Blog Post #4

The use of Marxism in media allows for analyzing how influential each person is in a hierarchical structure. The use of the grid group analysis can be used to determine the social role of an individual in a group. This includes four roles: the hierarchical elitist (the person on top, the leader), the competitive individualist (more concerned with themselves and not others), the egalitarian (seeks to find peace in any conflict), and the fatalist (sees the bad outcomes or doesn’t participate in political dilemmas). Knowing this, we can view and understand how people act in different scenarios. Even if the roles are determined at the beginning of the media, there is usually a constant power struggle between the characters, and their roles in the grid group analysis can change by the end. The hierarchical elitist could create a false consciousness, which means that subordinates in a group unknowingly follow ideas blindly, even if the leader is a hypocrite of their own ideas. People could also rise against the empowered, meaning that they disagree with someone trying to push their ideals onto people. This could lead to alienating the person revolting, because they disagree with a person or idea that people conform to. These are just a couple of Marxist ideas involved in social conflicts. The main analysis is interpreting what the ideologies of the media are. Ideologies are the underlying themes that a media creates. They can be applicable in real life situations, and because of this, the media has a huge position in instilling ideas in peoples day to day life. Using Marxism to critique media can allow for a better understanding of how influential sociopolitical groups can have in the real world.