UNDERSTANDING VALUES

All media texts are constructed. As a result, they often reflect social values – the views, attitudes and beliefs – of the period in which they are produced. Although there are many values that do not change – we all believe that murder is immoral, for example – many of the other values that we hold are in a state of constant flux. Social values can be considered dominant, emerging or oppositional. Dominant values are those held by the majority of people in a society (Hegemony).  Emerging values are beliefs or attitudes held by a growing number of people in a society. When studying historical texts, these values may eventually become dominant. Oppositional values are beliefs which are in direct opposition to those held by the majority of people in a society.

THINKING ABOUT PRODUCTION CONTEXT

When writing about your text, it is important to identify the production context. Who made the text? When was it created? What country was it made in? The text’s time and place of production can help us understand the social values that the text embodies.

Although this is not a study of history, it is important that you can write authoritatively about the time and place in which your text was created. Don’t make simplistic, generalised or unjustifiable statements. If you’re writing about a television program that was made in 1950s America, for example, it is not useful to say that ‘all women were housewives’. You might, instead, write something like this: “According to an article featured on the Organisation of American Historians website: “The late 1940s and 1950s witnessed a sharp reaction to the stresses of the Depression and war. If any decade has come to symbolize the traditional family, it is the 1950s. The average age of marriage for women dropped to twenty; divorce rates stabilized; and the birthrate doubled…democratization of the family ideals reflected social and economic circumstances that are unlikely to be duplicated: a reaction against Depression hardships and the upheavals of World War II; the affordability of single-family track homes in the booming suburbs; and rapidly rising real incomes.’” That’s a much more confident and authoritative description of the production period. Statistics, encyclopaedic entries and other evidence is a great way to show that you understand the period in which your text was produced and how that might have influenced its construction.

Also, try not to confuse the production period of your text with its setting. James Cameron’s Titanic, for example, reflects the social values of mid-nineties America, not the values and beliefs of England in 1912. If you’re having trouble remembering this, here’s a good example: The Flintstones reflects the social values of 1960s America, not the social values of the Palaeolithic Era!

IDENTIFYING SOCIAL VALUES

Once you’ve developed a clear understanding of the time and place in which your text was produced, start to think about the values that it embodies. Watch the text a number of times. What values, beliefs and attitudes are reflected in the narrative? Which characters are the audience encouraged to identify with? Which characters are represented in a positive way? Which characters are represented in a negative light?

When you’ve watched the text a few times, it’s time to start nailing down the social values. When you’re writing about the social values, they need to be identified clearly. In previous exams, students have used single words like ‘love’ and ‘families’ to identify values in the texts they have studied.

Social values are complex. They cannot be reduced to single words. If you want to successfully identify a social value, you will need to explain it more carefully in a way that clearly identifies values, attitudes and beliefs held during the production period.

Here are some examples:

• Leave it to Beaver supports the dominant social value that there should be a clear distinction between gender roles, that women should take care of the family while men earn money to support it.

• Aliens reflects the dominant social value in 1980s America that there should be greater gender equality, that men and women are capable of performing the same roles.

• Produced in the 1950s, following the devastation unleashed on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Forbidden Planet reflects the emerging social value that technology has the potential to be a significant threat to humankind.

DESCRIBING REPRESENTATIONS

When examining the social values in a text, values are rarely stated explicitly. Rather, it is up to you to look closely at representations within the text and think about the way these have been shaped by the values, views and attitudes of the period in which it was produced.

All media texts are constructed. It is because these representations are constructed that they often, very unintentionally, reflect the the social values of the period of production. If you are able to successfully identify and describe representations within your text and comment on how these representations reflect social values, you’ll give yourself a real edge when it comes to the Media exam.

When describing representations, it is important to make references to appropriate codes and conventions. If you’re studying a film or television program, you might like to consider how the following codes contribute to the representations in the text and, ultimately, what they reveal about social values during the texts production period.

• Camera techniques. How has the camera been used in this text? Films often feature more adventurous and stylised use of camera compared to situation comedies. Nevertheless, when studying such television texts, you might like to consider why particular shot sizes have been used and the effect this has on the audience. Why is a close up used to show a particular character and what effect does it have on the nature of the representation?

• Acting. How does acting contribute to the representation of a character? What does this reveal about social values during this period?

• Mise-en-scene. How does mise-en-scene contribute to the representation of characters and institutions? What type of costumes are the characters wearing? How do these reflect the values and attitudes of the period in which the text was produced?

• Visual editing. Editing is an important part of the production process. When we watch a film or television or program, the editing often appears seamless and natural Nevertheless, editing decisions make an important contribution to the representation. In a sitcom, after a joke, the editor might choose to cut in on the expression of one character instead of another.

• Lighting. The lighting of characters or scenes might reflect values held during the text’s production period. Why is one character lit more generously than another? Again, films often contain more stylised lighting compared to situation comedies, which are often filmed on sound stages with high key lighting. However, if you are studying such a text, you might be able to find examples of how lighting contributes to the representation.

• Sound editing. Sitcoms are often filmed in front of live studio audiences and their reaction to jokes is mixed in later. In other cases, pre-recorded laughter is added to the final mix. What does the audience reaction tell us about the social values of this period?

• Dialogue can often be very revealing about the values and attitudes of the production period. What do characters say? What does this reveal about the values, beliefs and attitudes of the time?

• Music. Music often makes an important contribution to representations in a film or television program. What does the use of music tell the audience about particular characters or situations? What does its use reveal about social values during the production period?

OVERVIEW

Remember these things when studying ‘Media texts and society’s values’:

• Discourse refers to the creation of meaning through the interrelationship of texts, audiences and media organisations in society. A discourse is like an ongoing discussion about an idea or social issue.

• Social values are the values, beliefs and attitudes held in a society.

• Social values can be dominant, emerging, oppositional or alternative.

• To understand the social values in a text, you must have a clear understanding of when and where it was produced.

• Do not make simplistic generalisations about a text’s production period.

• When writing about social values, identify and explain them clearly.

• Social values cannot be reduced to single words like ‘love’ or ‘family’.

• Describe representations in the text and explain how these may have been shaped and consequently reflect social values during the production period.

• Make reference to appropriate codes and conventions in the description of these representations.

• Use terminology appropriate to the study.

• The best responses are detailed, specific and well-informed