How Class and Status is represented in a variety of TV Dramas.

1. THE REPRESENTATION
OF CLASS AND STATUS
IN TV DRAMA
Ellie Weedon

2. The British Social Class System
Society in Britain has often been broken down into three groups of the Upper class,
middle class and lower class, however, we now understand that this structure is
outdated and in fact only 37% of the population fit into these 3 class boundaries.
Today, there are as many as 7 social class groups which we use to define our society:
Elite - the most privileged group in the UK, distinct from the other six classes through its wealth. This group has the highest
levels of all three capitals
Established middle class - the second wealthiest, scoring highly on all three capitals. The largest and most gregarious group,
scoring second highest for cultural capital
Technical middle class - a small, distinctive new class group which is prosperous but scores low for social and cultural capital.
Distinguished by its social isolation and cultural apathy
New affluent workers - a young class group which is socially and culturally active, with middling levels of economic capital
Traditional working class - scores low on all forms of capital, but is not completely deprived. Its members have reasonably high
house values, explained by this group having the oldest average age at 66
Emergent service workers - a new, young, urban group which is relatively poor but has high social and cultural capital
Precariat - the poorest, most deprived class, scoring low for social and cultural capital
Nevertheless, today we mostly see the three stereotypical classes represented inNevertheless, today we mostly see the three stereotypical classes represented in

3. Stereotypes of Social Class
There are many stereotypes regarding social class and status that we
are conditioned to believe, however these stereotypes often reflect a
false reality:
UpperClass/Elite:
•Rich
•Well Dressed
•Superior
•Intellectual
•Snobby
•Posh
•Well spoken
•Land Owners
•High End Properties
Middle Class:
•White Collar
•Managerial
•Owns their own home
•Suits
•Nice Cars
•Well Educated
LowerClass:
•Blue Collar
•Factory Workers
•Little Savings
•Inner City
•Rented Properties
•State Schooling
•Manual Work
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4. How are the upper class compared
to the lower class in this clip?
Mise-en-Scene
The costume in which the staff downstairs are wearing
is all dull grey, black and white colours which
represents the mundanity of their lives and, as the
colours are far from eye catching, we understand that
this represents the way in which the lower classes are
ignored or unseen by society. Furthermore, the fact that
they are all wearing the same costume prevents them
from having any individuality and we can understand
that the lower classes are portrayed as one body and
one stereotype.
This is contrasted by the upper classes who are seen
to have a room each and wear their own personal
clothing of bright, rich colours like purple and blue.
Filming Techniques
Whilst the camera films the ‘elite’ members of the
household, long shots, showing few characters, are
used, with smooth movement, to create a serene and
regal association with the characters. On the other
hand, whilst filming the lower classes, many handheld
shots are used to create the busy, bustling tension of a
working class society. Furthermore, these shots are
filled with people moving around in the background to
add to the claustrophobic tension.
Furthermore, there is obvious symbolism in the camera
angles used: when the woman from upstairs looks down
on the man riding a bicycle we know she is of a higher
status to to her visually higher placement.
Sound
The upper classes are accompanied with very little
diegetic sound to create a calming and peaceful
atmosphere which allows the audience’s full attention
to be placed on them. This shows how the elite are
represented to be the most important class boundary.
Additionally, we hear non-diegetic sound of soft
pianos and violins playing when we see the upper
classes. These classical instruments have
connotations of orchestras, theatre and proms: all
historically upper class venues.
Equally, when the camera films the lower classes,
there is a lot of dietetic sound to create a busy,
stressful atmosphere which represents lower class
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IscFlwFNB6I

5. The Upper Class in the Media
 British drama rarely portrays the upperclasses in a
critical light, furthermore serious attention is nevergiven
to inequalities in wealth and power. Instead, TV
representations of this class, in the UK, tend to have an
eccentricism to the characters or they tend to be
portrayed in a highly nostalgic way. Therefore, we tend to
build a ‘rose-tinted’ idealism towards this elite class,
viewing them to be characterised by their culture and
good breeding.
 The Royal Family are an example of a section of the
upper class who have successfully converted the modern
mass media to their cause. This is said to have come
about after World War 2, where the Royal Family
reinvented themselves into a ‘cast of characters’, who
stand fornational values - such as niceness and decency
- to inspire and boost the morale of the country.
 In a way, the media’s mass coverage of the royal family
has simply turned them into a glorified soap story, in
which we follow through reading magazines and watching
the news.
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6. How are the Middle Class
represented in this clip?
Mise-en-Scene
The house they are living in and the clothes they are
wearing all suggest a middle class background as they
appear to be well off, however they are not made out to
have a problem free life. The father is wearing a blue
shirt without a tie , suggesting that he works at a
relaxed, but formal job which, as we find out, is
teaching. Additionally, the mother is wearing a t-shirt
and hoodie which suggests that she doesn’t have a
formal job and instead takes on the role of a
‘housewife’, cleaning, cooking and looking after the
children. This represents an older middle class value of
men being the ‘breadwinners’ of the household.
Filming Techniques
Handheld camera motion is used to develop the idea of
normality, the audience get the idea that they in the
scene and are part of the family. The reason behind this
development of a ‘normality’ is due to the fat that TV
promotes middle class values to be ‘normal’, suggesting
that we are all supposed to strive to have these
representations (our own houses, white collar jobs) as
‘normal, daily things’.
Another way the camera maintains normality is through
the use of eye-level, medium/medium-close up shots.
These are the most commonly used types of shot and
as audiences we aren’t presented any unusual shots
which we may question or feel uncomfortable viewing.
Sound and Action
The mother of the house is shouting around to
organise her children to go to school, whilst the dad is
stood watching TV. This builds up the middle class
stereotype of a family with structure which, although it
is not necessarily including gender roles, tends to be a
divide of household jobs which connote a smoothly
operating family. On the other hand, there is lots of
diegetic sound (like the car alarm and keys rustling)
which builds up dramatic tension due to the chaotic
atmosphere of the scene.
The way that tells Karen to not use bad language
represents middle class values of being polite and
maintaining a gentlemanly/ladylike temperament.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0OzZFHA_LQ

