Representation of regional identity

Representation of regional identity

Regional Identity refers to the part of the United Kingdom someone is from. It could refer to a general area such a “North” or “South”, a country such as “English” or “Scottish” or specific towns such as “London” or “Manchester.”




Essex: often shown as being glamourous but cheap, footballer’s wives, lots of partying, being quite stupid

South England: often shown as being the centre of culture, modern, classy, clever, sunny, richer, doing middle class jobs such as managers, etc.

North England: often shown as being poorer, bad weather, lower class, aggressive, less culture, less clever, doing working class jobs such as builders, etc.

Representation of class

Representations of poverty and underclass

Portrayal usually negative and stereotypical,

 Portrayed in the form of statistics in news bulletin such as figures of unemployment,

 Recent media interest in the labelling of the poor such as “chavs” which according to Shildrick and MacDonald (2007) suggest that the poor are undeserving of sympathy,

Hayward and Yar (2006) – the term chav is used as an amusing term of abuse for young poor people 

         The word 'vile' puts a negative light on everyone that is part of the welfare system and it doesn't make you feel sorry for them as they should be working. That man is sat there with his six children, on benefits, not paying taxes when someone else is working 9 until 5 everyday, not on benefits and paying their tax so 'vile' people like the man on the image doesn't have to.  By the newspapers describing them as 'vile products' makes it look like that families on benefits aren't humans and that they are nothing but objects. 

needy and drain resources

anchorage between caption and image

demonisation of people unemployed and working class

benefits cheats and abuses the system 

children wearing cheap clothes, father wearing adidas 

Mise en scene:

Wide shot of council estate, associated with working class people- littered area

Fire

Police

Obsessed with partying

Drinking down the pub

Smoking- chain smoker, always with one in his hand. Using benefits to pay for them

Rude

Beer cans

Rough, cheap clothing

Knuckle dusters

Violent- toilet scene, fights

Flawed because he is an alcoholic and unemployed but he won't get a job with a drinking problem

All live together

Sexual behaviour- inappropriate

Rebellious- no respect

Camera work:

Slow motion

Zoom fast on faces

Follows them around

Shaky- reflects chaotic lifestyle

Editing:

One scene to the next

Dull colours

Sound:

Swearing- poor parenting skills 

Accents

Music 

Overall, by watching Shamless, you are left quite gobsmacked at how some families act and what

they do. They always have a beer in one hand which could represent that they have a drinking

problem, they are all chain smokers who are unemployed which shows that they spend their benefit

money on cigarettes and drinks and nothing else. The steretype of the working class being violent is

rude, is shown heavily throughout the scenes as they start fights, swear and shout eachother and hang

out outside of shops. The stereotypical council estate is shown to be in a littered area, in a dark setting

which suggests that it is not a nice place. They are rebellious with no respect and this is shown when

they start fires wherever they want. 

Alvarado's Race Theory 1978

Four key themes in racial representation

-Exotic

-Dangerous

-Humorous

-Pitied

Black stereotypes

Become accustomed to seeing black people as successful athletes

Criminals/ black gangsters

Knife and gun crime

American hip hop music