Collective identity EXAMPLES

i might do this more simply than my p/m one. SO- separate examples of collective identity (Britishness) include:
FILMS
Richard Curits/Working Title films, such as Notting Hill, 4 weddings, the boat that rocked, love actually etc. These films are good in showing the meta-fictions of British life-eg, Britian is a self-deprecating, middle class, polite nation who are in awe of America. This theme runs throughout the films, and is what could be sen as the "global image" of Britian-although who is actually the creator of this identity is rather hard to distinguish.(americia consumes this image most, so more gets made and this becomes the typical representation...but who did it belong to in the beginning?)
These films are, as icons of Britishness, often very tied up with british past/icons-for instance, the bristish pop music cults in the boat that rocked, or in the icons of government (good-labour, bad-conservative) who find place love on a high scale. Alot of his work is political too, and blurred in reality. In 4 weddings, it opened just as Labour came into power- the film capturing the breezy spirit of renewal. This continued to love actually, and the Boat that Rocked monitors Labours dimise (although the government is supposedly conservative.) The constant play with amercians (being awed by them;standing up to them;compromising with them) reflects the british/americian relationship today, and misgivings about it. The love of labour is also shown by the representation of the prime minister in Love actually. It was considered so realistic, Tony Blair had to make a speech about how he wasn't in love with his sectary or angry with americia-that was fiction.
Therefore, it is good for contemporary study, as well as past. It can also be said, by critics, that this is the global identity of British- the gratification image, which is only seen by Amerasians, as they are the largest and most important, and nothing really gets above this stock type of identity. It can be said that these movies are so popular as they tap into the common ideologies and discourses which Britain's either believe in or wish to believe in-love and goodness etc. This means it creates a dominant belief in what britishness is.
Saturday night, Sunday Morning
This was one of the first films to explore the working class Britian, and was quite shocking. It's representation of nihilism, and a world of no values-except having fun in the form of getting drunk and fighting-was a direct opposite to normal ideolgies of British upper-class and normality, and the use of a very lost characer in a world filled with people like him, was shocking. The film has the collective identity of "yob culture" and Working class, presenting Britian as a bleak, lost society deviod of ideologies.
Italian Job
It is more like Curtis in it's quirky and optimistic stance, especially led by Micheal Caine. The presentation of the british is patriotic and quirky, intelligent and determined, and alittle crazy. It also creates the iconic mini as a british icon. It has the theme of corruption and a large disrespect for crime and law-a theme which is starngly apparent in a huge number of movies. It treats this is a joky way-which shows both self-deprication and playfulness. It has refernence to the war, and a strong united britian too however. The main characters are a mix of rich and poor (or cockney) and both are shown to be corrupt. (rich in prision corruption, poor in crime) and therefore the class divisions are less apparent.
Get Carter (1971)
this film is similiar to SNSM in it's presentation of Britian. (micheal caine is also used in this-he is a british icon, presentation of britishess) It also presents a lost britian, whose families are affected by the evils of modernity and struggles of the lower classes feeding off ecahother to stay alive. (this is what Ken Loach is interested in too.) It however, does have a strong good vs evil theme and a strong family image-although this is shot down by the ending. The grimy lives of lower class and realism of working life is again a represntation of british crime and corruption, and the darkness of trying to follow ideolgies.

Bend it Like Beckham
This is a more modern version of britian-based in the noughties as opposed to the 20th century. It shows a multi-culteral britian, and a britian of prejudice against colour, race, sexuality and gender-which all have to be overcome. The presentation of Britian is that it is a mix of cultures, which are confusing and divided-especially for those trying to define themselves to both. Britian is middle-class, and the prejuices are quite strong, but broken down by the end. indexical british identity in modern aga-struggle to define yourself.
24 hour party people
Very good to go along with the Rave culture/moral panic case study. This film shows rave Britian, class wars, power to the people, drugs and music culture, causual crime, nihilism and the growth of britian. These are quite a few of the iconic things for Britian, distinguishing it.

