Women are
underrepresented and misrepresented in the media. Furthermore, the concurrent media constantly
reinforces these caricatures of women that disempowered them socially,
politically, and economically. In order
to counteract the effects of the media, alternative media surfaced. However, for the goal to come into fruition,
the alternative media must not reflect "what already exists", but to
re-marginalize and "alter" our present understandings (Bell Hooks).
Literary
works are open to interpretation and when these works are remediated into
films, they are expressed uniquely based on the cognition of the film
crew. Despite the expression of literary
creations being all different depending on the film staff, the majority of them
are males; the "signature" of product varies significantly depending
on the gender of the interpreter (Maggie Humm).
By proliferating female into positions that have authority in the design
of the media production, an alternative media is produced as a result that
caters to the realities of women.
 |
| Different genders, different narratives |
Although
"gynocriticism" offers a surrogate media, they are hindered by fiscal
support (Maggie Humm). Financial supporters
of women's media are slowly increasing but the amount available in the pool is limited and sometimes lead to
contention amongst women media groups for financial assistance. In addition, they are "threatened"
by media consolidation by established media corporations that wish to regulate
all forms of information distribution (Debra Zimmerman).
Another form of alternative media is
independent news, a media source that is not financially supported by groups in
exchange for any sort of profit. The
independent news, truthout is an example of such media source. They provide news that are not deemed mediagenic by the mainstream, which
attracts those who are interested in hearing the untold narratives of various events across the globe. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of
truthout pertains to the majority of their staff consists of females, which
might potentially bring in a different direction of how their news get
published.
Nevertheless,
the media group is not without debatable flaws.
Truthout claims to be "free of bias", but can any
interpretation of information be truly without any prejudice? The current state of truthout seems to be
contradictory of their claim, for as they gained more support from the number of
readers, they expanded the range of their services. Most of these new services are
highly-opinionated news, such as the "Opinion", "Speakout",
and "Progressive Picks" sections.
Introduction
"Making Movie Magic" from Reel to Real by bell hooks
"Author/Autor:
Feminist Literary Theory and Feminist Film" by Maggie Humm
"Women Make
Movies" Debra Zimmerman
No comments:
Post a Comment