TV: Capital - Representation questions
Group 1: To what extent do the representations in Capital reflect the concerns of modern 21st century London life? [25 marks]
Capital offers a range of different representations of many different ethnic groups and presents us with what they deem to be their everyday life and how they would go about dealing with issues based on their stance in society, such as whether they're a minority, Social class, wealth etc. Capital also presents us a set of problems that the audience may, or may not relate to. It also shows us socio-economic problems such as gentrification.
The first noticeable representation is of a Pakistani family, which at first is mistaken to be Indian by one of the main characters who's also white. This suggests first of all, that the stereotype of a corner store owner is indeed of Asian descent and that white people are ignorant of others ethnic backgrounds, and often mislabel them. The Asian family is presented as being a reasonably large family, but shows us that they have a sense of community between them as later on in the first episode they offer Coriander to a customer from their house as it's not in the actual store. This presents them as being very kind and respecting their local community. They're also shown talking to one of their mothers over the internet, and she is presented as having a Pakistani accent.
Another representation is of the Upper Class white family with two kids. The husband in the episode is shown to have a high paying job in Central London. This tells us that he is earning high amounts of money, and could be considered rich. He is also heard saying "A Million pounds doesn't get you that much these days", this can be perceived as incredibly ignorant as to majority of people a million pounds is a lot. The wife is also perceived as only being with her husband for the sake of money, as she's only happy around him when he's talking about big money.
Another representation is of the African Refugee, it actually doesn't reinforce stereotypes of refugee's and immigrants. It shows us an independent and hard working migrant, who wants to work as she cannot have that back home. It presents her as illegally gaining money and this can be perceived in both a positive and negative way, as people can suggest that she is indeed breaking the law, but at the same time she's only doing it to help her live better. It also shows us how harsh the Government can be towards people who are seeking refuge.
A final representation is of the neighbourhood, and it shows gentrification taking over. The beginning of the first episodes is one of the resident's questioning why all these richer, and arguably upper class people are moving in. She says "I'v never seen a banker down here, or a doctor". This shows us the very real issue of gentrification and shows us the all the new residents that are moving in. It also shows us everyone's reaction to the increasing house prices, and surprisingly none of them are extremely delighted to be earning money.
Capital offers a range of different representations of many different ethnic groups and presents us with what they deem to be their everyday life and how they would go about dealing with issues based on their stance in society, such as whether they're a minority, Social class, wealth etc. Capital also presents us a set of problems that the audience may, or may not relate to. It also shows us socio-economic problems such as gentrification.
The first noticeable representation is of a Pakistani family, which at first is mistaken to be Indian by one of the main characters who's also white. This suggests first of all, that the stereotype of a corner store owner is indeed of Asian descent and that white people are ignorant of others ethnic backgrounds, and often mislabel them. The Asian family is presented as being a reasonably large family, but shows us that they have a sense of community between them as later on in the first episode they offer Coriander to a customer from their house as it's not in the actual store. This presents them as being very kind and respecting their local community. They're also shown talking to one of their mothers over the internet, and she is presented as having a Pakistani accent.
Another representation is of the Upper Class white family with two kids. The husband in the episode is shown to have a high paying job in Central London. This tells us that he is earning high amounts of money, and could be considered rich. He is also heard saying "A Million pounds doesn't get you that much these days", this can be perceived as incredibly ignorant as to majority of people a million pounds is a lot. The wife is also perceived as only being with her husband for the sake of money, as she's only happy around him when he's talking about big money.
Another representation is of the African Refugee, it actually doesn't reinforce stereotypes of refugee's and immigrants. It shows us an independent and hard working migrant, who wants to work as she cannot have that back home. It presents her as illegally gaining money and this can be perceived in both a positive and negative way, as people can suggest that she is indeed breaking the law, but at the same time she's only doing it to help her live better. It also shows us how harsh the Government can be towards people who are seeking refuge.
A final representation is of the neighbourhood, and it shows gentrification taking over. The beginning of the first episodes is one of the resident's questioning why all these richer, and arguably upper class people are moving in. She says "I'v never seen a banker down here, or a doctor". This shows us the very real issue of gentrification and shows us the all the new residents that are moving in. It also shows us everyone's reaction to the increasing house prices, and surprisingly none of them are extremely delighted to be earning money.
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