MARXISM AND HEGEMONY

Task 1: Mail Online review of Capital

1) Re-read the Mail Online review of Capital. Why does it suggest that Capital features a left-wing ideology?

- The capital was overflowing with trendy movements like Jeremy Corbin's schedule.

2) Choose three quotes from the review that are particularly critical of Capital and paste them into your blogpost. Do you agree with the criticisms? Why?

- “Ghastly Roger and Arabella went through the same long drawn out charade”

- “The last 20 mins contained no plot”

- “Capital dribbled to a soggy ending”

I agree with these statements especially the first one. I feel that they both did not change through the show.

3) What scenes or characters from Capital could be read as promoting left-wing ideology?

- Roger and Arabella

4) What about the other side of the argument - are there any aspects of Capital that reinforce right-wing or capitalist viewpoints?

- Roger who earns a lot of money at his current position at his job is desperate for a bonus.

Task 2 - Applying - Marxism

1) What does Marxism suggest regarding power in society?

- Power was held by a minority (the elite or bourgeoisie) who had access to capital and could use their money and power to

generate more wealth

2) Why is The Apprentice a good example of the media reinforcing capitalist values and ideologies?

- The fact that Sugar has all the power reinforces the ‘superior’ position of the capitalist elite. He has power as he has used the system to create wealth and he is shown using this power to provide a livelihood for the winner of the competition. 

3) Come up with two examples of media texts (e.g. TV programmes, newspapers etc.) that either fetishise working class life (e.g. EastEnders presents quite a harmonious East End community which probably doesn't accurately reflect East London life) or demonise working class life or poor people (e.g. The Daily Mail and The Sun newspapers regularly demonise people living on benefits with headlines referring to 'scroungers'.) Explain what meanings these texts communicate to their audiences.

- How To Get Away With Murder- features people who work in high paying jobs e.g. lawyers and showcases how many hours they work and how little personal time they have since they're always busy.

- The Sun- this media text creates a negative view of the people living on benefits. Its saying that people who take money from the government to survive are below than the people who work for the money they have. 

4) Look at the bullet points on page 4 of the fact sheet:

When making a Marxist reading of a text, look out for representations that:

• show the values of the power elite as beneficial to the mass
• show queries or challenges to the base as meaningless, foolish or anti-social via ‘failed revolt’
• show the subdominant position of the masses as a naturalised idea
• show the values of the power elite as ‘natural’ or ‘right’
• show that being a member of the mass is a good thing
• show the masses accepting the values of the power elite
• show the values of the power elite as being ‘for the good of the masses’ (even when unpleasant)

Now try applying those bullet points to Capital. Think about the setting, characters and narrative strands - how many of the bullet points apply to Capital? Does Capital reinforce or challenge the values of capitalism? Give examples from episode 1 to support your points.

- The idea of London as a wealthy, upper-class city creates a sense of a city filled with opportunities. The creation of Capital shows the opposite of this as only a few actually experience the positive.