Ideology

Reading Summary:

This reading discusses the topic of ideology and how different films employ different ideologies. Giannetti explains that ideology directly affects the tone of the film regardless of what type of ideology it is. Across different cultures and different places in the world, the set of common values or accepted values is drastically different. The idea portrayed by one movie may be seen as radical to one group of people while others support it. Also, Giannetti explains that it is up to the author/director to decide what type of ideology they want to employ in their media. For some, they want to put forth their own ideology. For others they mix it up depending on the characters.

Outside Example:

My first thought was to think of examples in TV shows that I have watched and how they would fit in to this concept of ideology. Immediately, I thought of my favorite TV show of all time: Breaking Bad. Breaking Bad was directed by Vince Gilligan and the main character is Walter White. Walter gets the news that he has cancer and he decides to sell drugs in order to make money for his family before he is gone.

Reading Connection:

In the show I found that Gilligan made it so that Walter came off as extremely innocent. Also, he eases into everything bad decision so that viewers are better able to sympathize with them given his circumstances. I think Gilligan puts these good characteristics in Walter to make it so the audience sides with him during his bad decisions. By the later seasons of the show, I started to question myself about how I was rooting for a guy who was a murderer and a drug dealer. I think it comes down to the ideology and the fact that Gilligan made Walter’s set of beliefs seem super reasonable. As a result, this seemingly innocent ideology helped to justify his bad decisions and make them appear as more minor.