Unit 5 Exam Piece on LGBT
Activity 1
Analyse the significance of representation of LGBT groups or individuals in a specific media sector with reference to the issues/debates mentioned in the statement:
'The lack of LGBT characters in mainstream media, and reliance on outdated stereotypes, does not represent the LGBT community in a fair and balanced way.'
You should refer to your own research carried out in the stimulus material, making reference to the validity of the sources used.
It is important to remember how over the last two centuries, how much has changed in our society when it comes to equality. To women finally being able to vote, to people of all different races and religions finally being able to live side by side in peace, however there is still a huge problem with many collectives of our society being left out. The way news and opinions are spread across the world over time is all down to media, what message it would advise or misinterpret people to take, this is the main place where peoples personal opinions are developed and it is so important to give groups such as the LGBT community as much love as we can because how much abuse and rejection they would go through over beliefs they cant choose. We have came a long way as a society, but there is still so much more that we can do. We will be looking at just how unfairly people within the media are treated because of their sexual cultures, and one of the main forms of which this is dominant is in television.
Over the years, I believe television has failed to deliver in a fair representation of the LGBT community, for example, in my primary research I gave out online questionnaires to 34 college students about the treatment of the lack of treatment in television. The main question asked was "Do you think the LGBT community is treated unfairly?" to which 74% overall was in agreement with the status, 55% disagreed that there is enough LGBT characters in TV and Film and that society was to blame with these reasons, with 91% in agreement. Finally, 70% agreed that it would be difficult to open up about their sexuality and 62% believed that this matter should be taught more in depth within education and daytime television. Looking at the analytics of the survey it is clear to see that other young people of a new generation are wishing for a future where it is more than OK to be different to what is heterosexual and deemed "normal", because nobody is normal, everyone has their own personality and beliefs and it is about time we came to respect that and gave them the credibility they deserve.
The secondary sources chosen to back up my points is in 2013, just over 100 major film titles released that year, only 85 had no LGBT characters. That isn't realistic in the slightest as we see members of the community every single day and it is growing day by day, so it would make the productions feel more realistic to include gay characters as they are vital parts of society. Also, looking at what different countries have done to react to this, the UK and the BBC was one of the first broadcasters to tackle gay rights in mainstream media with Eastenders, in 1987 the first onscreen gay kiss was shown and in 2015, the first transgender actor to play a transgender character in a soap opera was cast and both events were major triumphs for the community however i find it hard to believe that it had taken this long and for many huge productions to include, referring to the stimulus material
Activity 2
Justify the choice of secondary sources you used to investigate the key areas of the set task topic within a specific media sector.
The reason I chose to look into a production such as Eastenders is because it is one of the biggest soap operas and has a very broad age range from young teenagers to elderly people so it is important to cover many story lines that all ages can relate to, along with some story's that viewers might also find themselves in and need advice on. Eastenders is broadcast ed by the BBC which is a very reliable source of information. Besides, things that happen within the LGBT community that are present in Eastenders happen every single day and therefore it needs to be normalized in the eyes of older generations for example because their outdated views may not agree with gay rights because they never had conversations like this back when they were younger when their brains were at their most vulnerable, it needs to be taught that it is okay to come out and whatever others say is irrelevant.
I conducted my research looking at what i could find on television and a story from earlier this year came up from UK talk show host Philip Schofield who announced that he was gay, despite him being married with a wife and had children. Since then he gained a lot of support but also a lot of backlash from the public not only because of him potentially lying to his wife but also because of his sexuality, this was rife on twitter with many people poking fun and saying hurtful things about him, which is probably what he had to expect as many people who are faced with a similar situation feel scared to come out and talk about their feelings like this, going back to my questionnaire, many people believe it would be difficult to come out with how poison and disrespectful society can be and this is why it is important to speak up and overwhelm the ignorant.
Activity 3
Explain the conclusions you have made from your research and evaluate how these conclusions support and/or challenge the findings of the stimulus material.
