Critical Investigation #1 - Textual Analysis (Luther)

Luther: Episode 3 series 2

(1 minute and 30 seconds analysis)

Luther is a 2010/2011 psychological British television crime drama which focuses on the unusual crimes that happen on the streets of London. As well as trying to solve murders and investigations, Luther has a stressful life behind the scenes also. Luther was created by Neil Cross

At 7 minutes to 8 minutes and 30 seconds, the audience would realize that Luther lives in a groggy, little council flat in London. The setting of the flat shows that Luther is still being represented negatively because despite his middle class job as DCI, he still lives a very working class lifestyle. The lack of furniture shows that he doesn't have many people staying at his house and may also suggest that he is hardly in his own house. It is evident that Luther doesn't have many people staying over, as a girl has to stay with Luther as she has no other place to go and Luther gives her a mattress and a sheet to sleep on. This suggests that he doesn't care much about his apartment as he only has the bare minimum. Luther's flat is also very messy with paper everywhere and pots and random cutlery, however, he has quite a lot of books in his flat. Luther asks the girl if she reads novels, and this goes against the 'typical' stereotype of black people as British television portrays black people as inadequate. 

In this scene between Luther and the girl, Luther rejects Hall's theory of 'dependency' as Luther takes the father role. The girl compares herself to 'Spongebob' and Luther didn't know what that was, so it shows their age difference and highlights Luther to be more of the father figure. The audience also witness Luther in the kitchen preparing food for the girl as she wakes up (something that a typical parent would do), Luther also gives the girl cooked breakfast as he settles for Frosties. The fact that a black man is in a kitchen cooking for another person is unusual as audiences don't regularly see it. So this shows that Luther counter-types regular interpretations of black people as they are normally shown 'causing trouble'. Even though Luther lives in a council estate, it doesn't define him as a person as he is a very intelligent and caring man.  

Furthermore in this scene, the way Luther talks and dresses is very significant. Luther talks very 'common' / has a strong east London accent, this is significant because it shows negative representations of black people. It shows that black people are not very sophisticated, so as Luther tries to steer away from the negative stereotypes it also refers back to them also. However, the way Luther speaks can be relatable to working class black men. The way Luther dresses is also very unkempt, as he doesn't shave and when he wears a suit and tie, he tries to be presentable for work, his tie isn't fastened all the way and his top button isn't done up which makes him look rather untidy. The way he dresses can also be symbolic for his apartment also.

Luther is shown on BBC 1, which defines their audience. Luther is a middle aged man, so the program may appeal more to males who are middle aged and from an ethnic minority. Luther is also a psychological crime drama which appeals more to a mature audience as it can give them something to relate to. Teenagers may find Luther interesting as it may have actors that they are familiar with, but on a whole, viewers over the age of 25 are more likely to watch it. 

Critical investigation #6 - Intro, paragraph 1+2

How does British television negatively represent Black people?

Has British television challenged or reinforced negative stereotypes of black people? Many would argue that British television is racist. Firstly, as recent and historical events such as the Notting Hill riots in 1958 and the London riots in 2011, British television exaggerated and reinforced the typical, negative representations of black people and other ethnic minorities, labelling them as 'criminals' and 'thugs'. An example of this is Top Boy (2011), where the representations of black people are mainly focused on the typical stereotypes which is portrayed on how they talk, dress and live. By contrast, for the case of Stephen Lawrence, the British nation was once again confronted with the memory of Black presence: that of Stephen Lawrence, the victim of an ugly and brutal form of British racism [1] this case challenged the negative stereotype of black people as Stephen was a victim of a racist attack. This was a very iconic moment in British history because it made people focus on the police force as it took 18 years to find only two of the five people that committed the murder. In British television, an example of a counter-type program is Luther (2010) which doesn't fulfil the typical stereotypes of black people. 

