Ethnicity in TV Drama

Ethnicity in TV Drama

 

Alvarado Theory (1987) Themes in racial representation:

Exotic: This is being represented as strange and unusual. This term can refer to people being treated as ‘the other’. People that are exotic can be viewed from the point of white people that’s called ‘white eye’. ‘White eye’ is the interpretation of exotic people, through the eyes of a white person. This is impacted in TV Drama as characters are presented through the eyes of the audience and director.

Dangerous: This representation portrays ethnic people as a threat to society. This threat includes taking advantage of society or becoming a physical threat through crime. This is a common stereotype that is applied to ethnic groups. This can be due to an expression of ignorance or an inability to understand how ethnic groups are portrayed.

Humorous: TV programs featuring ethnic people create an element of comedy as the idea of prejudice is removed and ethnic people become the butt of the joke. This makes them appear to be comical due to them being different.

Pitied: This theme presents ethnic people as pitiable by representing them by being the victim of a disaster such as poverty, conflict and crime. Images of these people are displayed to make the audience feel guilty and sympathetic towards them. That is why this theme is used in charity adverts, to persuade the audience to help the less fortunate by displaying depressing images.

Sexualised: This represents ethnic people as being sexually violent to exert dominance. This shows that they are represented as being a threat to society through rape and other crime. Men and women from ethnic groups are seen as sexual objects. Thus linking to the gaze theory.

How Disability is Represented Through the 4 Areas of Textual Analysis
 

 

The clip opens with a black hotel worker handing a menu or a document to a customer. This character contradicts stereotypical attitudes towards black people because the character is dressed formal and professionally rather than wearing cheap, baggy clothing, the character is portrayed as friendly rather than being intimidating and a threat to society and lastly the character is very punctual and speaks formally instead of speaking in street language. The setting of the beginning of the clip is a luxury indoor pool area, featuring comforting soundtrack music in the background and darkened lighting to suggest a warm and comforting atmosphere. A panning shot is included to follow the character as he walks through the scene. This displays the sheer size of the room and the luxury that is provided in the hotel by using an establishing shot. After passing a pillar, the camera shot changes to a long shot due to cross cutting, and then another character is introduced. A Jamaican-like. As the second character appears, the first character becomes startled after witnessing him appear in front of him directly from the swimming pool. The second character repeatedly refers to the first black character as ‘bro’ or ‘bruv’, this suggests that the two characters share a bond or friendship. This character resembles a stereotypical black person as he speaks using street language and he can come across as humorous on occasions. In attempt to carry on the conversation the formal character attempts to act and behave like his friend by speaking and acting in a stereotypical way. An over the shoulder shot captures the discomfort of the character as the conversation escalates. A two shot is used to emphasise the distance between the two characters in terms of success. As the character tries to leave, the other character suggests an out of the ordinary party in which the formal character remains uncomfortable with. The other character tries to be persuasive about this party idea, however a close up captures the formal character thinking long and hard, may be concerning whether this is appropriate.

The next scene portrays two cleaners approaching a customer’s room. Both female characters appear to be dressed in formal clothing that is associated with a typical hotel. As the leading female character mentions the double payment of the customer, the other character looks away as if she already understands the protocol. She prepares herself and then enters the room. The wall painting surrounding the room is fuchsia which suggests that the customer living in the room provides pleasure and comfort to whoever enters the room. This introduces to the audience the customer in the room, a Chinese or Asian gentleman. The darkened lighting and thick duvet covers support the fuchsia wall painting by also expressing comfort and pleasure. Additionally, the character looks very eager to continue when the two female characters have entered the room. A close up of the extra money for the service is displayed to query to audience to what the extra service is. The money is a stereotype towards Asian people as they are considered to be wealthier than other people. The soundtrack in the background suggests that the extra may be sexual due to the upbeat tempo of the soundtrack. The camera pans a close up of the leading female character as she locks the door to the room. The other female character looks back at the Asian man as if she does not understand what is going on. The man then brings up a remote control and activates a nearby stereo. The loudness of the music is to drown out any noise from the females. The women are prostituting themselves for the extra payment from the customer service. A close up on the male character shows that he is prepared whilst the females remove their clothing. It becomes clear that the other female character is uncomfortable with the situation as she would have not expected this to happen. Whereas the leading female feels overly confident with this as takes her clothes off first and then dances flirtatiously. The uncomfortable female flees the room whilst the confident stops the male from reacting to this by continuing to flirt.

