Regional Identity in TV Drama
Our Friends
Regional Identity is defined as a person's identity rooted in setting, speech, costume and region in which they live in. Regional Identity focuses on the accents of characters, pastimes, attitudes and behaviours and general stereotypes that are applied to different people from different regions. I will be analysing this clip of Our Friends and explaining how Regional Identity is represented in it.
The opening scene begins with an over the shoulder shot to introduce to the audience a main character. The setting is a luxurious restaurant. This suggests characters that enter are wealthy because of the characters wearing smart, formal suits and dresses. Non-diegetic sound here includes the soft, classical music which emphasises pleasantry and wealth. The darkened lighting emphasises a calm and relaxing atmosphere. The audience is introduced to a main character in the clip via an over the shoulder shot. The character's introduction 'hi' suggests that the character is separate from his surroundings as his speech does not match with a stereotypical rich and wealthy gentleman. The next scene continues with another over the shoulder shot and an introduction to another couple. The male of the couple responds with a casual 'hey' which emphasises their regional identity. Again this does not fit with a stereotyping wealthy person as the greeting is not considered to be formal.
When the menu is read and Helen queries about if whether any of the other characters have had the 'gamberoni' which leads to one the male characters making a mockery by explaining that they are prawns and what prawns are. The pronunciation from Helen of the word 'gamberoni' emphasises that the character is of higher class compared to the other characters. The response from the male character expresses the social class of the character and their regional identity. The response appears humorous to his peers and wife but to Helen, she does not understand the terminology and therefore doe not understand the joke. Helen appears to be wearing high market, dark clothing, which exerts power and the clean haircut also suggests power and dominance and is of upper class society.
When Mary and Helen are having a conversation (which is diegetic sound) Tosker interrupts. Helen replies to this interruption by stating "I'm sorry I was talking to Mary". This could represent that Helen is not familiar with people interrupting into a conversation and she is used to talking to one person at a time. This may further suggest how people from Newcastle have little manners and talking over people is included in this, Tosker appeared to have no problem in interrupting. It may also show that people from London like Helen, have better manners and are not afraid to say what and how they are feeling as she appears to tell him right away that she was in fact, talking to Mary and that she does not wish for him to join the conversation.
The intelligence of Geordies is then touched upon by way of Tosker saying to Helen "whats one of them" (referring to the job she has said). This represents both that the types of jobs available in Newcastle are not of a higher standard as their London counterparts, and that Geordies are not as educated as they fail to construct a proper sentence.
Eventually the focus turns to region based financial stereotypes, which links to the previous issue of the job, this comes about due to the fact that Helen does not respond to Tosker when he asked about what her job is, yet she choses to respond when the question is about money, this would be arguably a representation that people from London and other "higher" status regions are likely to have more money, it also portrays them as liking to show off their wages. This financial stereotyping continues when Tosker asks how much the deserts are, which could imply that people from Newcastle are tighter with money as they don't earn as much. The waiter laughs the question off (takes it as a joke). This is the stereotype that again, higher class people (which largely come from places like London), do not have much care over money as they earn more.
Once that scene is finished, we move on to a series of close ups when Helen and Tosker start arguing, this is used to make us able (as viewers) to feel their emotions and establish their feelings more easily. In relation to regional identity though, this effect could be used to establish the representation that at this particular given moment there is no authority, as Tosker's less jokey and more serious side is revealed. This could portray the fact that in certain areas people are equal no matter what their regional background is.
When Helen realises this she quickly starts to laugh, and as Tosker does not know how to deal with this, she regains authority in the situation. This further backs up the point that people from London are stereotypically cleverer and thus are able to plan ahead better. It also could represent the stereotype that Londoners are rude.
When the menu is read and Helen queries about if whether any of the other characters have had the 'gamberoni' which leads to one the male characters making a mockery by explaining that they are prawns and what prawns are. The pronunciation from Helen of the word 'gamberoni' emphasises that the character is of higher class compared to the other characters. The response from the male character expresses the social class of the character and their regional identity. The response appears humorous to his peers and wife but to Helen, she does not understand the terminology and therefore doe not understand the joke. Helen appears to be wearing high market, dark clothing, which exerts power and the clean haircut also suggests power and dominance and is of upper class society.
When Mary and Helen are having a conversation (which is diegetic sound) Tosker interrupts. Helen replies to this interruption by stating "I'm sorry I was talking to Mary". This could represent that Helen is not familiar with people interrupting into a conversation and she is used to talking to one person at a time. This may further suggest how people from Newcastle have little manners and talking over people is included in this, Tosker appeared to have no problem in interrupting. It may also show that people from London like Helen, have better manners and are not afraid to say what and how they are feeling as she appears to tell him right away that she was in fact, talking to Mary and that she does not wish for him to join the conversation.
The intelligence of Geordies is then touched upon by way of Tosker saying to Helen "whats one of them" (referring to the job she has said). This represents both that the types of jobs available in Newcastle are not of a higher standard as their London counterparts, and that Geordies are not as educated as they fail to construct a proper sentence.
Eventually the focus turns to region based financial stereotypes, which links to the previous issue of the job, this comes about due to the fact that Helen does not respond to Tosker when he asked about what her job is, yet she choses to respond when the question is about money, this would be arguably a representation that people from London and other "higher" status regions are likely to have more money, it also portrays them as liking to show off their wages. This financial stereotyping continues when Tosker asks how much the deserts are, which could imply that people from Newcastle are tighter with money as they don't earn as much. The waiter laughs the question off (takes it as a joke). This is the stereotype that again, higher class people (which largely come from places like London), do not have much care over money as they earn more.
Once that scene is finished, we move on to a series of close ups when Helen and Tosker start arguing, this is used to make us able (as viewers) to feel their emotions and establish their feelings more easily. In relation to regional identity though, this effect could be used to establish the representation that at this particular given moment there is no authority, as Tosker's less jokey and more serious side is revealed. This could portray the fact that in certain areas people are equal no matter what their regional background is.
When Helen realises this she quickly starts to laugh, and as Tosker does not know how to deal with this, she regains authority in the situation. This further backs up the point that people from London are stereotypically cleverer and thus are able to plan ahead better. It also could represent the stereotype that Londoners are rude.
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