Answering Social Values Questions



Answering Social Values Questions

General Notes

• You MUST be able to give the following details about our text:

• Title: Juno

• Directed by Jason Reitman

• Originally released 2007

• It is a film NOT a movie

• You need to recognise when you are being asked to give a theory-based answer and when you are being asked for examples. Typically, questions asking for specific examples (representations) will refer to ‘the text you studied this year’.

1. What are social values?

• This is a theory-based question

• Social values are beliefs, ideas, morals, or principles

• They are held by groups (societies)

• They structure society and the way we behave and think. However, because they are beliefs, we can think a value is important even if we do not act on it (eg., I think healthy living is important, but I don’t always exercise or eat all the healthy foods)

• They are beliefs in which we have emotional investment (eg., I am likely to become upset if someone lies to me because I believe that honesty is important)

• Values can be classified as dominant, traditional, emerging, oppositional or alternative. Any one value may be able to be classified in more than one of these categories (e.g., a value can be both traditional and dominant) You should briefly describe what each of these categories mean.

2. Give one example of a social value embedded in the major text you studied this year

• This is asking you for examples from your text

• Try to use the word ‘that’ in the sentence describing your value. This will force you to describe the value carefully. (e.g., ‘that women should be mothers’, ‘that men should be the primary money-earners in a family’ etc).

• Give the details of our text in the FIRST question which refers to ‘the text you studied’ (see ‘General notes’)

• Name the value (with a ‘that’)

• Describe the value. This may require you to refer to behaviours. (e.g, for the value ‘that women should be mothers’, the description might be ‘This means that people in the society believed that women should perform house-keeping duties, look after the washing, clothing and feeding needs of the children and not work full time. It also hints that men are inherently hesitant about their role as fathers.’)

3. Provide three representations of the social value you outlined in Question 2

• This is asking you for examples from your text

• NOTE: a representation is asking you for an example of how/where the value you named is shown in the text. For this question, use the word ‘representation’ when referring to examples from the text.

• Name/identify a representation from the film, which may consist of one or more scenes, characters, etc..

• Describe the representation in detail and explain how each detail relates to the value you have named. You should refer to specific production and story elements to explain the representation.

One representation of this value in Jason Reitman’s 2007 film Juno is the portrayal of women, one example being the character of Vanessa Loring. She says that she was ‘born to be a mother’ and actively seeks alternative methods of becoming a mother when she is unable to conceive naturally. Her pristine home and physical appearance represents her readiness to become a ‘perfect’ mother.

Mark, on the other hand, is reluctant to embrace his upcoming role as a father. His physical stance upon his first meeting with Juno is relaxed, while Vanessa is rather uptight, showing their respective anxiousness about the upcoming adoption. Mark’s responses to whether he wants to become a father are also unconvincing, using stereotypical phrases such as wanting to help with the science project and coaching the sports team.

However, the representations of Juno’s biological parents show that the value that females are naturally suited to be mothers is not always necessarily the case in our modern world. Juno’s mother is absent from her life, the mise en scene of the cacti that she sends each year for her birthday in the place of her presence provides a harsh contrast to the love and support of Mac, her biological father. He shows through his actions that he cares deeply for Juno, which is poignantly demonstrated when he accompanies her when meeting Vanessa and Mark for the first time.

These varying representations seem to suggest that successful parenthood is dependant on the personalities of the people involved, not the gender, as traditional social values would suggest.

4. Explain how representations in media texts reflect the social values existing in a production period

• This is a theory-based question

• This question is asking you to explain the relationship between the social values present in a society and the social values embedded in media texts from that society.

• You need to explain that:

• Media texts need to be consumed (bought, watched, heard, read etc) for their producers to make money, so most producers generally try to target their texts at the widest possible market

• Therefore most texts tend to support traditional and/or dominant social values (because that is what most people believe) as audiences do not tend to engage well with texts that radically challenge or oppose their social values

• Some texts may challenge social values. This can occur (successfully):

• When the text is not targeted at a mainstream audience;

• When values are challenged subtly or humorously;

• When the majority of the text supports social values and only some aspects of the text challenges social values

• When the traditional values are recognised as no longer valid/valuable

• In times of social upheaval and change

5. Analyse the text you studied, describing the ways in which it was shaped by social values. Provide evidence to substantiate your analysis

• This question requires you to refer to examples from your text

• Describe (briefly) an event or circumstance that occurred in the production period.

• Name and describe a social value arising from the event or circumstance

• Describe how the social value shaped what the text was about.

