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All media texts are constructed. As a result, they often reflect the social values - the views, attitudes and beliefs - of the period in which they are produced. Although there are many values that do not change - we all believe that murder is immoral, for example - many of the other values that we hold are in a state of constant flux. As noted in the VCE Media Study Design: "...the values of a society are in a state of constant evolution, and tension always exists between the dominant set of values and different or emerging social values.” In VCE Media, social values can be described as dominant, emerging, oppositional or alternative.

• Dominant. Those values held by the majority of people in a society.
• Emerging. Beliefs or attitudes held by a growing number of people in a society. When studying historical texts, these values may eventually become dominant.
• Oppositional. Values and beliefs which are in direct opposition to those held by the majority of people in a society.
• Alternative. Values that provide an alternative to the beliefs and attitudes held by the majority without challenging or opposing them directly.

What kind of text will I study?

In VCE Media, many schools choose to study television programs or films for Social Values. Although schools use different text, your task remains the same: describe how social values have shaped and are reflected in the text.

What is 'production context'?

When writing about your text, it is important to identify the production context. Who made the text? When was it created? What country was it made in? The text's time and place of production can help us understand the social values that the text embodies.

Although this is not a study of history, it is important that you can write authoritatively about the time and place in which your text was created. Don't make simplistic, generalised or unjustifiable statements. If you're writing about a television program that was made in 1950s America, for example, it is not useful to say that 'all women were housewives'. You might, instead, write something like this: "According to an aricle featured on the Organisation of American Historians website: "The late 1940s and 1950s witnessed a sharp reaction to the stresses of the Depression and war. If any decade has come to symbolize the traditional family, it is the 1950s. The average age of marriage for women dropped to twenty; divorce rates stabilized; and the birthrate doubled...democratization of the family ideals reflected social and economic circumstances that are unlikely to be duplicated: a reaction against Depression hardships and the upheavals of World War II; the affordability of single-family track homes in the booming suburbs; and rapidly rising real incomes.'" That's a much more confident and authoritative description of the production period. Statistics, encyclopaedic entries and other evidence is a great way to show that you understand the period in which your text was produced and how that might have influenced its construction.

Also, try not to confuse the production period of your text with its setting. James Cameron's Titanic, for example, reflects the social values of mid-nineties America, not the values and beliefs of England in 1912. If you're having trouble remembering this, here's a good example: The Flintstones reflects the social values of 1960s America, not the social values of the Palaeolithic Era!

Identifying social values

Once you've developed a clear understanding of the time and place in which your text was produced, start to think about the values that it embodies. Watch the text a number of times. What values, beliefs and attitudes are reflected in the narrative? Which characters are the audience encouraged to identify with? Which characters are represented in a positive way? Which characters are represented in a negative light?

When you've watched the text a few times, it's time to start nailing down the social values. When you're writing about the social values, especially in the VCE Media examination, they need to be identified clearly. In previous exams, students have used single words like 'love' and 'families' to identify values in the texts they have studied.

Social values are complex. They cannot be reduced to single words. If you want to successfully identify a social value, you will need to explain it more carefully in a way that clearly identifies values, attitudes and beliefs held during the production period.

Here are some examples:

• Leave it to Beaver supports the dominant social value that there should be a clear distinction between gender roles, that women should take care of the family while men earn money to support it.
• Aliens reflects the dominant social value in 1980s America that there should be greater gender equality, that men and women are capable of performing the same roles.
• Produced in the 1950s, following the devastation unleashed on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Forbidden Planet reflects the emerging social value that technology has the potential to be a significant threat to humankind.

Describing representations

When examining the social values in a text, values are rarely stated explicitly. Rather, it is up to you to look closely at representations within the text and think about the way these have been shaped by the values, views and attitudes of the period in which it was produced.

All media texts are constructed. It is because these representations are constructed that they often, very unintentionally, reflect the the social values of the period of production. If you are able to successfully identify and describe representations within your text and comment on how these representations reflect social values, you'll give yourself a real edge when it comes to the Social Values SAC and the VCE Media exam.

When describing representations, it is important to make references to appropriate codes and conventions. If you're studying a film or television program, you might like to consider how the following codes contribute to the representations in the text and, ultimately, what they reveal about social values during the texts production period.