One conclusion I have discovered is that over the last 20 years, there has been a significant rise in LGBT community characters. In 2001 with the introduction of Will and Grace, a sitcom that includes two gay males, although they did happen to show many stereotypical traits as portrayed in media, they also done a lot of good for bringing a lot more attention into bringing more gay characters into the mainstream. Vice president Joe Biden, said that "will and grace probably did more to educate the american public than almost anything anybody has ever done so far" and this was said in 2012, 11 years after the show first premiered and 6 years after the final episode was released, until its revival years later. In the meantime, this gave way to shows such as the Ellen DeGeneres show, with the worlds first openly gay talk show host who was a woman. From that show, many stereotypes have been tackled and she has helped many across the United States to accept who they are. The conclusion i'm getting at is that people are still scared to come out, and this is because of the lack of LGBT community figures in media, and the some that are in, have very lazy stereotypes against them.
Another conclusion is through Netflix shows such as Sex Education or Orange is the new black, both of which have strong influences of LGBT characters such as transgenders and gay people. In Sex Education, the "side kick" is a gay black male that is really there for comic relief and it shows as we are really expecting more of a punchline more than anything else and it can be hard to take him seriously, even though what points he is trying to get across can be important to respecting the community. In Orange Is The New Black, being gay and different genders is seen to be a mental problem due to the tight institution that the characters are in, it can be seen as women getting brainwashed and helplessly falling into it. However this can be the case in many prisons and realistic situations, so it isn't absolutely unlikely.
Activity 4
What changes would you suggest for future media production in your specific media sector in response to the research findings in the stimulus material and your own research?
It is greatly expected that the television side of media can do a lot better in trying to normalize LGBT characters without it feeling forced or using unnecessary stereotypes that shows a lack of respect for the people struggling to come to terms with how they are revealing who they actually are, so it is obvious that things need to be improved. But how?
Going back to my primary questionnaires, with a new generation of supporting young people, many of whom are in the same category, that as they grow and help the media, things are only going to get better for the community. In my opinion, bringing more LGBT activists into vital television working roles behind and on screen because they know what they are talking about and they can normalize this, this can be interpreted as gay characters in television are not being portrayed correctly, mostly they can be seen as being their for having as many characters from different sexuality's however this can feel forced and seen as being only there because they should be there, acting unnecessary. This could be helped by having more gay characters take on main leading roles on television and give them realistic story lines, and not the constant butt of the joke.
LGBT characters need to be added fluently and naturally and often because although we may not see it, many people who are seen as straight can be coming to terms with their sexuality. In my primary research, 62% believed this matter should be talked about more heavily in schools and on television so if more people were hired from the LGBT community this could be something that could be normal and not seen as scary to come out, as it is something that many people will go through therefore to cast more gay characters than we have would be great as it would be more realistic and giving the credit to the gay community. What can be interpreted at the moment is that non gay scriptwriters are creating these characters based on what they know about the community and what some might go through, but i doubt that many of them actually are gay and can use their real life experiences to structure who these characters are.
Activity 5
Explain what further research could be conducted into this topic and how this would help to gain a greater understanding of the current impact of the representation of LGBT groups or individuals in your specific media sector.
How i could further my primary research is by giving out questions to a larger audience and adding more questions into it, for more people of all different personalities to give their honest opinions on what they think about LGBT on Television. How i can broaden my secondary research is by doing more online research, looking into more about the community and how they are planning to tackle this problem by adding complaints to major productions and by working more hands on with the products that are being created. I believe that the main problems for the LGBT community stems from the internet, with many articles that criticize them for standing up for simple beliefs. The majority of my secondary research came form the given stimulus material however i could've furthered my research by looking at online committees and seeing what people think, this could also benefit from online surveys to strengthen my primary research. It would also be useful to watch more mainstream television or to watch a television show and see how fairly the community is portrayed to avoid any offence given such as more soap operas which lots of people will sit down to watch, for example Coronation Street and Emmerdale, broadcast by itv, both that tackle many gay story lines and to criticize how accurate it is by members of the LGBT community which is a fair judgement as they have been in many similar situations as the characters.
I believe the easiest way to gather research is by holding surveys as it gives everyone the chance to share their opinions and we can get honest feedback from people of all ages, we can correlate the positives to the negatives by different age groups and we can see for definite what the main problems are. I got answers from only young adults from college, however if i got all age groups it would mean a lot more to getting a straight answer because everyone has had their input and how everything changes as the age range goes further to the older outdated lessons what were taught to the older people.
