HOW DOES THE AVENGERS CHALLENGE TRADITIONAL REPRESENTATIONS OF GENDER TO REACH A 1960's AUDIENCE?

In the Avengers, traditional gender views of the time were challenged to give a message to the 1960 audience: women are capable of the same things as men. Emma Peel acts as a strong female lead, which was unusual during this time - women generally acted as helpless wives who needed to be saved by the man. However, it is made clear from the first episode that Emma Peel is capable enough of looking after herself. When Steed enters her house she is clearly practising fencing - which was generally seen as a masculine sport - and challenges Steed to a fight. This shows she's not afraid of standing up to a man and is able to fight back. This was incredibly unusual for a tv programme in the 1960's because women were never seen standing up to men and acting as their equals. However, the views of these times aren't completely challenged here. Although Emma Peel challenges Steed to a fight, in the end, Steed wins because he is ultimately the male - therefore he is seen as the stronger one of the time and he wins.

Emma peel also challenges stereotypes because she is seen as very intelligent and works on her own to solve cases. This shows that men don't always hold all of the power. She also answers Steed back without a lot of warmth sometimes. For example, when Steed asks for coffee, peel doesn't follow the usual stereotype and run and get one for him, rather tells him where the coffee is and leaves him to get it. This shows she believes she's equal to Steed and will not grovel for him just because she's a woman. This is a real challenge to the stereotype of this time, where women were expected to look after the man. The Avengers uses Peel in this way to show women that they weren't insignificant to the man.

However, following the stereotypes of the 1960's, Emma Peel is often dressed in very tight outfits which tend to sexualise her. Additionally, whilst Steed and Peel were fencing, Steed slaps Peel's bottom as she walks away, which would nowadays be seen as completely wrong. This action once again sexulaises Emma Peel. This shows that, although the Avengers challenges traditional views of gender in the 1960's to start another opinion on women, it also follows some stereotypes of women - conforming to some views in the 1960's.

Analyse the representation of Jamaican Reggae music and musicians such as Bob Marley in this MOJO front cover. (5 marks)

In this magazine extract, MOJO uses a plain white with bright accent colours of red, yellow and green to connote a sense of fun and light-heartedness. This is further suggested by the main splash - Bob Marley - who is large, smiling and in a colourful shirt. This suggests that MOJO see's their musicians as fun. However, this is different from the stereotypical MOJO magazine as this is usually in monochrome colours of a young, white male. Therefore, this new style MOJO have presented suggest they see Jamaican Reggae as more fun and less serious than their usual genres. Bob Marley's importance is also shown as he covers the title 'MOJO' suggesting he is the key to this magazine.

This idea is further reinforced by the editor who puts the word 'Marley' in red, yellow and green - making it the most colourful and biggest word on the cover. This again connotes the idea of Bob Marley being a fun yet important figure in the world of Jamaican Reggae as well as within MOJO. Jamaican Reggae is also highlighted as hardcore and serious with words such as 'Reggae Revolution' which connote the sense of overpowering riots - suggesting Jamaican Reggae is different but amazing. 

Observer online: messages and values Q9

1.  The major use of newspapers is to offer a sense of knowing
what is going on in the world.The Observer knows that its readers are serious and interested in international affairs. This is evident in hard news articles about... politics in other countries as well as our own. For example the article 'US news/ Trump vents fury over Russia stories and again threatens national emergency'. shows that the Observer believes its readers wants to know about international, hard news affairs. 
2. The Observer meets its audience's need for a range of cultural, sporting and artistic news. It provides these with...articles such as 'Music/ 2019 Brit award nominations topped by Anne-Marie and Dua Lipa'.
3. The Observer does not shy away from 'difficult' issues that could make uncomfortable reading, such as...'Politics/ Labour set to call vote to topple Theresa May's government'.
4.  The Observer has sections which are designed to appeal to
different types of readers.The Observer reflects the diversity of its readership in articles on...other races and religions. An article which reflects this is 'Saudi teen/ Rahaf al- Qunun lands in Toronto after long journey to safety'.
5.  Newspaper readership can still be used as a symbol of one’s

social identity. The term ‘Guardian reader’ connotes a certain

type of social attitude and The Observer  similarly reinforces

a set of social and political attitudes, and thus identity, in its

representations. For example, Observer  readers like to think

of themselves as open-minded and this is reflected in the

Observer’s practice of allowing both sides of an argument

equally to be put when the newspaper is clearly on one side

of this argument. There is an example of this in....the article 'Brexit/ surprise boost for Bulgarian resorts'.

5.  The entertainment function of newspapers may take the

form of humour.  It may take the form of diversion into

a celebrity world of ‘glamour’. It may take the form of human

interest stories in which readers are invited to sympathise with

the subjects of the article. Newspapers further offer games,

puzzles, crosswords and the like. At the higher end, sections

such as the New Review in the Observer may offer the pleasure

of extremely well-written think pieces and literature reviews. An example of this is.... 'Schools/ sleep-deprived pupils need an extra hour in bed'

Music Videos Q2

This video is documentary style mostly hand-held camerawork, de-saturated colour and fast-paced editing. SB
This video has saturated colour, more controlled camerawork, slower-paced editing. TD
This video consists of mostly montage shots. SB
This video has more developed editing with cause and effect. TD
In this video, the singer values rebellion, which is seen in the narrative. SB
In this video, the singer values 'fitting in', conformity, albeit to an oppressive system, which is seen in the narrative. TD
This video is set in LA, a big city, with its connotations of street credibility. SB
The mise-en-scene of this video is American suburbia with its connotations of conformity. TD
This video is intertextual in its narrative (=it makes references to high school drama). TD
In this video, the singer performs to camera. TD + SB
In this video, real locations and 'everyday' costume for the performers connote a sense of naturalism. SB
In this video, there is a sense of linear narrative (a story is told, in the order it unfolds). TD

Newspapers/ Observer beliefs

Broadsheets generally value hard news such as political news which is currently shown on the front page of the Observer in which a main article is labelled 'Politics: Tory and Labour MPs to force Brexit delay if May's deal is voted down' which is showing to their readers that they're not afraid to tackle difficult issues in the news. They also value an international outlook, covering foreign affairs, which is shown through the current article "Syria: Assad has decisively won his brutal battle", showing the believe it is right to educate their readers on affairs other than that which concern England.

They serve a broad audience by including sport, culture, the arts, with many featured articles: its balance of features reflects that it values culture as well as politics and hard news. Examples of featured articles and other audience genres would be the article: "Life without plastic: Pioneer families show how its done." and "Football: Fernandhino's glaring absence reveals flaw in Man City  masterplan."