To what extent are your chosen texts typical of their genre?

Sin city is a film based on basin city which contains violence, murders, love, heros, villains and lots of toucher. All of these things are conventions of a Noir genre, but sin city is a hybrid therefore it also contains elements of horror and comic book styles such as weird killing creatures, non human creatures, or superhero styled heros, referring to people as superman, the way it is edited like a comic book. Because it is a hybrid genre this also makes the film post modern, being a hybrid makes the text appeals to three genre audiences instead of just one, it targets Noir, horror and comic book audiences.

One scene where it shows a lot of Noir conventions is where

  

Essay

What can an investigation of Miami Ink and Big Brother reveal about modern attitudes to representations of class?

           My two chosen texts are, 'Miami Ink' (1) season 3 episode 2 and 'Big Brother' (2) season 11 episode 55. The question I am asking myself is, What can an investigation of 'Miami Ink' (1) and 'Big Brother' (2) reveal about modern attitudes to representations of class?
           Big Brother (2) is based on 12 contestants being put onto a set up house for three months ('Big Brother') (2) and Miami Ink (1) being set in a tattoo shop with people walking in of the streets to get tattooed by one of the famous tattoo artists ('Miami Ink') (1). There are some less obvious differences; 'Miami Ink' (1) is set in Miami, America. 'Big Brother' (2) is set in London, England giving a big cultural difference. Both of these texts are considered to be reality TV although when you look deeper into both of these texts you realise they have been constructed for the target audiences entertainment, social interaction, personal identity and information  to appeal to an audiences idea of uses and gratification.

            Reality TV can be defined by a variety of conventions such as not scripted, normally contains contestants, or none actors, documentaries, actual events and sometimes in a competition (16). 'Big Brother' (2) has a mixture of contestants to try and get the best reactions for them for the audience’s entertainment as a form of Uses and Gratifications. Views of other people say "it's always the working class people that lack intelligence, that do well as they are seen as genuine because viewers believe they don't have the intelligence to play a game etc." (8) They have working class contestants mixed with middle class contestants from a variety of ages as this normally makes great TV seeing them argue over how "unintelligent" the working class contestants are compared to the more "intellectual" middle class contestants and how the older contestants see them selves as more superior then the younger contestants. This always keeps the audience entertained as everyone loves a good argument and a bit of juicy gossip. A quote from Yahoo Answers supports that people watch Reality TV shows because they like the drama from it to be entertained- "Well, stupid people like stupid things. That's one viewpoint to look at. Personally, I think the number one reason as to why people watch it so much is because most people are obsessed with watching drama as long as they aren't involved. Everyone does it, though, so I don't really have a right to complain." (18) The audience is mainly working class people ranging from ages 16-50 years old as again they get good entertainment from watching all the arguments to end their day on a satisfying note. Also there are normally characters the audience can relate to gaining personal identification e.g., older middle class audiences can relate to Steve Gill as he is an older middle class contestant that is what most people consider "normal" he is quiet and only voices his opinion when it is needed or he feels strongly about something. Middle age working class audiences can relate to Josie Gibson as she is middle aged and has been through some life experiences also she is what i think people will consider to be your average normal working class woman. Younger working class audiences can relate to Sam Pepper because his is a stereotypical young adult who plays pranks on others, says what he likes and does what he likes. all of these people are contestants out of Big Brother season 11 episode 55.    
          Views of other people say "it's always the working class people that lack intelligence, that do well as they are seen as genuine because viewers believe they don't have the intelligence to play a game etc." (8). Working class housemates in Big Brother (2) always seem to do better than middle class housemates as I personally feel you can make a connection to them allot more as the majority of audience is working class too. A thread on digital spy shows many views similar to that of mine "Personally I think people feel a connection to the working class!" (6), "class is important because viewers tend to prefer underdogs. There may also be editorial bias towards contestants who are more representative of the viewing public, whereas the more unusual housemates (high upper class/posh) will be figures of fun, because they are a minority" (6) "when the public vote for a winner, they want to spend 50p on a phone vote that will help Cinderella go to the ball. They don't want to give £100,000 to fox-hunting Tory Speechwriters (Derek BB6) or Belgravian cocaine-fuelled escort hires (Jonathan BB8)" (6). I feel this is true as seasons 11 winner was Josie Gibson which i mentioned earlier to be a working class middle ages woman so this supports the idea that the audience votes for someone that they can relate to to win.
          Miami Ink (1) has a mixture of people wanting to get tattooed as well, again meaning you have a range of people you can gain personal identify from. You have the young pretty girls in bikinis getting their first tattoos, the big tough men getting a full sleeve or full back piece, the men and women coming to get a memorial tattoo in remembrance for a loved one who has recently passed away. So there are different people the audience can gain personal identity from. The producers make sure they offer a good range of people on each show- Josie Gibson and Sam Pepper as they have completely different personalities so there are always someone you can gain personal identity from. You can get entertainment from Miami Ink (1) as you enjoy listening to all the stories as to why people are getting that particular tattoo and all about thier reasons. They go into quiet alot of detail on when people come into get memorial tattoos because sad stories hook people and make a better show than if someone was just coming to get a tattoo for no reason at all. Such as scene 5:14 - 6:45, where 2 parents come in the tattoo shop to get a portrait of their little girl who drowned at a young age in a swimming pool. The music changes from rock to soft sad music to suit this type of story. You see a mid shot of the mother of the young child (Brains wife) and she is explaining how that Brain getting a tattoo will help keep the memory alive of there young daughter- Cassidy. This makes the audience feel sorry for them and some people may gain personal identity from them and may consider getting a memorial tattoo to help them deal with a tragic loss. As there is old camera footage of Brain, his wife an family the narration of Brains voice tells you they struggled to have children so chose to adopt, this plays on the heart strings of people watching making them more interested in watching the show to find out if the tattoo turned out how they wanted it to. A mid shot of Brain is shown and he says "she definitely is still daddies little girl" and just as he finishes off that line you can hear in his voice he is holding back the tears. You feel sorry for them and although some people can not relate to the hurt Brain and his wife are feeling “We miss her immensely” (14) the audience feel for them, this is because of how the story of their loss has been told with the sad music and close up shots, old footage and this makes the audience feel as if they knew them (like friends), this is the cultivation theory. As the viewers take on the views and feelings of Brian and his wife as there own.      

