Collective identity of the working class is represented in media like films, TV shows, and online communities. Some argue this representation exploits or marginalizes the working class (Part 1). Others note audiences are active, not passive, in interpreting these representations and forming their own identities (Part 2). Future representation may include user-generated content, but the influence of media on collective identity is complex and impossible to precisely measure (Part 3).

1. Collective Identity and
Representation of the Working
Class

2. • Collective Identity: the individual’s sense of
belonging to a group (part of personal
identity) - not just representations by
mainstream media, but also the self-
construction by users of the media and even
communities formed from shared identity:
age, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity,
cultural values, political ideas etc.; the idea is
that through participating in social activities
–in this case, watching films and television -
individuals can gain a sense of belonging and
in essence an ’identity’ that transcends the
individual.

3. • Owen Jones – Programmes that exploit the
working class – dramas and comedies and
documentaries. Does he have a point?
• An increase in ‘reality’ TV or Jeremy Kyle-type
shows - depicting working class people – My
Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, Benefits Street etc.
Why are these programmes made and why are
they important to the schedulers/TV
companies? What problems might arise from
this representation?

4. • Gurevitch and Roberts (1993): "Mediation is
the process of the representation of events
through the media." Thomas De Zengotita
(2005) – Almost everything we know about
the world comes to us through some sort of
media and this influences our view of the
world and even our self-definition.

5. Theoretical ‘evidence’?
Part 1
• Marxist theorist Antonio Gramsci – hegemony -
the media is controlled by the dominant group in
society and the viewpoints associated with this
group become embedded in the products
themselves (representation of class, for example),
even if the promotion of these views isn’t
conscious, dominant views come to be seen as
the norm - hence the marginalisation in the
representation of the working class in British
cinema until the late 1950s – the effect being that
the views of the working class weren’t thought of
as being important

6. Theoretical ‘evidence’?
Part 2
• Katz and Lazarsfeld - Two Step Flow theory
(1955) – the importance of Opinion Leaders – i/e.
lazy journalism coming up with populist and
sensationalist headlines like Daily Star – “Vicky
Pollard Yob Sent To Jail”; Kent and Sussex Courier
– “Vicky Pollard Train Rant Leads to Death Threats
For Hawkhurst Teen”; Daily Telegraph –
“Residents fear BBC documentary 'makes their
estate look like Shameless”; Daily Mirror –
“Worse Than Shameless.”

7. Theoretical ‘evidence’?
Part 3
• Cultural Effects Theory (Professor George
Gerbner, 1965) - Cultivation research looks at the mass
media as a socializing agent and investigates whether
television viewers come to believe the television
version of reality the more they watch it. Gerbner and
his colleagues contend that television drama has a
small but significant influence on the attitudes, beliefs
and judgements of viewers concerning the social
world. The focus is on ‘heavy viewers’. People who
watch a lot of television are likely to be more
influenced by the ways in which the world is framed by
television programmes than are individuals who watch
less.

8. However – these theories position the audience
as passive. Is it? Other theories suggest
otherwise.
• For example Blumler and Katz’ Uses and
Gratifications (1975) which suggests
audiences are active viewers and use the
media in various ways to get some kind of
gratification that will depend on the viewer.

9. • Gammon and Marshment (1998) stress
the role of the audience in the
construction of meaning from texts and
suggest there is a range of
interpretations offered by any text.

10. Research Evidence?
• Audience response to soaps, for example, is
rich and varied, as befits active viewers (See,
for example, The Broadcasting Standards
Commission to research audience attitude to
the British Soap Opera in 2002 – this showed
even the most ‘fanatical’ viewers are aware of
the dramatic and staged nature of the shows
and that they didn’t present a window on
reality).

11. How do working class people contribute to
these images of collective identity?
• Some filmmakers, like Ken Loach, work with
non-actors from he community they feature,
though I don’t think you could say the actors
are contributing to the self-representation
more than the director; likewise, in Newcastle,
Amber Films works with working class
communities to create films based in ideas
that come from the community and use
people from the area in the cast.

12. The Future
• The future? Note the way, in the age of web 2.0, that
collective identity is also reflected in the use of websites,
blogs etc that use these images of working class to create a
community amongst fans e.g. http://eastenders-
soaps.blogspot.com/; http://www.eastendersblog.com/;
http://www.corrieblog.tv/ (currently running this story:
“Tens of thousands of people living in Britain think
Weatherfield actually exists according to a survey by
Hotels.com.”),
http://coronationstreetupdates.blogspot.com/;
http://mycorrie.com/). There are also the inevitable
facebook pages:
http://www.facebook.com/CoronationStreetBlog; and the
soaps are, of course, on Twitter, officially and unofficially.

13. The Future
• Can working class communities contribute to
that sense of identity through other means -
posting self-made films about their lives and
community on Youtube, for instance?
• What about the audience?

14. • Greg Philo of the Glasgow Media Group
notes that the audience does not exist as a
silent mass with a collective identity, but as
active, thinking, reflective, creative audiences
who share cultural experiences in common –
and this is surely all the more so when
viewers can re-evaluate their relationship to
the text by interacting with each other
through conversation or through fan sites.

15. • Henry Jenkins (1992): ‘Fans actively assert
their mastery over the mass-produced texts
which provide the raw material for their own
cultural productions (meaning their life and
the way they approach and see it NOT their
own films) and the basis for their social
interactions.’

16. But…
• David Gauntlett (2002): The media disseminates a
huge number of messages about identity and
acceptable forms of self-expression, gender, sexuality,
and lifestyle. At the same time, the public have their
own robust set of diverse feelings on these issues. The
media's suggestions may be seductive, but can never
simply overpower contrary feelings in the audience. It
seems appropriate to speak of a slow but engaged
dialogue between media and media consumers.
Neither the media nor the audience are powerful in
themselves, but both have powerful arguments.

17. However…
• It is impossible to measure or ascertain HOW
FAR British soap operas and film have helped
to create a sense of collective identity. Bear in
mind that TV and film aren’t the only fields
contributing to a collective identity of the
working class and that some of that
representation has become generic and
repeated not only on film and TV but also in
other forms of media.