Ethnicity Stereotypes

Ethnicity

Stereotypes

Mexicans: Pool cleaners, maids, taxi drivers, illegal Immigrants

British: tea, scones, medieval, Royal family, posh, bulldog

Black People: Fried Chicken, weed, dreadlocks, bob Marley, crime

Asian People: Maths (good), Martial Arts, rice and noodles




As Pieterse forcefully put it in 1992; “The legacy of several hundred years of western expansion and hegemony, manifested in racism and exoticism, continues to be recycled in western culture in the stereotypical images of non-western cultures.”


Theorist Sarita Malik points out the obvious in her essay ‘The Construction of Black and Asian Ethnicities in British media (1998); “The word ‘race’ in the cultural and political terrain has almost universally been aligned with Black and Asian people, as though they are the only racial groups that ‘own’ an ethnicity… Whiteness has been naturalized, as though it is an invisible ‘norm.’ When it is of course an ethnic group like any other.



Malik argues: “Many feel that Black and Asian audiences are still not sufficiently catered for and that insensitivity towards issues of race and ethnicity still exist. The reality of a lived multiculturalism is not represented in the British media."

Regional Class Stereotypes

Birmingham:
Speech-

Brummie- Drag on words, meant to say Birmingham as Buuuuurminghammmm 

Food-

Pork Scratching

Yam Yams 

People-

Jasper Carrot

Adrian Giles 

Ozzy Osbourne

Shows-

Peaky Blinders 

Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mzi12rJdRgM

Cornish:

Speech-

Farmers

Food-

Pasties

Fish and Chips

Jam before cream 

People-

Humphry Davy

Shows-

Poldark

Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JGq0t0GKyA

Essex:

•   Everyone in Essex has the same accent - a chavvy, cockney like accent 

•   Everyone is blonde and tanned

•   "The Only Way Is Essex" uses phrases like "Shut Up!" and "Well jell"

•   Everyone in Essex enjoys alcohol and parties
Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpTmHjXOM4Y

Scotland:

•   very woman is Scotland is pale and has red hair

•   Every man in Scotland wears a kilt and plays the bagpipes 

•   Sheep everywhere 

•   Everyone enjoys haggis and whisky

•   Xenophobic, especially towards the English

Groundskeeper WIillie in The Simpsons
Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdCmmHelf7c

Identity Representation

Key Theorists

Andrew Higson (1998) writes: 'identity is generally understood to be the shared identity of naturalised inhabitants of a particular political-geographic space - this can be a particular nation or region'

Benedict Anderson (1963) pens: 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 military but by cultural means, in particular the media system enables people (of a nation or a region) to feel part of the continent, meaningful and homogenous community'

Higson: "Stereotypes is a form of shortland... a way of establishing a character... that often reducing the character to the most basic form so that the stereotype often becomes comic.

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

Class

This is a poster for the 2011 TV drama 'Shameless'. It depicts a group of people (men, woman and children) shouting and looking aggressive whilst simultaneously wielding American flags, flares and Molotov's. This could connote that they are rational and violent, traits of a lower/working class citizen, thus suggesting the families are of that class bracket. They are wearing hoodies, fingerless gloves, low cut tops and sleeveless shirts again suggesting they are working class citizens.

    This is a poster for British TV drama: Downtown Abbey. They are all stood in formation with they're hands down buy there sides or held together sophisticatedly. They are also all dressed very formally and have straight, formal facial expressions. This implies that they are of a a very high social status and are also very rich. This is made obvious by the estate in the background.

Theories:
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, some more than others...he fails in his role as a father and husband, is lovable but not respected."

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

Andy Medhurst 1998 said "they are awful because the are not like us.”

Essay:
During the opening 10 seconds, continuity editing is used in the first shot to cut closer into a high-rise building. The shot then changes to high angle of children playing in a park, coupled with a slow zoom out. The shot type reveals that they are in a pretty simple park between small houses with small gardens, in a not well too kempt inner-city estate. The high angle shot is used to look down on the poorer kids to make them seem lower down in society. This relates to Andy Medhurst 1998 said "they are awful because the are not like us.”. 

Disability Essay

The opening scene to 'Secret Diary Of a Call Girl' is a medium long shot of Billy Piper from behind wearing a skimpy dress, this supports Laura Mulvey's 1975 theory: “As erotic objects of desire for the characters within the story, and as erotic objects of desire for the spectator,” (Mulvey, 1975).  The door then opens revealing the disabled character and his dad. The camera pans downwards to focus on the disabled child, this now a high angle shot looking down on him, this connotes that he is weak and helpless. Which supports Jessica Evans 1998 theory: “Disable 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, disgusting, shitty, dribbling,” (Evans, 1998).
The next scene depicts the disabled character requesting his dad to get the envelope out of his bag which shows he is dependent on his dad, again linking back to Evans' theory that disabled people are seen as childish and dependent. There is no non-diegetic sound, only diegetic dialogue. In the shot after that he asks his dad to lift him up to take him to the bed, again insinuating he is dependent like Evans' theory suggests.

Disability Representation

Jessica EVANS (1998), drawing on the works of Freud and other psychoanalysis, states:

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

As Cumberbatch & Negrine (1992), Barnes (1992) and Longmoore (1987)

Point out studios of the representation show that disabled people are screened out of television fiction or else occur in a limited number of roles.