          Both shows are constructed to give the audience the best out of the show. Quote from Jean Baudrillard states "it is no longer possible to separate the economic or productive realm from the realms of ideology or culture, since cultural artifacts, images, representations, even feelings and psychic structures have become part of the world of the economic" and "the generation by models of a real without origins or reality: a hyper-real" (17). This is postmodernism which can also relate to constructed reality because constructed reality is not entirely real as you only see a small amount of clips constructed into a TV show for the best entertainment. With postmodernism ideas are brought back from the past and are turned into new ideas but loosing and sence of reality behind them so in turn it slowly changes to something that is far from the original idea. Producers/Directors can portray people in any way they want too, for example quote from Ami James "my whole idea was that it was going to be real. But TV makes it not real. If I scream at Yoji [Harada] once a fu*king month, they make it look like its every fu*king week" (13). This is what audiences love, its entertaining although its not actually full reality TV its constructive reality where everything is constructed to gain more audience viewers which the construction gives the audiences gratification
           For example- a short clip from Miami Ink (1)- 2:16 to 5:09 shows how working class women are portrayed in Miami Ink (1) and how the show is constructed to make people think that she is a very flirtatious. Emily is a bartender; I know this as when she was introduced it told you in writing her name and occupation. She is portrayed as very flirtatious, fun and outgoing; the older generation may presume this is how all young women act. She is in her late 20's but still dressing in low cut tops and mini skirts. She uses rude, flirtatious, sexual banter with Chris Nunez's and he responds flirtatious back “I love women in high heels” (14), “Come over here baby” (14), as he is a lady's man- again older generations may presume this about all younger/middle aged women also the younger generation who are maybe watching the text with their parents may thing that this is the way to act and dress when they are older. She talks in a childish tone of voice and does not come across as the best educated. She does not seem very strong minded as she went to the shop with an idea and Chris suggested something else and she changed her mind instantly saying "I trust you with what you come up with" (14) which shows how she acts a lot younger than what she is a she is relying on him to come up with something good. Chris gives his opinions and she agrees. Close up of her foot in heels implies she is a provocative woman this is a stereotype as high heels are associated with provocative. She says, "I can't wait to wear high heels to show of my tattoo" (14) again portraying her self as the type of woman who likes to go out a lot. She gives him a kiss to say thank you, instead of just a thank you or handshake. She puts her hand on his chest and slowly walks off again in a sexual manner. 
          I think she is a negative representation as she is very very flirtatious with someone she has just met. She comes across "easy" which is a negative representation of working class women as people may make the assumption that all working class women are like this and "put it about". She is a bartender which when people read that they might expect her to act and dress the way she does because of her job.. always being surrounded by drunken men, having to flirt, be friendly all the time and having a bit of flesh on show. That is a stereotypical view of a bartender but people in the same/similar jobs may take a negotiated reading from her section on the show as they understand the stereotype but they don't agree with the way she acts or dresses.
          This is the same with Big Brother (2), it can show all the negative bits of a person to make you think that they are not a very nice person when in actual fact they have only been bad a very few times and they are actually a very nice person but because you don’t see the nice bits of that person you assume they are not nice on the bad things you have seen. For example Steve Gill from Big Brother (2) is always kind hearted and portrayed as a father figure to most of the housemates, scene 4:02 shows Steve quit the challenge to get off and help Josie by pushing her around on the round-a-bout to make it easier for her so this shows him putting others before himself. But that is how the TV producers have chosen to construct the clips of him, when he could be a nasty, horrible spiteful person but the TV has chosen not to show them parts. This may be due to the fact that he has disabilities so Channel 4 don’t want to get criticised by showing people with disabilities as negative representations so they nearly always portray them as positive social representations.
         Sam Pepper is a young man aged 19-24 years old, he is woken up by the magic round-a-bout theme tune and instantly says to JJ "JJ your a pri*k."(15) The Big Brother (2) producers have chosen to include Sam Pepper saying that because it is what you would expect young people to act like, swearing all the time and being disrespectful. Josie is talking to Sam about the prank she played on him the night before and Sam says, "Are you not scared for my revenge?"(15) This keeps the audience hooked (Cultivation Theory) as they want to know what his revenge is going to be as this banter makes good TV so that is why the producers have chosen to include this clip. You then see a clip of Sam Pepper sneakily putting garlic inside Josie’s pillow and he says, "This is pay back for the tooth brush." So from 1:03-4:32 of the episode you instantly get a negative representation of him as you come to the conclusion that he is a typical bad teenager who is very immature and swears allot. This may give off the impression to the older generation that all young people/older teenagers are like that now which gives the wrong impression as we are not all like that. A quote from Brendan states “Mostly, I believe youth to be aggressive, cocky, arrogant, self-absorbed, obsessed with technology and driven by popularity. I think society has taken a step backwards with this generation. There are exceptions though, not all youth are like that, just the majority.” (19) Which supports my idea that young people are represented negatively to the older generation.

