SUMMER HOMEWORK

Media Representations Who is being represented?

The text that I have chosen to study is Provoked, and within this movie manly Feminism is being portrayed with different race and gender.
In what way? I would say that the main Asian protagonist (Aishwarya Rai) has been seen in a negative way, making the Asians look low, and that the British still rule them. This is done through the racial comments made and pronunciation of her name.
By whom?

I would say that we as the audience perceive the protagonist, and they are getting perceived by the community (Asian community)
Why is the subject being represented in this way? I believe that the subject such as “ Feminism” and “Race” are being shown in this manner is because they are on the increase. Heavily focusing on Feminism we can argue that their position has changed a lot and are being seen as “active” and “breadwinners”.
Is the representation fair and accurate?

Provoked, heavily deals with the matters of Race, feminist and gender. At the start of the movie we see the main protagonist getting treated to others unfairly to the other stars (British Whites). Deliberately this is done, so that the audience be able to identify with the protagonist. I believe that the representation is not fair as they are deliberately making the Asian look and feel low.
What opportunities exist for self-representation by the subject?

As the film deals with rights and Feminists a lot, Aishwarya seeks help from her friend who is British White and is in jail with her, in order to get a appeal and win the case.

Media Languages and Forms

What are the denotative and connotative levels of meaning?

Looking at the text as a Whole, we can say that the denotative is Aishwarya Rai, as a female married. The connotative of this will be that, she has been portrayed as being passive, and inferior due to her accent as she cannot speak English well. Furthermore, her dress sense connotes that she is a typical Asian wife, and is seen as being inferior and passive towards the men.

What is the significance of the text’s connotations?

I believe it to be Female power, and status. What I mean about power is that looking at today’s world everything has changed, women now are seen to be superior and reject the patriarchal society. We can now say that a lot of females are being seen as dominant and fight back for their right and status. “Provoked” successful shows this and achieves.

What are the non-verbal structures of meaning in the text (e.g. gesture, facial expression, positional communication, clothing, props etc)

throughout the film we see various facial expression, the main type of facial expression we see is to be sad and emotional looks. We see Aishwarya crying throughout the film, and we see a lot of aggression also. This is done so that the target audience can identify with the protagonists.


What is the significance of mise-en-scene/sets/settings? “Provoked” has various types of mise en scene. The main obvious one is the house that they are all living in, this connotes that they are living in a Nuclear family. The outfit that we see in the movie is mainly Aishwarya wearing Indian clothes. This connotes that she is a typical Asian wife/mother. Adding on to this, Aishwarya also does not seem to be wearing make up in the movie, we can say that this connotes that Aishwarya is pure and is not viewed as being sexy. In the movie we also see that the shots are close ups and long shots. Close ups are seen when Aishwarya gets abused, we see some close up shots of Aishwarya bruised. This is again done so that the target audience can identify with her. Long shots are seen when Aishwarya first enters the jail, it shows the target audience the atmosphere in which she is in.

What work is being done by the sound track/commentary/language of the text? In the movie we hear a lot of parallel music, which the music is very emotional. We have sympathy towards Aishwarya, as she is the victim of abuse.
What are the dominant images and iconography, and what is their relevance to the major themes of the text? The dominant Images we see throughout the movie is abuse of marks on Aishwarya’s body. The connotation of this shows that we are living in a patriarchal society and that men are seen to be active and women are seen to be passive.

What sound and visual techniques are used to convey meaning (e.g. camera positioning, editing; the ways that images and sounds are combined to convey meaning)? Throughout the movie, we see plenty of close ups which convey Aishwarya’s feelings. Editing in the movie is slow and not fast, the reason for this being is so that the audience can identify and have sympathy towards her. Music is only heard when Aishwarya is abused and is crying so that is creates an huge impacts towards the audience.

Narrative

How is the narrative organised and structured?

The storyline is based on Aishwarya and how she feels towards her husband’s behaviour. The way it is mainly structured is by flashbacks, which reminds the audience that she is the victim of abuse.

How is the audience positioned in relation to the narrative?

They are seen to be the witnesses, and are positioned to sympathise with the victim. Females especially will have a strong impact as they tend to be victims of abuse.

How are characters delineated? What is their narrative function? How are heroes and villains created? In

the movie the villain is Aishwarya’s husband. We can say this because he abuses Aishwarya all the time, for no reason. High angel shots are seen on him , which makes the audience look up at him.
What techniques of identification and alienation are employed?

Facial expression, and music. This is because when Aishwarya gets abused it is seen from a close up shot.

What is the role of such features as sound, music, iconography, genre, mise-en-scene, editing etc within the narrative?

It make the whole movie going. And it has a great impact towards the audience, and makes things much easier and whom to identify with.

What are the major themes of the narrative? What values/ideologies does it embody?

I would personally say that the main themes are feminism, race, abuse and ethnicity. It makes the society look as of dominance still exists and that we are living in a patriarchal society.

Genre

To which genre does the text belong? I would say that it is feminism.
What are the major generic conventions within the text? Abuse and feminism.
What are the major iconographic features of the text? Abuse.
What are the major generic themes? Again I would say that it is abuse and feminism.
To what extent are the characters generically determined?
To what extent are the audience’s generic expectations of the text fulfilled or cheated by the text? Does the text conform to the characteristics of the genre, or does it treat them playfully or ironically? I would say that it treats them ironically as we only see that Aishwarya getting abused and no one else.

Does the text feature a star, a director, a writer etc who is strongly associated with the genre? What meanings and associations do they have? Yes, as Aishwarya is a famous Bollywood star she is also known as being ‘Miss India’, I believe that her being the main leader of the film fits well with the genre. The genre heavily focuses on feminism.

Media Institutions

What is the institutional source of the text? Eros International
In what ways has the text been influenced or shaped by the institution which produced it? Eros International has produced the text, which is a big institution, by producing this text it has given it name much more bigger.
Is the source a public service or commercial institution? What difference does this make to the text?
Who owns and controls the institution concerned and does this matter?
How has the text been distributed?

Media Values and Ideology

What are the major values, ideologies and assumptions underpinning the text or naturalised within it? I would say that the major values are how a woman is treated. And the message given out by the text I would say that is female power still does exists today and that woman now have more equal rights compared to men.
What criteria have been used for selecting the content presented?

Media Audiences

To whom is the text addressed? What is the target audience? I would personally say that the text is addressed to 18 years and above. I would say that the text really hits females as they are the main protagonists.
What assumptions about the audience’s characteristics are implicit within the text? They will be able to identify with the characters and have a strong impact towards them.
What assumptions about the audience are implicit in the text’s scheduling or positioning?
In what conditions is the audience likely to receive the text? Does this impact upon the formal characteristics of the text? I would say that the text gets to them a lot due to the emotional music at the back and the shots that are seen.
What do you know or can you assume about the likely size and constituency of the audience? They may share similar problems.
What are the probable and possible audience readings of the text? They would probably feel that dominance still exits or that female are no longer subordinate to men
How do you, as an audience member, read and evaluate the text? To what extent is your reading and evaluation influenced by your age, gender, background etc? I would personally say that the text is very powerful and dramatic. As I’m a Asian British myself I can identify with the protagonist, as I’m a female myself and people often believe that female are passive and subordinate.