Using examples of films, explain how Media helps to reinforce hegemony? 

The idea of hegemony is reinforced in films through ideology. They are made through certain representations and stereotypes created by movie directors which are then controlled by media institutions in the world. For example in America, where Hollywood comes from, the media products that are consumed by the people comes from only 6 different institutions in the country. The Hollywood ideology mainly includes the dominance of males over females, positive image of whites over black, and twisted opinions on LGBT in recent years, and many more. 

For many years, it has been stereotypically shown that male dominance over females is absolute. They are to be strong physically, be able to have power to make decisions, control over a relationship with a woman, be unemotional on the outside. In recent light, this type of masculinity is called toxic masculinity. This can be seen in many superhero films from DC or Avengers where we see them as 'fighting for justice' but then are represented to be a weapon to use, not humans. This puts the ideology in many young males in wanting to become like these superheroes that save the world, but we all know too well this is only supernatural and the children can only dream of becoming one. But even in non-supernatural films, like Marvel's the Punisher, we see that the male is driven by revenge and 'thirst' for justice which leads him to violent killings at some times. Women are sometimes underrepresented or represented inferiorly in these films, where they do not play certain prominent roles and are only seen as subordinates or emotional creatures. In modern society, where problems arise from these stereotypes and hegemonic ideology, some of these representations are then countered to promote 'equality'. It is not only been till recent years where toxic masculinity is criticized and women are able to gain equal power as male. For example in a British comedy-drama on Netflix called Sex Education, we see various types of representation of males in the movie. We have a character, Adam Groff, whose physical attributes are those of stereotypical 'manly' type, bulky and tall, and have a rough personality and only shows lust and sexual attraction for females. He is then portrayed in a way which is criticized by both the other characters in the films and the audience in the real world, as we see him showing off his strength and power through bullying and chasing girls for sex. In a Disney princess movie, Enchanted, this follows a princess who has fallen into the real world and proves that the princess is not always the one waiting for a prince's true love. Males are represented in a very stereotypical way in the cartoon where the prince acts very much like a stereotypical prince and are then criticized for it. The princess shows her power in this light, fighting the evil witch herself and does not need help from a man. There is the male lead actor which is represented in real life to be imperfect and is shown to have emotions too. In the end, the hegemony that shows males dominance over females have been long represented in films since the early years of development but due to rising problems that occur in the real world, equality is now slowly promoted in movies and films, also music and video games where it is now okay for men to cry and women are now in charge of leading men. 

Another type of hegemony through different social groups are between the LGBTQ+ community and the outside 'normal' world.  It always seems to be that in mainstream films, LGBT is not always represented in a positive way and are always seemed to be bullied, ignored, denied by their friends and family. There is never a happy ending for them, which could represent the ideology of LGBT people in real life, making the audience think that being LGBT is not acceptable out there in reality. This can be seen in many short films found on Youtube which is not mainstream, such as Goodbye Charley, FIFTEEN, or animations such as In A Heartbeat, or music videos like Tenny - 159 cm or Troye Sivan's Blue Neighbourhood. Or even in a mainstream film where LGBT topic is not popular, the Oscar award-winning movie Call Me By Your Name does not end in a happy ending either. There are also small mentions of same-sex couples in other mainstream films/series such as Shadow Hunters or Glee. The first negativity is the criticism of coming out of the closet by the individuals. They are also prone to bullying by the majority of others that are 'different' from them.