Presentation Lesson

In today's lesson we showed our presentations to the class and made notes on each of the seven areas. These were being graded and were determining our assessment point grade.

AGE
A baby - we stereotype to be crying, cute and cuddly. Any images and adverts of babies tend to be cute pictures that will make us go 'aw'. The complete opposite to baby's is the elder people. We stereotype them to do nothing, be helpless and slow. However there are some similarities between the baby and elder person. They are binary opposites and have the symbolic code. Both are helpless and need looking after. Although in some soaps and films we can notice an opposite side to old people than the typical stereotype. Sometimes they can be the devious, sly person and can look after themselves, without the need of others.

REGIONAL IDENTITY
the north- they come across more friendlier and funny. However they can also come across more miserable and tend to enjoy moaning about how hard their life is. Also the jobs associated with them tend to be poor, with rubbish pay. They also come across as the typical working class group of people. The word 'The' tends to disappear and turns into 'tu' which comedians tend to pick out. It is also a rural area.
the south- the south is a lot more city like and we can relate programs such as 'Spooks' to it. The colours that we tend to associate the south with is grey, mono tone colours and this can reflect on people's moods and feelings of the city too. Also we associate London with the South, and relate it to business filled, fast paced lives. We can see this on programs such as hotel Babylon.
countryside- Finally we have the country side. Our initial thoughts are farmers, colourful (green etc.), relaxed way of life, 'simpler life'. We can see the contrast between countryside and city life in the film 'HotFuzz' where the policeman goes from a fast paced, busy, violent environment to a slow, relaxed, no trouble environment.


Ethnicity
clothing- The first thing we look at to make us judge a person is appearance. We associate black teens wearing hoody's as unapproachable such as Thomas from Skins. However in Hollyoaks we look at the person in a whole new way. How we see and judge people depends on their facial expression and clothing, making us decide whether they're approachable or not.
Indians- We normally picture them wearing their traditional clothing, however this varies on different TV programs. Some programs may have religious family's in it however they could be dressed casual. We also judge the marriages to be arranged by parents making us think that they are very controlling.
Setting and camera angles- Taking 'This is England' as an example, a lot of the camera shots are looking up at the characters. The common stereotype we have for people similar to the characters in the program is lower class, ignorant, white people, rough, skinheads, council estates, run down and intimidating.
Personality traits- Sometimes in programs they question our typical stereotype for different people. For example you might not expect a black man to be a policeman and helping out the community. Usually we associate them as lazy and yobs.
Plots- In Eastenders one of the story lines was an Indian man realising he's gay. As we already know, this is against their religion. It is also against the traditional beliefs and expectations so the plot really tested the viewer's judgement.

Sexuality
clothing- We stereotype gay men's clothing to be tightly fitting and female like, however with various different styles that tend to stand out. Women usually have a 'butch' image if they are gay and are stereotyped to look  manly, usually with short hair and sometimes rough looking. Their clothing never tends to be 'ladylike' or 'classy'. Its usually similar to men's clothing that adds to the creating of their male image.
settings- Some of the obvious settings that we all tend to stereotype and associate with gays are the 'gay parades and clubs'. However this is not completely true.
camera angles- In many tv programs or images that are trying to represent a gay character, you can notice that the camera angles tend to be close ups on the clothing so that we focus and notice what the character is wearing and judge the character using our initial stereotypes.
voice- The way the characters talk in programs tend to be quite high pitched and dramatic (drama queen). You rarely have gay male characters with manly, tough voices as this isn't stereotypical. Also the characters are not normally associated with sports as this co-notates manliness and sports is usually associated with the 'popular male characters' in films/programs. So if gay males are playing sports this completely reverses our idea of the typical stereotype in most films and programs!
On TV programs the plots are usually similar to each other. You start with the build up and the discovery that a person is gay...then the 'telling of people' (whether its kept a secret or if a person is honest)...then the reactions of other people...and finally the whole dealing with it all.
Heterosexual-  We don't pick up on this, nor do we have a certain typical stereotype. These characters can do anything they want with their appearance.
I think TV producers HAVE exaggerate the clothing, the camera angles and the way the character acts and portrays themselves so that the audience know exactly what they producers are trying to show them. The producers make it so obvious so that the audience is completly convinced and 'in the know'.

Ability and Disability
disabled- We judge people with a disability as vulnerable.
clothing- 'Housewear' with little effort. You can notice this in Little Britain with the disabled man in the wheelchair.
setting- untidy and dirty.
camera angles- looks down onto the disabled person with the helper always in the frame/picture with them. Characters talk to them as if they were childlike & they bend down to their level. The focus is usually exaggerated onto the disability rather than the character.
personality- stupid, evil, helpless, funny.

Gender
male- dominant character. associated with fights, strong, short hair, more money, work (traditional) - which links with the patriarchal time period. They are the supporter and the stoic.
female- housewife,  dresses, long hair, crying, over reacting, restrained by men. etc...
Representations of MEN across all media tend to focus on the following :
*Strength (physical, intellectual)
*Power
*Sexual attractiveness and physique
* Independent (through thought and action).
Representations of WOMEN across all media tend to focus on the following :
*Beauty (within narrow conventions)
*Size/physique ( "     " )
*Sexuality
*Emotional (as opposed to intellectual)
*Relationships (independence/freedom).

Status and Class

THREE MAIN CLASSES

Upper class – royalty, lords, dukes, millionaires.
Middle class – everyday people, (majority of us)
Lower class – homeless people, chavs.

We associate the upper class with things such as wealth, ‘posh’ sports e.g polo, cricket, fox hunting, mansions, expensive jewels, posh smart clothing. Afternoon tea and biscuits. Butlers, Bentley’s and so on. In the Media, the higher class are portrayed as the upper status with the dominant, controlling role.
The catorgy of people who fit in Middle class are people we associate with as ‘normal’. They live a working class life with a less standard lifestyle than the upper class. Things we associate with middle class is, semi detached houses, people who go out doing daily things e.g shopping. Have jobs such as teachers, bankers and have a typical, average sized family.
The people we associate as lower class are people who have a ‘rough’ image, e.g. chavs. They wear things like caps and live in  council houses. The way they speak is colloquialism and some could have a cockney accent. They come across in programs as ineducated, gobby, with less wealth.