Juno is set in the United States of America in the present day. As such, it is shaped by the politics and ideologies of the society currently. Juno’s representation of different functional families, such as blended and adopted families, shows the value that nuclear families are not the only type of family that can successfully function and raise children.

This value may have come about as a result of the fracturing of traditional values in the United States. The institution of marriage is not as sacred as it once was, with one out of two marriages in the U.S. currently ending in divorce. This is shown through Vanessa and Mark, as well as Juno’s biological parents. The acceptance of Bren as a suitable mother figure to Juno, and Juno’s decision to give her baby to Vanessa as a single mother, shows that younger generations do not discriminate against different sorts of families.

Juno’s initial disappointment when hearing of Vanessa and Mark’s divorce, however, illustrates that although it is socially acceptable that some marriages cannot survive, a lot of people still believe the traditional value that married people are the best equipped to raise a child. This value could be traced to the traditional ideologies of the Republican Party, who generally do not believe in liberal ideas such as abortion and gay marriage. Having a Republican president, George W. Bush, at the time of filming may have influenced this reaction in Juno. Her eventual acceptance, that raising a child in an environment of love is ideal, shows a more liberal outlook, which may have been encouraged by the popularity of Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton.

The abortion issue is also a prominent one in the United States, and has been since the Roe vs. Wade decision in 1973. However, around the time of Juno’s filming, the issue was again on the agenda because of a Senate decision to ban late-term abortions. This was seen as a victory for pro-life groups, and the pro-choice movement’s most significant defeat since Roe vs. Wade. Again, the political system in America may have contributed to Juno’s decision to keep her baby. Her initial decision to abort shows that young people are not necessarily against the idea of abortion, and that resources are readily available to them when required. However, when she is influenced by Su-Chin’s protest, she is ‘giving in’ to pro-life messages. George W. Bush’s adamant condemnation of abortion may have seeped into the public consciousness, with other films such as Knocked Up and Waitress being commercial and critical successes around the time of Juno’s release, these films all having a subtle pro-life message in common.

You will need to refer to a range of values (i.e., repeating the above three steps a number of times) to earn your 10 marks.

6. Analyse the extent to which the text you studied supported and or challenged social values.

• This question requires you to refer to examples from your text

• You are asked to analyse ‘extent’. This means you will need to use words like:

• Minimally

• Significantly

• A lot

• Greatly, etc.

• You will need to refer to a range of values and explain with examples (representations from the film) how these values are supported or challenged.

• You may choose to answer this question in three sections: “values which are challenged”, “values which are supported” and “values which are both challenged and supported”.

• You will need to come to one of the following conclusions:

• The film generally supported social values

• The film generally challenged social values

• The film supported some values whilst challenging others

• The film equally supported and challenged social values.

Juno supports some values whilst challenging others in contemporary American society. The film’s handling of the abortion issue is representative of the divisiveness it has over Americans. However, the film does seem to significantly support the value that abortion is not the best option when faced with an unplanned pregnancy. The representation of the receptionist at the abortion clinic shows a subtle distaste for advocates of the procedure. She is seen wearing lots of black eyeliner, casual clothes and chewing gum, while talking in an insensitive slang which shows her ambivalence towards Juno’s decision and her welfare.

Su-Chin’s representation, however, shows that although pro-life advocates are seen to be ‘square’, their messages can be effective. Although her broken speech pattern and conservative outfit may be a subtle attack at the simplicity of pro-life messages “All babies want to get borned”, the fact that it ultimately works with Juno shows the effectiveness of the message.

Her decision to adopt is greeted with overwhelming support from Bren, who refers to religion when expressing her joy that Juno didn’t ‘consider the alternative’ – ‘somebody’s going to get a beautiful gift from Jesus’. This religious stance is reflective once again of the traditional values associated with the conservative Republican Party in the United States.

Although the film shows that Juno’s decision to give away her baby was a difficult one for both herself and Bleeker, the lingering shot of Vanessa holding the baby in her home ultimately shows that adoption was a better option than abortion in this film.

Other social values are comprehensively dismissed as old-fashioned, such as the notion that nuclear families are best to raise a family. Other values seem to be equally supported and challenged, like the value that women make better parents than men. These varying representations contribute to the notion that social values are transient, and in these modern times we cannot define what the majority of a society will believe in. The prominence of the Republican Party may seem to some as a sign of conservatism amongst the American population, however, the ‘teen speak’ and attitudes displayed by some show that liberal ideas are still prevalent in America today.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download