Ethnicity In TV Dramas

Definition

Ethnicity is a relation between a group of people that may be connected via culture, behaviour, language, religion, ritualistic traits and sometimes skin tone.

The stereotypes made in ethnicity can lead to racism. Many of these stereotypes have been created in the media.

Stereotypes made by Media

Different stereotypes of ethnicity may include:

Country/ BirthplaceSkin toneLanguageHair

Examples: Americans are obese People with darker skin

tones run faster/jump higher French is the language of

love therefore people who speak French are more romantic

People from the West Indies/ Africa have curly hair.

How it can be analysed

Look for the breaking or enhancement of stereotypes to do with ethnicity. For example: two characters with the same ethnicity, but one is acting how stereotypes present them and the other presenting the opposite behavioural traits.

Look for who has knowledge. Knowledge is power and this may be shown via camera angles, their speech, clothing and position in situations. This also may be changed due to the characteristics of the ethnicity of the characters. For example, people rom Asia are stereotypically willing to work for little money, however a middle-class white person from Britain is stereotypically well-paid and lethargic in some aspects.

Hotel Babylon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl5EDzss4-Q

Deconstruction- Swimming Pool Scene

In the first section of this scene we meet two people with a similar ethnicity. The two dark skinned characters may have a similar background but they contrast in this scene. The character in the swimming shorts is showing a stereotype of a Black British person, with lots of slang words, informal clothing and being laid-back in most situations. The other character that is dressed in a suit breaks this stereotype as he is formally dressed and speaks clearly.

Deconstruction- Kitchen Scene

In this scene we can see two characters with high authority walk into the kitchen which is filled with mainly Caucasian employees. The female engages with one of the main chefs which appears to be of Italian origin. We can see this from the stereotypes of his accent and the way he addresses the other characters with the higher position. However, we soon see that this Italian stereotype isn’t who he really is. This shows how some characters may use stereotypes of ethnicity in their favour to look good in some situations.