Categories: uncategorized
Date: 03 February 2007 11:18:35
So somebody has apparently found me google searching "how do sociology and The Devil Wears Prada go together?" Well, in the unlikely event that person comes back or anybody else comes Googling that one again and also thinking aloud about a future lesson (& possible excuse to show this one to my class) I'm going to explore it.
The Devil Wears prada can be used in a range of ways:
1. It can be used to illustrate the processes involved in the production of the media - for example the way Miranda has "the book" delivered to her each day to approve.
2. It can be used to explore the role of the media in putting forward specific images of the female - This can link into Majorie Ferguson's study "Forever Feminine" or Laura Mulvey's idea of the "Male Gaze".
3. It can be used as a springboard to explore different audience response models in terms of:
Do we unconciously buy what we are told to buy because we are like mindless zombies (with a false consciousness) being exploited by the ruling class in order for them to make profit - Hypodermic Syringe
Do most of us buy what we are told to because we take on the ideas of what is normal / acceptable that are fed down to us and that over time build up because we can choose to reject them but most of us don't think about them and so choose not to - cultural effects model
Do most of us just follow the lead of opinion leaders (in this case celebrities) - which would fit in with the two step flow model
Do we all actually choose what to consume which is why there are a range of titles and the magazine will only contain what people want to buy. We only use what we need or what makes us feel good - the uses and gratifications model
Are we likely to read magazines like Runway differently according to our social characteristics (age, gender, class, ethnicity etc) - Structured Interpretation Model
Oh and incase anybody was wondering about my silence since my b'day was a dead mouse rather than the deepening mid-life crisis.