1. The Role of Media
The media is consistently criticised as being intrusive, out of control or problematic in
some other way. Often, the response from the media is that it is simply fulfilling its role of
meeting the needs of its audiences.
Discuss this with reference to media content you have studied. In your response you must:
(a) give detailed information or ideas about the role of media referenced above,
and discuss this by giving some opinions, arguments or conclusions about it
(b) give specific examples from media content which illustrate the information,
ideas or discussion.
a) On the one hand, the media can be said to be intrusive, out of control or problematic.
On the other, it is meeting the needs of its audiences.
Media texts can be seen as problematic because of their use of representation.
Groups of people and places are depicted in the media in a way that communicates
particular ideologies. Such representations can influence audiences to accept these
ideologies, potentially affecting their opinions and reactions to these groups of people
and places. A text which features such representations could be said to inform the
text’s audience, although the problem lies with the accuracy of the information that
the audience gathers. Accurate representations take into account the diversity and
uniqueness of people, whereas media representations often rely on stereotypes and
lazy clichés to communicate their ideologies.
On the other hand, it can be argued that the principal function of media texts is
to entertain or educate the audience. Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT) states that
there are four main categories of uses and gratifications that an audience can
potentially gain from reading a media text. These are 1) Information, 2) Personal
Identity, 3) Integration and Social Interaction and 4) Entertainment. By examining a
text in terms of these categories we can assess whether or not it meets the needs of its
intended audience by informing, entertaining and educating them. Uses and
Gratifications Theory assumes that audiences are actively seeking something from a
media text. This is in contrast with the Hypodermic Needle model, which assumes a
passive audience who simply accept the ideology communicated by the text. UGT
assumes that audiences have needs, and are seeking to fulfill these needs by
consuming media texts. On a more fundamental level, human beings are also
identified as having particular needs which must be fulfilled. It can be argued that
media texts also meet these needs, which can be said to outweigh any potentially
problematic aspects of the media. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs states that all humans
have basic physiological needs (food, water, breath and other functions necessary for
survival) but also proposes certain social and emotional needs which must be fulfilled.
These include the need for safety, for love and a sense of belonging, for esteem and for
self-actualisation. If The Great Hip Hop Hoax can be seen to satisfy any of these needs,
this media text can truly be said to be meeting the needs of its audience. In
conclusion, it can be argued that the ideologies communicated by media texts and
their representation of groups of people and places may be problematic, but it can
also be argued that media texts meet the fundamental needs of an audience.
b) The Great Hip Hop Hoax has several problematic representations. Firstly, it
represents women in a stereotypical and inaccurate way. Despite the film being
directed by a woman, the documentary seems to be communicating the ideology that
women can fulfill one of only two purposes: wife or groupie. One of the protagonists,
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Billy, married his girlfriend in the middle of trying to make it as a fake American
rapper. His wife, Mary, is interviewed throughout the documentary to give her
perspective on Billy’s experiences. However, Mary is rarely asked about her own
feelings – she is shown merely as an extension of Billy’s life. Similarly, Gavin’s sister
and mother are represented in talking heads interviews throughout the film.
However, their involvement is purely to talk about the male characters. They are all
presented as concerned relatives waiting at home as their menfolk get themselves
into trouble. These women are all shown as powerless bystanders.
Billy was, by his own admission, living a life filled with parties, alcohol, drugs and
groupies. This party lifestyle is exemplified by some of the animations used in the
documentary. These show the characters of Silibil and Brains drinking champagne in
a hot tub, surrounded by scantily clad women, who both men describe only in terms
of their beauty and sexual availability while glamourizing alcohol, drugs and the
decadent lifestyle of fame. Gavin describes his new found fame and success as
allowing him to obtain “some of the hottest girls you’ve ever seen” as girlfriends,
implying that he is only interested in these women for their looks. It is heavily
implied that Billy is unfaithful to Mary during this time, and Mary discusses this
uncomfortably, saying that she doesn’t want to know the details of Billy’s life at that
time. Ideologically this media text is communicating to its audience the notion that
women are weak, sexualized and objectified. This is a problematic aspect of the
media text.
