Representation refers to how media constructs and portrays aspects of reality such as people, places, events, and concepts through language, images, and other symbols. Within television dramas, representation is analyzed through how characters are portrayed in terms of class, age, gender, ethnicity, and sexuality. Producers create a sense of realism through repetition of representations, which become familiar to audiences and feel natural. Both how identities are depicted within shows and how audiences relate to those depictions based on their own identities and experiences factor into representation.

1. What is ‘Representation’? Representation refers to the construction in any medium (especially the mass media) of aspects of ‘reality’ such as people, places, objects, events, cultural identities and other abstract concepts. Such representations may be in speech or writing, as well as still or moving pictures.