A story based upon the accounts of the women at Fox News who set out to expose CEO Roger Ailes for sexual harassment.
Why is “Bombshell” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “sexual material and language throughout.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a couple of implied sex scenes between a husband and his wife, between two women, many references to sexual assault and harassment in the workplace and descriptions of the types of harassment that occurred over many years, and many women wear low-cut and tight-fitting dresses throughout the movie that reveal cleavage and legs to the mid-thighs; many arguments in a work environment, threats of violence, and descriptions of a toxic work environment; and at least 40 F-words and other strong language
Linking some of the ideas that we covered in terms of Feminist Critical Thinking towards the 4th KEY CONCEPTUAL AREA OF A LEVEL MEDIA STUDIES: INSTITUTION. Bombshell is a story based upon the accounts of the women at Fox News who set out to expose CEO Roger Ailes for sexual harassment.
As a way of linking some of the ideas that we covered in terms of Feminist Critical Thinking towards the 4th KEY CONCEPTUAL AREA OF A LEVEL MEDIA STUDIES: INSTITUTION, let’s look at Bombshell (2019, Dir. Jay Roach) a story based upon the accounts of the women at Fox News who set out to expose CEO Roger Ailes for sexual harassment. Follow this link for a brief summary of the plot.
LINKING WITH PREVIOUS THEORIES:
You can understand misogyny (the poor representation of women in the media) in the same way you can understand racism, homophobia, ultra-nationalism and other forms of casual stereotyping, bias and prejudice, that is, through TEXTUAL ANALYSIS and the notion of REPRESENTATION.
However, prejudice may also occur beyond the level of text and can be identified as operating at a systemic INSTITUTIONAL intersection of race/class/gender <> power. Such ideas are proposed by Sut Jhally in his work for the Media Education Foundation – ‘Dreamworlds’ which looks at the role of MTV and music videos as a form of institutional / corporate sexism and misogyny
As such, this film provides a narrative of INSTITUTIONAL SEXISM, in the same way that we could look at other stories that are concerned with other institutional prejudices – racism, homophobia, Islamaphobia etc. In other words, this film presents a version of the story of INSTITUTIONAL SEXISM and MISOGYNY. It suggests a link between the presentation / representation of the female form and the ideas of a ruling patriarchy (Fox News, specifically Roger Ailes) and perhaps explains why we are presented with the stories we are presented with and how those stories are presented to us.
As such, this film provides a narrative of INSTITUTIONAL SEXISM, in the same way that we could look at other stories that are concerned with other institutional prejudices – racism, homophobia, Islamaphobia etc. In other words, this film presents a version of the story of INSTITUTIONAL SEXISM and MISOGYNY. It suggests a link between the presentation / representation of the female form and the ideas of a ruling patriarchy (Fox News, specifically Roger Ailes) and perhaps explains why we are presented with the stories we are presented with and how those stories are presented to us.
The Fox News Channel, commonly known as Fox News, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owned by the Fox Corporation. Fox News provides service to 86 countries and overseas territories worldwide, with international broadcasts featuring Fox Extra segments during ad breaks.
ROGER AILES
Roger Ailes (May 15, 1940 – May 18, 2017) was an American television executive and media consultant. He was the chairman and CEO of Fox News, Fox Television Stations and 20th Television. He was a media consultant for Republican presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush, and for Rudy Giuliani’s first mayoral campaign. In July 2016, he resigned from Fox News after being accused of sexual harassment by several female Fox employees, including on-air personalities Gretchen Carlson and Megyn Kelly. Shortly afterward, he became an adviser to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, in which he assisted with debate preparation.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT
Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favours. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions from verbal transgressions to sexual abuse or assault. Harassment can occur in many different social settings such as the workplace, the home, school, churches, etc. Harassers or victims may be of any sex or gender.
Sexual harassment by an employer is a form of illegal employment discrimination. For many businesses or organizations, preventing sexual harassment and defending employees from sexual harassment charges have become key goals of legal decision-making.
