Regional Identity in TV Drama

Regional Identity in TV Drama

Scottish Stereotypes

Common stereotypes that people associate with Scotland and Scottish citizens are with ginger hair, kilts, and bagpipes. These aspects are commonly applied to Scottish people and so TV Dramas can take advantage of this to paint a picture of a Scottish person and then apply it to a character.

An example of a TV Drama these aspects are featured is Outlander. The character Jamie Fraser follows these stereotypes as the character is presented wearing a kilt and having ginger hair. The character is a main protagonist in the Drama series.

A countertype to this is Leopold “Leo” Fitz from Marvels Agents of Shield. The character is Scottish born but does not have ginger hair, wearing kilts or play bagpipes. This character is super-intelligent but awkward engineer, specialising in weapons and technology.

Additionally, Scottish people are associated with alcoholism. This applies generally to Northern Scotland such as Edinburgh and Glasgow where citizens drink more and act wildly. This is another widely regarded stereotype that is applicable to Scottish people.

An example of an alcoholic Scottish character is Groundskeeper Willie from The Simpsons. Although this programme is not a TV Drama, the character in it follows the stereotype as he is seen drinking a majority of the time, which leads to actions that he would regret. Also, this character follows the aspects from the previous stereotype as the character has red/ginger hair, wears a kilt on occasions and plays bagpipes on occasions.

The countertype to Scottish TV character is Amy Pond from Doctor Who. This character is not captured drinking alcohol throughout the series; therefore the character is not alcoholic.  

Liverpool Stereotypes

It is largely stereotyped by people of other regional identities (primarily people from London and other "higher" areas) that people from Liverpool are unintelligent, uneducated, thieves, violent and hopeless. This is down to the fact that traditionally people in Liverpool did low paid jobs and left school early, now however this is largely untrue. Most current media representations of Liverpoolians are the old fashioned, outdated view.

An example of a family that follows this is the Barry family from Waterloo Road. This family have had a troubled past with money and domestic issues, which are possible causes for the students of this family to cause bad habits which result in an early suspension or exclusion. 

Newcastle Stereotypes

This is one of the most stereotyped region in the UK, one stereotype of how a Geordie should be is that they are loud, usually drunk, always joking and many more things. These stereotypes are largely unfounded and not true. There are many successful people from Newcastle, thus contradicting the stereotype that people from Newcastle are uneducated. 

An example of a character that follows the Geordie stereotypes in media is Tosker and some other characters from Our Friends. This is due to the character largely following the common stereotypes towards Geordies.

Yorkshire Stereotypes

The dialect in Yorkshire is easily distinguishable. The most common stereotype of a Yorkshire person is as tight with money, there is a saying that "a Yorkshireman is a Scotsman with all the generosity squeezed out of him", which refers to how Scotsmen are also stereotyped as being tight but not as tight as people from Yorkshire . Yorkshire people are often stereotyped as friendly but they are also stereotyped to be "bloody-minded" argumentative and stubborn. Generally it is stereotyped that men from Yorkshire wear flat caps and tweed style clothes. There are certain foods that are commonly associated with Yorkshire, these include: Yorkshire puddings, potatoes and other similar foods.

A TV programme that situates in Yorkshire is the drama, Emmerdale.  The characters have the typical stereotyped Yorkshire accent to furthermore emphasis the TV dramas regional identity.  

Birmingham Stereotypes

Brummies as they are referred to commonly, are largely stereotyped to be relatively unintelligent, this stereotype was largely brought about by the fact that a lot of Brummies had low level manufacturing jobs. The intelligence stereotype is also related to their instantly recognisable accent.Which to some may sound unintelligent.

A TV Drama that supports the typical stereotypes is Peaky Blinders. This is because there is gangs, and criminal activity because it is such a huge city. The characters are seen as being uneducated in the program which tends to be brought across in how they speak. 

Welsh Stereotypes
Wales is sometimes known as the land of song, and is used for its singers. A very widely used stereotype of Welsh people is that they all like rugby, although many people in wales do, in fact like rugby it is not everyone. The welsh also have their own accent when speaking English but they do also have their own language.

An example of a TV Drama that supports Welsh stereotypes is Gavin and Stacey in which the Welsh characters in the programme behave and speak in a stereotypical Welsh accent. Another example is the Drama called Stella, where again the main character (who is Welsh) speaks and behaves by following the typical Welsh stereotypes.

Irish Stereotypes
There are many Irish stereotypes, one of the most widely used ones is that Irish people only eat potatoes, and cant be without them. This of course as with most stereotypes is not true and is a dated and passed view to take. Also a big stereotype area for the Irish is that they drink a lot, resulting in people getting drunk consistently. Ireland is often associated with lepricorns and people having ginger hair which is not true.

The TV comedy Mrs Brown's Boys includes a lot of the above stereotypes and many more to portray Irish as unintelligent and being insecure about their actions. This may seem comical to some, but to the Irish, this show may seem offensive as not all Irish people behave in the same way as the characters portrayed in the programme. 

London Stereotypes
London can be seen in various ways because, as with other big cities there are good parts and bad parts. The residents from the better parts are stereotyped to be rich, which is largely true, well spoken, which is again, largely true and snobbish which can depend on the person in question. 

These stereotypes can be seen in the TV Drama, Sherlock. Where the main characters and other acquaintances are well spoken, and dress in a fashion that suits the upper class society in London. 

The other side to London stereotypes is the poorer not so good side of London, which its residents are largely stereotyped to be gang members, ethnic minorities, uneducated and other similar things. 

These characters can be seen often on TV. Soap Operas such as Eastenders and Coronation Street both feature current narrative or previous narratives that have included these stereotypes that resemble people living in a lower or working class society in London.

Essex Stereotypes 
Essex is an area where many stereotypes are aimed at, most of these are appearance related. For example it is widely stereotyped that people from Essex have fake body features, are orange and have had their teeth whitened. It is further stereotyped that they can only care about their appearance and that that is their number one priority, which is true in some cases. 

The programme The Only Way Is Essex uses these stereotypes and to an extent that has allowed the audience to perceive people from Essex to be extremely unintelligent, resemble the colour orange, but the fake tan in which they apparently wear and the typical slow, and dim actions that agin support the idea that people from Essex are resembled as being unintelligent and a mockery. 

Cornwall Stereotypes
One of the most used and well known stereotypes for Cornwall is the fact that they are "inbred" this stereotype is incorrect and can cause significant offence to local people. a further stereotype is that the people there are "backward" again this causes great offence to residents of Cornwall. 

Regional Identity

Regional Identity in TV Drama - Our Friends

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.