         When you watch these two texts you get hooked as you (the audience) get to feel like you know the housemates or tattoo artists so you keep watching, this is known as the cultivation theory. You are drawn into the social aspects of TV where you see the housemates/tattoo artists that much you see them more like a friend. You are much more likely to listen to what advise housemates have to give when you feel as though they are your 'friend' this is also the cultivation theory being put in place.

Ami James Interview Construction Of The Show

Bibliography

(1) - Big Brother
(2) - Miami Ink
(3) - http://www.tv.com/shows/miami-ink/cast/
(4) - http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/aug2000/bro-a19.shtml
(5) - http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views-blogs/comment/2011/08/19/debbie-johnson-why-do-people-watch-big-brother-92534-29262577/
(6) - http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?p=61125663
(7) - http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/big_brother/3003883/All-10-past-winners-of-Big-Brother-talk-to-The-Sun.html
(8) - http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1732533&page=8
(9) - http://www.tv.com/shows/miami-ink/cast/
(10) - How TV changed fame TV Program
(11) - Life after Big Brother TV Program
(12) - Reality TV, Media Magazine
(13) - http://tattoo.yoso.eu/interview-with-ami-james-from-miami-ink
(14) - Miami Ink Quote
(15) - Big Brother Quote
(16) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_television
(17) - cultural theory and popular culture- john storey
(18) - http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110517111801AAoqxCU
(19) - http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110207211528AAdmtfr

Quotes and Trivia from Miami Ink Artists

• Ami James.

