Representation of Characters

Representation of Characters and the use of Stereotypes in the Media.

 At the beginning of the lesson, we quickly ran through some of the ideas that featured prominently in the groups presentations on the TV Drama clip and reiterated some of the key themes and messages that became apparent through the use of mise en scene.
 We then answered these four questions, utilising these ideas from the previous lessons:

Why represent the police in this way?

 In the clip, the Immigration Officers are portrayed as the antagonists of the story and therefore conform to the general opinion of how a classic villain should act/look(dark colours, gestures, walking formation- this highlights the primary antagonist as he walks ahead of the other officers). This also helps us to sympathise with the immigrants more imminently as they contrast to the antagonistic representation of the Police, added to by the 'one-sided' nature of the clip, it being more notably from the perspective of the immigrants, showing a clear distinction to the two main 'groups' involved in the story. As a whole, the police are also often portrayed as simply being 'puppets'; they appear to be faceless, unthinking characters that simply follow the orders they are given and stick to the "rules of the game", however, as fore-mentioned, one of the officers seems to have more power than the others, however he still seems to be simply doing his job.  

Why represent the immigrants in this way?
 The immigrants are most notably victimised throughout the clip, portrayed as a chaotic unknowing group of people caught in a suspended state of panic and worry due to their predicament, which immediately creates a sense of sympathy in the viewer towards the immigrants. The use of mise en scene as well as some P.O.V shots helps the viewer to identify with characters and experience what is happening to those characters. This means that the audience is more emotionally attached to the characters and therefore feel more of a loss(reflecting the emotions of the characters) when Ibrahim is taken.

What stereotypes are adhered to or subverted in this clip?
 Overall, the portrayal of the Police is very negative, subverting from the common view of them being officers of the law and generally 'good' people, however in the clip they are portrayed as nonchalant predators of the immigrants (the prey). A lot of the negativity of the immigrants portrayal is based on common misconceptions: job taking, unskilled, unclean, de-humanised, simple, packed together, large families etcetera. However, as the show progresses, we begin to see that they are not like this, Adam being the main character to subvert this stereotype by stepping up to show his intelligent, caring, well trained and religious side, one that the would not imminently be expected to be found in a 'simple' cleaner. When Ibrahim is taken, he is treated detestably without any provocation on his part. This continues to victimise the immigrants and add to the subversion of the now antagonistic Police. To add to this, there is also some implied racism due to his capture (i.e. how did they know he was an illegal immigrant and not just a normal worker?) adding to a clear ethnic divide, the Police force as well as the hotel 'front woman' all being white as opposed to the multicultural collection of immigrant workers. 

Can you hypothesise the purpose behind the mediation of the text/clip?
 The basic/primary roles of the clip include to inform, provide a source of escapism, however entertainment is the prerogative. Also, due to some of the themes throughout the clip, it could be seen as though one of it's purposes is to perhaps change or manipulate what some would perceive the situation to be like based upon misguided conceptions and stereotypes.