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.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment