Exploration of Ethnicity in TV dramas;

Definition: The fact or state of belonging to a social group that has a common national
or cultural tradition

There are many different ethnic stereotypes in which we see throughout different TV
dramas, whether we notice it or not, the main stereotypes are focused around;

White/Black people
Asian
Travellers/ Gypsies
Polish

White British:

- Educated
- Businessmen
- Well spoken
- Arrogant

Black people:

- Heavily involved in crime
- Drugs
- Unfaithful
- Abusive
- Intimidating

Asian:

- Highly educated
- Doctors/ Dentists
- Some sub-cultures are linked to terrorism
- Large families
- Asian men feel they are better than women, treating them differently
- Immigrants

Travellers/ Gypsies:

- Usually Irish or Romanian
- Wear minimal clothing
- Work in the fun fair industry whilst travelling
- Avoid taxes
- Involved in crime

Polish:

- Cheap labour
- Poor
- Large families
- Accused of taking jobs
- Car washing
- Immigrants

Alvarados Theory 1987

There are 5 key themes in racial representation;

Exotic

Characters are represented as strange/unusual.
Known as the other
They assume the point of view of what a white person may be thinking, this is
known as white eye (Hall, 1990)

Dangerous

Threats to society through their actions as they take advantage of the society in
which they live in.
Underlying institutional racism.

Humorous

In the 70s race was the highlight for comedy
TV programmes removed the threat in which people were feeling by different
ethnicities and make them the butt of the joke.
Modern programmes made ethnic minorities laugh along, and at themselves.

Pitied

These include deprived groups or victims of natural disasters such as floods,
tsunamis, wars etc.
Images of children are used to gain sympathy this is particularly common in
adverts where, help is needed.

Sexualised

Sexually violent links to their own culture
Threat to society through rape women especially feel conscious
Men and women from different ethnic groups seen as sexual objects.

Tokenism

Limited inclusion or representation of a traditionally marginalized group, this then
usually creates a false impression for the audience as to what these characters are really
like in real life, as a pose to TV drama.

Conflict


- Ethnicity characters by unity and conflict
- Conflict often binary opposition of ethnic groups and wider society
- Difference and diversity emphasized.
- Stereotypes ethnicity as close knit community
- United through religious beliefs, games and work as well as culture
- Representation of illegal immigrant us VS them
- Tendency in media to link knife crime and gang culture to young black males.
- Stereotypes as ethnic minorities as dangerous physically and also to British
ideology
- Part of moral panic

4 areas of textual analysis;

Camera shots, angles, movement, composition

Different ethnicities may also be presented through different camera angles. For
example, we are able to establish the dominance of each ethnic group through the angle.
A minority may be shown through a high angle showing that they have much less power
than other ethnic groups surrounding them. They may also have less camera time
focusing on them and a smaller variety of shots in which portrays them. Different ethnic
groups will link in with different shots, from the camera.

Editing

Different ethnicities may have different editing associated with their part in the TV
drama, depending on the story line and how they fit in. For suspense, fade-in and fade-
out shots may be used; this could be an example of a killer story line, where we are
shown with the killer at the end of the scene. This could commonly be linked in with the
racial stereotype of black people being involved with violent crimes.

Sound

Different music will be used to associate with different ethnic groups. This could also be
based upon their culture. For example, Asian people may be associated with Bollywood
Music, Black people associated with rap, hip-hop and Caribbean, and white people
associated with classical.

Mise-en-Scene

Different lighting will be used throughout the TV drama to highlight the mood of the
scene, which will be set by the characters personality. Costumes and makeup will be
altered to the race of the character and even their sub-culture.

7 areas of representation;

Gender

Ethnicity links to gender because the way someone of a different ethnicity is
being presented may vary depending on which gender they are, whether that be female
or male. Women of a different ethnicity may be more socially accepted than men as they
are seen as innocent and equal. For example, Asian women may be pitied for how they
are treated by other Asian men, and are often in the health care industries such as
doctors/nurses/dentists, which helps and provides for other members of the public,
whereas Asian men of different sub-cultures could be linked in with the idea of
terrorism.

Sexuality

People who are of a different ethnicity are shown to be all different sexualities. For
example, in Eastenders, Syed Masood, a Muslim was in a gay relationship with Christian
Clarke, despite the fact that this was against his cultures belief his mother and father
rejected him because of this. This shows that modern day ethnicities are greatly
influenced by each other, rather than how they are told to be, by religious guides.



Age

The age of the person of a different ethnicity may affect how the character is portrayed.
For example, a child is likely to be portrayed in a TV drama as weak and feeble, as they
have to grow up with the culture in which their families are in, showing that is it hard
for different ethnicities to grow up in countries where they are the minority, we
sympathise for these types of characters. An older person may be portrayed as a burden
to their family as they may breech the rules in which they were taught as a child, for a
bigger sense of freedom, to become like the rest of their community.

Class and Status

People with different ethnicities are normally any class as they can be as successful or
unsuccessful, however this often depends on which ethnicity they are. For example, in
Eastenders, Tamwar Masood, is shown to be a budding young entrepreneur, as he owns
his own restaurant. However, Gus Smith, is portrayed as a local youth, with not the best
job, they are both from different cultures, Tamwar is Asian, whereas Gus is black. A
person with a higher class and status may be portrayed as intelligent, whereas a person
with a low class and status may be more likely to be pitied by an audience.


Regional Identity

People who are of different ethnicities live in all different parts of the country so will be
shown to have any regional identity. In TV dramas, those with the same ethnicities may
be shown to be heavily located in one area of the country.

Physical ability/disability

People who are of different ethnicities can all be portrayed as able/disable. Often when
disabled, this will show the weakness of the character, as we as an audience pity them.
This could be shown through the race of someone being a minority in a different country
to emphasise the lack of power in which they have.