THEORISTSBy Sophie Bennett

David Chandler

He believed that representation always involves the construction of reality.

Referring to both the process and the products. For example: The key markers of identity- Class, Age, Gender and Ethnicity, they not only involve how identities are represented within the text but also how they are constructed in the processes of production and representation by people whose identities are also marked differently.

Richard Dyer

He believed that how we see people are how we treat people.

“How we are seen determines how we are treated, how we treat others is based on how we see them, how we see them comes from representation”.

Therefore when you meet people you will have an opinion of them already from the way they are represented through the media, before you even speak to them.

Henry Jenkins

He believed in cultural convergence, meaning when consumers are empowered to edit, annotate and create content. For example: social networking sites.

This means real people are allowed to represent themselves for what they really are not how they are in the media.

Anthony Giddens

He believed ideology refers to the influence of ideas on peoples beliefs and actions.

Talking about identity being a conscious activity- He said how traditionally we have found our self's in clearly defined roles based on age, gender and sexuality. Now we have to work this out ourselves.

Ronald Barthes

He believed that representations are myths/mythic.

A blurring between what is real and what is not, for example celebrity images.

Representations can be founded on reality or a reality that does not exist.

George Gerbner

He started the Cultivation theory. His theory helped people understand how

important the media was. ‘Drip drop’ but slowing down from an immediate effect to a slower more accumulative effect.

Cultivation theorists argue that media has a long term effect which is gradual.

Jean Baudrillard

He is known for the concept of Hyper Reality, when something is real however is based on something which is not.

The division between ‘real’ and simulation has collapsed therefore an illusion of an object is no longer possible because the real object is no longer there.

For example, Disney would exists in the real world yet is based on a fictional make.

Laura Mulvey

Male gaze theory, the media is made by men for men.

The theory denies women human identity, often in the media women are portrayed as sex objects and being admired for their physical appearance and nothing else.

The theory also suggests that women watch a film not from a secondary perspective but from the men's perspective.