PLOT OF ‘BOMBSHELL’
Bombshell (Jay Roach, 2019)
After co-moderating the 2016 Republican debate, Megyn Kelly(Charlize Theron) faces numerous insults from Donald Trump, who is upset because she asked him about his offensive comments toward women. Under pressure from the network, and after receiving death threats and unwanted paparazzi attention, Kelly eventually reconciles with Trump. Meanwhile, Gretchen Carlson(Nicole Kidman) is removed as co-anchor of the popular ‘Fox and Friends’ show, and is transferred to a less popular show. Inundated by sexist comments on and off the air, including by Roger Ailes (John Lithgow), Carlson meets with lawyers who explain that Carlson’s contract prevents her from suing the network, but she can sue Ailes personally. On her first day on ‘The O’Reilly Factor’, Kayla Pospisil(Margot Robbie) meets co-worker Jess Carr (Kate McKinnon), and the two sleep together. The next day, Ailes begins sexually harassing Pospisil. Pospisil begins to tell Carr about what happened, but Carr says she cannot get involved. Carlson is later fired, ostensibly for her on-air support of the federal assault weapons ban, and decides to sue Ailes. When the news breaks the next day, Ailes denies the allegations and Kelly admits to her core team that Ailes sexually harassed her when she started at Fox. In the following weeks, despite a number of other women voicing their public support against Ailes, Kelly conspicuously refuses to make a comment on Carlson’s accusations. After more women accuse Ailes, Kelly starts to find other women at the network. Kelly visits Pospisil, and the two confide in each other. Kelly advises Pospisil to come forward, and after consulting with Carr, she does. Through her attorneys, Carlson later informs Ailes she has recorded conversations to support her claims, deliberately withholding them from Ailes’s lawyers in order to undermine his credibility. Defeated, Ailes is fired by Fox co-creator Rupert Murdoch(Malcolm McDowell). Ailes settles Carlson’s lawsuit for $20 million and an apology from Fox, but the agreement contains a non-disclosure agreement. Fox eventually paid the victims of sexual harassment $50 million, while paying Ailes and O’Reilly $65 million in severance.
Summary: its about the sexual harassment in the industry and how the institutions at the top control everything and have the power and chooses what we get to see and consume.
As a way of linking some of the ideas that we covered in terms of Feminist Critical Thinking towards the 4th KEY CONCEPTUAL AREA OF A LEVEL MEDIA STUDIES: INSTITUTION, let’s look at Bombshell (2019, Dir. Jay Roach) a story based upon the accounts of the women at Fox News who set out to expose CEO Roger Ailes for sexual harassment. Follow this link for a brief summary of the plot.
As such, this film provides a narrative of INSTITUTIONAL SEXISM, in the same way that we could look at other stories that are concerned with other institutional prejudices – racism, homophobia, Islamaphobia etc. In other words, this film presents a version of the story of INSTITUTIONAL SEXISM and MISOGYNY. It suggests a link between the presentation / representation of the female form and the ideas of a ruling patriarchy (Fox News, specifically Roger Ailes) and perhaps explains why we are presented with the stories we are presented with and how those stories are presented to us.
You can understand misogyny (the poor representation of women in the media) in the same way you can understand racism, homophobia, ultra-nationalism and other forms of casual stereotyping, bias and prejudice, that is, through TEXTUAL ANALYSIS and the notion of REPRESENTATION.
Understanding gender is, in my opinion, a crucial part of understanding the Score and Maybelline advertising campaigns as the idea of gender is the main selling point in both ads, even though they are presented and used in different ways.
