Peaky Blinders- Oppositional, Negotiated, Preferred

Peaky Blinders seems to be about a gang based in Birmingham 1919. Peaky Blinders were an actual gang in Birmingham back in the late 19th century.
On the BBC drama the setting and time period are the same too. A majority of the characters are involved with the gang and they wear formal clothing, the men are in suits and the women in skirts and blazers.


Preferred Reading
From watching what I did in the first few minutes of Peaky Blinders, I seemed to accept the ideology of what the text was saying. Certain aspects of the text such as the props used are what many people would associate with the time Peaky Blinders was set in, the use of the clothing, cars and setting props. This means that most people who'd would've seen Peaky Blinders without any knowledge of Birmingham 1919 would take a preferred reading of this text.

Negotiated Reading

I think that people who know or have heard about 1919 Birmingham would have a negotiated reading of this text. This is because some aspects of the text would be realistic for instance the style of clothing and the general look of Birmingham in Peaky Blinders. But other aspects in the text such as the story lines might make people have a negotiated reading as they would've thought it was an exaggeration of 1919 Birmingham, which then makes them question their acceptance of the text.

Oppositional Reading
People who would have a good understanding of what 1919 Birmingham was like may have an oppositional reading. This is as they'll most probably think that the text has gone over the top on certain things like the stolen guns and everyones involvement with the crimes happening. Also, people who have knowledge about the real Peaky Blinders gang may take an oppositional reading because they might feel that the text has misrepresented the people.

Handicap represntation

In a news article written on the Daily Mail it said. 'Disney bans disabled people from skipping lines because too many able bodied visitors are CHEATING'. This news article is representing disabled people in a negative way, this is as its making disabled visitors look like they're the reason some people are cheating the system at Disney parks. The news article is making out that disabled people need to much just to accommodated them, and that actions taken to help facilitate them are causing problems.


I identified this because I think that Daily Mail could've put a headline that is more sympathetic to the disabled visitors of Disney. The headline that they chose to use represents disabled people negatively, as they're being made to look like they're influencing people to cut lines. The article also misrepresents disabled people as its claiming that disabled people are posing as 'tour guides' so that people can skip lines with them. I think that Daily Mail should've wrote more about how able bodied people are ruining it for disabled visitors as people might think that the problem is actually disabled guests, based on the misrepresentation of them in this article.

The Daily Mail says that it has 'traditional values'. I think that by this Daily Mail is saying that their values will be based on views that may not be agreed with by modern society, as 'traditional values' may tend to come across as close minded. This is the case I think, as I found the report to be fairly close minded, Daily Mail didn't seem express any sympathy to those handicapped Disney visitors who do follow the rules.

Sexuality representation on TV adverts

I think that these days on TV adverts, both men and women have began to be over-sexualised so that people are more interested in the product/brand. There is one particular advert which I thought did this, Paco Rabanne's Invictus advert. In the advert they use a topless man and later on they use women who are only covered by a light throw over.

I think that this is a negative representation as its very much over- sexualised and sends mixed messages to younger people. Also it stereotypes women to be a certain way or convey them as sex objects because of the way we se them in adverts such as this, its not a true portrayal of men and women.

The models that are used are usually what people want to look like, not what they necessarily do look like. This paints an image in peoples head of what they should look like based on what they're seeing in these adverts, whether its an athletic toned body or a skinny waist and long legs. I think that this had to be identified because of the impact that it has on people who watch these adverts. People end up feeling pressured into looking like the people in these adverts that they see and it usually leaves some people going to drastic measures to get the body they desire.

I think that the producers behind this advert would have values such as; they need to be able to produce a certain image for products, also I think that they'd want to be able to make empowering adverts just like the one for Invictus. But I think that they might need to think about their values as some of them may portray misleading images/messages.

Class representation in newspapers

There has been a newspaper report that has claimed 'children from poor homes need to change how they eat and dress and conduct themselves so that they can feel comfortable in middle class settings such as restaurants and theatres'.  I think that this statement out of a newspaper report published by The Guardian conveys working class children in a very negative way. I find the  statement very demoralising towards working class children, as I think it was a way of saying that they can't be seen in the same settings as middle class people with the way they are. I identified this because I thought that this was a very incorrect statement to make.

I don't think that children should have to be pressured into changing the way they conduct themselves, the food they eat or the way they dress just to fit in. I think that children should be able to feel comfortable with the way they are, instead of having to be something they're not just so that they don't look out of place when they go out for a meal or a day out at the theatre.

I think that this had to be identified because if we where to put both middle class and working class children together,  don't think that we'd be able to tell them apart. They would probably eat the same food, things such as chicken nuggets and fish fingers, they'd probably also dress similarly and have the same toys and have the same interests. So I find it surprising that such a statement could be made as its difficult to look at any child and place them under a certain class just from the way they eat, dress and conduct themselves.  

The Guardian's values are that the press must take care not release any inaccurate, misleading or distorted information. Also The Guardian says that its press must distinguish clearly between comment, conjecture and fact.This means that The Guardian will most likely release things that are factual or close to the truth. This means that despite how I feel about this particular news report, the must be some truth to it. Maybe thats how the author of that report felt but, I still feel it was a misrepresentation on their part.

Race representation in films

There are many films that have been made that have represented races in different ways, both positive  and negative. In this film, Django Unchained, there is a negative representation of white people in 1858. The way that both races have been represented in the movie is negative, with the white people being very derogatory to their slaves; beating them, making them fight for their entertainment and making them work tirelessly on cotton fields. 

Also the black people in the film are represented in a negative way too as they're shown to be very loathsome towards white people in the film, even when they're being offered help. They're also represented as hostile with everything, which is understandable but generally its not a very good representation of them. 

I identified this when I watched the film myself. I felt a need to identify this and talk about it in this blog because, I think that the representation of both races in this film was correct for that time period, but we can say in todays society we've moved on from that. The film shows a very deep hatred between black and white people, but its not strictly true as we can see in the picture there Calvin Candie and his slave Stephen have a strong bond. Also the main character Django is very close to the bounty hunter who bought his freedom, Dr King Schultz. 

I think that Columbia Picture's values would be to deliver box office movies with hard-hitting plots. I think that this is exactly what they did in Django Unchained, I think that they could've done better with the race representation though. 

Age representation in tv shows

There are many ways that we've seen the media represent the teenagers of these days. We see so may shows that convey teenagers going out and drinking themselves into paralytic states.

Tv shows such as BBC Three's Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents have shown a different side to teens, a side that makes us look like heavy drinkers with no sense of control.

Unsuspecting teenagers go away on 'lads holidays' or 'girls holidays' with their friends to have fun at party destinations such as Ibiza, Zante or Kavos. The teenagers are then filmed going out to the party side of their destinations in search of cheap booze in any club. A majority of them have to be escorted home by their friends as they're so drunk, which is what the TV producers tend to show.

I think that this representation of teenagers is wrong, and it's showing us in a very negative light. This TV show in particular only seems to be interested in following around drunk teens, filming them doing whatever they'd be doing in that moment in time, and then using that footage to incorrectly draw up a conclusion of teenagers on holiday. Many people would see this and then think that teenagers these days are only going out to get as drunk as possible, only having seen what the producers would've shown them.

BBC Three is very much aimed at young audiences.They say that their channel is disciplined on aiming at the young, with the center being 16-34 year olds. Their values are to innovate breakthrough comedy, standout entertainment, brave documentary and intelligent factual formats. This means that BBC Three aim do deliver entertaining TV shows with material that is enjoyable for their audience.