Task 5

Intro- The introduction will be explaining my coursework title which is, 'How and why are ideologies about Black males constructed in R&B Music videos such as Drakes Find your love and JLS Everybody in love. What is the effect of these ideologies on the audience?' Also within the introduction I will speak about, why I decided to study Black males and what is so interesting about the development of the R&B music videos.

Paragraph 1 – A general overview of Black Males in society and how they are portrayed by the media.
This is essential for me to include as one of my main points in my essay because it is background information of my critical investigation. Also I will talk about how it has been integrated in the R&B music videos.

Paragraph 2 – I will be exploring one of my main texts which is Drake's Find your love video, and I will be analysing how black males are constructed in the videos, which is shown to be negative as gang culture is being represented, I will also be explaining how the hip hop scene influenced the r&b genre by introducing more of a negative narrative. Also in this paragraph I will be looking at key theories and quotes which is included in my research.

Paragraph 3 -
This paragraph will focus on my second text which is JLS everybody in love and I will be comparing it to the drake video. This is essential for my essay as it will show the contrasts of how black males are portrayed in R&B music videos. I will then use my web research which explains the negativity of black males and explain how JLS Everybody In Love video contradicts certain views such as 'black males have a lack of role models'.

Paragraph 4- Historical
This paragraph will explain the historical side of the R&B genre, as I will be looking at the Boys II men end of the road Video, and I will be explaining how the genre has changed and what is still similar in today's society and what is different. Also I will be seeing how the construction of black males have evolved e.g. not as romantic as they use to be. I will then explaining why the more mainstream R&B genre has become the more it follows the mass media representation of black males.

Paragraph 5- What effect do these ideologies have on the audience
This paragraph will be focusing on how the audience have been effected by the construction of black males in r&b music videos. I will also look at how the audience have changed for example there are now more males attracted to the R&B genre due the adoption of hip hop narratives being involved and also how black males construction has changed in the media. However I will be referring to audience theories throughout my essay

Conclusion- In the conclusion I have decided to some up my key points and then draw an end to the debate which I have been carrying out throughout the essay and decide what my final judgement will be and answering what effects these ideologies have had on the audience.

Task 4

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/oct/15/ukcrime.antonybarnett?INTCMP=SRCH
An internal police report has painted a graphic portrait of gang warfare spiralling out of control in London, with US-style postcode killings by rival mobs who post videos advocating gun violence and retribution on digital music channels.


The report, obtained by The Observer, was written in May and marked 'restricted'. It is an admission of the almost impossible task the police face in getting to grips with the growing menace of 'predatory' gangs intent on 'committing the most disgusting acts of violence'.- This information can assist me with  my coursework as in the texts i am studying it one video contradicts this view whereas the other supports this view, so I will be able to make comparisons by using this information.

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:lILboNiW6YgJ:www.mediaed.org/assets/products/226/transcript_226.pdf+Black+Males+In+r%26b&hl=en&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESi6oQxHVyvVH9HIkFnCfCPgcPMEiufXHXoLAbWG7raVD_7nzk1LPHTHf-zOCMldIB0m5xKAhYDkUgOFC7Y3831uZ2wItLJrNQnFKM3gVcyrNLBQBsgN_tOCDQMKUUW13FrHeCFN&sig=AHIEtbSDj0PzD_dgUTcdbsBQATVOhUPVJQ&pli=1 

'Before Hip Hop, Men were seeming in R&B, But when Hip Hop came around, it brought masculinity back into the game'- this is a significant quote for me to look at as it shows that this hip-hop look is coming into the r&b scene when studying the Drake video find your love, however this statement could be shown as true as the JLS video Everybody in love shows that the black males are not masculine in any way. This could perhaps discourage black males to be interested in the R&B genre as it is not seen as a 'manly' thing to be fond of this type of music.

"ethnic minorities are continually misrepresented by racial (and racist) stereotypes"
Laughey, D. (2009). p. 78. This is useful to my coursework and could be seen through my texts as they show black people are being misrepresented in the JLS video as they go against most stereotypes given to black people.