The next scene opens with a female hotel worker peeking through a door with toilet roll. The professionalism of the character continues here as she is dressed appropriately and appears to be sophisticated. The character appears to want to provide for here customers and so, she goes directly to them with what they desire. In this case, a customer has run out of toilet roll. Upbeat, action like soundtrack is included here suggests that the character may be heroic and attempts to achieve a task under any cost. As she apologises to the customer, this emphasises how white British people are sophisticated but she is not organised as the issue has happened and has never happened previously. After this, the character quietly mutters a possible situation where a shortage of toilet paper has occurred before.

The next scene shows a conversation between two other characters, a male and a female. Similarly to the white British females from the previous scenes, these two are also punctual, sophisticated and dress formally. The setting is a cramped corridor with many members of staff passing through. This can situate a chaotic situation that occurs and links to the conversation of the characters. The sound effects are of the supporting characters conversing themselves to add to the chaotic atmosphere. A long shot confirms this as a view of the corridor is displayed. Many close ups are used here to focus primarily on the two characters and the responses in the conversation. The quick tempo of the character’s speech further supports the chaotic atmosphere as the characters are having to respond to this appropriately and quickly. The dark coloured lighting and clothing suggest that the characters are of high authority. The scene concludes with a close up of the female character and action-like soundtrack, this suggests that the characters are attempting to resolve an issue following the conversation.

The following scene introduces the hotel’s kitchen. The kitchen appears to be a typical large, crowded and chaotic. This places emphasis on the work process of the chefs. A mid shot opens the scene as the female character enters the room. A short cut away focuses on a chefs hands prepping potatoes for food products. Then another cut away shows another character, who may be the person that the male and female where conversing about in the previous scene. The blank expression of this character gives the impression that he may be unintelligent or focusing primarily on chopping ingredients. Another cut shows the high authority characters advancing further into the kitchen, using a panning movement to allow the audience to view more of the details of the kitchen. As the female character approaches the head chef, the audience can see that he is of an Asian background. This character is stereotypically higher in authority and is considered to be more important than his fellow workers. A close up of the character allows the audience to capture a healthy greeting towards the superiors in an attempt to impress them. Although, the larger chef that the male and female may have been conversing about may possibly not accept or belief the other chefs response, and so he shakes his head subtly to express shame or disappointment. The female character remains sophisticated as she ensures that the demands of the chef are indeed met. This leads to the head chef bringing in the other chef into the conversation by tapping in on the shoulder to get his attention. To make amends, he kisses the chef on his forehead to express to create a positive impression in front of his superiors. This then follows with a speech from the chef that is said sarcastically. As the male and female character leave the room, a mysterious and eerie soundtrack is included in which creates the idea that an event is to happen. The chef turns to the head chef and begins a conflicted argument. In response to this, the head chef acts more harshly than he did towards his superiors. This expresses his superiority over the other chefs. As the conflict continues, insults and name calling are added to liven up the argument and grab the attention of the other workers. After this, a close up of the head chef picking up a knife from the working surface is included with additional emphasis using sound effects to try and intimidate the chef even further. This follows the stereotypical view that this character is a threat to society as the character is threatening another with a butcher’s knife. 

The final scene follows the worker that was previously visited with the toilet issue. It appears that she is returning to her former post. That is until she hears the music from the room that contains the cleaner that has prostituted herself. The character knocks on the door and then quickly hides. This draws out the female cleaner, looking suspicious and guilty. A cut of the female worker behind the wall is viewed through a close up of her hiding behind the wall and then peeking round. This extends her curiosity. As she looks away, the cleaner rearranges herself in attempt to show that nothing has happened. She then leaves and returns to her cleaning duties as if nothing has happened.

How Ethnicity is Represented with the Other 6 Areas or Representation

 

Age – Age has little impact on ethnicity. However, as characters get older, stereotypes continue and are applied from progressing from children to adults.

Physical Ability / Disability – There is no clear link between disability and ethnicity. Although physically able ethnic people are considered to be more superior to disabled ethnic people.

Sexuality – Both sexes are included in TV Drama as it provides the program with a different dimension by including characters from ethnic groups as well as preventing any offence to ethnic viewers. Characters from ethnic groups are still shown to be attracted to other ethnic people or white people.

Class and Status – A small minority of TV programs represent ethnic people to be inferior and lower in society compared to white people. This is due to producers and directors following racial stereotypes and applying them to specific groups before presenting the character based on those stereotypes.

Regional Identity – There is no clear between regional identity and ethnicity, but in some cases, more ethnic people are associated with and represented in different regions of the country. A common location for this is London.

Gender – Gender differs with ethnicity. For example, ethnic men are associated with crime and dark doings such as rape, terrorism and drugs whereas ethnic women are not. This supports Alvarado’s Theory as ethnic men are considered to be more dangerous and a threat to society than ethnic women.