The Representation of Class and Status in TV Drama

1. The Representation of Class and Status in TV Drama Ellie Weedon

2. The British Social Class System Society in Britain has often been broken down into three groups of the Upper class, middle class and lower class, however, we now understand that this structure is outdated and in fact only 37% of the population fit into these 3 class boundaries. Today, there are as many as 7 social class groups which we use to define our society: • Elite - the most privileged group in the UK, distinct from the other six classes through its wealth. This group has the highest levels of all three capitals • Established middle class - the second wealthiest, scoring highly on all three capitals. The largest and most gregarious group, scoring second highest for cultural capital • Technical middle class - a small, distinctive new class group which is prosperous but scores low for social and cultural capital. Distinguished by its social isolation and cultural apathy • New affluent workers - a young class group which is socially and culturally active, with middling levels of economic capital • Traditional working class - scores low on all forms of capital, but is not completely deprived. Its members have reasonably high house values, explained by this group having the oldest average age at 66 • Emergent service workers - a new, young, urban group which is relatively poor but has high social and cultural capital • Precariat - the poorest, most deprived class, scoring low for social and cultural capital Nevertheless, today we mostly see the three stereotypical classes represented in television.

3. Stereotypes of Social Class There are many stereotypes regarding social class and status that we are conditioned to believe, however these stereotypes often reflect a false reality: • Middle Class: • White Collar • Managerial • Owns their own home • Suits • Nice Cars • Well Educated • Upper Class/Elite: • Rich • Well Dressed • Superior • Intellectual • Snobby • Posh • Well spoken • Land Owners • High End Properties • Lower Class: • Blue Collar • Factory Workers • Little Savings • Inner City • Rented Properties • State Schooling • Manual Work

4. How are the upper class compared to the lower class in this clip? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IscFlwFNB6I Filming Techniques Whilst the camera films the ‘elite’ members of the household, long shots, showing few characters, are used, with smooth movement, to create a serene and regal association with the characters. On the other hand, whilst filming the lower classes, many handheld shots are used to create the busy, bustling tension of a working class society. Furthermore, these shots are filled with people moving around in the background to add to the claustrophobic tension. Furthermore, there is obvious symbolism in the camera angles used: when the woman from upstairs looks down on the man riding a bicycle we know she is of a higher status to to her visually higher placement. Sound The upper classes are accompanied with very little diegetic sound to create a calming and peaceful atmosphere which allows the audience’s full attention to be placed on them. This shows how the elite are represented to be the most important class boundary. Additionally, we hear non-diegetic sound of soft pianos and violins playing when we see the upper classes. These classical instruments have connotations of orchestras, theatre and proms: all historically upper class venues. Equally, when the camera films the lower classes, there is a lot of dietetic sound to create a busy, stressful atmosphere which represents lower class life. Mise-en-Scene The costume in which the staff downstairs are wearing is all dull grey, black and white colours which represents the mundanity of their lives and, as the colours are far from eye catching, we understand that this represents the way in which the lower classes are ignored or unseen by society. Furthermore, the fact that they are all wearing the same costume prevents them from having any individuality and we can understand that the lower classes are portrayed as one body and one stereotype. This is contrasted by the upper classes who are seen to have a room each and wear their own personal clothing of bright, rich colours like purple and blue.

5. The Upper Class in the Media • British drama rarely portrays the upper classes in a critical light, furthermore serious attention is never given to inequalities in wealth and power. Instead, TV representations of this class, in the UK, tend to have an eccentricism to the characters or they tend to be portrayed in a highly nostalgic way. Therefore, we tend to build a ‘rose-tinted’ idealism towards this elite class, viewing them to be characterised by their culture and good breeding. • The Royal Family are an example of a section of the upper class who have successfully converted the modern mass media to their cause. This is said to have come about after World War 2, where the Royal Family reinvented themselves into a ‘cast of characters’, who stand for national values - such as niceness and decency - to inspire and boost the morale of the country. • In a way, the media’s mass coverage of the royal family has simply turned them into a glorified soap story, in which we follow through reading magazines and watching the news.