British television programs often use stereotypes because it gives audiences a quick, common understanding of a person or group of people [2], so the use of stereotypes can reinforce the negative representation of black people. Hall argues that ethnic minorities are labelled in three categories: troublemakers, entertainers and dependant, however, images of ‘blackness, do not represent the social reality of being black; rather they position us into a ‘way of thinking about blackness’ [3].  In the program 'Top Boy' (which is based in North London) it shows the gritty 'truth' and ‘give audiences an accurate portrayal of growing up in London’ [4]. However, in the opening scene of Top Boy, the first five minutes gives the audience a sense of what Top Boy will be about. Despite the few glimpses of London's iconic tourist attractions for example, The London Eye, the audience may focus mainly on the estates shown as it connotes crime and drug use. During this opening scene, the audience will see a few black actors so they will quickly assume that it will be a majority black cast and this can lead to the audience automatically relating them to drugs, or other typical stereotypes, because they are standing outside a shop. However, even though Top Boy predominately emphasises on the typical stereotypes, Ra’nell isn't shown as ‘dependant’ as he rejects money from a close family friend. But among British television, this doesn't happen regularly whether the fault lies with commissioners or writers, the fact remains that the spectrum of blackness on TV is narrow, and has remained almost stagnant in the last decade or so [5]. By contrast, in recent British television there have been examples of black counter-type programs. Luther (2011) is a Detective Chief Inspector who works for a Serious Unit Crime which is set in London. Luther is a prime example of a counter-type program because if a show does feature black folks, they are usually one-dimensional, sidekicks of the lead character or the rapist/murderer/gang-banger on Law & Order [6]. In Luther, the audience realises that Luther lives in a groggy, little council flat in London. The setting of the flat shows that Luther is still being represented negatively because despite his middle class job as DCI, he still lives a very working class lifestyle. Ignore the location of his flat and how he lives, Luther rejects Hall's theory of 'dependency' as Luther adapts a father role. A girl called Jenny has to stay at Luther's as she has nowhere else to go, she then compares herself to 'Spongebob' and Luther didn't know what that was, so it shows their age difference and highlights Luther to be more of the father figure which is unusual with black characters in British television. Furthermore, in this scene the way Luther presents him self is very significant. He has a very strong east London accent, this is significant as it connotes negative representations of black people and refers to black people as not very sophisticated, so even if Luther tries to steer away from the negative stereotypes it also refers back to them.

The negative representations of black people on British television can be explained by George Gerbner’s cultivation theory. Cultivation theorists argue that television has a long term effect on the audience which is small, gradual, indirect but cumulative and significant. So, if there are programs representing black people in a negative way constantly, the audience will eventually have certain ideas about black people. About one-third of those with an opinion say that the ethnic characters they see on televi­sion affect their attitudes toward ethnic groups in real life [7]. However, the focus with the cultivation theory is on ‘heavy viewers’ but black students were the heaviest TV watchers and were also the group most likely to use television as a learning tool [8]. The fact that black people watch are the heaviest TV watchers can suggest that they can be ‘learning’ attitudes from programs such as Top Boy as they believe that it’s something they can relate to. But the negative representations shown on television can link to the typical stereotypes and if the audience views certain ethnic and racial groups in a negative manner and televi­sion portrayals confirm those images [9]. So Top Boy is a prime example of a television show that portrays the cultivation theory, and the role of television is to reinforce and crystallizer of existing attitudes is significant, even if few people actually form their opinions of cultures or races based on what they see on TV [10]

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Critical Investigation #5 - Essay Plan

How does British television negatively represent Black people?

1. Introduction - A brief description of my research and description of stereotypes and representations (discussion question) - 250

Critical investigation is going to focus on the representation of black people in British television. So I will be investigating whether British television reinforces or challenges stereotypes through television shows such as Top Boy and Luther (R). I will also be giving a brief description on my historical text Desmond's to support my discussion.

2. Stereotypes + counter-types + textual analysis -500

I will discuss how media reinforces stereotypes in British television with the text 'Top Boy', using evidence from my research and using relevant quotes (R) Whether the fault lies with commissioners or writers, the fact remains that the spectrum of blackness on TV is narrow, and has remained almost stagnant in the last decade or so.

