LGBT Representation Exam

Over time, LGBT representation in Television has grown, and has become better written too. In the past, representations would be few and far between, and not all of them would necessarily be positive. A big reason for this could simply be that people did not wish to see positive representations of LGBT characters in Television. This evolution is shown in the stimulus material. A 1987 episode of Eastenders was heavily criticised by members of parliament for showing scene featuring a gay kiss. Many people complained and condemned the show, saying that if doesn't show such acts after watershed, then it should be scrapped altogether. The outcry was made, but was ignored. However, not many other shows were looking to receive such a backlash. Other similar events occurred on television, but the majority happened after watershed. In fact, the first lesbian kiss pre-watershed didn't happen until a 1994 episode of Brookside. In 2005, the revived Doctor Who introduced new character Captain Jack Harkness. His exact sexuality is never labelled, but he shares on screen kisses with both male and female characters, and in the 2006 show Torchwood, he is shown having relationships with male and female characters. Jack Harkness was an effective representation due to how much his character steered away from stereotypes. Jack was a witty action hero and also a positive role model for younger viewers. In 2013, streaming service Netflix debuted their new show Orange Is The New Black, a show following a woman being sentenced to prison and what life is like inside. Many of the characters in the show are apart of the LGBT community, and are shown dealing with different hardships as they navigate life in prison. The show features many lesbian characters and a transgender character, which isn't very common for such a flagship show. Orange Is The New Black has been tremendously received by fans and critics, even winning many awards over it's runtime, for its realistic portrayal of LGBT characters, people in prison and more. 

In my primary research, I looked at the long running American sitcom It's Always Sunny (2005-) In Philadelphia, specifically the character of Mac. Mac is a stereotypically conservative and religious man, who condemns homosexuality for the majority of the show's seasons, until coming out as gay in the finale of season 11, which aired in 2016. Mac's character coming out as gay had a mixed reaction. An article from The Independent criticised it because of how it has became a trope. Many different pieces of media have a homophobic character who is secretly gay (Thirteen Reasons Why, Hollyoaks, The Perks Of Being A Wallflower) and a lot of people are sick of it, as they view it as a lazy and unoriginal way to introduce a gay character. Many others however, praised the show for the representation, and how Mac discovering his sexuality didn't change who he was as a character. The show met high praise for the Season Thirteen finale titled Mac Finds His Pride. Mac and the other cast members are taking part in a pride parade and have their own float, but Mac won't do the parade until he finds his own pride in himself. Mac and the character Frank, who claims he "doesn't get it" when regarding Mac's sexuality, embark on helping Mac understand himself. After many failures, the show comes to a close with Mac coming out to his father with a five minute dance sequence held in-front of prison inmates and Frank. The dance, featuring a ballet dancer representing a holy figure, shows how Mac suffered internal hatred due to how heavily religious he was, and how although he knew he was gay, he still thought it was wrong. We see him grow, and learn to love himself while still able to love god, as he accepts that god would accept him. During the dance, Mac's father leaves, but Mac continues dancing. He realises he doesn't need the validation from his father, because he finally has the validation from himself. Frank even has a realisation during the dance, being brought to tears and exclaiming "I get it". This scene resulted in show creator and actor for Mac, Rob McElhenney receiving tons of messages and letter from LGBT fans who felt moved and supported by the scene. This all culminates in Mac being a positive representation of the LGBT community, regardless of some of the more morally incorrect acts his character has committed over the show's runtime. 

However, in my primary research I found some negative representations of the LGBT community in modern television. The animated sitcom Family Guy ran an episode in 2015 that opens with the main characters at a fair. The character known as Chris wins a prize at a game after knocking down cans with a ball. The prize he is given is a homosexual man. The man wears a stereotypically feminine outfit, with a pink shirt and scarf, and he also speaks with a stereotypically high-pitched voice. He has short dialogue with Chris where it is revealed that he feeds on attention to survive. This character isn't really much of a character, just a stereotype on screen to be laughed at. The character being nothing but potentially offensive and dangerous stereotypes and also only existing to be the butt of the joke is not a fair representation of the LGBT community. Without the stereotypes, the character isn't anything.