  TRIVIA

  ADD TRIVIA
  • The tattoo Ami regrets getting the most is the tattoo of the fat woman on his neck.
  • Ami wears glasses.
  • Ami has over 40 tattoos.
  • Ami resides in Miami, Florida.
  • Ami is right-handed.
  • Ami's first name is pronounced "aw-MEE."
  • In 2006, Ami designed a collection of RAZR V3 phone covers for Motorola.
  • Ami is Jewish.
  • In 1996, Ami appeared in the movie, Tromeo and Juliet, as the "Man outside Axis Body Piercing."
  • Ami's dog is named Bella.
  • Ami became a tattoo artist because it was the only way he could make money through art.
  • Ami is the co-owner of the clothing company, DeVille USA, and the Miami Nightclub, Love Hate.
  • Ami's been married 5 times.
  • Ami opened up the Miami Ink studio shop with co-owner Chris Nunez.
  • Ami loves to do anything associated with cars, painting and freestyle fighting.
  • Ami is of Israeli descent.
  • Ami trained as a Sniper in the Israeli Army and is very patriotic about Israeli culture.
  • Ami began tattooing at the age of 20.
  • Ami got his first tattoo at 15--it was a dragon.
  • Ami's name means "my people".
  • Ami mostly does Japanese tattoos.

    
    

    QUOTES

    ADD QUOTES

    • Ami: (On the misconception that tattooing is a subculture) Whether you use charcoal, watercolor, or a needle, what I'm doing is art, pure and simple.
    • Ami: I learn every day more and more; the day I stop learning is the day I will stop tattooing.
    • Ami: I won't talk about my tattoos to strangers. They're personal - and who wants to talk about work after they've spent the whole day doing it?

    
    

    
    

    Chris Nunez.

    TRIVIA

    ADD TRIVIA

    • Chris' biggest role model is his father.
    • Chris resides in Miami, Florida.
    • Chris began his tattooing career as a graffiti artists.
    • Chris is co-owner of the Miami Ink Studio shop with Ami James.
    • Chris got his first tattoo of both his parents' names at age 16.
    • Chris is of Cuban descent.
    • Chris's father died when he was young.

    QUOTES

    ADD QUOTES

    • Chris: (When asked what his favorite tattoo is) My favorite tattoo is the one my mom did

    
    

    Chris garver.

    TRIVIA

    ADD TRIVIA

    • Chris likes traveling around world and attending to concerts.
    • Chris loves playing the bass guitar.
    • Chris is left-handed.
    • Chris lived in Japan, where he was tattooed by some of his idols.
    • At the age of 18, his parents moved to Switzerland, leaving Garver in the United States by his own.
    • He moved to New York in his early 20s, wanting to start his tattooing carrer.
    • Many tatto artists consider him one of the best tattooers in the world.
    • Chris has tattooed in North America, South America, Asia and Europe.
    • Chris' mother was an artist, and encouraged him to follow her career.
    • Chris has two older brothers.
    • Chris resides in Miami, Florida.
    • Chris is 6' 1".
    • Chris received his favorite tattoo three years ago from a monk when he was in Thailand. Its meaning is "to protect."
    • Chris can be found at the True Tattoo shop in Hollywood, California when not in the Miami Ink Studios. He owns partnership of the shop along with Clay Decker.
    • Chris started in tattooing career at the age of 17 when he sold his bass guitar in order to buy tattoo equipment.
    • Chris received his first professional tattoo at age 15.
    • Chris attended the Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts

    QUOTES

    ADD QUOTES

    • Chris Garver: Some of my favorite tattoo artists are Horiyoshi, Horitomo and Horitoshi. I've already been tattooed by them when I lived in Japan.
    • Chris Garver: I took one year of art school, but my mother was an artist so I learned a lot from her.
    • Chris Garver: I find cover-ups challenging, but I enjoy them if I am not limited in design by the customer.
    • Chris Garver: I'm not really a tattooer,I just play one on T.V

    
    

    darren brass.

