GENERAL MEDIA TERMINOLOGY

Agenda: a plan or belief system within a group, normally hidden from others. For example, there is a belief that the BNP has a racist agenda.

Antagonist: the leading villain in the show (or the one the protagonist has to go up against)

Archetype: an easily recognized type of character that can be found in many stories. For example, the hero, the princess, the damsel in distress, the loyal friend, the villain, the temptress.

Binary Opposites: two contrasting characters or scenes that are seen in one show, that are clearly meant to be total opposites. For example, there may be a sweet innocent girl who is scared and weak, paired against an evil powerful man. They would be binary opposite characters. Binary opposites could be concepts such as good/evil, light/dark, male/female, and old/young.

Connotation: Hidden Meaning. For example, "the connotation of the main female."

Conventional: something that is seen to be "normal". So a conventional female character would be quite weak, and girly, and maybe a mother or a housewife.

Dominant Ideology: a set of beliefs that are widely accepted as being the most normal, or the most accurate. For example, the dominant ideology of men is that they are strong, and brave and work to provide money for their families.

Homophobia: actions, behaviors, feelings, or words against people because of their sexuality. This is normally because the person who is being homophobic believes there is a difference between sexualities and thinks that one sexuality is better than the other.

Juxtaposed: two different things placed next to each other to create meaning. For example, a shot of a baby may be juxtaposed with a shot of a funeral to emphasize the circle of life.

Male Gaze: a theory by a lady called Laura Mulvey that suggests that all media products encourage the characters and audience to "leer" at and "look" at women. For example, "the camera angle looking down Sarah's cleavage encourages the audience to take a 'male gaze' over the female character."

Media Language: simply means the combination of technical elements such as camera shots, camera movement, editing, sound, and mise-en-scene.

Patriarchy: a type of society where men are dominant over women. Many feminists believe that we live in a patriarchal society where women are forced to be weaker and subservient which seems to discriminate.

Positioning: how the audience is encouraged to interpret a particular situation. For example, "the audience is positioned to sympathize with the female character."

Protagonist: the leading character in the show.

Realist/Realism: a style of TV show/film that attempts to be as"realistic" as possible. For example, "Shameless is considered a realist program." Being a "realist" program doesn't necessarily mean the show IS realistic or accurate.

Racism: actions, behavior, feelings, or words that seem to discriminate against people because of their skin color. This is normally because the person who is racist believes that there is a difference between people who have different skin colors and they believe one skin color to be better than another.

Sexism: actions, behaviors, feelings, or words that seem to discriminate against people because of their gender. This is normally because the person who is being sexist believes there is a difference between the two genders and that one gender is better than the other.

Stereotype: an overly exaggerated representation of a type of person that is

normally negative. For example, a teenage stereotype would be a hoodie-wearing, knife-carrying, criminal.

Unconventional: something that is seen to not be "normal." For example, an unconventional female character might be powerful, the boss of a company, and very dominant over other characters.

Verisimilitude: a feeling of reality / real life created by particular elements. For example, the series "Outnumbered" creates a feeling of verisimilitude for the audience by using a real house, everyday storylines that would affect an average family, and improvised dialogue.

Xenophobia: actions, behaviors, feelings, or words that seem to discriminate against people because of their country of origin. This is normally because the person who is being xenophobic believes there is a difference between the countries and that one country is better than the other.