Ethnicity

Representation. Ethnicity in the media

You will research texts dealing with the issue of ethnicity

and comment on how they have been represented in the media. Eastenders.

Key words: Stereotypes, cliché. Representation.

ETHNICITY ON TV

            

Martha From Dr Who

     The representation of people from different ethnicities has changed massively over the years.  This is probably because the population in Britain has become much more diverse recently and current society is much more used to mixing with people from all different cultures and backgrounds. 

      Here are some examples of very negative generic stereotypes that used to be seen (and in some case still are) in film and tv:

·      White people – often shown as good, pure, heroes, strong, or sometimes racist.

Michael Caine

·      Black people – often shown as exotic, strange, tribal, criminal, poor.

City of God

·      Asian people (Chinese, Korean etc) – often shown mainly as intelligent, submissive (quiet and shy),    nerdy, interested in technology

Hikaru Sulu (Star Trek)

·      Indian people – often shown as being poor, living in large families, very traditional, working in corner  shops

Sikhs

·      Middle Eastern people (arabs etc) – often shown as being terrorists, violent, aggressive, rich

Islamaphobia

·      Immigrants – often shown as being a drain on society, criminals, illegal, bad for Britain, taking British   jobs.

      In TV drama, people from particular ethnicities often have storylines that are centred around their culture.  For example, Indian characters often battle with the clash between British culture and their traditional culture eg: arranged marriages etc. They rarely have storylines that don’t have something to do with their ethnicity.  People also have commented that often people from minority ethnic groups (eg non white) are often portrayed in a very negative way.