Regional Identity

Theorist Andrew Higson (1998) writes, "identity is generally understood to be the shared identity of naturalised inhabitants of a particular political-geographical space -  this can be a particular nation or region."

Benedict Anderson (1983) maintains that the media play a vital role in constructing a national/regional identity as in reality the nation is too big for everyone to know each other yet they often have shared values ; "The unification of people in the modern world is achieved not by the military but by cultural means, in particular the media system enables people (of a nation or region) to feel part of a coherent, meaningful, and homogenous community."

Higson goes on to day, " Stereotyping is a form of shorthand ... a way of establishing character ... that often reducing the character to the most basic form so that the stereotype often becomes comic," (Higson 1998)

Higson, "No wonder then that a particular characteristics may be criticised for being stereotypical meaning it lacks a realistic dimension, it fails to match up to the reality of identity," (Higson 1998)

Medhurst, "They're awful because they're not like us,"


'Colloquial dialect'

• Oggy - Pasty
• Call Me Dreckly - Call me later
• Proper Job - Nice work
• Wasson? - What's going on?

Social Class

Medhurst's 1998 theory; "They are awful because they are not like us,"

Richard Butsch (1992) who says working class males in the media are presented as; "Incompetent and ineffectual, often a buffoon, well-intentioned but dumb. In almost all working-class series, the male is flawed"

Keith Gandal's, in 2007 he said that target audiences are drawn in by the; "Sentimental rags-to-riches story,"

Classes B/C1 are represented as the; "Social norm" (Gandal, 2007)

Downton Abbey is set in the 19th century where there were clear divides between social classes, especially when considering attire. Those in this image would be of a higher class as they are all dressed in dull, 'sensible' coloured suits and dresses with few exceptions. The fact that most of those in this image are of considerable age means that each of these potentially wealthy people would have become that in their own lifetime rather than having inherited it which would imply a sense of responsibility and self-achievement from many of these characters. Their posture also connotes wealth and importance due to their correct posture, as well as their facial expressions being similar, which shows that the group is more conscious of their image and what they look like to others.

 

Shameless is a modern-day drama. The people in this image are clearly representative of a lower class. This is apparent through both their body language and their apparel. Their bright, mis-matched clothing shows a lack of care for what looks 'smartest'. Many of the characters in this image also have  disheveled hair which further connotes a lower social class. Each of the characters appears to have vary varied facial expressions which shows that this group is uncoordinated and unruly.


     In this extract of Shameless there are clear representations of Butsch and Medhursts theories. These theories are further supported by camera work, miss-en-scene, sound, and editing.

     The opening scene shows a low angle medium shot with a teenage male walking down a city road with rows of houses behind him. The mise-en-scene in this scene implies that he is of a lower class, through his attire of a hoodie and trainers, and that he lives in some kind of estate, as suggested by the cheap looking housing. As the camera pans 180 degrees to show the viewer what the young male character is looking at it shows a semi-detached house that appears to be owned by someone of a higher class than what is implied of the teenage male. This disrupts Gandals 2007 theory somewhat as the 'norm' in this area is definitely of a lower class than C1 -B, which he claimed to be a "Social norm". By having the camera pan behind itself this breaks the 180 degree rule in filming, which helps keep clarity for the viewer. As they broke it, this could be to make the viewer feel uncomfortable due to the clear change in class, perhaps similar to how the teenage character is meant to feel from that transition.

     The next scene shows a cut in of the teenagers hand knocking on a door and pans up and back to show his face over his shoulder. The camera in this scene is handheld and shakes visibly, this relates to how he would feel approaching the house of a higher class as they do not relate to him and he would feel somewhat alienated. His alienation supports Medhursts theory of "they're awful because they're not like us" in relation to media portrayals of most stereotypes and how 'us' refers to middle aged straight white males that 'control' the media. During this scene there is a short non-diegetic music cue. The music is used for only a few seconds after the teenage character is met at the door by a middle aged woman. As the music is non-diegetic and cheerful it could be representative of the teenage characters relief after confronting what was made out to be an unfavourable situation of meeting those of an apparent higher class.

     Near the centre of the extract there is a scene with the same teenage character and a second middle aged female in what appears to be a teenagers bedroom. This is implied through mise-en-scene where the wall is littered in bright posters of different subjects, there are also objects present in the scene that giveaway that it is clearly a bedroom such as a dresser and wardrobe as well as an actual bed. the mise-en-scene also implies it is from the families in the lower class as there are many conventions present that link to those in a working class society such as the fact that there are so many posters on the wall connoting having things to look up to and generally being a stereotypical 'consumer', which is someone in the working class. Other factors such as the teenagers clothing dictate that he is within a specifically lower class as he is dressed in a hoodie and jeans, typical to his youth, and indicative that he is not of a high class background or family as they stereotypically dress much more 'intelligently' and resent using bright colours, such as the ones found on the posters in his room.