Happy Go Lucky
This is a more strange version of Britian-one which is slightly insane-both charaters being on the egde of reason-suggesting that the nation itself is like this. It does also have the cockney, witty represntation of Britian. It is all quite comic and questions normality.

Billy Elliot
This is a period peice, documenting the miners strike and iconic British history-the lower class misery and division of class through "high culture" and "low culture". Billy's progress to high culture is marred by prejudice from both sides-the lower class culture not accepting the high class ideas, while the upper class not seeing the miners strike as worth it. The splits are divided like in BILB, although again broken down by the end-suggesting more mobility between classes, although it can be seen that there is just enhances splits between the 2 sides. Also adresses crime, but see's it as a thing of despair.

Wimbledon
this uses a big british icon.-the film is very much based around the british as self-depricating, humble to americia etc.
Hitchcock
any of hitchcock's film are represntations of British uncertinaties and causual violence-pyscho is a good example of this- it is a staple of British worries over stability etc.

Others which i dont want to go into in detail: Oliver, Harry Potter, Breakfast at Tiffeny's, The Queen, Elizabeth, Trainspoting, London to Brighton, Sumerland, The Full Monty, etc.

Tele Vision
Eastenders
This shows typical British values, atleast of a more working class world. The ability of the series to follow the concerns in the news and promote these values onto the screen make the show seemingly realistic. Therefore, it's characters seem real, and represent the "average"person in London. As the show is based around many things the British worry about, like teen pregnany or bird flu, this means the show is good for showing a collective of (atleast what the media considers to be) British values. Eastenders is strongly family-based, and this means it is very traditional, although the incrasingly broken families suggests the trend of norm which is in Britian. The use of icons like London, Pubs, etc also help to establish the British "normal" life, as how these people live.
Soaps are always good for creating colective identity because they seem like real live people, as we see them everyday and therefore care about them. Therefore, we are inclined to be worried about what they are worried about. (disocurces)

Cranford/Larkrise to Candleford

these two period peice TV series are examples of representations of historic Britian- the times when there were good morals. The characters in them are often thorughtful and intelligent, and there are string morals which run through each episode, and the whole series. (family is a large one) These show a collective of nostligia, and a presntations of the "right" morals of britian. (community, family etc. They dont show witch burning for example, as people today wwould just scorn it.) It also documents the history of Britian-which the British are "meant to be proud of" which presenst England as quaint and polite.

Robin Hood.

Although an awful peice of TV, Robin Hood is also important in the culteral identity of the British. Robin Hood is a traditional tale, which has always been held as valued, as it is an example of the "good poor" standing up against the totalitarian, evil rule. This movement for poor rights, or for evil leaders is a dominent ideolgy in Britian, which is still apparent today-there are robin hood characters everywhere (secret millionaire) etc. The ideologies of British being brave, quirky, intelligent and moral are all displayed by the central character. These create a British collective as being like him, or against the "evil rich." It also anothe rimportant part of the british history. The recent series is pretty bad, mostly because they are creating a "false history" by having 21st century like characters appearing. One even said "sugar and spice and all things nice" to another. this is probably an effort to attract a young audience.
Skins
The best example of the stereotype. There are a cast of all teenagers, who rave alot. This plays on the British dominet ideology of teenagers and also dominent concerns about their actions. this of course creates a collective identity for all british teenagers and for all older people with this worry. And for people who reject the stereotype. Hollyoaks is a cross between this and eastenders, creating the "normal youth/current concerns" storylines, which create common disocurces about youth- as they back up more ludicrous ones like in Skins.
The Mighty Boosh
although a postmodern case study, this can also be considered for collective identity. As a british comedey, it reflects the british idelogies, or stereotypes, and mocks these.For instance, the stereotyped views of other nations from britians POV- the whingey, power-hungry American, the tribal austrailians, etc. It is also a good example of british humour.

