Applying Marxism: blog task

1) What does Marxism suggest regarding power in society?

Marxism suggests that power in society is all in the hands of the ruling elite, the ones with the means of production. And as long as they have control over the means of production, the working class will never have power a long as the ruling elite has control over the means of production.


2) Why is The Apprentice a good example of the media reinforcing capitalist values and ideologies?

The show revolves around normal middle class people working hard and succeeding in a a high competitive industry 
3) Come up with three examples of media texts (e.g. TV programmes, newspapers etc.) that either fetishise working class life (e.g. EastEnders presents quite a harmonious East End community which probably doesn't accurately reflect East London life) or demonise working class life or poor people (e.g. The Daily Mail and The Sun newspapers regularly demonise people living on benefits with headlines referring to 'scroungers'.)
  • Only Fools and Horses 
  • Friends
  • The Sun

4) Look at the bullet points on page 4 of the factsheet:

When making a Marxist reading of a text, look out for representations that:
  • show the values of the power elite as beneficial to the mass
  • show queries or challenges to the base as meaningless, foolish or anti-social via ‘failed revolt’
  • show the subdominant position of the masses as a naturalised idea
  • show the values of the power elite as ‘natural’ or ‘right’
  • show that being a member of the mass is a good thing
  • show the masses accepting the values of the power elite
  • show the values of the power elite as being ‘for the good of the masses’ (even when unpleasant)
Now apply those bullet points to Capital. Think about the setting, characters and narrative strands - how many of the bullet points apply to Capital? Does Capital reinforce or challenge the values of capitalism? Give examples from episode 1 to support your points. 


I feel the most prominent display of a marxist ideology would be with one of the main characters quentina. Through out her scenes they show her trying to integrate into a foreign society while also "working over time" to make as much money as she can, but the means of production were controlled by the person who would cash in her checks, this meant that she was being forcefully kept in a state of poverty. 

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