audience and instituions

section B: 'audiences and institutions' - video game questions

stuff we need to know:

ideology - difference between ideology and representation

social class pyramid - classification of social groups ; ABC1 etc...

essay planning & MIGRAIN

representation in videogames:

• The role of women in games - passive objects, games are male centred , the main character is often male e.g GTA


• Women are often prizes in videogames: - donkey Kong - Mario - Zelda {{damsels in distress throughout games, films and television}}


• in Call of duty women are excluded form the gameplay even though there is many women in the miltiary sevices.


• videogames suggest that women are inferior - they need saving by men - they are passive and do not control the action e.g. in GTA the women are strippers and prostitutes. in GTA the character of Xherry is a prize of Nico when he has completed missions and built up money.

Ideology is a system of beliefs or values held by an individual or by SOCIETY. dominant ideologies are reinforced by the mainstream media. - NOAM CHOMSKY: said that the media is there to serve the ruling class; to reinforce their system of beliefs foe example in GTA four:

• women are passive


• women are objectified reinforced by Nuts or Loaded magazine.

representation of masculinity in videogames:

'hyper-masculinity' - massive over sized muscles; fearless fighters, cold hearted killers; drug dealers... 'Hereos????' or 'anti-Heroes'

representation of race / ethnicity:

In GTA four the main character is an Eastern European gangsters (china town triads) there is also little Jacob who is a jamacian drug dealers.

Are the representations a fair portrayal of real life???

Representations of disability