Social class and status in TV drama

Social class and status in TV drama

Social class and status may be the topic that consists of the most stereotypes and themes. Social class and status is broken up into three sections:

• Upper class
• Middle class
• Lower/working class

Upper class stereotypes:

• The moat common stereotype of the upper class is that they are all very rich, which is mostly true.  A clear example of this is the characters of Downton Abbey who are all largely wealthy.  
• A second stereotype of people who belong to the upper class is that they are all posh.  This consists of a well-spoken vocabulary. An example of this stereotype is any of the family members from the Lannister family in Game of Thrones.
• A third stereotype of the upper class is that they are well educated. This is mostly due to their probable wealthy upbringing meaning that they most likely had a high standard of education.

Middle class:

• The main stereotype of people who belong to the middle class is that they relatively well off but not as wealthy as those who belong to the upper class.
• A second stereotype of those who belong to the middle class is that their wealth is self-made. They have had to work most of their life to get to where they are.
• A third stereotype of the middle class is that they have a good standard of education

Lower/working Class:

• The biggest stereotype of this social class is that they are not very wealthy at all. This may due to either a poor upbringing or a bad decision made with in their life (e.g. gambling).
• A second stereotype of the lower/working class is that they are poorly educated. This is most likely due to that their education itself was poor due to not being able to afford a high standard education.
• A third stereotype of the lower/working class is that they have very cheap and low quality clothing. This is because they cannot afford better clothing and it is what they are used to.

4 Areas of textural analysis:

• Camera shots: The use of camera angles and movements can be used to show how one social class has more power and influence over another class
• Editing: The use of cuts etc. can be used to create a desired atmosphere such as a tense atmosphere when a lower class individual may feel intimidated by someone who belongs to the upper class.
• Sound: Like editing, sound can also be used to create a desired atmosphere. When a lower class individual may feel intimidated by someone who belongs to the upper class the usage of loud sounds such as drums may be used to create a tense atmosphere
• Mise-en-Scène: Clothing of a character can be used to represent what social class they belong to. As well as clothing, the location in which the character works or lives can easily represent what class they belong to. An example of this is in Downton Abbey. The upper class individuals live within the main rooms of the mansion whereas the butlers/servants live in the lower quality living quarters.

6 Areas of representation:

• Age: There is a difference between how characters of different classes behave; some of these differences are determined by their age. For example, two children who become friends at school, one belonging to the working class whilst the other belongs to the middle class. It would be very likely that you didn’t see much difference the personalities of the boys however as they were to grow up, it would be clear to see how the boys would change. An ideal example of this is the plot of Blood Brother in which Mickey and Edward start of as the best of friends but their relationship soon takes a turn for the worst as they grow up and take separate paths.
• Ethnicity: In previous years, throughout society ethnicity has been away to determine someone’s social class and status. An example would be that years ago, it would have been extremely rare for a black person to belong to the upper class. However, this has changed over time.
• Sexuality: Overall I don’t believe that sexuality really does affect someone’s social class and status and I feel that this is represented with in TV drama
• Gender: Throughout society and TV drama, it is clear that men are represented as more powerful than women.  This is presented in a number of ways. It is expected that men should support, care and provide for women whilst they carry out the domestic tasks such as cooking and cleaning.  In the past it would have been hard for women to work her way up the social classes but in modern society it is a common site.
• Physical ability/disability: Men have always been represented as more psychically able than women.  A large example of this is any action programme or movie. The hero is a male 9/10 of the time and the man is always the one saving women, never the other way round.
• Regional identity: This is affected by social class and status. There are certain regions that are accosted with different social classes. An example of this would be places such as manchester which is is stereotypically known for being the home of mostly working and middle class where as parts of London are know for housing a larger number of upper class.