Blog 4

Historically, Marxism is the a philosophy based on ideas that view social change in terms of economic factors. Within popular media, Marxist analysis is used to determine how those factors influence the media. In order to view media through a Marxist lens, one must understand some of the key terms associated with the topic. The terms include ideology, alienation, and grid-group analysis. Within Marxist analysis, ideology is viewed as a discovery that has emerged from political conflict; we see these ideologies everyday in the media we consume. To put it simply, every piece of media has an agenda that it is trying to push based on a core belief. The term alienation refers to a separation between creator and audience. Media, particularly news media, creates this separation by reporting on news that the audience deems unimportant. This is seen a lot when news stations choose to report on celebrity gossip instead of current, major world events. Finally, the grid-group analysis allows us to place characters from popular media into defined groups. These groups are well defined and are seemingly in conflict with one another, though they need the others in order to function. The first group is hierarchical elitist which believe that it is the duty of those in power to look out for those below them. The second group is the egalitarian who believe that everyone is equal and that any differences are social constructs and not natural. The final two groups are the individualist, who believe in the freedom to compete fairly while still being protected by authorities, and the fatalist, who believe in luck and opt out of the system. It is important to recognize that while these groups are well defined, characters may fit the criteria for more that one.