In my research, I have found that over the years, LGBT representation in Television has certainly grown, and while there are and probably always will be exceptions, there are a lot of positive representations that don't need to focus on stereotypes and can flesh out the sexuality of a character in a much better and more accurate way. Right now, around 10% of characters on television are LGBT, which when you think of how many characters must exist, is quite a large number, which will only grown even larger with time.

A change that could be made to ensure there are less negative representations is, if a Television show wishes to have an LGBT character, they should hire either an LGBT writer to help write their character and scenes, or maybe hire an LGBT actor to play the character and bring some realism to the role. Doing both would ensure the best results, as both parties could work together to ensure the character remains a positive representation and steers clear of stereotypes.

Some further research could certainly be conducted. Research should be taken into seeing how the LGBT community themselves react to all their different representations and how they feel about stereotypes in television. They can be asked if they feel they receive enough representation and if not, how much more they should receive. This would allow writers and producers of different shows to understand what they are doing right and what they are doing wrong when it comes to LGBT representation. This could result in more accurate characters, less stereotypes, and probably more characters in general.

Working In The Creative Media Industry

The Media Industries

Within the media industry, are many smaller industry's all for a different audience, producing different products. Some industries include Film, Television, Radio, Video Games and Advertising. The film industry is, of course, for film production. Ranging from writers to directors, boom operators to producers. Television is ran the same, just with the final product released episodically onto TV or streaming. Radio is more than music, due to radio presenters and radio-drama's, providing entertainment without visuals. Video games are entertainment controlled by the consumer, with a team full of animators and coding experts. Animators actually cross over to television and film too, for animated shows and movies. Advertising and marketing are what makes all of the products made by the other industries be seen by the public. Social media posts, posters, TV ads and trailers all contribute to the popularity of products by making them be known and letting people know that to expect from them. 

The Film Industry

There many jobs and have rolls to have within the film industry. Some are similar, some are vastly different. This allows many people to become employed in the industry, due to all the people that are necessary for one film to be made alone, and with how many big and small film production companies exist. Some notable and famous companies are Paramount, Universal, Lionsgate, 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. Within all these companies are thousands of jobs, all as vital as each-other to make a film be created.

Creative

Some of the most well known and prolific jobs within the film industry are the ones based around the creative side of it. Directors, producers, writers, designers. This is the side of film production that can bring a person fame. Directors, arguably the most known aspect of creating a film, have the task of directing all the cast and crew members, telling them what to do and making sure they do their job correctly. They also have to adapt the screenplay and script to film, choosing what is necessary and how things should be done. The writer, who wrote the screenplay, is responsible for writing all the characters, their dialogue and their actions. They have the story, and need to write it in enough detail so that the director can bring the story to life.

Technical

A highly important technical job is the lighting operator. When shooting a film, certain scenes require different lighting to represent the mood, or something more straight-forward like the time the scene is set. Bad lighting is very noticeable, for example, a scene that is too dark will result in an audience not being able to see what is happening in the scene. A scene that is too bright will have the same effect, but likely because the viewers will have to loom away due to strain on their eyes. The lighting operator has to ensure these things do not happen.

Editorial

Editorial jobs, of course, contain editors. A video editor is crucial in film production as they will place all of the scenes together in a way that is seamless, taking out any errors or removing phrases like "Action". Without this, film's wouldn't make sense and seem amateurish. Editors can also colour correct scenes, fixing things like over exposure or simply making a scene look more tenebrous to fit the mood it is supposed to portray.

Marketing

Marketing is very important within this industry. People need to ensure that their films are seen, so they hire a marketing team. The marketing team will spread movie trailers to TV, to video streaming sites like Youtube, and other social media websites. Billboard posters will be placed up in popular streets and locations, all of this culminates in many people being aware of the film, what it is about, and when it will be released for viewing. Marketing is very responsible for the majority of a film's financial success. 