Also in this paragraph, I will be discussing the opposite to the typical stereotypes that the media portrays. So I am going to use 'Luther' as the prime example “If a show does feature black folks, they are usually one-dimensional, sidekicks of the lead character or the rapist/murderer/gang-banger on Law & Order.” and use relevant evidence and quotes. (R)

3. Audience Influence - effects theory (cultivation theory) -250

4. Academic research on representation of black people in TV- 250
“when it comes to imagery surrounding black people; I’m used to relentlessly negative - knife crime, underachievement representations”
Fanon: http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/949036-peau-noire-masques-blancs quotes

5. Historical aspect - how things have changed/not changed - 500
I will be discussing the racism issues that black people had to face, 

"What positive Black imaging there is tends to be found in sports and entertainment - both of which point "naturally" to Blacks" 

this can relate to the type of genre they were restricted to. I will talk about Desmond's and other black television programs. Also the 1958 riots and protests. (H, R, G)

6. Black British dramas online rather than on TV -300
In this paragraph, it will be about black dramas going online rather than television.Online productions are able to bypass many of the restrictive production and media ownership issues affecting mainstream broadcast media 

"the fact remains that the spectrum of blackness on TV is narrow, and has remained almost stagnant in the last decade or so." (A, R, S)

"The big breakout successes with majority black casts have been in the genre of gritty "urban realism", usually focusing on inner-city London, crime and drug deals." 

This links to Hypodermic syringe model:  individual is passive receiver of media messages (A)

7. Conclusion - summarize points and relate back to the question - 250
In British television black people are normally portrayed negatively but there is change happening as they are taking more roles that are challenging stereotypes. **Relate to online, make comparisons to historical text etc

Critical Investigation #1 - Textual Analysis (Top Boy)

Opening scene of  TopBoy: Episode one series one

(the first five minutes)

TopBoy is a 2011 British television drama which focus’ on the ‘reality’ of how a teenagers life is in North London. The series was written by Ronan Bennett and directed by Yann Demange.

In the first five minutes of the first series it is shown to be based in North London as you see the London eye but mainly what catches the audiences eye is the estates around it, which could connote crime and drug use. As you are introduced with characters appearances the mise-en-scene allows us to realise what TopBoy is going to be about and what will happen. The clothing used within this extract and the rest of the series is mainly tracksuits and hoodies, which connotes mainly towards the audience how teenagers dress in their everyday lives but also could connote those teenagers that are committing crimes. The first couple of actors you see are black which the audience will quickly assume they are involved in crime and they are just standing around near shops.

The setting of this series is quickly acknowledged and allows us to see that it is non-Hollywood putting into perspective that it is low-budgeted due to the mise-en-scene. Through the pictures, trailers and posters of TopBoy the characters where able to be interviews on Channel 4, as a result they were able to promote the series in different ways. The trailer was continually shown on Channel 4 and E4, where the first thing you saw was a young white pregnant girl in an estate where you quickly identify that TopBoy is trying to present realism and the side of live people want to erase.

From the extract, it appears as though the targeted audience is large but mainly targeted at teenagers, and people of ethnic minorities. This could be suggested as the main actors is black but they also include whites as well, however ethnic minorities such as Asians will be attracted to watch it as they are a part of that lifestyle. Also, the secondary audience could be mainly the older generation to show the troubles they get up to and have to deal with. Throughout TopBoy Demange aimed to ‘give audiences an accurate portrayal of growing up in London’ which is shown as they did not use green screens or glamorous setting, they shot scenes in real parts to show the realism and used actors from Hackney. In the extract you see youth’s drug dealing and getting robbed which connotes criminality is often done in areas such as Hackney and not surprising. This reinforced the stereotypes of black people of being criminals.

In dramas such as TopBoy use symbolic iconographies which usually contain a lot of scenes where there are elements of violence and aggression, which address the stereotypes of ethnic minorities as being criminals. From this extract you see two young black teenagers near a car, when a group of black males come in holding a gun to take stuff from the car which then the female, chantelle, gets slapped by one of the elderly black males. There was a build-up of tension from the facial expressions of the young black teenagers and the non-diegtic sounds. Feminist would agrue that the  characters in TopBoy are being exploited and being oppressed by men as they have to do as the males say, which continues domestic violence within ethnic minorties- supported by the lone-parent who came out of a violent relationship. 

