2. GENDER
UK –
•The Take. In the take the gender
representations are less clear.
Originally it is clear that the male
sociopath Freddie is the dominating
figure in his household with his wife.
However his cousin Jimmy and his
wife have a much more balanced
relationship with neither being the
dominating figure suggesting that
gender is not important when it
comes to representation only the
type of character.
US The Sopranos. In the sopranos (a crime
drama) most of the main characters are
men, and the only female characters are
defined through possessive nouns e.g.
Tony’s mother, Tony’s psychiatrist. This
could suggest that men are the more
common gender in organised crime or
could be suggesting that females are the
subordinate sex and males the dominant.
3. Ethnicity
UK
US
Skins – one representation of
ethnicity in skins is of Muslim
culture. Anwar’s father (A Muslim)
eventually accepts one of his sons
friends Maxxie who is a homosexual .
This challenges the general
stereotype of Muslim parents being
narrow minded towards lifestyles not
universally socially accepted in their
religion.
Criminal minds – the cast of criminal
minds is relatively well balanced
according to the demographic of the
USA (White 72.4% & African American
12.6%). The characters follow the generic
stereotypes in the fact that the white
characters generally hold the higher up
jobs and are more calm whereas the
African American character is more hot
tempered and street wise.
4. Age
UK
US
Eastenders – Eastenders features both old and
young characters which act as almost polar
opposites due to the fact that it is a soap it is
designed to contain themes relating to their
audience so the young characters are shown as
outgoing, loud and energetic and are involved
in storylines such as alcohol/drug abuse and
teen pregnancies and the older characters
characters are shown as lethargic but with
more life experience and have been involved
in storylines such as euthanasia and issues
involving family.
Breaking Bad - Breaking Bad is another show
in which both sides of age are represented in
the main characters (Walter White & Jesse
Pinkman). Jesse is a drug dealer and Walter a
chemistry teacher following the stereotype
that young people are amoral and more likely
to resort to crime as a way of making money.
However as the series progresses Walter
becomes more morally questionable and Jesse
is shown in a more favourable light, it shows a
positive(ish) representation of equality of age.
5. CLASS
UK
Upper Class -Downton Abbey. The
upper class in Downton Abbey are
generally portrayed as mild
mannered, well respected but are
also shown as snobbish and there
since birth privileges make them
heavily reliant on there servants.
Lower Class – Shameless. The lower
class are represented in Shameless as
uneducated an workshy. However
they are also shown to value family
regardless of faults e.g. Alcoholism,
drug abuse etc.
6. SEXUALITY
UK
US
Skins – in the cast of skins there are
8 LGBT characters. This is a positive
representation of sexuality in skins
as the amount of LGBT characters is
larger than usual in TV dramas as
homosexuality is rarely seen on
television, having multiple
homosexual characters stops the
LGBT character being known as
that.
Orphan Black - One of the clones in
orphan black (Cosima) is a lesbian and
of all the clones she is one of the most
intelligent (being a PhD microbiology
student) and as the other clones range
from assassins to thief's, one of the
most morally upright. This is a positive
representation of homosexuality as it
refrains from any suggestion of
inequality that may of been present in
prior years.
7. DISABILITY/ABILITY
UK
US
The street – The Afghanistan veteran
who returns with a facial
disfigurement follows Paul Hunt’s
theory of the media’s portrayal of
disabled people as initially he “is
unable to participate in daily life,
His/her own worst enemy and an
object of curiosity or violence.”
which can be seen in his inability to
initially cope and attempted suicide
and the fact he was wounded at war.
Ironside – Ironsides plot revolves
around a paraplegic police man who
“is hardly limited by his disability.”
This goes against Paul Hunt’s theory
of the media’s portrayal of disabled
people as he is fully capable of
participating in daily life which can
be seen as he continues to hold down
his job.
8. REGIONAL IDENTITY
UK
North – Shameless (set in a council
estate in Manchester). A large
majority seem to be uneducated,
workshy or criminals. The main
character Frank is an alcoholic father
of six a negative view of the north.
South – White Chapel (set in
London). The characters in white
chapel are all employed by the police
force and all appear to have a higher
level of education than those in
shameless. However, unlike the
northerners the southern characters
are much more individual gained
focused rather than family or
community orientated e.g. Fitzgerald.
