Representation of Class and Status

AS EXAM - Section A - Representation of Class and Status

Clips with examples of class

Cranford - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTBOoW-hR-0

The Street - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pJhL-A8XyE

The Rotters Club - http://www.youtube.com/user/nicktennear#p/u

Footballers Wives 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D099h6TRD0I&playnext=1&list=PLACD5D3B3F6081864

CLASS& STATUS ON TV

The representation of people from different classes has changed massively over the years.  Up until the 1950’s, the upper classes were the class mainly shown on tv and in film.  This is because they were some of the only people able to afford to go to the cinema and own a television.  As more and more people from working class background watch TV, more and more TV programmes feature working class characters. 

Having said that, there are still some stereotypes associated with different classes:

• ·       Upper Classes (eg Made in Chelsea) – often shown as rich, clever, snobby, very posh
• ·      Middle Classes (eg My Family)– often shown as “normal”, good family values, well behaved
• ·      Working Classes (eg Coronation Street) – often shown as poorer, less happy, less intelligent, but with strong community links
• ·      Lower / Under Classes (eg Shameless) – often shown as being criminals, no family values, no community links, bad parents etc

People have often noticed that in many TV shows, people of different classes, don’t mix.  And when they are shown together, they are often shown as clashing and being very different. 

If you get “class” as an issue in the exam, you should be thinking about the following things when watching the clip:

• ·       Can I identify what class characters are?
• ·      Are people from different classes shown as having different interests, personalities, attitudes, behaviours?  If so, how?
• ·      Is their class represented as being important in their life?
• ·      Are people from particular classes portrayed as being better, more powerful, than others?
• ·      Are people from particular classes portrayed as being abnormal /weaker/ more pathetic than others? 
• ·      How do other characters in the clip treat the characters from different classes?
• ·      What is the message the clip is trying to portray about class?