Doctor who
Not really an example of britishness, however, it does show common discources about british values- bravery, peacefulness, intelliegnce, morals, democracy, etc. These are dominet ideolgies, and shown as the right course of action-therefore they create british collective identitiy to act like this. the various representations of the "average person" also elevate all people to individual and good posistions-a collective the British identify themselves with (the romantic movement). It, like many other series, shows the power struggles between Americia/Britian.
Big Brother
Not exactly a TV series as such, but very important to British identity. The series again aims to show the "common people" and their trials in having to cope in a house. It creates a collective for the people watching, about what british are like, and what people they react to. It has brought issues such as racism and sexuality into light-which breaks down common discources (or builds them) Therefore is important in how a culture veiws themselves and how they are viewed.

Others which i might go into later: Life on Mars, Hustle, My Family, Father Ted, Vicar of Dibley,the Sweeny, whose line is it anyway? Who wants to be a millionaire (ish) X factor, Catherine Tate show, Spaced, Little Britian, Gavin and Stacy, Casulty, Holby City, Grange Hill, Biker Grove, etc.
Any from this list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_television_series

thats it for now. I may expand sometime.

Examples of post modern texts

There really are quite alot. To organize i might do it in the PAINPIPES (SH) kind of style though, despite the fact that most texts have more than one postmodern element.
Play
Playful pieces include such things as The Mighty Boosh, which plays around with known genres and conventions, slowly mocking all the seriousness associated with these. For example, the playing with the "mad scientist/Frankenstein" themes, which, in Gothic, are viewed as serious and a reflection of the human state of transgression. However, the play on this mocks the stereotypes and uses parody to laugh at it. Another example of play which is very prominent is Scary Movie which some people say is "the death of horror" as it plays and mocks with all conventions and stereotypes of horror through pastiche and parody.
Play also involves many other aspects- the text plays with traditional values and ideologies, such as in Private Eye, making all look nihilistic and humerus. It plays around with traditional structure, such as "synchedoche New York." The result of this is that many times, post modern texts have no genre or identity, because there is too much play between everything to pin a title to them. A example, in music, is apparently Phillip Glass, and John Adams, who play with conventions.
Aestetic
Examples of films which use known conventions, and use these to promote itself are In the thick of it, or The Office. These use the "fly on the wall" "social documentary" aestetic to create the feeling of reality-which makes the charaters seem even more exaggerated. They then use these to undermine this and parody it.
Irony
"Post Irony is a technique that uses the juxtaposition of empty symbolism and loaded evocations to create humor whose roots lie not so much in the mocking of any one ideology proper so much as in mocking the stupidity that lies at the roots of the propagation of modern ideologies." (wiki)

The Wizard of Oz is a story whose plot revolves around irony. Dorothy travels to a wizard and fulfills her challenging demands to go home, before discovering she had the ability to go back home all the time. The Scarecrow longs for intelligence, only to discover he is already a genius, and the Tin Woodsman longs to be capable of love, only to discover he already has a heart. The Lion, who at first appears to be a whimpering coward, turns out to be bold and fearless.

Nihilism

Examples of this are on TV:In the thick of it-which show the corrupted and valueless world of politics. Also, 24 hour party people and synchedoche new york are examples of a structerless story, with characters who have little morals excpet humour-meaning that it is comic-tradgegdy. (for example, when the protagonist in 24 hour PP lets everyone trash the night club.) Extending this in both, the reality of the world becomes incredibly distorted and meaningless- in 24HPP, at the end, he supposedly "see's God" and this is an unreal and comic expereince, thereby reducing reality and laughing at traditional ideolges.
Much of the coen brother work is also nihilistic and question ideologies.

Parody/pastiche

There are many examples of this in many different works- ALL of Monty Python, The Mighty Boosh, Scary Movie(s), Disator Movie, Private eye, Extras and Tarrentino's films. They all use a mix of genres/styles and make fun of thes by placing them at odds, mimicing them. A musical example is Bohemian Rapsody-this is a pastiche of lots of different styles. star wars are seen as a pastiche of science fiction writing. An example of a paradoy is the jesus parody in The Life of Brian. The Office is a parody of social soaps. In writing, most of Ben Elton's books are pastiches of modern life. (not hyperreal?) Blade Runner is also said to be apastiche, as it uses a pastiche of ideas about transgression of humanity/ the wesut and film noir.