7. The Middle Class in the Media
 It is widely suggested that middle class values and
concerns are over represented in the media and it is
inferred that we are supposed to view these values as
the core values of British society to which everybody
should aspire to. An example of this is Leech’s
philosophy of a ‘cereal box family’: the subtlety of
portraying the same happy, white collar families on
everyday items, like cereal boxes, is society’s way of
telling the mass of the structure they should aim to fit
into. Additionally, we can see that the news is
dominated by middle class authority figures, this
implies that this class is made up of ‘trustworthy,
educated and sensible individuals who lead successful
lives.’
 The reason behind this middle class bias is due to the
fact that most of the personnel that work in the media
are in fact middle class themselves.

8. How are the Lower Class
represented in this clip?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rIJ68qCtmU
Mise-en-Scene
The room we see in this clip appears to be dirty and run
down, the walls are stained with yellow smoke marks,
inferring that the inhabitants do not look after their
bodies or their home and the paint is chipped on doors
and cupboards where we can imagine they have been
slammed or kicked. This highlights the negative
representation of the lower classes to be unable to look
after themselves or their property.
Additionally, the characters are extremely casual in
their dress and show no signs of the middle class value
of ‘decency’ due to the fact that one man is only
wearing his underwear in front of two women and his
father.
Filming Techniques
The camera, much like in outnumbered, uses handheld
motion to develop the idea of normality, however in
Shameless, this normality is paired with quick
successions of shots to develop the idea of chaos and
disorder. This represents society’s view of the lower
classes as being ‘out of order’ as they don’t support
middle class values.
Close ups are used to create an idea of a ‘lack of
personal space’ and to represent the lower classes to
be brash and militant.
Sound and Action
Most of the shots are filled with two or more
characters to add to the busy, bustling representation
of the lower classes. This is heightened through the
use of fast paced dialogue and frequent strong
language to add to a stressful tension to the scene.
We hear non-dietetic music of a repeated relaxed rift
which plays when the action is running smoothly. The
way that the music plays straight after Frank has been
head butted by the woman, and the way that no one
checks if he’s okay, shows that violence is an aspect
of normality in this society.

9. The Lower Class in the Media
 The representations of the lower classes are often depicted much more
negatively. In television, we often see the class in an unattractive or pitying
light. This is often seen in the ‘head of the household’ figure in TV dramas:
often with the correct intentions, but overall immature and unintelligent,
much like Phil Mitchell from Eastenders, or even Homer Simpson.
 Even more disturbingly, the media often relate the working class to societal
issues: they are stigmatised as ‘benefit cheats’, ‘drug addicts’ or even
‘criminals’. This negative association with the working class has come
about due to individuals in which we may refer to as ‘chavs’ who fit the
negative stereotypes and pose danger to themselves and their community.
 Owen Jones’ book ‘CHAVS: The Demonization of the Working Class’
highlights this issue and claims that these are the type of people who
society uses to legitimate the growing inequality of wealth and income
which is present in the UK. Instead of portraying lower classes to be the
victim of a structured society which is beyond their control to remedy, the
media encourages us to blame individuals for their own poverty.
 Coverage of lower classes on TV has now developed it’s own genre known
as ‘Poverty Porn’, shows such as ‘Benefits Street’ are produced to portray
the class in an extremely negative sense in order to fuel the social view of
these people to fit the stereotypes the media has created for them.
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10. Hegemony
 This is relatable to Gramsci’s concept of Hegemony, taken from
the philosophies of Karl Marx. This is the idea that the ruling
classes control the mass through the way we are fed upperclass
ideologies since birth through the things we see and learn in the
media. In other words, we are taught to believe that the Elite’s
ideologies and values are simply common sense which we should
all strive towards.
 This concept of hegemony is maintained through the media’s use
of misdirection. We are mostly only shown negative stereotypes
of lower classes in television in order to brainwash us to believe
that these representations stand for the entirety of the social
class. Equally, we are only shown the grandeur and positive
stereotypes of the upper classes to maintain our view that they
are all we should strive to become. This is misdirection. All news
or television or newspaper articles which oppose society’s
structure are not popularly advertised in the fear that the mass
may become ‘uncontrollable’ in a way that we develop our own
structure of society.
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