• Camera techniques. How has the camera been used in this text? Films often feature more adventurous and stylised use of camera compared to situation comedies. Nevertheless, when studying such television texts, you might like to consider why particular shot sizes have been used and the effect this has on the audience. Why is a close up used to show a particular character and what effect does it have on the nature of the representation?
• Acting. How does acting contribute to the representation of a character? What does this reveal about social values during this period?
• Mise-en-scene. How does mise-en-scene contribute to the representation of characters and institutions? What type of costumes are the characters wearing? How do these reflect the values and attitudes of the period in which the text was produced?
• Visual editing. Editing is an important part of the production process. When we watch a film or television or program, the editing often appears seamless and natural Nevertheless, editing decisions make an important contribution to the representation. In a sitcom, after a joke, the editor might choose to cut in on the expression of one character instead of another.
• Lighting. The lighting of characters or scenes might reflect values held during the text's production period. Why is one character lit more generously than another? Again, films often contain more stylised lighting compared to situation comedies, which are often filmed on sound stages with high key lighting. However, if you are studying such a text, you might be able to find examples of how lighting contributes to the representation.
• Sound editing. Sitcoms are often filmed in front of live studio audiences and their reaction to jokes is mixed in later. In other cases, pre-recorded laughter is added to the final mix. What does the audience reaction tell us about the social values of this period?
• Dialogue. can often be very revealing about the values and attitudes of the production period. What do characters say? What does this reveal about the values, beliefs and attitudes of the time?
• Music. Music often makes an important contribution to representations in a film or television program. What does the use of music tell the audience about particular characters or situations? What does its use reveal about social values during the production period?

The qualities of a good response

Here are two student responses to 'The Younger Brother', an episode of the television series Leave it to Beaver. Both students are describing the same part of this representation, a shot in which the family sits down to breakfast.

"In Leave it to Beaver, Ward Cleaver is shown as the head of the family. He always has a briefcase and he brings home the bacon. In this episode, he is shown as in charge. When they are sitting around the table, his wife gives them breakfast which shows that she is not in charge."

What's wrong with this response:

• this response does not describe the representation in detail.
• it makes sweeping generalisations about the storyline and characters.
• it doesn’t use terminology relevant to this area of study.
• it doesn’t link the representation to the production period.

“In this episode of Leave it to Beaver, Ward Cleaver is represented as the authoritative, patriarchal head of the Cleaver family. In the opening sequence of the episode, as the family sits around the breakfast table, Ward is represented as the family’s sole breadwinner, dressed in a suit with a briefcase nearby. The juxtaposition between Ward and his wife, June Cleaver, is stark. Whereas Ward’s appearance has been constructed to reflect his role as sole income earner for the family, his wife has a far more feminine appearance. Wearing a dress, it is evident from her acting in this scene - as she serves breakfast for her husband and sons - that she takes primary responsibility for domestic duties, reinforcing the dominant social value that there should be a clear distinction between the role of men and women in a family.”

What's better about this response:

• uses terminology relevant to the area of study such as ‘social value’, ‘representation’, ‘construction’.
• refers specifically to costume and acting, explaining how this contributes to the representation.
• makes links with the production period.

Remember, the best responses will be specific and detailed, commenting on how a representation is constructed and how it reflects values from the production period.

Sample response

Here is a sample student response to the episode of Leave it to Beaver titled 'The Younger Brother'. This response was originally broadcast in 1962 and reflects many of the dominant social values held during this period.

In 1962 the television program Leave it to Beaver produced an episode called 'The Younger Brother'. The fifties and early sixties are often characterised as a quiet time in American history. A time of post-war growth and prosperity, white picket fences and domestic bliss. The American Dream. According to an aricle featured on the Organisation of American Historians website: "The late 1940s and 1950s witnessed a sharp reaction to the stresses of the Depression and war. If any decade has come to symbolize the traditional family, it is the 1950s. The average age of marriage for women dropped to twenty; divorce rates stabilized; and the birthrate doubled. Yet the images of family life that appeared on television were misleading; only sixty percent of children spent their childhood in a male-breadwinner, female homemaker household. The democratization of the family ideals reflected social and economic circumstances that are unlikely to be duplicated: a reaction against Depression hardships and the upheavals of World War II; the affordability of single-family track homes in the booming suburbs; and rapidly rising real incomes." Leave it to Beaver is the epitome of this ideal, the program's opening sequence supporting the dominant social value that families are important institutions that should be happy, close-knit and supportive.

After the title appears and the happy music begins, the camera dollies in on June Cleaver, bringing fresh lemonade out to her husband, Ward, and sons, Wally and The Beaver, who are hard at work in their suburban garden. Immediately, the image of a prosperous, hard working, happy family is created. The Cleavers are a supportive and loving family unit. Ward and June take an active interest in the lives of their children. “You’re going out aren’t ya Beave?” asks Ward, taking an interest in his son’s after school activities. Later, Ward and June encourage Beaver to take up basketball. When he expresses doubts about his ability, June asks “Didn’t ya make the baseball team at school?”. Wally is also supportive of his sibling: “Well Beaver, I think you’ve got a good shot at basketball”. The use of dialogue, music and acting throughout the first part of this representation support the dominant social value that families are an important social institution and they should be close-knit and supportive.