Analyse the significance of representation of LGBT groups or individuals in a specific media sector with reference to the issues/debates mentioned in the statement:
'The lack of LGBT characters in mainstream media, and reliance on outdated stereotypes, does not represent the LGBT community in a fair and balanced way.'
You should refer to your own research carried out in the stimulus material, making reference to the validity of the sources used.
It is important to remember how over the last two centuries, how much has changed in our society when it comes to equality. To women finally being able to vote, to people of all different races and religions finally being able to live side by side in peace, however there is still a huge problem with many collectives of our society being left out. The way news and opinions are spread across the world over time is all down to media, what message it would advise or misinterpret people to take, this is the main place where peoples personal opinions are developed and it is so important to give groups such as the LGBT community as much love as we can because how much abuse and rejection they would go through over beliefs they cant choose. We have came a long way as a society, but there is still so much more that we can do. We will be looking at just how unfairly people within the media are treated because of their sexual cultures, and one of the main forms of which this is dominant is in television.
Over the years, I believe television has failed to deliver in a fair representation of the LGBT community, for example, in my primary research I gave out online questionnaires to 34 college students about the treatment of the lack of treatment in television. The main question asked was "Do you think the LGBT community is treated unfairly?" to which 74% overall was in agreement with the status, 55% disagreed that there is enough LGBT characters in TV and Film and that society was to blame with these reasons, with 91% in agreement. Finally, 70% agreed that it would be difficult to open up about their sexuality and 62% believed that this matter should be taught more in depth within education and daytime television. Looking at the analytics of the survey it is clear to see that other young people of a new generation are wishing for a future where it is more than OK to be different to what is heterosexual and deemed "normal", because nobody is normal, everyone has their own personality and beliefs and it is about time we came to respect that and gave them the credibility they deserve.
The secondary sources chosen to back up my points is in 2013, just over 100 major film titles released that year, only 85 had no LGBT characters. That isn't realistic in the slightest as we see members of the community every single day and it is growing day by day, so it would make the productions feel more realistic to include gay characters as they are vital parts of society. Also, looking at what different countries have done to react to this, the UK and the BBC was one of the first broadcasters to tackle gay rights in mainstream media with Eastenders, in 1987 the first onscreen gay kiss was shown and in 2015, the first transgender actor to play a transgender character in a soap opera was cast and both events were major triumphs for the community however i find it hard to believe that it had taken this long and for many huge productions to include, referring to the stimulus material
Activity 2
Justify the choice of secondary sources you used to investigate the key areas of the set task topic within a specific media sector.
The reason I chose to look into a production such as Eastenders is because it is one of the biggest soap operas and has a very broad age range from young teenagers to elderly people so it is important to cover many story lines that all ages can relate to, along with some story's that viewers might also find themselves in and need advice on. Eastenders is broadcast ed by the BBC which is a very reliable source of information. Besides, things that happen within the LGBT community that are present in Eastenders happen every single day and therefore it needs to be normalized in the eyes of older generations for example because their outdated views may not agree with gay rights because they never had conversations like this back when they were younger when their brains were at their most vulnerable, it needs to be taught that it is okay to come out and whatever others say is irrelevant.
I conducted my research looking at what i could find on television and a story from earlier this year came up from UK talk show host Philip Schofield who announced that he was gay, despite him being married with a wife and had children. Since then he gained a lot of support but also a lot of backlash from the public not only because of him potentially lying to his wife but also because of his sexuality, this was rife on twitter with many people poking fun and saying hurtful things about him, which is probably what he had to expect as many people who are faced with a similar situation feel scared to come out and talk about their feelings like this, going back to my questionnaire, many people believe it would be difficult to come out with how poison and disrespectful society can be and this is why it is important to speak up and overwhelm the ignorant.
Activity 3
Explain the conclusions you have made from your research and evaluate how these conclusions support and/or challenge the findings of the stimulus material.
