here and there really

1. Media Representations
Ben Jackson

2. Class
A great example of class representation would be downtown abbey
due to most of the characters being of a upper class, throughout
the episodes we can understand this representation through their
clothing (expensive, posh etc) and also through dialogue, their
accents and the words that they say would stereotype as upper
class speech in contrast to a lower-class worker who would be
stereotyped to probably use slang. This shows that an upper
class representation is very stereotypical of how they would
dress/speak or act when with others as they usually have
„gatherings‟ whereby they drink tea etc. Moreover a
representation of a lower class is obviously much different, a
perfect example of this would be in The Wire – a bunch of lower
class African Americans are included in this drama, they are
represented as poorly clothed struggling citizens who have to
commit crimes just to feed their family, moreover they use bad
language and most do not have proper jobs, this is similar to how
a lower class representation would be in Britain however the
clothing and language are changed slightly, this is most probably
due to cultural differences.

3. Sexuality
In recent episodes of Eastenders, the son of a very
recently new character Mick has turned out to be
gay – the mother (Linda) doesn‟t accept the fact
that he is a homosexual and is very unsure about
it, however the father Mick assures Johnny (the
son) that it is fine to be the way he is and he will
love his son no matter what, this is an effective
representations of homosexuality because by
some people it is still not accepted (i.e. – Linda)
moreover it is starting to be more widely accepted
more and more everyday in the present and to
show audiences of Eastenders that he is
accepted as a homosexual is a strong message

4. Disability
In Coronation Street, a disabled character
called Izzy Armstrong has a disability
whereby she must use a wheelchair,
however the representation of this
character is very clever because the whole
of character is portrayed for her and not her
disability, for example she is given
sympathy for her disability or shown being
saddened or annoyed by the fact she is
disabled, instead she is portrayed as a
strong character who just wants to be
accepted for a normal human being and not
someone who needs help – Cherylee
Houston the actor who plays this character
quoted “They are keen on making it about
the character and not the disability” this is
also another strong message to the
audience of Coronation street because it
shows that someone with a disability does

5. Regional Identity
In terms of regional identity, a good example of this type of
representation would be CSI: Miami, as the location of the drama is
already included in the title – an idea of how the characters will play
out and what will happen would already hit the audiences heads
before they even watch the show. Furthermore, most of the main
characters in the show are seen as detectives or workers for the
police department in the area – they are represented as high-class,
important people who take their jobs seriously, moreover the citizens
(when shown) also seem to be high-class (mainly) and serious
people, this is a regional identity representation because the citizens
of Miami, USA in this drama are mainly rich, important high-class
workers. This would be different to a lower class representation, an
example of this would be in Shameless, a drama set in Manchester,
England – a lot of „rough‟ and poor characters are shown and this
representation is seen from their clothing, speech (dialogue), houses
and areas they live in and what they do: for example drink beer at a
pub in the morning and stay there all day is not something an upper
class worker would be seen doing, of course this is in terms of their
stereotype.

6. Age
Age representation is again a good example in Eastenders, because the characters
vary so much in terms of their age the representations of all these characters are
very different and also very effective. Young characters such as: Liam Butcher or
Cindy Williams , these characters are both very mischievous in Eastenders – this
is obviously a stereotype due to belief that teenagers are nothing but trouble,
furthermore Liam is also presented in some good ways, for example he is very
helpful to his Nan - Carol Jackson as she has recently been diagnosed with
breast cancer. However Cindy on the other hand has only really been seen
causing trouble, for example she has also found out in recent episodes that she
is pregnant with TJ‟s baby. The representation of the younger characters in
Eastenders is mainly stereotypical and not exactly great, however some good
appearances of these characters are shown, reviving the stereotype that they‟re
only trouble and portraying them as mature people who can be useful. As for
older characters in Eastenders two characters who have recently been getting
along much more and are seen talking in many more scenes than in previous
years – Cora Cross and Patrick Trueman are both in very complicated and
stressful situations with their families, this shows a representation that as you get
older life doesn‟t ever get easier, some symbols of this are both characters
usually seen very upset or angry, furthermore the characters are vulnerable
because they are usually being walked all over by younger characters and aren‟t
looked out for or cared for as much as they should be. The representation in
terms of age for Eastenders is complicated however it does stick to stereotypical
means mostly, however showing some different representations also – this would
probably be to create a twist, but can also be an encouragement for change if

7. Ethnicity
Ethnicity representations can be an exceedingly controversial topic in
dramas, generally because of discrimination/stereotypical
representations of characters which obviously can deeply offend
some viewers, moreover representations are still made just not in
terms of racist portrayals etc. Moreover, in The Wire, ethnicity is a
very controversial representation; detectives and policemen (the law)
are mostly white, important people who have dangerous tasks and
help keep crime off the streets, the people causing this crime is
mainly the African-American gangs and other citizens (the street),
this is a big representation because it is showing a huge difference in
black Americans to white Americans, some could even go as far to
say the drama could be racist, however this would be un-realistic
because a variety of ethnic groups are seen to be in „The Law‟ and
„The Street‟ however this representation is in terms of the majority.
Furthermore, this may be a clear and understandable representation
of ethnicity for Americans. I feel if this were to a British show the
representation would be much different, this is due to a lot of young
white people in Britain who would also commit crimes and basically
repeat what is shown in The Wire from the African American people.