Intertexuality

ok, there are again a huge number of exmaples, so i will be quick and list them all. OK- main competitors are things like the simpsons, family guy and scrubs, which take huge amounts from other texts and parady or pastiche them. (for example, the simpsons regularly imitate real people, or take famous stroies and twist them humourously.) (scrubs is similiar but in it's imitation of genres and songs which connote things) which make them funny. Other examples are many if the things i listed in pastiche/parody, as these will only be funny because of the intertextuality-so monty python (the spanish inqusitoion!) scary movie, not another teen movie, the mighty boosh.(Boosh mimiacing Morshum and Wise) They all use refferences from other texts to create humour. Hot Fuzz is another example, with it's intertexual refferences to crime genre which creates the rediclous humour, which otherwise would be just strange. Adverts are often intertexual, using known icons (pride and prejudice is used alot for some reason) which the audience can relate to. Most magazines use references to other texts to create humour (harry potter is used as a basic text for this-it isnt harry potter....) and column articles use this too- basic culture capital. An intertexual autuer is the Coen Brothers, whose films rely a huge amount of the audience's knowledge of films. Going beyond this, films like scream, or games which are in serires make often hyperaware self-refferences to previous games. Ofcours, it doesnt have to be humourous- there are mnay books and works which are intertexuality to symbolism of classics like Paradise Lost or the Bible. (Northern lights, etc). so, yeah. Mucho.

Self referential

Self referntial media includes....24HPP is a good example, again. The protagnoist talks to the camera, making it obvious that there is a camera. he also says things like: "you'll be seeing alot more of that" and begins the films by telling you directly to the camera what is going to happen throughout the stroy, and the ending. This breaks the 4th wall, and "reality"of the show, as well as traditional versions of storytelling, and refers to the fact they are making a film. Winterbottom does this increasingly in his other films, where he films a film making a film and alters between showing making the film film and the actual film that he is making. This is all confusing, and refers to the fact that teh film is being made. Scream is self referntial to it's last films, meaning that the actors actually go and see the previous scream movie. The Mighty Boosh is self refernbtial, as it starts with the 2 doing stand up comedy, adressing teh audience and talking about the show. It's camera moves also are hyper-aware of the limits of a screen and use this to cmic effect. (it looks like a spray of blood, but is just someone eating tomato juice.) Matrix is also self-referntial in it's use of bullet time-obviously computer animated, refering to the production. Private eye is also a good example-they say: “That’s enough now Ed” in the middle of sentences and end the story.) This is self referential to the construction of the news print, using the “Ed” to connote someone dim and uneducated, who needs to be controlled writing the articles- a comment on the writers of newspapers. It is also conscious in creating an illusion of an editor controlling the newspaper- it uses this to comment on editors who do not look at what they are reading properly and make mistakes. Also-Being John Malocvitch's distortion of reality in the trippy bits with simularcrum of Malcxovtich.

Hyperreality

This is abit more random, as if you were Baurdrillirad you might say that all texts are hyper-real, made up of self refernces and signs. But, there are more specific examples- Matrix being the obvious one, with it's hyper-real world created inside. Most games, such as Second Life and Grand Theft Auto are also hyper-real, because they create their own, hyper-real worlds inside a game, with everything being created. The creation of simularcrum is also a side-effect of hyperreality, and this is apperant in BJM, etc. MAny of the films or peices of media which make reality distorted- such as films which use CGI, like 300, all in CGI and green-screen. Reality TV such as Big Brother and Come Dine With Me all also create a world which is a fantasy, but beleived to be real by huge numbers of people. An another example of this is Extras, when actors "play themselves" and it is hyper real, as it is refernce to what we know of them, and construction of characeters and TV.