6. How are the Middle Class represented in this clip? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0OzZFHA_LQ Filming Techniques Handheld camera motion is used to develop the idea of normality, the audience get the idea that they in the scene and are part of the family. The reason behind this development of a ‘normality’ is due to the fat that TV promotes middle class values to be ‘normal’, suggesting that we are all supposed to strive to have these representations (our own houses, white collar jobs) as ‘normal, daily things’. Another way the camera maintains normality is through the use of eye-level, medium/medium-close up shots. These are the most commonly used types of shot and as audiences we aren’t presented any unusual shots which we may question or feel uncomfortable viewing. Sound and Action The mother of the house is shouting around to organise her children to go to school, whilst the dad is stood watching TV. This builds up the middle class stereotype of a family with structure which, although it is not necessarily including gender roles, tends to be a divide of household jobs which connote a smoothly operating family. On the other hand, there is lots of diegetic sound (like the car alarm and keys rustling) which builds up dramatic tension due to the chaotic atmosphere of the scene. The way that tells Karen to not use bad language represents middle class values of being polite and maintaining a gentlemanly/ladylike temperament. Mise-en-Scene The house they are living in and the clothes they are wearing all suggest a middle class background as they appear to be well off, however they are not made out to have a problem free life. The father is wearing a blue shirt without a tie , suggesting that he works at a relaxed, but formal job which, as we find out, is teaching. Additionally, the mother is wearing a t-shirt and hoodie which suggests that she doesn’t have a formal job and instead takes on the role of a ‘housewife’, cleaning, cooking and looking after the children. This represents an older middle class value of men being the ‘breadwinners’ of the household.

7. The Middle Class in the Media • It is widely suggested that middle class values and concerns are over represented in the media and it is inferred that we are supposed to view these values as the core values of British society to which everybody should aspire to. An example of this is Leech’s philosophy of a ‘cereal box family’: the subtlety of portraying the same happy, white collar families on everyday items, like cereal boxes, is society’s way of telling the mass of the structure they should aim to fit into. Additionally, we can see that the news is dominated by middle class authority figures, this implies that this class is made up of ‘trustworthy, educated and sensible individuals who lead successful lives.’ • The reason behind this middle class bias is due to the fact that most of the personnel that work in the media are in fact middle class themselves.

8. How are the Lower Class represented in this clip? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rIJ68qCtmU Filming Techniques The camera, much like in outnumbered, uses handheld motion to develop the idea of normality, however in Shameless, this normality is paired with quick successions of shots to develop the idea of chaos and disorder. This represents society’s view of the lower classes as being ‘out of order’ as they don’t support middle class values. Close ups are used to create an idea of a ‘lack of personal space’ and to represent the lower classes to be brash and militant. Sound and Action Most of the shots are filled with two or more characters to add to the busy, bustling representation of the lower classes. This is heightened through the use of fast paced dialogue and frequent strong language to add to a stressful tension to the scene. We hear non-dietetic music of a repeated relaxed rift which plays when the action is running smoothly. The way that the music plays straight after Frank has been head butted by the woman, and the way that no one checks if he’s okay, shows that violence is an aspect of normality in this society. Mise-en-Scene The room we see in this clip appears to be dirty and run down, the walls are stained with yellow smoke marks, inferring that the inhabitants do not look after their bodies or their home and the paint is chipped on doors and cupboards where we can imagine they have been slammed or kicked. This highlights the negative representation of the lower classes to be unable to look after themselves or their property. Additionally, the characters are extremely casual in their dress and show no signs of the middle class value of ‘decency’ due to the fact that one man is only wearing his underwear in front of two women and his father.

9. The Lower Class in the Media • The representations of the lower classes are often depicted much more negatively. In television, we often see the class in an unattractive or pitying light. This is often seen in the ‘head of the household’ figure in TV dramas: often with the correct intentions, but overall immature and unintelligent, much like Phil Mitchell from Eastenders, or even Homer Simpson. • Even more disturbingly, the media often relate the working class to societal issues: they are stigmatised as ‘benefit cheats’, ‘drug addicts’ or even ‘criminals’. This negative association with the working class has come about due to individuals in which we may refer to as ‘chavs’ who fit the negative stereotypes and pose danger to themselves and their community. • Owen Jones’ book ‘CHAVS: The Demonization of the Working Class’ highlights this issue and claims that these are the type of people who society uses to legitimate the growing inequality of wealth and income which is present in the UK. Instead of portraying lower classes to be the victim of a structured society which is beyond their control to remedy, the media encourages us to blame individuals for their own poverty. • Coverage of lower classes on TV has now developed it’s own genre known as ‘Poverty Porn’, shows such as ‘Benefits Street’ are produced to portray the class in an extremely negative sense in order to fuel the social view of these people to fit the stereotypes the media has created for them.

10. Hegemony • This is relatable to Gramsci’s concept of Hegemony, taken from the philosophies of Karl Marx. This is the idea that the ruling classes control the mass through the way we are fed upper class ideologies since birth through the things we see and learn in the media. In other words, we are taught to believe that the Elite’s ideologies and values are simply common sense which we should all strive towards. • This concept of hegemony is maintained through the media’s use of misdirection. We are mostly only shown negative stereotypes of lower classes in television in order to brainwash us to believe that these representations stand for the entirety of the social class. Equally, we are only shown the grandeur and positive stereotypes of the upper classes to maintain our view that they are all we should strive to become. This is misdirection. All news or television or newspaper articles which oppose society’s structure are not popularly advertised in the fear that the mass may become ‘uncontrollable’ in a way that we develop our own structure of society.