Black representation: is the media out to make us look stupid?

http://www.voice-online.co.uk/content.php?show=14710

The Economics of Ethnic and Racial stereotyping

http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/ethnics_and_minorities/minorities_economics.cfm

Racial and Ethnic stereotypes

http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=21980


http://www.helium.com/items/265124-how-are-ethnic-minorites-portrayed-in-the-media

"Black people, particularly Afro-Caribbeans are often portrayed in the media as criminals"- This can help me with my essay as one of my texts show that there are gang members all carrying weapons which is a criminal offence, however the other text i am studying goes against this view as it shows that all four black members of the group do not associate themselves with this crime image, and it could show that this image of black people related to as criminals is diminishing.


Negative racial stereotypes in the media

http://www.intermix.org.uk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=48

Task 3

Historical Text

Boys II Men are a group who consist of four black singers(similar to JLS). The video 'End of the road' is one of the most recognizable R&B songs of the early 90's. This video in particular has many similarities and differences with the other two texts I will be studying.

Right at the beginning of the video we instantly see that whilst one of the members is singing the setting is very interesting, as it seems that they are outside some sort of station with graffiti on the walls which is a criminal offence this is ironic because even though they are singing something which has nothing to do with crime, it could perhaps show that negativity will always be surrounding black people. 

Also throughout the video we can identify that the clothing plays a significant part as in one shot they are all dressed 'appropriately' by wearing trousers, shirts and ties which people do not normally associate black people with as its seen to be 'Professional, this shows that at this time black people were challenging stereotypes on how they dressed. I could also make comparisons with the JLS video Everybody in Love when referring to clothing, as in one scene towards the end we see that two of the members are wearing very bright coloured shirts such as pink and yellow which is seen throughout the JLS video which shows that even back in the 90's, Black males such as Boys II Men did not adopt that 'manly' appearance.

I also noticed that the narrative of R&B music videos from the early 90's was always about a man or woman being depressed that their lover has left them, this idea was very popular throughout the 80's and 90's and it also showed that black people can have a sensitive side to them, this can also be compared to JLS everybody in love video as there is a lyric which states 'I can't eat, I can't sleep, what else could it be? Missing you so deep, long as I'm where you're going to I'd wait forever and a day for you', this shows that even in todays R&B music videos that sensitive side to black people is still being reinforced.

However although the majority of R&B music videos have similar narratives in todays R&B videos such as Drakes Find your love it shows that the way the narrative has been constructed differently compared to Boys II Men End of the road, as in the BoysII Men song it is all about accepting that their lover has left them whereas in Drakes Find Your Love it is explained in the lyrics 'I better find your loving, I better find your heart' the fact that the word 'better' is used seems to be demanding and controlling as if no matter what I'm gonna find your love and nobody can stop me, this can be related to black people always want to feel as if they are in control and power of a situation.

What also has changed in R&B music videos is the use of violence coming into use now, as this could be seen in Drakes Find Your Love video as gang members are shown to be after him, which shows that the idea of hip-hop is coming into R&B music videos, which was never seen before during the 80's and 90's, the reason for the inclusion of this violence in videos could be because many people have argued that R&B music is not seen to be very 'masculine' so by adopting hip-hop style narratives into the R&B scene could be a way of introducing masulinity into the R&B genre however the problem with this is that the majority of artists are Black which means more and more negative role models would be introduced if most R&B videos became like Drakes Find your love, this can have a negative impact on the black youth of our society today.

 

Task 1

The text that i will be looking at is; Drake Find your Love- 

There are two main dominant representations on black males when analysing the music video. The first is the dominant ideology represented in the media text that black males are violent/corrupted, this is connoted `through the slow-motion shot of the gang walking towards Drake after he kept pursuing the girl and the close up of his worried expression also anchoring the narrative involved. This representation of gang-culture portrayed by the media has manifested into a dominant ideology of black males and this is shown in the media text.

