Monday 17 December 2012

Ethnic stereotypes within tv drama

Downton Abbey
The character of 'Tom' is a very typical Irish republican, who is very political, and believes that Ireland should be an independant republic. He is very prepared to use violence to fight for his cause, and was even involved in a violent incident in Ireland. He was affectionately named a 'tame revolutionary' by Lord Robert Crawley. He represents the steroetypical hatred for the British aristocracy and establishment, in some episodes, even towards the Crawley family.

Eastenders
In Eastenders, the 'Masood' family are also quite stereotypical of a Pakistani family within Britain. They own the Indian 'Argee Bhajee' restaurant, speak with stereotypical accents and are over religious. The representation of the family was even criticised by actor Deepak Verma (who played Sanjay Kapoor between 1993 and 1998). He said that EastEnders had 'failed to portray Asian families in a realistic manner, branding the family "two-dimensional and ill-conceived"'.
Dr Who
However, some tv dramas have managed to get the portrayal of ethnic characters right, such as the character of Martha Jones in Dr Who. She was an aspiring doctor who lived in London, and she did not fall under any stereotypes throughout the sereis that her characrter was in.

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