Media Theory

Media Language

Neale - Genre 

  • Repletion and hybridity of genres 
  • audience expects twisting and enigmatic narrative that utilize tropes from genres 
  • Genres are not fixed but constantly evolve
    • KE uses a hybrid of spy and thriller mystery whilst LP uses mystery and crime thriller elements 
    • LFTVD has access to star vehicles which lowers reliance on genres
Todorov - Narratology 
  • different stages of narrative once identified allow revelation of the values and ideologies that are intended to be spread 
  • narratives follow the pattern of equilibrium - disruption - recognition - solving - new equilibrium 
  • movement from equilibrium to new equilibrium provides a change
    • struggles in explaining LFTVD with serial narratives, analysis of a single episode often only follows a few stages such as equilibrium to the disruption or equilibrium to the attempt to solve due to the continuous nature of  a series over  a film or book 
    • characterization over along period is not accounted for
    • KE arguably ends at the recognition of disruption for the overarching story, with Eve joining the special taskforce focused on Russia, whilst the episode itself could be said to have Villanelle's killings be the disruption and Eve's position change being a new equilibrium 
    • LP arguably has 2 equilibriums with one being present in the flashback scenes which is then developed, with the narrative being performed in a non chronological order via the use of cutbacks, this however s also subsequent to being pointless in consideration that the whole episode is simply an introductory prologue to introduce Assane and the police as characters and the premise of the show 
Barthes - semiology
  • meaning is constructed through signs and what they signify (connotation and denotation)
  • Myths describe the way in which connotations have become naturalized 
  • meanings created by myths reflect the dominant values and ideologies of the populace
    • Useful for micro analysis of specific details, large analysis of a whole product is harder due to how many signs are used but the micro signs may lead into a greater understanding of the whole for  a show is the sum of all of its parts
    • KE utilizes Russia as the main antagonist which in both denotation and connotation antagonizes Russia to appeal to the western US audience that is still haunted by remnants of the cold war and ghost of a communist dystopia they once competed with
      • Symbolism such as Villanelle's fashion based bags and her luxury furnishings create a connotations that characterize her on a micro level, such as maintaining femininity in a male dominated field (assassination) 
    • LP utilizes intertextual denotation of Arsene Lupin to connote Lupin's nature, alongside the famous Paris landmarks such as the Louvre to emphasize worldbuilding 
Levi Strauss - Structuralism 
  • Binary opposition in narratives (e.g. light vs dark, good vs bad)
  • pairs of opposed conflicting forces 
    • identifying the pairs of conflict in a text allow a greater understanding of ideological analyses the ideological effect of representations
    • is not specific enough to be overly effective for understanding LFTVD 
    • KE - Russia vs UK but on a technicality despite the UK setting the shows American production means that on a surface level what appears to be the UK vs Russia is actually the antagonist feud of America and Russia that maintains constant tension since the cold war 
      • very clear usage of good vs bad present with the MI5 and assassins as well
    • LP uses the poor vs the wealthy alongside dominant ethnicity vs minority to construct the social issues present in a Paris climate and the issues that come being a working class Black man in white patriarchal and xenophobic society
Baudrillard - Postmodernism 
  • Postmodern society is organized around simulation with the play of images and signs 
  • social distinctions suffer implosion as individuals now live in a world of simulation where identity is constructed e.g. gender, class, politics 
  • hyperreality has been created and is more real than the real, controlling thoughts and behavior
    • Disneyland serves as an institution to perfectly fit hyperreality, a land of imitation and simulation that presents a reality more true than the real
    • Useful in analyzing media texts after their release to analyses the false real they depict of a certain time
    • KE utilizes hyperreality in its creation of an MI5 headquarters and view of Britain and Russian assassins 
    • LP's depiction of Paris and the upper class alongside the slum life given to those who live in a working class set of tower blocks is a simulated reality
Representation

Gilroy - post colonialism 
  • Black Atlantic - blending of black cultures from Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and America
  • Postcolonialism suggests that despite the failure to mourn the loss of an empire history still influences our behavior and media representations of different ethnicities
  • white western superiority is still portrayed in media due to colonial ideology
    • race and ethnicity is the focus so only focuses on these inequalities and not others 
    • KE portrays white western superiority by antagonizing Villanelle a Russian whilst also maintaining  a multiculturalist depiction of Britain  






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