The other ideology isn't as dominant as the gang-culture representation anchored by the music video as the theme of romance is portrayed as we see throughout the whole video. While this isn't the ideology represented by the press it is the common representation portrayed in RnB videos. This therefore contradicts the main ideology regarding black males as he is not portrayed violently but shown as innocent. This links in with the feminist theory of the “new man” which is how men are not only treating women equally but adopting the roles that traditionally would be associated with women. This is shown in the video as how he is fighting for her; which before would be seen as a feminine move on his part. 
 

A significant theory to consider is Marxism when studying this text, this is shown through the birds eye view shot of the slums of Jamaica, as the audience we can instantly identify that gang culture would perhaps be involved; as Marxists would argue that the upper-class represent the working class through the institutions they control. This is exacerbated through the long shot of the black male wearing the bandanna on his face; which in the media is a connotation of the typical troubled youth and the representation shown by the upper-class.

Another theory to consider is the impact of globalisation. How the video is shot in Jamaica, a developing country, this shows a sense of dystopia as the gangs are in control rather then the police in this case. This also links in with the ideology of black males getting involved in gang culture but in other countries as they are from Jamaica and not America.

The main ideology in the video is black culture, and it could be argued that the youth who consume the text could be influenced negatively as they may perhaps feel in order to gain respect or authority in society, they have to get involved in gang culture, this is shown at the end of the text through the shot of Drake 'defeated' when he is tied up by the gang members. This representation is historically used in hip hop videos which has integrated into this rnb video whereas before in rnb videos there was less of a narrative and there wasn't any violent conflict shown.

How and why are ideologies about Black males constructed in R and B Music videos such as Drakes Find your love and JLS Everybody in love. What is the effect of these ideologies on the audience?

'How are athletes from ethnic minority groups portrayed by contemporary sports media? Why might this be so?'

Why this question?- The reason for selecting this title for my investigation is because i have always been interested in sports at a young age, also growing up I have seen racism through society in general, however in sports it seemed to be increasing, so i thought it would be a significant question to see how much of an influence the media have on how athletes from ethnic minorities are represented.

The two texts I will be studying are the movies 'Gridiron Gang' which is about a gang of prison inmates where they are selected to play American football against to become good citizens. The connotations of the movie are a mix of post-colonialism and colonialism, in the fact that the majority of the main stars in the movie are ethnic minorities, but the social connotations from the movie are that the prisoners who turn athletes are given a “second chance” through sports. The movie links in with Beulah’s theory on black people and the media, she argued: “For many years black people in society and the media are treated as the ‘problem’ or the ‘victims'. The second text i will be looking at is the 1986 movie ‘Wildcats’ which has a similar narrative, only this time instead of prisoners, it is focused on badly behave pupils. They are also given a “second chance” through sports which does affect how people see ethnic minorities from an outside standpoint. Marxists would argue that the political reason for this is so that the upper-class can maintain their colonialist representation on the ethnic minorities and also keep them oppressed through alienation.

Other issues which I will be covering will include

• Didier Drogba and Tiger woods- how the media blew certain situations out of proportion. 

• Ron Atkinson (former commentator) reffered to former chelsea player Marcel Desailly as a 'fucking nigger'- Does Racism still exist and why?

•  1968 olympic games when Tommie Smith and John Carlos celebrated their win by doing the 'black power salute'.- The media instantly reacted negatively to the atheletes by publishing in- times magazine 'unacceptable and petty'.

Bibliography so far:

1968 Olympics Black Power Salute

http://1968blackpowersalute.blogspot.com/
The Olympics: Black Complaint
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,900397,00.html

40th Anniversary of Olympic ‘Black Power’ Salute
http://www.cpgb-ml.org/index.php?secName=proletarian&subName=display&art=445

TV pundit Ron Atkinson sacked for racist remark
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2004/apr/22/football.raceintheuk
'What I said was racist - but I'm not a racist. I am an idiot' http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2004/apr/25/race.football