I'll add other if i can rememeber any.

Precis of collective identity. (abit rough)

Collective identity is the idea that we are shaped by media, myth and other factors in creating our own identities and others. There is a large debate about whether we create our own identities or whether they are created by our cultural influences such as the media telling us what we should be like.

There are arguments on both sides for this- the various media-audience models show either that media does influence us (hypothermic needle model, and study on magazines and their affect on how people view themselves compared to it’s content.) or the “gratifications model” which suggests that as an active audience we pick what we read, and that our identity can be created ourselves- the media world is just a guideline. (this is based on research around “men’s health” readers and more post modern readings.) There is a lot of evidence either way. Therefore, it is hard to say that we are completely influenced by the media to create an identity.

However, in the study of British-ness, it can be claimed that there is some influence. An example is in British cinema- this media has been said to represent British Identity, for example, the rise of Richard Curtis films could be said to mirror the hopefulness in the rise of New Labour. However, the Curtis films are for an international audience- mostly American, the largest audience.

This is another aspect of identity-are we represented by other countries ideas, or our own ideologies? Because America is the largest audience, often British films try to pander to their discourses of Britain- this is in their comfort zone. Therefore, the most “successful” films are the ones which appeal to this stereotype- so we are more likely to identify with the Americans version of British-ness, as we see it more. In the same way, films which are social realist like Shane Meadows and Mike Leigh, and are meant to be the most “British” films, do much better in other countries- so is their input what defines us, or is it something else?

There are other things which create the British identity- moral panics are very good at creating sub groups, “them and us” scenarios-the Rave groups for example. This creates stereotypes and folk devils, and identity through the holding of common discourses. The common discourses are illustrated by TV series quite well-such as in Holly-oaks and East-enders. The creation of stereotypes in this can be said to force people to feel as if they should be like these “gender stereotypes” or else create groups who reject this stereotype. These identify groups within the culture.

Media either creates or makes identity- newspapers target readers and create “what they should be in”, generalisation in media create stereotypes, film can represent or produce a culture of people. However, none of this is as simple. There are too many people to make accurate representations-they are usually stereotypes. Also, globalisation means that cultural identity is lost by the use of internet and other countries influences- culture from them means a loss of our own. Their ideologies affect us. Again, as America has largest share of the global market and internet, they are likely to influence us the most. The internet is also very good in letting people create their own identities, so they are shaped into global identities instead.

Going a bit post-modern, what we think is “British” are most probably the leading ideologies of our time- and these need to be deconstructed to see who “owns them.” This links to feminist and Marxist readings about the owning/creation of representation which gives power of the individual.

In the end, there are thousands of different identities in Britain, and trying to see a collective identity becomes difficult. The media can be seen to construct and reinforce these identities.

Postmodernism Precis

Postmodernism is a big concept. It encompasses many things about society, and is a reaction to modernism’s need to represent reality.

One of it's main conventions is hyper-reality, which is about the world being made up of signs and semiotics, and reality being defined by these. Because these signs/versions of reality all belong to people, or are produced to be seen as the "truth" this then means there is no "pure reality"-it is all distorted by opinions. This means that what we believe to be truth is just the dominant discourse produced by society. This can lead to false reality as the media represents it's opinions not the truth. This creates "fake history" and has led Baurdrilliard to say everything needs to be deconstructed to find truth, because “the media do not represent reality, they create it.” The 9/11 attacks, therefore, can be said to just be “media events” and a symbolic spectacle. It has been argued that there is no truth anymore because of this.
Hyper-reality can be said to lead to other post-modern aspects- simulacrum are created- the originals loose meaning, and just become symbols- not the original meaning. This is another example of the creation of hyper-reality through symbols and meanings.