    TRIVIA

    ADD TRIVIA

    • Darren has Type One diabetes.
    • Darren got his first tattoo on his 18th birthday

    
    

    TRIVIA

    ADD TRIVIA

    • Yojiro can play the guitar.
    • Yojiro is bilingual and speaks fluent English and Japanese.
    • Yojiro is of Japanese descent.
    • Yojiro's nickname is Yoji.
    • Yojiro is Jewish.
    • Yojiro is a smoker.
    • Yojiro resides in Miami, Florida.
    • Yojiro is 5' 10".
    • Yojiro is apprenticing under Ami James.
    • Yojiro lives with his wife, Bridget, and infant daughter, Sydney. He lived in Japan until he was 24.

    At age 19, he performed his first tattoo. He tattooed his Japanese girlfriend's name on himself. He is also the lead singer of a punk rock band named "Big Deal."

    
    

    
    

    
    

    
    

    
    

    
    

    
    

    
    

    
    

    
    

    
    

    
    

    
    

Why do people watch Big Brother

Views of Teenagers in the media.

brendan:  Mostly, I believe youth to be aggressive, cocky, arrogant, self-absorbed, obsessed with technology and driven by popularity. I think society has taken a step backwards with this generation. There are exceptions though, not all youth are like that, just the majority.



Why people watch reality TV shows:

Well, stupid people like stupid things. That's one viewpoint to look at.

Personally, I think the number one reason as to why people watch it so much is because most people are obsessed with watching drama as long as they aren't involved. Everyone does it, though, so I don't really have a right to complain.

Below are some more websites about other peoples views of why they watch Big Brother.

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views-blogs/comment/2011/08/19/debbie-johnson-why-do-people-watch-big-brother-92534-29262577/

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/aug2000/bro-a19.shtml

How do your chosen texts attract their audiences?

Lost attracts their audiences through their number of disequlibrium scenes which draw you in and then restrict you from knowing the entire cause, keeping you hooked and always wanting to know more. This is shown in the scene where Walt wonders off into the jungle just off the beach, he is looking for his dog vincent which got lost after the plane crash. The music builds up to a tense suspension with low drones increasing in pace when Walts dad, Michael comes searching for him. Michael sees the handcuffs which Walt saw earlier and his voice turns to a worried panic tone of voice. He orders walt back to the beach and for him to stay there. You as an audience get drawn in by the music as it lets you know that there is disequlibrium about to happen or happening so you must pay attention, also the closes up to shows Michaels worried expressions tells you that something is not right. enigma codes are used to entise the audience to keep watching as they want to know the answers to the questions that have been asked. Enigma codes are used throughout the whole of lost to keep the audience wanting to know more so they watch the next episode.

Most media text target a range of different audiences. How true is this for your chosen text?

