QUESTION 1:
- Analyse the use of intertextuality to create meaning in the source
- Make judgements and reach a conclusion about the advantages of this use of intertextuality to The Big Issue magazine.
In the midground
of the cover is a representation of presidential candidate Donald Trump. The
mise en scene is constructed to encode a preferred reading which sees him as
ridiculous (his facial expression is foolish) and also as antagonistic to the
New Female Front Line (he is inlaid in one of the villainous ghosts from Ghostbusters). The readership of the magazine is likely to have a left wing bias and to be more educated. The negative
messaging about Trump is likely to be received positively by left wing readers. In addition, the use
of intertextuality implies a shared understanding of the cultural zeitgeist
between reader and author, so the reader will feel their socio-political
values have been validated by the magazine. However, the highly pro-feminist messaging of the
cover may be seen as controversial by some readers (a negotiated reading of the
text may see the binary opposition between female protagonists and male
antagonists as divisive). The advantage of this highly playful use of
intertextuality is that it softens this pro-feminist stance and allows the
author to present their ideas in a more acceptable way. In addition to the
obvious ridiculing of Trump, we could argue that the cover also attempts to
present a discussion of the problematic nature of patriarchy. Trump stands in
for patriarchal oppression: his narcissistic arrogance, his hereditary wealth,
his famously sexist persona, all stand in direct opposition to the pro feminist
heroes. Moreover, his green slime seems also to have enveloped the White House
and Houses of Parliament, both of which symbolise patriarchy. Perhaps the final
advantage of the intertextuality then is the way that it allows readers to achieve
multiple layers of reading.
The central
image and anchoring text is clearly an intertextual reference to the all female
remake of ghostbusters, with political leaders and elite persons from the worlds
of sport and entertainment replacing the actors from the film. The bold
typography used in the rhetorical question asks the reader to consider how we
might combat the institutional evils of patriarchy encoded in the image of Trump
and the green infected symbols of power. The use of outsized heads is an
indirect intertextual reference to satirical political magazines, which playfully
mock institutional power. As with the disparaging image of Trump, this playful
approach may be intended to take some of the sting out of the potential
controversial oppositional reading of the text as a divisive pro-feminist piece
of propaganda. The sub sell line answers the rhetorical question with the
phrase “The New Female Frontline.” The use of alliteration emphasises the term
Female Frontline. The alliteration may be intended to connote the unity of this
line-up, and the allusion to battle in the word “Frontline” may be intended to
encode the preferred reading of struggle against institutional oppression. The
magazine is clearly aware of the educational level and socio-political bias of
its readership, having stated on its website that 72% of its readers are ABC1
and 43% are AB, and that most are environmentally and socially aware (left
wing). The use of intertextuality is an advantage here as it allows the
magazine to encode a pro-feminist message in a non-controversial way, while
also demonstrating a respectful and knowing recognition of the socio-political
and educational capacity of its readers.
MARK SCHEME (ISH)
ANSWER THE QUESTION - Clearly (3), Fairly Well (2), Vaguely (1)
USE EXAMPLES - Judiciously (3), Fairly Well (2), In a limited way (1)
ANALYSE AND INTERPRET - Every Example Explained (3), Some Explanation (2), Vague (1)
COHERENT ARGUEMENT - Throughout (3), Some Sense of Coherence (2), Vague (1)
TERMINOLOGY - Clearly (3), Probably (2), Possibly (1) : A Media Student
This Big Issue cover has used intertextuality to represent Donald Trump as a slimy, stupid villain (definitely unfit to be POTUS) compared to the strong, dominant pose of election rival Hillary Clinton pictured in the foreground of the cover. By putting Trump’s face on Slimer, a villain from 1980’s film Ghostbusters, the readers automatically recognise the representation of Trump as villainous due to readers making the connection to the famous 80’s film without it explicitly mentioning Ghostbusters on the cover, but relying on readers making the connection due the iconic outfits and famous tagline ‘who you gonna call?’. As well as undermining Trump’s personal ability to lead he also represents a patriarchal society and the old guard of white, straight, male leaders and the pro-feminist cover is clearly opposing the patriarchal norms by presenting Trump and symbols of the ‘old guard’ such as the White House and Houses of Parliament in the green smoke, Green has connotations of villainy, greed and money. The four famous women in the foreground of the cover are fighting against this evil which is an effective use of intertextuality as most would recoginse that the Ghostbusters who the women are represented as are fighting against villains such as Slimer (Trump) and suggests that this new ‘Female Frontline’ will break the patriarchy in politics, music and sport.
