10 keywords and why they are important for my independent study

1- Laura Mulvey
Feminist academic and media and film critic, responsible for developing theory of the male gaze.
She is obviously one of the main people I am going to focus on in my study as I will be talking about the representation of woman and how not all women are there in the media to entertain males.

2- Hypodermic theory
Effects media texts have on audiences.
This will be used in my study as in the film I am studying, they women are challenging female stereotypes which could affect audiences and how they consume the text.

3- Hegemony
Total dominance achieved by the ruling elite in society.
Today, the ruling elite are arguably males which will mean male dominance in society is occurring. This is important as my study is basically about how women are normally kept in their place however in Domino; the protagonist is taking a masculine role.

4- Glass ceiling
I couldn’t find this in the pack nonetheless I have learnt this in my sociology class. It basically means that no matter how much women achieve in their life, they will still be under men. The glass ceiling comes from the fact that women can see what can be achieved but there is a glass ceiling stopping them from achieving this goal.
It is vital that I include this in my study as it shows that in today’s postmodern society, the only way women can get the power that men have is by taking a masculine role like Keira Knightly in Domino.

5- Oppositional reading
Reading of a media text that rejects the ideological positioning and apparent meaning intended by the producers of the text and substitutes a radical alternative.
This will be essential in my study as this film will get a lot of oppositional readings as it challenges nearly all women stereotypes.

6- Uses and gratification theory
An active audience theory that focuses on what people do with the media.
The audience could use this film as an escapism tool and will especially appeal to young rebellious women who can identify with the protagonist which is Keira Knightly.

7- Censorship
The practice, exercised by elite groups in society of monitoring and controlling media content by removing elements deemed offensive.
In Domino, there are lots of deleted scenes therefore including censorship in my study will come in handy.

8- Antonio Gramsci
An important source for the development of theories of ideology and the role of the media in reproducing dominant ideology. He also talks about hegemony.
As I explained before about the term hegemony, he discusses the fact that male dominance can affect how audiences consume media texts.

9- Hero
The principle male or female protagonist in any narrative, with whom the audience identifies with.
Keira Knightly is like a hero in the eyes of females as she challenged a male dominant society and did not fit awful stereotypes given to women.

10- Male gaze
Term used by Laura Mulvey to describe what she saw as the male point of view adopted by the camera for the benefit of an assumed male audience.
This could link with the ‘strip scene’ I am analysing as in that scene Keira Knightly appeals to the male audience as they are entertained by her sexual actions.