The document discusses how to analyze the ideologies present in American superhero films. It explains that ideologies represent the dominant values and attitudes of a social group or culture. Superhero films often promote American ideologies like patriotism and depict American heroes as defending freedom and justice. The narratives, characters, and imagery in superhero films can subtly reinforce values like American exceptionalism and military strength. Analyzing representations, narratives, and binary opposites in films can provide insights into the ideologies they aim to promote or challenge.
2. A system of ideas and ideals (values and beliefs),
which forms the basis of an economic or political
theory and policy, and which are therefore
characteristic of a social group or individual.
3. For Ideology we will study the dominant or
hegemonic values and attitudes that arise
from the construction of a given media text
(in this case superhero films).
Ideologies can be connoted from the use of
media language or from a particular
representation, such as a stereotype, or
from the narrative, characters and events.
6. KeyTerm Your Definition Official Definition
Ideology
The set of values and
beliefs characteristic
of a social group or
individual.
Bias
Credible source
7. KeyTerm Your Definition Official Definition
Ideology
The set of values and
beliefs characteristic
of a social group or
individual.
Bias
A slanted or skewed
(n0n objective) view
of an event or story.
Credible source
8. KeyTerm Your Definition Official Definition
Ideology
The set of values and
beliefs characteristic
of a social group or
individual.
Bias
A slanted or skewed
(n0n objective) view
of an event or story.
Credible source
Person or
organisation which
provides reliable
information.
9. Ideas and values that hold certain
importance in our culture and which also
inform our cultural practices.
These values and attitudes may be explicit
(i.e. obvious) or implicit (not obvious but
underpinning all aspects of the construction
of that media text)
10. Dominant or hegemonic values can become
so frequent and natural to us that they seem
a product of common sense.
This is in part due to the biased approach
from the media towards these
unquestionable values (i.e. democracy,
freedom, justice, truth,...)
11. Antonio Gramsci
defined hegemony as
the way in which
those in power
maintain their control.
These dominant
ideologies are usually
promoted via the
mass media.
12. Nothing is accidental when it comes to the media representation of
characters and events, all meaning in the media is carefully
constructed.
A media text has always been made in a particular way for a particular
reason.
13. Patriotism is a key
dominant
(hegemonic) value
(ideology) which is
promoted through
superhero films as
much as through
international
sporting events or
war news reports.
14. As superhero movies spin
from American media
products (comic books),
American ideology is
ever-present.
In most superhero movies,
American leadership and
supremacy assumes that
it is just up to Americans,
and their heroes, to ‘save
the world’ on our (the
rest of the world) behalf.
15. American superheroes tend to act in a clearly moral way in
defending a set of values that are shared by both the
government and the individual (ideas such as patriotism or
democracy, for instance).
1944 2014
16. Freedom, one of the most cherishedAmerican
values alongside truth and justice, is often
used as a justification, in most of these films,
for the actions of their superheroes.
17. Freedom is one of the most obvious
manifestations of an archetypicalAmerican
value as an element of the hegemonic
ideology in superhero films, which is just an
extension of the hegemonicAmerican ideology
present in most of other American
mainstream media texts (i.e. Fox News,
CNN).
18. A list of elements in a media text that can be
placed opposite each other to represent
opposing value systems.
Dominant Oppositional
White Black
Man Woman
Rich Poor
Logical Emotional
Christian Non-Christian
Able Disabled
Thin Fat
19. Another way of understanding ideology in a media text is by arranging the
values in a list of binary opposites.
Here there is an example drawn from one of the most discussed postWWII
war propaganda films, particularly since the American invasion of
Afghanistan in 2001.
Binary opposites in Rambo III (Sylvester Stallone, 1988)
America/Afghanistan URSS/Communism
Democratic/Egalitarian Dictatorial/Totalitarian
Heroic and noble Cowardly and vicious
Driven by ideals and values
such as patriotism and
freedom
Corrupt – a threat to the
hegemonic American values.
20. Watch this scene of Rambo III
(Sylvester Stallone, 1988) and think
of how the AfghanTalibans are
represented in this 1988 American
film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsCNZN3v2l0
Now search for recent news about
Talibans (since 2001) in American
media (Fox News, CNN) and
compare the representation of the
same people.
How is different? Why do you think
that the representation changed so
much in little more than 10 years?
