Representation Theorys

'Reception Theory'

Stuart Hall came up with the reception theory in 1970 and said that 'media is encoded my by the creators of a media text and then decoded by the audience' as the audience have a variety of ways of looking at a certain media text.  Audience 

This music video has caused major controversy of the image and reputation of Miley Cyrus. In this video Miley Cyrus, who was once before the face of Disney channel known as Hanna Montannah, is seen swinging almost naked on a wrecking ball, from side to side.  The reception theory comes into play, because it's seen that her producers no longer want her to be known as Hannah Montannah but as herself Miley Cyrus. Her producers have now allowed her to come out her shell, by doing this they have allowed her to build a new profile as Miley Cyrus by being more flexible in what she portrays to her audience through her music videos and lyrics. Her previous audience being around the age of 10 and 11 who have grown up with her watching her be a calm young teenager on Disney channel might not agree with her producers, as allowing her to be more flexible she has come to be seen as rebellious for the music videos she has released like Wrecking Ball. This can be decoded as oppositional reading by the audience as they might not agree at all with the music video that has been produced. However, not everyone sees this as a negative view as it can also be a preferred reading by some audiences that believe artist should let their record labels control everything they do. way, As she can now be who she wants to be by making sexual music videos, styling her clothes in a different way and by deciding of the lyrics she wants rather than following orders and being the teenager that was once known as Hannah Montannah. By being Miley Cyrus she has shown her ability of having confidence of what she does and no matter what is said about her on the press she finds a way to continue and be strong about what's said about her.  Lastly, some audiences like myself who are in between see this as a negotiated reading. This means I am stuck between both and believe that it is ok for artist not to follow their record labels wants however, the form in which they portray their rebellious forms  to the younger target audience should be taken inconsideration.

'The Male Gaze'

The theorist Laura Mulvey's came up with this theory. She believed that woman are used in different types of media such as films and music videos only for their bodies, as sexual objects to apply to the needs of the male ego. In the start of the music video of blurred lines, where the name of the artist is shown while in the background images from 0.01 to 0.06 he lays beside one of the almost naked female models. Having done this has connotations to the male gaze theory as shows that he is confident in himself and that he has a large male ego by being next to the woman shows that she is part of that ego. I believe that her theory is true; I say this because without the woman in the music video it wouldn't allow the song lyrics to match the video if it only had men. The lyrics also say 'he don't smack that ass and pull your hair like that' which has references to sexual terms and makes it seem like he is better than other man and better than woman .By saying this it also, makes him look like he's using woman as a sexual object as from the lyrics he is referring to sex and makes sexual movements in the video. The red lipstick and the outfits of the woman also show that they are like another prop for the music video as they are just seen walking and dancing in the background to just fit in with the song lyrics.

'Voyeurism Theory'

Similarly to Laura Mulvey's 'The Male Gaze Theory', Andrew Goodwins 'Voyeurism Theory' mostly includes men only watching media for the sake of woman being in the music and he believes this is done through the camera shot types, images displayed on mirrors and other screens. From the lady gaga music video Paparazzi in the introduction of the song from 1.37 to 1.56 we see her wearing a white dress, making out with a male model who decides to take advantage of her and throw her down the balcony while someone takes images of them. In my opinion I think this is a perfect example of the voyeurism theory I believe this because the male model acts like he is superior to her as he feels he can do whatever he wants with her, as he doesn't respect lady gaga and just throws her down the balcony. The close ups of them being too close together and kissing shows his sexual movements also apply to the theory as he is forcing her to kiss him. Through the images being taken shows that the voyeurism theory is correct in the treatment of females by allowing us to see the images being taken from a camera. I believe that producers do use woman as a way of attracting male audiences to watch their productions. In the lyrics she also sings 'this photo of us it don't have a price ready for those flashing lights' showing that the images of her doesn't mean anything to the male model. adding on to this the images of  her red lips at 4.16 shows her feminism relating both to the theory and  to the lyrics of the song. 

Ways of seeing 

The ways of seeing theory was invented by John Berger's. His theory included how the audiences see and interpret a certain media text. He believes that their interpretation of a media text all depends on the precision, believes, past history and interpretation of a series of events such as 'men act and woman appear' or 'fat girls are ugly'. From Meghan Trainors son 'all about that base' she signs about being all types of sizes as she says 'every inch of you is perfect from the bottom to the top’. Her target audience being girls are the ones who are insecure about their bodies and could relate to this music video as a famous singer is saying it's ok to be fat. However, some young healthy girls , possibly studying Sport at collage might disagree and think that being healthy includes having a perfect summer body and that Meghan Trainor is encouraging obesity and that it is not acceptable. I do agree with the ways of seeing theory because everyone has their own opinion on things.