A theory relating to the authority in social classes of people has been said by Gramsci in 1930 which was cultural hegemony which is the philosophic and sociological concept. In the various social classes who has more authority over another person which relates to what I am about to talk about in this essay. The theory claims that the ideas of the ruling class come to be seen as the norm. The social realist film I will be looking at and analysing is Human Traffic which is about five friends spend one lost weekend in a mix of music, love and club culture. Having watched the film the first authority figure I picked out and analysed in Human Traffic was Jip’s mother. Jip’s mother has the job of a prostitute which isn’t seen as upper class at all this occupation is seen as being in the lower class. When Jip goes to see his mother he is very unsettled as she is with a client in her flat. It is seen as his mother has more authority over him because he can’t stop her from doing her job and cannot protect her if it gets violent with her clients. She asks him to wait and he agrees to this show he won’t go against her and she has the higher authority. Just after the clip of the flat Jip is in the car with her mum’s client but this is not a true image, he is fantasising and what is going on has mentally affecting him. The client in the car is seen to the audience of having a higher authority over Jip because the client’s clothing includes a smart, business like jacket and he is holding a suit case made to look like a business man a typically thought of a high social class so he already has higher authority. As the clip goes on Jip cannot get a word in an doesn’t know what to say back to him then at the end of this clip he says strong language but when the camera reverses the shot to wear the client was sitting he has disappeared showing Jip didn’t have the confidence to say anything back until this fantasising image of the client has disappeared.
Well done, Becky.
ReplyDeleteYou've understood cultural hegemony perfectly. The client in Jip's car has authority over him, as does his mother due to their position as 'mother' and 'business man', and also on account of their age (think: youth culture).
This section is unusual, as both 'authority' figures are committing a crime! Therefore, it shows that problem with cultural hegemony - as those people who have power over others can be doing things that are incorrect, and youth cultures suffer and react against it.