Recruitment In The Media Sector

Like all jobs, people need to be recruited. Very common ways for this to be done are job websites, where an employer will post job details, people who are interested will apply, and then the employer will read through all applications and select those who they believe will be best suited for the job. This is very effective for employees, since they are able to narrow down out of many options to find the very best, and since all applicants have made the effort to apply, they know that everyone is passionate and cares about getting the job and performing. People that are already working within the Film Industry have the benefit of word of mouth. They could work with one person, who could spread their talents to other people within the industry, opening up job opportunities with other parties. People will be likely to take people from word of mouth as it means they are experienced and talented as-well. When employed, people can work on different contracts. They could work full time, part time, or maybe be freelance. In the film industry, most people will be hired freelance, since the job they're doing will end in less than a year, and they will can be working on numerous projects in one year. Some companies could hand out temporary contracts, where people will work a certain amount of hours for a certain amount of money, and then they're finished. 

Media Sectors

Many different aspects of the media industry are actually structured rather similarly. Film and television, for example, share all the same roles, and will do things more or less the same as each-other. Gaming is similar, except with animating the scenes instead of shooting them. The structure is all dependant on the end goal, as a book publishing company will do things vastly different to how radio do things. 

Public Service Media is media that believes itself to be doing a service to the public, and it is typically a news source, through both Tv and Radio. An example of this is Sky News, as they give all the latest news and stories 24/7, only taking breaks for advertisements.

Commercial Media is a lot less of a service to the public, and more a service to the establishment's. This is advertising for products with the sole intention of raking in a profit, like an advert for McDonald's, a company who don't have a purpose outside of generating wealth.

Independent Media is media that is ran without the interference or connection to a specific government or political party, making it more honest and less bias than other sources. An example is the newspaper that is actually titled Independent, they use their print and digital format to spread the news as it is, no extra biases.

Horizontal Integration is when a company takes over another within the same industry that operates in a very familiar fashion. A vertical Integration is the gaining of businesses within the same production. 

Cross Media is when different products are distributed throughout the Media Sectors, like the selling of films, toys, and household appliances. The biggest example of this is Amazon, the most profitable company on the planet.

Multi Platform Media is the distribution of products over different areas. An example of this is Sony, since they create and distribute video games, mobile phones, and TV's.

Multi National Media is media that is distributed worldwide, like the media that is distributed by Paramount Pictures, as they have their films released and screened around the world, which is very profitable and gains them a large amount of recognition. 

Career Opportunities

                                                                                                                                                                The film industry is a very large one. All the big production companies will have many employees. Paramount, for example, has around 3,000 employees and makes an estimated 741 million dollars a year. The company is owned by Jim Gianopulos, and he oversees many notable film franchise's, like the Friday The 13th series, The Paranormal Activity series, and even The Godfather trilogy. While Jim is the CEO, he still has a board of 33 other people helping him manage the company. His COO Andrew Gumpert, for example, is in charge of National Distribution, ensuring that Paramount products are seen nationally across the country which they are based in.

Ethical And Legal Issues

While working for such large companies, it is important that employees take into account that their product's must appeal to the largest possible group of people that they can manage. Therefor, forcing a certain political or religious belief/agenda into a product, while result in many people feeling left out of a product as they may disagree with the message. People could also be offended if the message is attacking their own belief's, which will all come down to the company losing money and gaining controversy. They need to try and make their products accessible, instead of driving people away. Film's with strong language, while more appealing to some, lower accessibility as people under 15 or even 18 can't legally view them, which rules out a lot of viewers and in turn will rule out  a lot of money. Something else the company should be careful of, is if they were to make a joke about someone who is famous, and it could fall under defamation. The person in said joke could sue the company, wasting them a large amount of time and money. The same issue can become present if copyrighted images or music is used without the permission of the copyright holder, and without them receiving a sum of money to compensate. The copyright holder can sue, and more often that not, they will be the one that is standing victorious.