners
– Officers in classroom
– Prisoners in small room (cell)
4. Starter 1 - Questions
• Scene A
– How did you feel?
– Why did you feel that way?
– How did you behave?
– Why do you think you behaved that way?
• Scene B
– How did you feel?
– Why did you feel that way?
– How did you behave?
– Why do you think you behaved that way?
• The difference?
– How do did you behave differently from scene a to b?
– Why do you think you behaved differently?
5. Starter 2
• Imagine your ‘best’ Facebook profile picture
– Does it actually look like the ‘real’ you?
– How did you make yourself look ideal?
– Why did you make yourself look ideal?
– Why do you think the idea of an audience looking at this
picture/profile changes you and your behaviour?
– What is the ‘effect’ of ‘idealising’ yourself online?
7. Key terms
• Pan = sweeping movement to reveal more
(broad view or broad in scope)
• Optic = using sight
• Voyeurism = the act of watching
8. Key Terms
• Panopticon = circular prison well cells around
outside with central surveillance station
• Panoptic/Panoptical = including everything
visible in 1 view
9. Panopticon – the prison
• The Panopiticon was an innovate prison
design by English philosopher Jeremy
Bentham in 1785. In it he designed a prison in
which all inmates could be constantly
watched or be under the threat of being
watched.
10.
11. Michel Foucault (1926-1984)
• Foucault's ideas centred on
History, particularly around how
we know about the world around
us and each other. He wrote
extensively on the history of
sexuality and gender and was a
pioneer of "Queer Theory" he
main contributions include.
• Panopticalisation
• Knowledge and Power
• He died from an AID's related
illness in 1984
12. Focault – main points
• Foucault's ideas explain why we are so obsessed with Voyeurism in
Postmodernity.
• Foucault thought that ‘the panopticon’ was interesting and started to
apply the idea to Society
• Foucault suggested that the act of watching (voyeurism) was an act of
power and control on part of the viewer. We are never ourselves in social
situations until we are alone away from others controlling sight.
• Because of this people act differently and the act of watching becomes
an act of control.
• Recently Foucault's ideas have been used to understand Reality TV and
the Media.
13. Task (13D)
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4
Catfish
Reality TV:
X factor
big brother/
I’m a celeb, get me
out of here!
Social Networking:
Facebook, twitter
etc
Gogglebox
14. Task (13C)
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4
Catfish
Reality TV:
X factor
big brother/
I’m a celeb, get me
out of here!
Social Networking:
Facebook, twitter
etc
Gogglebox
15. Task
• To what extent are these texts ‘Panopticon’s? How can you apply the
theory of panopticanisation to these texts? How/why do ‘people’ change
their behaviour because they know they are being watched?
• How does the feeling change for the audience vs. the people being
watched?
• Are the people in the texts (contestants/people’s profile) real or
hyperreal? How? Why?
• How does it feel watching these texts?
• The audience are voyeurs; are they dependant on observing others? How?
Why?
• How is the audience ‘in control’ while watching/observing these texts?
18. PERISCOPE
Mediating and curating your own life!
• How is it voyeuristic?
• How can you apply the theory of panopticanisation?
• Who is in control?
• Link to hyperreality?
• Effect on audience?
• Issues/debates?
• Read article…..
19. Issues with periscope
• People like watching – we’re all voyeurs? Isn’t that sad?
– We spend more time watching and gazing upon other people’s lives
• We can experience ‘real’ life with people we love (i.e baby first steps around the world)
– But it’s not real!!!!!!! It’s MEDIATED (media reality)
– Very easy to lead into hyperreality
• Hybridity? = skype+instagram or like live feed on facebook
• Stephen Amell (live)
• Makes world smaller (celebs can read/share etc (which can ‘advertise’ or ‘help’ – self promotion
• Panopticanisation – people change their behaviour when they know they are being watched (according to
their agenda)
– Often this is to create or change people’s perceptions (like celebs in reality tv show)
– Positive: can actually break incorrect representations (you can see what they are really like as to the image the media
created of them)
– Negative: can be very false – they can create an invented persona , can create ‘haters’, open to abuse etc you will
change yourself to suit the audience’s needs (behaving to satisfy THEM and not YOU)
• Negative side:
– Don’t know who is watching
– What is appropriate?
– How do we police? Who governs this?
– Open to abuse/neglect?
– VANITY – self promotion and self centred?
– IT’s HYPERREAL (it’s a faster route into hyperreality – as she said no filters and it’s live etc)
– It’s a FRAGMENT of reality – think of what you DON’T SEE (like the kardashians?)
• You think you know someone, but you don’t! Can affect our perspectives and our views on relationships
21. Can you apply to other case
studies/media texts??
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3FD18S
vnEQ
• Snapchat
• Vine
22. Summary of Foucault
Voyeurism (the act of
watching) changes the way
people behave/present
themselves
Reality TV reflects a
voyeuristic Postmodern
society
Social Networking and the
internet give us greater
control over voyeurism
23. Task
• Write a paragraph to respond to the question (10 mins):
How are texts postmodern?
Focus on Foucault and voyeurism and panopticanisation.
You could structure as:
-explain context of panoptican and F’s theory (brief)
-apply to case study, give example, explain (PEA)
-link to hyperreality?
-issues/debates?