In the case of the Score advertising campaign, I can tell that it was heavily influenced by “The Male Gaze”, a theory developed by Laura Mulvey in which she theorises about how quite often in the media women are perceived as a sexual object who is there to provide pleasure to the male heterosexual viewer. “In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its phantasy on to the female form which is styled accordingly.” is what she says in her book Visual and Other Pleasure and is essentially the whole base of the score advert. In an advert where the underlining message is that if you (male) use this product you will be more attractive to females- if you don’t understand this concept and also the traditional idea of gender (male & female) then the advert will lack in meaning. This ad is also a good examples of Judith’s theory on “Raunch culture” which “Is the sexualised performance of women in the media that can play into male stereotypes of women as high sexually available. If you are also unable to understand the ideas of gender more specifically male, female and heterosexual attraction then this specific advert will become meaningless. This specific example is one portraying a traditional belief of patriarchy by showing a male being pampered by females in a borderline sexual way while they wear very little clothes, gaze inventively at the male, reach up towards him and just generally cohere to the male gaze. This shows how Score is using gender/ sexuality to attract customers and gain sales but this is also just a common tactic which has been taken advantage of by most major companies.
Understanding gender is also a crucial part of Maybelline’s “Boss Up” adverts as their selling point of the product is that they have included a gay male in a makeup advertisement for the first time. Manny’s sexuality is greatly exaggerated, along with his “cringe” vocabulary which I think represents the makeup brand Maybelline trying to make an impactful advert that you will remember, even if its remembered for being tacky and cringe the point will still be there”. Not only does this advert represent inclusion of different sexuality’s, it also represents inclusion of different genders and races too. For example in the original Maybelline boss up advert a man is “bossed” up as well between shots whereas in the second advert it is a woman. This is Maybelline’s attempt at breaking down the dominant ideology that makeup is only for females- which could either be perceived as a step towards a more inclusive society or just a smart marketing tactic to increase their target audience. By making adverts such as these Maybelline is moving away from ideas such as Laura Mulvey’s theory that “gender is fixed – male/female” and “it is structured by institutions and those powerful individuals who are able to exert power and control” and towards the more modern ideas such as Judith Butlers thoughts on how “gender is fluid, changeable, plural a set of categories to be played out and performed by individual subjects in individual moments in time and space.” which is displayed in the advert through Manny’s character being against the typical makeup user’s stereotype- such as Judith Butler’s so called “Girly Girls,” which could be described as “a female who chooses to display themselves in a more traditionally feminine way i.e. pink clothes, makeup, dresses gossiping, etc,”. The fact that Maybelline has Manny as their first male representative (who is also gay), shows that slowly society is moving further and further away from the outdated expectation that “The roles that men and women are expected to fulfil are tightly regulated and heavily moderated by social customs, family expectations, and rigid social codes” and more towards that of Judith Butlers where “Our genders are formed culturally rather than naturally” and “Our genders are not stable but are constructed through repeated actions.”.
Overall the idea of gender is represented differently on both the Score and Maybelline adverts but like I said before this idea of gender being the defining feature and selling point for both products will be completely missed if the viewer doesn’t understand the concepts and theory’s such as Judith Butler‘s idea that “an identity instituted through a stylized repetition of acts”. in other words, it is something learnt through repeated performance.” then the advertisement will not have the same effect. Both adverts also use gender in different ways to get to the viewer; for example score uses the more outdated “standard” that males should attract females and Maybelline uses Manny who is homosexual to enforce that while gender used to be a set of specific behaviours and characteristics that everyone of the same physical gender should follow- they are now no longer “Tightly regulated and heavily moderated by social customs, family expectations, and rigid social codes” as Gauntlett says but are more fluid and known that “Biological anatomies do not determine our gender” as Butler states. Judith states “Our genders are formed culturally rather than naturally” and “Our genders are not stable but are constructed through repeated actions.” and this is what is being shown through these contrasting adverts.
As a way of linking some of the ideas that we covered in terms of Feminist Critical Thinking towards the 4th KEY CONCEPTUAL AREA OF A LEVEL MEDIA STUDIES: INSTITUTION, let’s look at Bombshell (2019, Dir. Jay Roach) a story based upon the accounts of the women at Fox News who set out to expose CEO Roger Ailes for sexual harassment. Follow this link for a brief summary of the plot.