The representations of the youths in TopBoy are shown negatively as they are seen as drug users and involved in criminal activities and aggressive, but could also reflect accuracy in Hackney society and around London. However you can argue that the representations are somewhat positive as they when Dris calls his friends when the group rob them, they run to them which connotes unity within the society and also it is multi-narrative as it goes back to a young boy, Ra'Nell, in an estate watching over all this violence, but has a depressed lone-parent after having an abusive husband. 

Critical investigation #4 - Additional research

Representation is the process by which the media presents the ‘real world’ to an audience. - http://media.edusites.co.uk/article/understanding-representation-stereotyping/


Do they see ethnic char­acters as either positive or negative role models, as real people or mere figments of fantasy.
Black students were the heaviest TV watchers and were also the group most likely to use television as a learning tool.
About one-third of those with an opinion say that the ethnic characters they see on televi­sion affect their attitudes toward ethnic groups in real life.
This role of television as a reinforcer and crystallizer of existing attitudes is significant, even if few people actually form their opinions of cultures or races based on what they see on TV
If the audience views certain ethnic and racial groups in a negative manner and televi­sion portrayals confirm those images, - http://www.medialit.org/reading-room/does-tv-shape-ethnic-images


Baby mother, the emperor - http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/534606/index.html


http://mest4rabia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/final-draft.html


"28 times more likely to stop and search black people"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jun/12/police-stop-and-search-black-people
“Ethnic minority viewers accused all broadcasters of tokenism and stereotyping, screening exaggerated and extreme representations of minorities and failing to reflect modern ethnic minority cultures.”- http://blogs.coventrytelegraph.net/passtheremote/2008/07/top-soaps-accused-of-stereotyp.html


fon

‘Top Boy is a multi-stranded, ensemble piece’

‘Top Boy and how he aims to give audiences an accurate portrayal of growing up in London.’ Yann demange http://www.metro.co.uk/tv/880078-yann-demange-being-a-teenage-boy-in-london-now-is-scary

Black people as criminals http://revisionworld.co.uk/a2-level-level-revision/sociology/mass-media-0/media-representations-age-social-class-ethnicity-gender-sexuality-and-disability

'whether intentionally or unintentionally, both the news and the entertainment media 'teach" the public about minorities, other ethnic groups and societal groups, such as women, gays, and the elderly.'

“Minorities realize — supported by research — that the media influence not only how others view them, but even how they view themselves. So minorities and other ethnic groups have long attempted to convince industry decision-makers to seek better balance in news coverage of minorities and to reduce the widespread negativism in the fictional treatment of minorities by the entertainment media.” - http://www.medialit.org/reading-room/long-way-go-minorities-and-media

Stereotypes act like codes that give audiences a quick, common understanding of a person or group of people—usually relating to their class, ethnicity or race, gender, sexual orientation, social role or occupation” http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/index.cfm

“when it comes to imagery surrounding black people; I’m used to relentlessly negative - knife crime, underachievement representations” - http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/05/london-black-children-awards

Fanon:
Quotes from Black Skin, White Mask. : http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/949036-peau-noire-masques-blancs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Skin,_White_Masks
http://www.iep.utm.edu/fanon/

British TV 1950-1990

What positive Black imaging there is tends to be found in sports and entertainment - both of which point "naturally" to Blacks. - ejumpcut. I can use this for my historical text (Desmond's : 1989 - 1994)
TV programs of the 1960s and 1970s now characterized Blacks as immigrants

http://www.jfredmacdonald.com/bawtv/bawtv10.htm
in the second half of the 1960s, there were more than two dozen programs featuring black actors as leading characters, or in prominent, regular supporting roles.
http://web.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/CRER_RC/publications/pdfs/Research%20Papers%20in%20Ethnic%20Relations/RP%20No.19.pdf

The typification of the 'nigger minstrel' also has a long history as Fryer has noted (Fryer, 1984), implying that singing and dancing are qualities inate to the Black man and woman so that in contemporary society, it is in the field of entertainment to which the hopes of Black youth should orientate their aspirations.