21. Once we identify the genre of a text it can
help us to identify the ideology as well,
although it would be a generalisation to say
that genre pre-determines the ideology of a
text.
22. For example, iconography from the blockbuster
Action genre (for which superhero films are a
subgenre) may give rise to positive
representations of individual heroism, the
military (nearly always American, unless it is the
British Secret Service), nationalism and patriotic
sentiment, as well as negative portrayals of
difference (i.e. foreign military activity, foreign
governments and groups who endorse value
systems different to theWest)
23. A text may seek to confirm (agree with) hegemonic values, challenge
them or even undermine them, but the texts intention does not
necessarily dictate the audience’s response.
Outlined below are three broad ways in which the audience could
respond to the ideological messages in a text.
A preferred reading, when the audience responds by accepting
the intended meaning of the producer and finding it relatively
easy to agree with the ideological messages in the text.
An oppositional reading, when the audience rejects the intentions
of the text.
A negotiated reading, when the audience works hard to accept
some messages and reject others.
24. Stereotypes and archetypes are an excellent way of combining analysis of both
representation and ideology.
In Independence Day (1996), Will Smith plays a Black pilot as a brave, talented
individual who wants to marry his girlfriend and be a father to her child.
This very positive representation of Black Americans embracing traditional
American values such as patriotism and family contrasts with the many media texts
where Black people are portrayed as troublesome and irresponsible, or as simply a
helper to a white hero.
25. Only a detailed reading of the media language in a
text can provide a thorough knowledge of the way
ideology is represented in that media text.
26. A media text may reflect or indeed it may
actively reinforce the dominant values of
our culture, but it is important to note that
certain media texts often challenge,
contradict or even subvert the dominant
values to be found in our society.
Can you think of any examples of this
subversion drawn from superhero, sci-fi or
action films?
27. One curious thing about the new brand of cinematic comic book
hero (superhero), making him ideally suited to our own period of
history, is his post-ideological nature.
He no longer fights grand ideological struggles againstAmerica’s
fascist or communist enemies, as he did during WWII (1939-1945)
and the ColdWar (1949-1991).
28. The cinematic comic book hero (superhero) instead shows
us a postmodern simulated heroism where he combats
megalomaniacal villains motivated by twisted schemes to
grab power, yet without any real world ideological
agenda.
The post-ideological villain, like the post-ideological hero, is
not a symbol of any clear real world political stance. Both
hero and villain occupy a cultural landscape which is not
related to history anymore.
However, this does not impede these films from portraying
the same eulogy of the traditional American hegemonic
values.
29.
30. Although it may never become a
classic, Iron Man 3 certainly reflects
contemporary American debates over
foreign policy.TakeTony Stark's decision
to abandon his global protector role,
prioritizing domestic matters instead: that
decision is likely to resonate with war-
weary Americans who have only recently
begun to bring back their troops from Iraq
and Afghanistan, and are reluctant to send
them to Syria.
Iron Man 3 also touches on posttraumatic
stress disorder (PTSD), prejudice, the
military industrial complex and drone
warfare.
31. Already considered as a classic cult film, this British answer
to the American superhero reflects a completely different
ideology to that of its American counterparts.The film has
been seen by many political groups as an allegory of
oppression by government.Activists belonging to the
group Anonymous use the same Guy Fawkes
mask popularized by the film when they appear in public at
numerous high-profile events, emulating one of its key
scenes.
This dystopian fantasy presents an utterly romantic
crusader,V (observe the constant historical references to
Guy Fawkes), fighting against the totalitarian government
which runs the UK. He individually battles the hegemonic
power from the clandestinity, by the means of sabotage and
violence.
Originally this comic book (1982) turned into a film (2005)
was a bitter criticism of theThatcher era and of what was
perceived by some British citizens as a radical conservative
government which constantly looked down on the rights of
the people, particularly those of the most vulnerable sectors
of the British society.
32. Whose interests does this text serve?
Who is present in this text? Who is absent from this text?
Who and/or what is represented? How are these characters and events
represented?
Who made this text?Where and when? (Context of production)
Who is/was the target audience for this text? (Context of consumption)
Has its meaning changed over the years? In what ways?
What judgements can be made about the truth, accuracy and impact of this text?
What values are portrayed, explicitly and implicitly, by the text?
What issues does it raise?What conclusions can we draw from it?