Why is “Bombshell” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “sexual material and language throughout.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a couple of implied sex scenes between a husband and his wife, between two women, many references to sexual assault and harassment in the workplace and descriptions of the types of harassment that occurred over many years, and many women wear low-cut and tight-fitting dresses throughout the movie that reveal cleavage and legs to the mid-thighs; many arguments in a work environment, threats of violence, and descriptions of a toxic work environment; and at least 40 F-words and other strong language
LINKING WITH PREVIOUS THEORIES:
You can understand misogyny (the poor representation of women in the media) in the same way you can understand racism, homophobia, ultra-nationalism and other forms of casual stereotyping, bias and prejudice, that is, through TEXTUAL ANALYSIS and the notion of REPRESENTATION.
However, prejudice may also occur beyond the level of text and can be identified as operating at a systemic INSTITUTIONAL intersection of race/class/gender <> power. Such ideas are proposed by Sut Jhally in his work for the Media Education Foundation – ‘Dreamworlds’ which looks at the role of MTV and music videos as a form of institutional / corporate sexism and misogyny
As such, this film provides a narrative of INSTITUTIONAL SEXISM, in the same way that we could look at other stories that are concerned with other institutional prejudices – racism, homophobia, Islamaphobia etc. In other words, this film presents a version of the story of INSTITUTIONAL SEXISM and MISOGYNY. It suggests a link between the presentation / representation of the female form and the ideas of a ruling patriarchy (Fox News, specifically Roger Ailes) and perhaps explains why we are presented with the stories we are presented with and how those stories are presented to us.
In other words, it helps to explain the ideas of Louis Althusser in that the ruling ideas emerge from elements of the Ideological State Apparatus (look at the connection between Roger Ailes, Rupert Murdoch, Donald Trump etc) and those ideas shape who we are, what we could be, want to be etc by a mechanism that he calls INTERPELLATION. For a visual representation of this watch the sequence in Bombshell where we see how the presenters are encouraged to dress and the way in which the choice of camera angles are used to reinforce this particular dress code.
Again you can see a visual representation of this in Bombshell, for example, Roger Ailes talks about the media as ‘the most competitive industry in the world’, which means consent to a number of suspect practices – ranging from sexual favours (Roger Ailes and others at Fox News) to eating liberal food or wearing a hoodie (Mrs Ailes working practices as a publisher)! And don’t forget the opening sequence which clearly places Ailes at the centre of corporate and government power – Murdoch, Trump, Reagan, Bush etc.
Arguments presented against sexism and misogyny (ie the hegemonic struggle re: Gramsci) are raised through Feminist Critical Thinking and we have looked at early feminist movements as well as 2nd, 3rd and 4th wave feminist critics. We have even looked at theories of gender representation that look beyond binary gender values (male/female), which can termed as intersectionality, which first emerged as Queer Theory.
Introduce the overall aim and argument that you are going to make
Establish your first main critical approach (I would suggest Gender as Performance by Butler, but . . . )
Develop this approach by using key words, phrases and quotation (Mulvey, Kilbourne, Moi, Wander, Wollstonescraft, Woolf, de Beauvoir, Van Zoonen, Dollimore, Woolf, Levy)
Apply your theoretical ideas to either or both of the set CSP’s
Show some historical knowledge about societal changes
Establish a secondary theme or idea that you wish to raise (1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th wave feminism, Raunch Culture, Queer Theory, Intersectionality)
Develop this approach by using key words, phrases and quotation
Apply your theoretical ideas to either or both of the set CSP’s
Show some historical knowledge about societal changes
Establish a contradictory argument that shows your ability to think and engage
Develop this approach by using key words, phrases and quotation
Apply your theoretical ideas to either or both of the set CSP’s
Apply your theoretical ideas to either or both of the set CSP’s
Summarise your main arguments
Ensure you have a summative, final sentence / short paragraph