ReplyDeleteBig Issue question
ReplyDeleteIn 2016, during the US presidential campaign, English news magazine ‘The Big Issue’ published a front cover that displayed a comical play on the movie ‘Ghostbusters’ where the then Republican leader Donald Trump is seen to be photoshopped as ‘Slimer’ (a villain from the movie being portrayed). They have used a picture of the right-wing leader that is very unflattering and makes him seem even sillier than just the green ghost body. They have made the man look villainous but in a weak, childish manor that makes it seem like no real leadership threat. This is further portrayed by his left-wing opposition leader Hilary Clinton being shown beneath him as one of the movies heroes, she can be seen smiling and looks like a person trustworthy of such a powerful position. The Democrat leader is seen with three other popular women with the tag line ‘new female front line’. This indicates a power shift in society and the first pillars of the patriarchy being taken out that has dominated and oppressed women for many years of hardship.
The use of an intertextual reference in this cover of The Big Issue allows them to illustrate a controversial topic in a humorous way in order to make it less offensive.
ReplyDeleteThe satirical depiction of Trump as the comical looking enemy seems to mock men as rulers and suggests that women should take over. Trump, accompanied by the government buildings in the background which are also green create a symbol of patriarchal control; the mockery of this further enforces the idea that men should no longer be in control. This would appeal to the Big Issues audience as they are 72% ABC1 which is a more female dominated demographic.
The Big Issue’s audience is supposedly affluent and environmentally, socially and ethically aware, therefore an intertextual reference like this will be easy for them to comprehend and depicts a respectful and knowing relationship between the audience and author of the magazine.
An intertextual approach is used through the representation of trump. Trump is presented as a comical figure; this is a stark contrast to how the women on the front cover are presented possibly mocking the patriarchal ideals of society as someone like trump has the opportunity to be in power. The same colour palette is also used to represent trump and to show places of historical importance in the background of the cover as a way of showing how deeply ingrained in our society patriarchy is. The representation of trump as a villain is also catering to the target demographic of the newspaper as their demographic is most likely to be left leaning and would disagree with trumps values; intertextuality further demonstrates this by the depiction of 4 female ghostbusters ‘fighting’ trump this ties into a feminist ideology that most of the big issues target demographic would agree with.
ReplyDeleteThe Big issue has used an intertextual approach on its front cover as it can tell a serious story in a lighthearted way and convey its message easier. The depiction of Trump as a silly, unserious character highlights him as someone who is not ready or serious enough to become a national leader as he was going to become at the time. The messaged conveyed is that this magazine doesn’t see him as a man who can lead a country very well and discredits him as a person. On the opposite to that, it portrays the four powerful women as capable, serious “ghostbusters” that will capture the “ghost” that is Donald Trump. The Depiction of trump aids the magazine as it is more likely to sell to people that have the same ideology as them whilst not receiving too much backlash as it is just a joke at the end of the day. The magazine does a very good job of presenting a serious talking point in a light hearted, joke like way that still looks at the topic in a serious manner but just with a front cover like this to mask it and avoid any hate towards the article.
ReplyDeleteItem D has used intertextual references, for example, they have used Donald Trump on the cover. They have represented Trump in a silly way as he is seen as the ghost from the intertextual reference of the new ghost busters’ film. At the time, Trump was not taken seriously which is why they have chosen to represent him in this comical way. The audience of the Big Issue is typically more left wing, so this negative representation of Trump would attract this audience, however the right-wing leader Theresa May is also on the cover which would appeal to right wing people. As the representation of Trump is comical, the producers hope to not offend the right-wing consumers, and this is reinforced by the positive representation of Theresa May. Intertextuality is often used in an amusing way and this representation of Trump achieves this, which also makes the matriarchal suggested message less controversial, especially as Trump symbolises patriarchy. This may appeal to the predominantly female left leaning audience who would typically be encouraging of female rights and social change. Therefore, the use of intertextuality through Trump would be useful in attracting audiences, from both the left and right, which increases readership and therefore profits for charity.
