Roland Barthes MYTHOLOGY

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PART1: “This is why the semiologist is entitled to treat in the same way writing and pictures: what he retains from them is the fact that they are both signs, that they both reach the threshold of myth endowed with the same signifying function…” says Roland Barthes in Myth Today. Our purpose in studying semiotics is to realize that this is a toolkit for the analysis of film. Film uses a multiplicity of signs that already have a cultural determination. Functioning as SECOND ORDER semiological system, cinema uses META-LANGUAGE, by re-deploying signs (FIRST ORDER SIGNIFICATION) of many types in a new way: images, costume, sound, music, camera movement, discourse, etc. Thus, our storytelling in FILM is also a place where ideology happens. Reflect on what you’ve learned from Barthes, the lectures and the short videos about semiotics to craft a 1 paragraph argument *(based on Barthes) about how CINEMA can be studied and WHY cinema should be studied. Use at least ONE Direct quote. PART 2: If you’re the one in your group of friends who drives the others crazy because you want to talk about EVERY detail in the film you’ve just watched, then you’ve been on the path of semiotics all along! What connects philosophy to film is Roland Barthes’ crucial observation that:  MYTHOLOGY = SEMIOLOGY + IDEOLOGY We study film seriously because cultural storytelling is the place where Ideology happens. Barthes says, “The naturalization of the concept is the essential function of myth. This is why myth is experienced as innocent speech: not because its intentions are hidden – if they were hidden, they could not be efficacious – but because they are naturalized. In fact, what allows the reader to consume myth innocently is that he does not see it as a semiological system but as an inductive one.” Drawing on Barthes’ essay,  write 1 paragraph about how mythology NATURALIZES certain cultural values. Feel free to use examples from film and TV. (When referring to texts, always use specific quote/citation(s); when referring to media, use specific examples.) LOOK AT EXAMPLE THAT I PROVIDED TO HELP YOU SEE HOW YOU SHOULD BE WRITING IT. PART 3: Make a comment/reply to the screenshot provided.