Also, hyper-reality can cause nihilism- the idea of no values/truth. The playfulness of postmodernism often illustrates a loss of values-through parodying ideologies, memes, and set boundaries of society. It can be said to distance viewers from reality. Some people claim that the simulacrum of the nihilistic world in games can cause hinder ability to distinguish between reality and violence etc.
There are also other factors of postmodernism- texts will often be inter-textual-they will have pastiches, parody’s and eclectics which are like other texts, and rely on our cultural knowledge of conventions to play and create these. The play is very important to creating a world which is an inter-textual mix of everything else -this makes it very unreal- creating a humorous, nihilistic imitation of society.

This has made some critics say that postmodernism is just a “pick and mix” of traditional films ideas. This is post-modern- the mixing of other people's ideas is an example of the concept of there being no originality-everything is a inter-textual, eclectic mix of everything else- creating an active audience who construct the humour.

The “pick and mix” idea links to the postmodernist idea about hyper-identity, where the people can create their own identity and change identity-a post-modern idea as we can use inter-textual culture to design ourselves, and also because we have no set identity- insinuating play, not seriousness etc. This creation of self is linked to the rise of celebrity culture and internet forums for everyone- you can be who you create.
Lastly, media is very self referential, this means it is playful with itself, aware of it's construction and audience- and laughs at itself, often because it is imitating the serious boundaries of society and media- in doing things like breaking the 4^th wall, it mocks conventional storytelling traditions and creation of reality.

500 WORDS EXACTLY.

:)

Similarcrum/cra

Simulacrum is the idea that everything is just a copy or representation of something else- this means that often the reality of the original is lost. For example, the statues of Michelangelo, which have been replicated many times-the original therefore just becomes an icon, which we link to cultural links such as art, or beauty etc. This means that the reality of the piece is really just the media telling us the reality of the original. (links to death of an author)
According to wiki: Simulacrum, from the Latin simulacrum which means "likeness, similarity", is first recorded in the English language in the late 16th century, used to describe a representation of another thing, such as a statue or a painting, especially of a god; by the late 19th century, it had gathered a secondary association of inferiority: an image without the substance or qualities of the original.
In the Media

There are quite a few examples of simulacrum on TV and in film which I have noticed. Often many music videos like Lady Gaga use the image of simulacrum to make everyone like her-the distortion of reality makes the videos quite other-worldly and distorting. It has also been used in Doctor who, with everyone becoming the Master, which is a reflection of a bad society-where everyone is the same, and lacks originality.
In film, a director very interested in simulacrum, is Spike Jones-a postmodern director, who also makes things very disorienting and strange, often as a reflection of our society now. An example is "Being John Malcovitch" which questions the idea of self, by putting other people in Malcovitch-and questioning whether this changes someone, and whether the real one is still there. It taps into the celebrity obsession, and obsession with fame- which cause people to overtake his body. In one part, John Malcovitch enters his own brain- which causes a simulacrum of himself. (picture)










Another film is "Synecdoche New York" which is also very interested in the idea of everyone being the same. The story is postmodern in it's post-structeralist style, and the eventual end up of events which mirror everyone elses- he ends up being a mirror of the little girl in the picnic, and his 2 families become mirrors of eachother. Also, his becoming the maid of his wife, something he always pretended to be.
This also explores self, and the human desire to be their own self, while they live in a way which means they are everyone else. It also deals with simularcrum in a different way- the protagonist creating his own small version of new york inside a huge building in New York, and employing thousands of actors to act out normal lives. He even employs people to play himself, as the director. He builds the memeorable places of his life, so the whole city is a simularcrum of himself and his life. It grows bigger and bigger, and soon his relationships with his family are detrmined by the realtionships of the actros on screen playiong him and his family. It gets even bigger by the employment of actors playing the people who are playing him, and the building of a mini new york inside the mini new york in new york. The whole thing is based on everything being the same and stimulates of eachother. It aimed as a film, to make uncertinaty on what is reality and what is the art- there are some scenes which happen and it is unclear as to their reality-it could have been a scene written, or not. In the end, everything looses reality, and the protagonist can find no meaning in anything-it's just a series of random events in life. This relates significantly to the similarcum.
watch the film! It's amazing!