ReplyDeleteThe use of the iconic film Ghostbusters has been used to instantly convey intertextuality to the reader, they’ve used characters from the film to depict the status of heroes vs. Villains to give a preferred reading of Trump as the villain and famous female figures as “the female frontline” as the heroes. Even without having seen the film, Ghostbusters is so iconic that readers would understand the general values and beliefs the writers are trying to convey with Trump depicted in the midground as a green ‘slimer’. Notably, there’s a green mist/slime used in the mise en scene to depict the reach of Trump’s domination over the world, covering both the White House and the Houses of Parliament. However, the only thing the green hasn’t covered is the ‘female frontline’, insinuating they’re the dominating force who will be unfazed or untouched by Trump’s domination.
ReplyDeleteIn the foreground of the cover is a representation of various influential female figures comprising ‘The New Female Frontline’. Here the Big Issue uses intertextuality to suggest that these women are powerful figures, as they place the women’s heads onto the bodies of the Ghostbusters from the recently released film which featured an all-female cast, and also as positive figures due to the Ghostbusters being the protagonists of the film. This intertextual approach places these women in direct opposition to the antagonist slime of Donald Trump, which has advantages for the magazine as it softens the highly pro feminist stance while also clearly displaying the perceived conflict between women and Donald Trump. The mise-en-scene is constructed to encode a preferred reading which sees the women as positive forces (as shown by their happy, friendly expressions). This positive representation of the women is likely to be decoded positively by the target audience of the magazine of whom the Big Issue say 72% are ABC1, and thus likely to be educated and left leaning. The cover can also be said to attempt to show that the hegemonic patriarchal system is declining in influence and being replaced by a more left wing and gender equal system, via the use of the phrase ‘The New Female Frontline’, which clearly suggests that women are now found in many dominant positions across politics, music and sport (as shown by the depictions of Hillary Clinton, Theresa May, Taylor Swift, and Serena Williams).
ReplyDeleteThe Big Issue has used intertextual references to represent the characters' conflicting beliefs in a way which allows the author to present their own views to their preferred reading. In the mid ground of the cover, Donald Trump's face is seen to be photoshoped onto the villain character from the movie Ghost Busters and with an ABC1 demographic, they will automatically decode this message in a positive view as he is being presented as the antagonist. Additionally, in the main foreground of the cover, is a line of influential figures in society, including Trump’s main democratic rival Teresa May, shown to be the protagonists in the situation.
ReplyDeleteNow we can focus on the foreground of the cover where we find representations of women in the music industry (Taylor Swift), the sports industry (Serena Williams) and in politics (both Hilary Clinton and Theresa May). The use of intertextuality here constructs a preferred reading, representing these women to be the next strong leading ladies. Because they are being portrayed in a positive light (the Ghostbusters being the protagonists and heroes), the idea introduced that the magazine likely has a left wing bias is reinforced. We can also identify the fact that the women in this magazine are supposed to be interpreted positively because they are all smiling and the photos that have been used for them are all flattering. This use of intertextuality is an advantage to the magazine as it clearly presents their political views in a humoristic way and in turn attracts the magazine’s main demographic: those who take the preferred reading. We can assume these audiences are supporters of the women being represented and may be in favour of the feminist movement. Those taking the oppositional reading however, assumingly are not involved in the feminist movement and wouldn’t be in favour of women being seen in the limelight, being portrayed as saviours. A combination of these two may be taking the negotiated reading, and only respect or support these women because of how they look. This can be inferred by the images used. They are all ‘done up’, possibly to play-in to the male gaze and make them look more presentable and therefore respectable.
ReplyDeleteThe Big Issue has used intertextuality to illustrate and depict Donald Trump in a satirical light. They have flipped the ‘usual’ stereotype of a superior man as a ruler and instead the cover poses three women portrayed as powerful and in fact ridiculing Trump as he is shown as a green childish ghost character. This implies that he isn’t fit and suited for the job of FLOTUS. The background of the cover is a strong lime green, the buildings also in the background are layered with this same colour, the connotations of this show that the women are fighting against both Trump and the patriarchal views instilled within the people currently in power. The magazine also shows two women from different political alignments, Theresa May, a right wing conservative and Hilary Clinton who is in a party with a left wing alignment.
ReplyDelete