This warm portrayal of family reveals another dominant social value upheld by the text, that adolescents should be polite, dutiful and show respect to adults. Both Wally and Beaver are dutiful sons, who respect their parents and look up to them for advice and support. Their behaviour is polite, their clothes neatly pressed and their checked shirts tucked into their starched pants. The Beaver’s eagerness to please his father is shown when he is encouraged to take up basketball: “Well I guess I could enjoy it if you want me to Dad.” When caught out lying about his attendance at practice, Wally explains his sibling’s behaviour to Ward with “He wasn’t thinking about himself so much. He just didn’t like the idea of disappointing you.” Both boys also willingly help with household chores, as revealed in the opening sequence when Wally and Beaver help their dad in the garden. During the late fifties and early sixties adolescents or ‘teenagers’ emerged as a social grouping in their own right. Rock and roll, fashion, sex and drugs became nationwide preoccupations that have continued right up until the present day. Through the Cleaver children’s studious avoidance of these trends Leave it to Beaver upholds the dominant - but diminishing - social value of the production period that discouraged adolescent rebellion and encouraged respect, manners and good behaviour.

Leave it to Beaver also supports another dominant social values held during this period, the belief that women should be mothers and homemakers, taking primary responsibility for families. June Cleaver, bringing her hardworking boys their lemonade, is framed by the door to the house, and adorned in homely dress and apron. With the contrast of the hedge trimmers in Ward Cleaver’s hand and the sweat glistening on his forehead the gender roles espoused by the program become clearly defined. The Cleaver family is deeply patriarchal; the men do the work and the women content themselves with domestic duties. As the opening sequence ends, a suited Ward heads off to work, the boys head off to school and June remains at home. Later, Wally arrives home he lifts the lids off the pots in the kitchen and asks “Hey mum, when are we gonna have dinner? I’m starved.” June, bathed in soft light and in a dress to match the curtains, replies, “If you keep taking the lids off things it may not be till midnight”. Ward - “Hey, what’s going on in here?” - and Beaver enter and take the lids off as well. Not only do the men not make the food, they don’t even know how to. In another scene, June stands on a chair, trying to fix the curtain.

Ward, dressed again in his business suit, and with a cry of “Lady in distress”, enters and saves the day. June is portrayed as helpless, weak and submissive. During Leave it to Beaver’s production period this attitude towards women was the dominant social value. Despite the war-driven increase involvement in the workplace the cultural ideal was for women to be stay-at-home wives. The sixties saw the beginning of the feminist movement, but as an emerging social value it had yet to make its mark.

Heavy emphasis is also placed on the importance of honesty, a dominant social value tied in with the ideal of adolescent behaviour discussed above. The Beaver feels intensely guilty about hiding the truth about his attendance at basketball practice from his parents. When he finally confronts them, Ward says “I understand about things like this, you don’t have to go through all this deception with me.” At the end of the episode, when June suggests that Wally go easy on Beaver in a game of checkers, Ward perceives this as dishonest: “When you compete you’ve got to put everything you’ve got into it.” When Eddie - one of Wally’s acquaintances from school - comes over one afternoon to copy Wally’s maths homework, the importance of honesty is stressed again. “Is that what you got?” Wally asks of Eddie, who replies “I got it now”. When he realises that Eddie is copying, Wally says, “Come on Eddie, what are ya trying to pull?” When Wally shows Eddie out, the copycat asks, “What is this? East Berlin?”

Eddie’s brief, throwaway comment is deeply revealing, reflecting the dominant social value that the American economy and system of government was superior to that of the USSR. East Germany, under the control of Stalin’s Soviet Union at the time, was a totalitarian quasi-communist state. In the context of the program, this joke relies on the widespread belief in the superiority of America's economic and political system.

Leave it to Beaver: The Younger Brother is quite clearly in tune with the dominant social values that mainstream American society held in 1962, ignoring many emerging social values towards the role of teenagers and women in society.

Overview

Remember these things when studying Social Values:

• Social values are the values, beliefs and attitudes held in a society.
• Social values can be dominant, emerging, oppositional or alternative.
• To understand the social values in a text, you must have a clear understanding of when and where it was produced.
• Do not make simplistic generalisations about a text's production period.
• When writing about social values, identify and explain them clearly.
• Social values cannot be reduced to single words like 'love' or 'family'.
• Describe representations in the text and explain how these may have been shaped and consequently reflect social values during the production period.
• Make reference to appropriate codes and conventions in the description of these representations.
• Use terminology appropriate to the study of social values confidently.
• The best social values responses are detailed, specific and well-informed.