The text also communicates problematic ideologies of Scotland. Gavin describes
Arbroath as “A place you grow up in and leave.” implying that there is no value in
staying in his home town. Gavin and Billy are also ridiculed when they audition as
Scottish rappers, and describe how music industry professionals openly laughed at
their performance as they rapped in Scottish accents. This communicates the idea to
the audience that Scotland is to be laughed at. The reason that both men abandoned
their true national identity was that they were not being taken seriously as Scottish
rappers. This implies that the music industry does not take Scottish artists seriously
and sees such artists as unworthy of their time. Again, an audience without any
experience of Scotland may pick up on this ideological discourse, and this may
negatively affect their attitudes and opinions towards Scotland.
However, The Great Hip Hop Hoax also meets the needs of its audience by
informing, educating and entertaining. Uses and Gratifications theory states that
audiences seek information in order to satisfy curiosity and general interest. The
Great Hip Hop Hoax informs the audience of Gavin and Billy’s story from the
beginning of their journey to fame to the breakdown of their friendship. The film’s
tagline “Get rich or lie trying” piques the interest of the audience, who want to find out
what happens to these two men, and crucially, once the audience starts watching the
film, they want to find out whether or not Gavin and Billy’s lies are exposed. The text
also gives audiences a chance to explore their personal identity, perhaps by gaining
insight into their own ambitions and dreams, or by finding models of behaviour.
Audience members who have similar ambitions to Gavin and Billy may learn the
importance of staying true to themselves, since the constant strain of being someone
else caused serious social and psychological problems for Gavin and Billy. Similarly,
Billy emerges as the more sensible of the two, as he is the one who realizes the futility
of their pretense, and the insurmountable problems that they face, returning home to
his wife and his home town. This may provide a model of behaviour for an audience
member who needs to know when to quit, and to appreciate the importance of family
and home. By educating and informing viewers of these important aspects of
information and personal identity, The Great Hip Hop Hoax meets the needs of its
audience.
The text also offers the use or gratification of entertainment. By considering the
problems and issues faced by Gavin and Billy’s unique and unbelievable story, the
audience are escaping or being diverted from their own problems. It is unlikely that
audience members will have found themselves in the same situation (due to the
bizarre nature of Gavin and Billy’s deception) therefore the text can be seen as an
escape from any problems that the audience faces. This is also identified as an
important use of media texts. The text also provides the audience with intrinsic
aesthetic enjoyment through its innovative and creative use of animation. Jon
Burgerman is a well-known and popular visual artist who describes the men’s lives as
Silibil and Brains as “a skewed, hyper-technicolour” world. The brightly coloured
cartoon characters which represent the two characters tell their story but also
provide an intrinsic enjoyment to the audience who appreciate the skill and artistry of
the animation team. Once again, The Great Hip Hop Hoax is meeting the needs of its
audience.
Finally, we can consider the basic needs of any human audience. Maslow defines
these in terms of five categories, which are often represented as a pyramidal
hierarchy. At the top of the hierarchy are the categories of esteem and selfactualisation. Maslow proposes that humans seek self-esteem, confidence,
achievement and the respect of others in the esteem category. In terms of selfactualisation, he proposes that humans need morality, creativity and to accept facts.
The Great Hip Hop Hoax provides an in-depth account of two men who are trying to
achieve their dreams and gain the respect of their peers, of the music industry and of
their fans. However, by ignoring the standard morality of our society, which says that
lying is wrong, their self-esteem and confidence were severely affected. Gavin was
unable to trust in his abilities as a musician, leading to his perfectionist attitude,
which delayed the release of their album. Ultimately both men lost respect for the
other as their ambitions and their friendship began to crumble, detailed in the
horrible fights that began to be commonplace. Gavin was particularly badly affected
by the strain of the situation, overdosing on drugs and trying to hold on to any thread
of his promised success. Ultimately, only when he accepted the fact that his lies would
not lead to success was he able to move on from the situation. By portraying these
events, the text demonstrates just how important these needs are to the subjects of
the documentary, and by extension, informs and educates the audience of the
importance of these needs, thus allowing the audience’s basic needs to be met.