Disability

Jessica Evans (1998) drawing on the works of Freud and other psychoanalysts, states:

“Disabled people are seen as childish, dependant and underdeveloped and are regarding as ‘other’ and are punished by being excluded from ordinary life. Thus popular images and rhetoric of disabled people abound which comfort us with people who are imperfect, helpless, unattractive, disgusting, shitty, dribbling,” (Evans, 1998).

Cumberbatch & Negrine (1992), Barnes (1992), and Longmore (1987) point out studies of the representation show that disabled people are screened out of television fiction or else occur in a limited number of roles.

As Jordanova (1989) stated; “The idea of otherness is complicated, but certain themes are common: the treatment of others as more like an object, something to be managed and possessed, and as dangerous, wild, threatening. At the same time, the other becomes an entity whose very separateness inspires curiosity, invites inquiring knowledge.”

Medhurst argued in terms of power relations and the constructions of stereotypes, “ they are awful because they are not like us,” (Medhurst, 1997)

According to Evans (1998): “Old people in our culture are also segregated and treated as though they are waiting to die. There are close associations between dependency, illness, dying, and death. It seems that increasingly in our culture there are pressures that encourage a reversion to infantile feelings which have to be madly defended against.”










In the extract of Secret Diary of a Call Girl there are clear representations of Evans and Mulveys theories. These theories are further supported somewhat by camera work, mise-en-scene, sound, and editing.



The opening scene of the extract shows a medium-long shot of a below middle aged woman in a dress opening a door. There is non-diegetic music that helps sexualise the female character that dies off when the door is opened and reveals the disabled character. The female characters appearance with the accompaniment of the non-diegetic music supports Mulveys theory of the media over sexualising women. Due to the sexualised music ending when the disabled character enters it can be inferred as supporting Evans' 1998 theory where they believe disabled people are shown as unattractive in the media. The camera also tilts down from an eye-level view of the female character to accommodate for the disabled character, this can be seen as making the viewer look down on the disabled character which also supports Evans' theory as the disabled character is being shown as imperfect and helpless due to them being 'looked down on'.



The next shot is a close up of the female characters face in a close up from an eye-level view. This shot further supports Mulveys theory as she is being sexualised further by her appearance and use of cosmetics. There is diegetic dialogue in this shot where the female character unsurely asks a question to the other characters. Her speech is slow and contains filler in the form of a long "er". This adds to Evans theory again as it makes the scene more awkward and further creates the image of this disabled character being unattractive.


Near the middle of the extract there is a scene with the father of the disabled character and himself where the disabled character is placed on a large bed that has a sexualised theme to it. This could be seen as a juxtaposition due to Evans' theory of the disabled appearing as unattractive. There is no non-diegetic sound in this scene and there is no dialogue or diegetic music, this silence makes the scene slow down. As this is accompanied by the female character looking expectantly at the father, this makes the disabled character appear weaker as he is the only character not directly involved in the interaction which somewhat supports both Evans and Jordanovas theories as the disabled character is being made to feel helpless and is being objectified by the other characters lack of involvement with him. The fact that the female character has to ask the father to leave implies that the disabled character does not have the capacity to tell the father to leave which further supports Evans' theory of disabled people being helpless.


Near the end of the extract there is a scene where the disabled character is on the same bed with the female character but without the father.

Youth

• Criminals
• Addicts
• Drains on society
• Violent
• Lazy
• Arrogant
• Uneducated

In 1904 Stanley Hall wrote Adolescence in 2 volumes in 1904, in this text he puts forward a theory known as the ‘Storm & Stress Model;

1. The common mood of teenagers is a state of depression.
2. Criminal activity increases between the ages of 12 & 24.
3. Young people are extreme and need excitement; “Youth must have excitement and if this is not at hand in the form of moral intellectual enthusiasms it is more prone to be sought in; sex, drink or drugs.”

Bill Osgerby argues that; “The portrayal of youth is not entirely pessimistic,” and used the terms coined by Dick Hebdige (1988); “Youth as fun,” and “Youth as trouble maker.”

In the extract of Skins, the theories of Stanley Hall and Bill Osgerby are both supported and disrupted through the media language present in the clip. I will now explore this in more detail with reference to how; camera work, mise-en-scene, sound, and editing contribute to constructions of representations of youth.

The opening shot of the extract is an extreme close up of a young male character from a birds eye view. The character has one side of their face in darkness and one side not, which could have religious connotations and be representative of Osgerby’s theory of youth being both fun and trouble making, as represented by the light and dark sides of his face respectively. There is also a diegetic sound effect of church bells, which could relate to this imagery and add connotations of religion. Under the sound of church bells is the diegetic sound of an alarm clock. The fact that the character is awake before their alarm shows a disruption of the generic stereotype of youth being unruly and unprepared.

The next few shots are quickly cut together and show the male character performing a work out. The first shot of the sequence is a birds eye view shot which can be compared to the opening shot where it was the same angle but shows the character in a different position. It then shifts to an over the shoulder shot and continues on to show the male character looking at himself in a mirror. This shot is also over the shoulder and somewhat adheres to Halls theory of young people being prone to sexual activity, and drugs. Throughout all of the previous shots have a diegetic music track that sound bridges between shots and also somewhat supports Halls theory once again.