One conclusion I have discovered is that over the last 20 years, there has been a significant rise in LGBT community characters. In 2001 with the introduction of Will and Grace, a sitcom that includes two gay males, although they did happen to show many stereotypical traits as portrayed in media, they also done a lot of good for bringing a lot more attention into bringing more gay characters into the mainstream. Vice president Joe Biden, said that "will and grace probably did more to educate the american public than almost anything anybody has ever done so far" and this was said in 2012, 11 years after the show first premiered and 6 years after the final episode was released, until its revival years later. In the meantime, this gave way to shows such as the Ellen DeGeneres show, with the worlds first openly gay talk show host who was a woman. From that show, many stereotypes have been tackled and she has helped many across the United States to accept who they are. The conclusion i'm getting at is that people are still scared to come out, and this is because of the lack of LGBT community figures in media, and the some that are in, have very lazy stereotypes against them.
Another conclusion is through Netflix shows such as Sex Education or Orange is the new black, both of which have strong influences of LGBT characters such as transgenders and gay people. In Sex Education, the "side kick" is a gay black male that is really there for comic relief and it shows as we are really expecting more of a punchline more than anything else and it can be hard to take him seriously, even though what points he is trying to get across can be important to respecting the community. In Orange Is The New Black, being gay and different genders is seen to be a mental problem due to the tight institution that the characters are in, it can be seen as women getting brainwashed and helplessly falling into it. However this can be the case in many prisons and realistic situations, so it isn't absolutely unlikely.
Activity 4
What changes would you suggest for future media production in your specific media sector in response to the research findings in the stimulus material and your own research?
It is greatly expected that the television side of media can do a lot better in trying to normalize LGBT characters without it feeling forced or using unnecessary stereotypes that shows a lack of respect for the people struggling to come to terms with how they are revealing who they actually are, so it is obvious that things need to be improved. But how?
Going back to my primary questionnaires, with a new generation of supporting young people, many of whom are in the same category, that as they grow and help the media, things are only going to get better for the community. In my opinion, bringing more LGBT activists into vital television working roles behind and on screen because they know what they are talking about and they can normalize this, this can be interpreted as gay characters in television are not being portrayed correctly, mostly they can be seen as being their for having as many characters from different sexuality's however this can feel forced and seen as being only there because they should be there, acting unnecessary. This could be helped by having more gay characters take on main leading roles on television and give them realistic story lines, and not the constant butt of the joke.
LGBT characters need to be added fluently and naturally and often because although we may not see it, many people who are seen as straight can be coming to terms with their sexuality. In my primary research, 62% believed this matter should be talked about more heavily in schools and on television so if more people were hired from the LGBT community this could be something that could be normal and not seen as scary to come out, as it is something that many people will go through therefore to cast more gay characters than we have would be great as it would be more realistic and giving the credit to the gay community. What can be interpreted at the moment is that non gay scriptwriters are creating these characters based on what they know about the community and what some might go through, but i doubt that many of them actually are gay and can use their real life experiences to structure who these characters are.
Activity 5
Explain what further research could be conducted into this topic and how this would help to gain a greater understanding of the current impact of the representation of LGBT groups or individuals in your specific media sector.
How i could further my primary research is by giving out questions to a larger audience and adding more questions into it, for more people of all different personalities to give their honest opinions on what they think about LGBT on Television. How i can broaden my secondary research is by doing more online research, looking into more about the community and how they are planning to tackle this problem by adding complaints to major productions and by working more hands on with the products that are being created. I believe that the main problems for the LGBT community stems from the internet, with many articles that criticize them for standing up for simple beliefs. The majority of my secondary research came form the given stimulus material however i could've furthered my research by looking at online committees and seeing what people think, this could also benefit from online surveys to strengthen my primary research. It would also be useful to watch more mainstream television or to watch a television show and see how fairly the community is portrayed to avoid any offence given such as more soap operas which lots of people will sit down to watch, for example Coronation Street and Emmerdale, broadcast by itv, both that tackle many gay story lines and to criticize how accurate it is by members of the LGBT community which is a fair judgement as they have been in many similar situations as the characters.
I believe the easiest way to gather research is by holding surveys as it gives everyone the chance to share their opinions and we can get honest feedback from people of all ages, we can correlate the positives to the negatives by different age groups and we can see for definite what the main problems are. I got answers from only young adults from college, however if i got all age groups it would mean a lot more to getting a straight answer because everyone has had their input and how everything changes as the age range goes further to the older outdated lessons what were taught to the older people.
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