Practice exam question with exemplar

June 2014

Media and Collective Identity

6 Media and collective identity: how does one affect the other?

7 “Media simply represent collective identity, they don’t create it.” How far do you agree with this statement? Make reference to one of more group(s) of people in your answer.


Media and identity seem to be in a symbiotic relationship where one is intrinsically linked with the other. This relationship is fluent, dynamic and ever changing. It is the 'collective' part of this relationship that is most complex. As soon as there seems to be a 'collective identity' that has recognisable traits and patterns, this is disrupted by new representations and new mediums to present representations. This is very true when investigating the representation of women in the media. In August Osage County, a SmokeHouse dramatic film 2015, the women in the Weston family clearly portray how complicated the representation of women has become. Even in this nuclear family, this microcosm shows women to embody the roles of sister, mother, daughter, wife, but also of matriarch, divorcee, submissive, tart and dominant leader.
During a scene where Barbara challenges a doctor's prescription of her mother's (Violet) many pills, Barbara is portrayed through the camera work to be in complete control of the situation. It is her god-like non-diegetic voice