Associated with the Black entertainer myth is that of the Black sports star, which assumes that all Black people are endowed with natural athleticism in the same way as they are accorded their singing and dancing prowess (cf Cashmore,1982)


The way in which ethnicity has been treated in the media began to shift significantly in the 1970s from looking at problems of immigration to looking at problems caused by resident ethnic communities.


The emphasis of the media in the area of race relations changed substantially from a habitual concern in the 60s with the number of black people entering the country to the problems associated with their presence...from being an 'external threat' to becoming 'the outsider within'. (Verma, 1988, pp.127-128)


Ethnic programming, and particularly that offered by the 'minority' channel, Channel 4, has been unable to fulfil original expectations.

http://www.fatahe.com/downloads/azumah_s_book_-_why_have_we_been_forgotten.pdf


They are responsible for influencing, sensationalising and creating stories that play on violence and conflict. How 
many times have we seen in our daily newspapers and televisions Black people associated with crime; people from the third world presented as poor and starving victims of famine and drought, refugees and asylum seekers as ‘sponging off the state’

1978 - Empire Road, the first Black British soap, is aired on British television.


The tragic death of Stephen Lawrence in 1993, ignited a new era for race relations in Britain. The truth of what many Black and minority ethnic communities had been saying for years suddenly captured the public’s imagination of the extent of racism in British society. (Younge, 2000).


Online
http://www.newstatesman.com/bim-adewunmi/2012/11/melanin-without-tokenism-black-people-are-slowly-being-allowed-be-normal-tv

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2056053/Why-TV-Ghetto-Dramas-Make-Me-Wanna-Holla-And-Yawn---.html

Critical Investigation #3 - Historical Text

Desmond's

http://www.youtube.com/channel/SWQw5J1UBgzmM

• Shown from 1989-1994
• Shown on Channel 4
• Aimed at 16+
• Sitcom

Similarities:

• Majority black cast
• Shown on commercial television
• Some sort of 

Differences:

• Age groups
• The issue with the negative representation their goal aspirations are different from the 'stereotypes'
• Comedy

The fact the black people only had sitcoms shows that it's what they were better at. 

Critical Investigation #2 - Bibliography

Representation, history and ‘black Britain’ [Internet]. Available from: http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/9459_011200ch1.pdf  [Accessed 12 December 2012]

Awan. F. (2007). Young People, Identity and the Media - Representation [Internet]. Available from: http://www.artlab.org.uk/fatimah-awan-03.pdf [Accessed 12 December 2012]

Adewunmi. B. (2012). Why black British drama is going online, not on TV [Internet]. Available from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/02/black-british-tv-drama-online [Accessed 12 December 2012]

Young black actors 'should go to America' [Internet]. Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/9051992/Young-black-actors-should-go-to-America.html   [Accessed 12 December 2012]

Ball. C. (2010). The Persistent Issue of Black Representation on Television and Why More Roles Won't Fix A Thing [Internet]. Available from: http://madamenoire.com/104363/the-persistent-issue-of-black-representation-on-television-and-why-more-roles-wont-fix-a-thing/#j3H1eGwYAga1s1Wl.99 [Accessed 13 December 2012]

Coughlan. S. (2010). Lenny Henry's long road to a PhD [Internet]. Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/caribbean/news/story/2010/10/101008_caribbean_lennyhenry.shtml [Accessed 13 December 2012]

McKoy. B. (2012). Tyler Perry and The Weight of Misrepresentation [Internet]. Available from: http://commons.emich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1055&context=mcnair [Accessed 13 December 2012]

Crouch. S. (2000). Stop Whining About The Media! [Internet]. Available from: http://www.salon.com/2000/04/19/images/ [Accessed 13 December 2012]