Media Theory Research

I am researching the use of media theories in relation to my chosen brief. I am looking at how they use media theories to make the text appeal to an intended audience so i can see a common themes used in entertainment magazines and use these in my work later on.




In Entertainment Weekly's front cover featuring Jessica Alba there are a few media theories used. Laura Mulvey's theory of the male gaze implies that women are being objectified for example in this case wearing a small, tight bikini to entice a heterosexual male. She has a lot of skin on show which has connotations of sex and above the masthead it says "PERFECT SEX!" which draws attention to her body in a sexual way. The female gaze is also used in this front cover in  the top right hand corner as there is a head and shoulders shot of an extremely muscular man. This will attract heterosexual females as they stereotypically find muscles appealing. Also Baudrillard's theory of hyperreality is used in this front cover because of her smooth skin on her body and sleek makeup. This causes the audience to feel like they have to live up to this image whereas in reality this pose lengthens her body making her look more attractive as she is arching her back which emphasises her bum and having her arm covering her stomach so she doesn't look like she has any fat on her and the photo editing such as smoothening her skin and resizing certain parts of her.




Levi Strauss's theory of binary opposites is used in this Entertainment Weekly front cover because the institution has used a black male and white female, this could suggest that he is a good person in the film as he is dressed in a suit which has connotations of success and that she will be the hero as she is wearing heroic colours. However, Gilroy's theory of criminalising immigrants could suggest for an audience that has never watched Captain Marvel that the black man is a villain and the white woman is a hero due to stereotypes of this throughout media products.
Moreover, the words at the top "THE HIGHS AND 'SHALLOWS'" suggest another binary opposite in the awards show.
Also Baudrillard's theory of postmodernism is used again in this front cover as the woman has been heavily photoshopped to make her skin look smooth, hair look like it is blowing in the wind and the outfit fitting her perfectly without a single crease. This creates a hyperreality for the audience which makes them feel like they have to live up to how good she looks.



In this task i have learnt that entertainment magazines use media theories to attract their audience such as Laura Mulvey and Baudrillard's theories. These both were there to appeal to the audience and make them want to buy the magazine over other ones. Looking at entertainment magazine front covers i found that these were the most common theories used as they link to the idea of entertainment well and to attract the audience. In my course work i will take on Laura Mulvey's theory of women being objectified because it attracts a larger audience (heterosexual men) and is also a common theory in the entertainment magazines. I am also going to use Baudrillard's theory of postmodernism as i can photoshop my images to create a hyperreality and make the audience buy my magazine as they aspire to look like the models on the front of it. I would apply these two theories by images as i can photoshop and get them to do certain poses to reflect these theories, for Laura Mulvey i could also use some text to highlight the woman like in the first front cover where it says "PERFECT SEX!" as it draws the readers attention back to the model in a sexual way.