Theories

Fanon: Non-whites have to put on a "white mask", adopting the western culture and lifestyle to be accepted within society. e.g. President Obama, a black male president according to Fanon had to adopt the western white culture and adapt himself to live in America and eventually become president. He'd have to dress smart and have similar mannerism to that of a White American.

Edward Said: Orientalism, West = superior and civilised while East = dangerous and uncivilised  e.g. Rules in the West to follow; East has wars and terrorism.

Alvarado: Black people are stereotypically placed in four categories:
- Pitied e.g. Slavery
- Humorous e.g. Black comedy
- Dangerous e.g. Ghetto areas within America
- Exotic e.g. Caribbean

Yasmin question

Does the opening of Yasmin offer a positive or negative representation of British Muslims?

The opening offers both a positive and negative representation of British Muslims. The positive representations are they aren't seen as the stereotypical East (which is heavily portrayed as terrorist) They are in-fact represented as religious and calm an example of them being calm is when the two mechanics/shop owners found graffiti on their shutters, they didn't respond violently or show any aggression, instead they just continued with their jobs and cleaned it off. Another example of calmness is when the main protagonist (or hero according to Propp) is stopped and checked by police, it may show the police as being slightly racist for stopping the muslim women but she was use to it and stayed calm and was prepared to show the necessary documents.
The negative side is shown with the man who woke up looking quite scruffy and dangerous, he also was seen as acting uncivilised and uneducated as he uses his finger to eat food out of a jar and ends up cooking outside the front of his house using a home made stove on the floor (which shows he's possibly quite poor), he also shows aggression when telling a young boy to get lost in a harsh tone. The main protagonist/hero was portrayed negative when she seems to having to apply the Fanon 'White Mask' theory, it's usually applied to black people but this theory seems to fit with Yasmin the British Muslim, she would usually be representing herself as a Muslim women around the Muslim community and her family but when away from them she tends to have a westernised lifestyle, she eats meat while prayers are read from the Mosque, she drives a western car listening to western music and dressed like a stereotypical english women, she also went to a pub which isn't supported by her religion and the pub was full of white males who all gave her dirty looks. Yasmin is portrayed as unfaithful to her religion and family.

To what extent does the opening of Yasmin reinforce or challenge Said’s theory of Orientalism – that the west is superior to the exotic or dangerous east?

To some extent it defiantly shows the west have some power as the police had the power to stop and check. But the west are actually portrayed as the opposite of what Said's theory of Orientalism would state, the west is seen as being dangerous e.g. the racist graffiti, the cops stop and check and the pub customers giving dirty looks to the protagonist/hero. While the East aren't shown as dangerous, the only person shown as being dangerous from the East is the man with the homemade cooker.

The representation of race and ethnicity in the Olympic Open Ceremony and the Daily Mail article

In the 2012 London Olympics Opening Ceremony, London is represented as a diverse and multi-cultural area, in the opening we see a white female mother getting out of the patriotic coloured and designed mini with her mixed raced child, they enter the family home which then reveals the rest of the family. They are portrayed as a happy and ordinary family who are genuinely happy and genuinely love each other and not putting on a mask as Fanon's theory would suggest. Fanon believes that in society people would need to wear a mask to fit in and be a part of society, they aren't able to be themselves within society as that would lead to conflict. In the Daily Mail article about the Olympics the journalist is suggesting a similar thing to Fanon, he supports Fanon's theory and doesn't believe that if the actors of the Olympic Ceremony were an actual family in London then it wouldn't be a genuine family. He states that he would be sure that in the whole of London that you cannot find any household with a black father and a white mother, as shown in the Olympic opening, if they were found together then it wouldn't be genuine and would be an unhappy family, he believes it's an alternative representation of London and the race and ethnicity within London. It doesn't even show a stereotypical family within London according to the journalist. 

Also to support the journalist, Alvarado's theory states that black people are generally stereotyped in the media as either exotic, humorous, dangerous or pitied, so linking this to the journalist it could suggest that the media aren't portraying the short hand stereotype (Medhurt theory) which may have some elements of truth (Perkin's theory) and allow quick identification (Blumber and Katz uses and gratifications theory). It suggest that the journalist may be quite racist in believing a stereotype that white women wouldn't be married to a black man and be happy at the same time which could suggest that he believes that if a black person were to fit into one of the categories of Alvarado's theory then it'll be pitied or dangerous. 

Learner response from feminist essay

7/12
Level 3/C-

WWW: Very good attempt to bring in theories and debates. Good textual analysis

EBI: Not enough focus on the Q: you explore the other side of the argument in much more depth

LR: Look again at the Q: Why might people object to the video?

In the Robin Thicke video 'Blurred lines' Women are represented as objects e.g. toys which the women seem to be surrounded by such as the beach ball, big dice and the toy car, which is using the female as some sort of surface for the toy car to emphasise on the shape of the females body. The females are also wearing some plastic clothing on top of their white shorts during the video which connotes the females are meant to be represented as toys. Which seems to be a way to attract males and make them view the females as objects which is why some people may disagree with the video. The video looks like it was designed to portray females as objects to pleasure males especially the explicit video, it provides a sense of entertainment and escapism, according to the uses and gratifications theory. 'Blurred lines' encourage males to view females as a way to get out of their current lives and situation and to just be entertained, this would go against what McRobbie believes as this isn't empowering women, it makes them seem less important than the males, who they aren't being represented as plastic toys (which usually have connotations of cheap, easy to break and easy to discard). The males are being represented as business men, men who are of higher power as throughout the majority of the video they are standing up or in more dominant positions than the females, who are at times walking around as if they are trying to grab the attention of the male protagonists, or heroes according to Propp, they are also at times sitting down or bent over e.g. the female who had the toy car on her back.