Jordanova stated in 1989

“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 and threatening, at the same time, the other becomes an entity whose very separateness inspired curiosity, invites inquiring knowledge”

Andy Medhurst (1997)

Argues in terms of power relations and the construction of stereo types: “They are awful because they are not like us”

It is seriously worth noting that theory concerning disability can be applied to the elderly with case. 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 defending against”  

Youth Representation

“ Adolescence is inherently a time of storm & stress when all young people go through some degree of emotional and behavioural upheaval, before establishing a more stable equilibrium at adulthood." Hall also argued that:
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.” - Stanley Hall

However, Osgerby goes onto argue that; “The portrayal of youth is not entirely pessimistic,” he argues that “Mixed metaphors” appear when analysing the representation of youth. He claims; “Dual stereotyping of youth,” creates these mixed metaphors that Dick Hebdige (1988) termed; “Youth as fun,” and “Youth as trouble maker.”

Sexuality

“Stereotyping becomes ideological the moment it stops being simply a method of description and becomes a vehicle for values: the image of the screaming queen does not just mean ‘all gay men are like that’, it means ‘all gay men are like that and aren’t they awful’, which in turn means ‘and they are awful because the are not like us.”
Medhurst argued this is done to make heterosexual viewers feel safe in the believe that there way of living is the only ‘natural one’. So, stereotyping for the ‘straight’ viewer makes them feel safe and superior. In addition, the embedded social norm of straight sexuality is reinforced.
“This is why stereotypes of sexuality strive so vigorously to create two, polarized sexualities, hetro and straight, and to insist with such obsessive reductiveness that people who belong to those poles are easily identifiable – hence the recurring presence across media texts of the screaming queen and his female equivalent the butch dyke.” - Andy Medhurst





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOXuQK0Z5-g 

Gender Revision

How is gender portrayed in the extract of Hustle through:

Camera work

Mise-en-scene

Sound

& Editing?

In the extract of Hustle the theories of Mulvey (1975), Mackillon (2002) and Gauntlett (2002) are both supported and distrupted 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 contributes to constructions of gender representation.

The opening shot is a low angle medium close up of middle aged male wearing an expensive suit. The camera angle gives him masculine status as it makes him powerful which could fit Gauntlet’s 2002 theory however, the way he is standing is not a masculine pose which means his character also fits Mackillon’s theory as he is looking more feminine. In the background there is a younger female character shown coming up the stairs to the clothing shop, the positioning seems to support traditonal gender roles as she appears lower down, and therefore less important, than the lead male character. The opening scene is accompanied by non-diegetic music that changes when the women comes into shot, it is quite feminine and it contributes to sexaulising the female character in a way that fits Mulvey’s 1975 theory. Furthermore, it contributes to de-masculinising the male character to a point where he almost appears camp which also fits with the dress shop setting and his job. The shots are linked together with a sound bridge and continuity editing is used to not distract the viewer.

The second shot opens with a medium shot of the male running over to the other female in a almost camp manor with the feminine non-diegetic music playing in the backround. The woman in this shot supports Laura Mulvey’s theory that women are used as sex objects, I know this because of the obvious shots of the lady’s backside.

Gender

Theories

Laura Mulvey 1975

"As erotic objects of desire for the characters within the story, and as erotic objects of desire for the spectator." 

David Gauntlett 2002

 "Images of the conventionally rugged, super-independent, extra-song macho man still circulate in pop culture"

Mackillon 2002 

In 2002 Mackillon said males are now used in the similar way as women, in so far as they are being presented as sex objects and are seen to be more image conscious and sensitive. 

Stereotypes 

Men

• Heroic
• strong
• womaniser
• brave
• dumb 
• powerful 
• attractive  

Women

• Goodlooking
• sex object 
• helpless
• weak
• dependent 
• powerless
• sexualised 

Sound

Diegetic Sound and Non-Diegetic Sound

Diegetic sound is 'realistic sound' where the source is visible on screen or where the source is implied to be present in the action even if the sound source is out of shot (e.g. a door slamming in another room or sirens in the distance) common examples of diegetic sound include: 

- Dialogue (characters voices)

- Sounds made by objects 

- music coming from instruments shown on screen

- ambient sound (background noise that would be present)

N.B. this links to what we discussed last week in terms of TV Drama's needing to create a realistic believable 'diegetic' world for the viewer - sound is part of the verisimilitude.

Non-diegetic sound is sound where the source is not present in the action nor looks like it is meant to be; common examples include:

- Mood music

- Dramatic sound effects that do not match the sound anything on screen would make.

- Narrators commentary.

Sound Terminology

Inside these two categories there are a number of specific terms for different types of sounds that you must be able to use in the examination when you analysis, make note on and write about the extract in terms of representation they are as follows:

Non-diegetic

Title music: theme tunes (connote genre/represent TV drama).

Score/incidental music: orchestral music used to connote tone/atmosphere.

Sound motifs: sounds associated with certain character (often a villain like the shark in Jaws) that connote something good/bad is about to happen.

Sound effects: used to connote atmosphere.

Voice over: often used to give the viewer an insight into the thoughts of a character (creating a bond between the audience and character), set the scene or progress the narrative.  

Diegetic

Synchronous sound: sounds that match what you see on screen.

Sound effects: realistic sounds that match the action on screen creating realism and/or connoting atmosphere e.g. gun shots, door opening/closing.

Dialogue: characters speaking (dialogue progresses the narrative and reveals the character's personality/views to the viewer). 

Ambient sound: natural background noise you would hear if the scene on screen were real - this is vital when creating realism. 

camera work

Types Of Shot:

Wide Shot

Extreme Long Shot 

Long Shot 

Medium Long Shot 

Medium Shot 

Medium Close Up 

Close Up

Extreme Close Up 

Cut Away Shot 

Camera Angles:

High Angle 

Low Angle 

Eye Level

Tilt Or Dutch Tilt 

Over The Shoulder 

Point Of View 

Birds Eye 

Worms Eye

My short film, displaying the main types of camera shots.

https://youtu.be/GsH7U8Mp4Gg