Media texts such as Madmen do target a range of audiences by trying to accomodate for all ages, genders and types of people. Madmen is set in the 1960's in an advertising work place, New York. It is significatly male dominated with women being portrayed as objects rather that people with thoughts and feelings. In episode 11, the other woman, Don and his male team members are trying to strike a big deal with jaguar. The jaguar boss explains to Pete how he would like to spend a night with Joan- a beautiful red head, who has the perfect curvy figure of the 1960's. As the story goes on you learn from the construction of the text that Joan does spend a night with the jaguar boss and Don was to late to tell her to not do it. The company celebrates with Joan taking a 5 percent equity into the company for sealing the deal. we as an audience can take either a prefered, opositional or negotiated reading from this episode as it has a lot of issues being delt with. We can also gain entertainment aspects, personal identification, escapism, information and social inergration from Madmen. This is how it targets a range of audience types... each character has a different personality offering a wide range of personal identity as a varitey of audience types can relate to different characteristics of characters. Don's characteristics are: confident, womaniser, ambitious and dominant. He shows these characteristics in the scene where he is in a meeting with his collegues and Don walks out and takes a break where the other collegues just have to wait for his return. this shows how he is more dominant and not afriad to do what he wants to do. peggy olson is represented as a hardworking woman, she has the highest job that a woman is allowed to have in 1960. althougt she is not as pretty as Joan she has worked alot harder to get to where she is where as Joan has go to where she is from her pretty looks. people with simalar characteristic can relate to characters that the audience feel represent them offering the personal identity. the show as a whole offers alot of information about the 1960's which the audience dont realise they are taking it all in due to the fact the text is set in a story line so as you are entertained by the text you are also fed information such as - issues like male dominance, woman seen as objects, racism, married men having mistresses, drinking and smoking in the work place. The scene where Joan is talking to her mother about the fridge and joans mother replys with "get a black girl to do the job there used to being told what to do" shows how racism was a big thing in the 1960's but that is not the case today as different races of people are welcomed and seen as equals.

Views on working class house mates in big brother.

Thing is witty and articulate HMs don't do well on Big Brother. Same as middle class me. Some become cult favourites but it's always the working class people that lack intelligence that do well as they are seen as genuine because viewers believe they don't have the intelligence to play a game etc. That's why contrived thick acts like Alex or Brian Belo have become a common HM tactic.

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?p=61125663
See the link above to read whole artical forum.

I agree with what this person is saying, working class people always do much better than the middle class housemates. This is because most of the audience watching big brother are working class so they can associate with the house mates and gain personal identification from them.

How big brother has changed working class peoples lives

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/big_brother/3003883/All-10-past-winners-of-Big-Brother-talk-to-The-Sun.html

Big Brother season 11 episode 55 (day 54)

Miami Ink -Emily, Bartender.

This is an example of a working class woman on Miami ink.

Time- 2:16 to 5:09

Emily is a bartender and I know this as when she was introduced it told you in writing her name and occupation. She is portrayed as very flirtatious, fun and outgoing. She is in her late 20's but still dressing in low cut tops and mini skirts. She uses rude, flirtatious, sexual banter with Chris Nunez's and he responds flirtatious back as he is a lady's man. She talks in a childish tone of voice and does not come across as the best educated. She does not seem very strong minded as she went to the shop with an idea and Chris suggested something else and she changed her mind instantly saying "i trust you with what you come up with" which shows how she acts a lot younger than what she is a she is relying on him to come up with something good. Chris gives his opinions and she agrees. Close up of her foot in heels implys she is a provocative woman. She says "I can't wait to wear high heels to show of my tattoo" again portraying her self as the type of woman who likes to go out a lot. She gives him a kiss to say thank you, insted of just a thank you or hand shake. She puts her hand on his chest and slowly walks off again in a sexual manner. I think she is a bad representation as she is very very flirtatious with someone she has just met. She comes across "easy" which is a bad representation of working class women as people may make the assumption that all working class women are like this and "put it about". She is a bartender which when people read that they might expect her to act and dress the way she does because of her job.. always being surrounded by drunken men, having to flirt and be friendly all the time and having a bit of flesh on show. That is a stereotypical view of a bartender. But people in the same/similar jobs may take an negotiated reading from her section on the show as they understand the stereotype but they don't agree with the way she acts or dresses.

Big brother- Read 3rd paragraph down.

Representation of the White Working Class in the Media

   In the past few centuries, the middle class has tried to demean the working class by any means possible. In Victorian times the working class were given the most unpleasant jobs by the middle class such as cleaning the streets, being in the work houses and earning very little money. The working class were the group of people who would go to music halls to watch comedy or listen to music, they would also live in bad areas and have large families. They were also blamed for the problems in society such as disease. They stole from the rich and often rioted. But throughout time, the middle class has tried to keep this stereotype up to create an idea which will make them feel happier and better off.

  Middle class papers often comment on how they view the working class. The Times said this “They are ugly, ignorant, violent, thieving scum. Their “culture” is alien to civilisation. Keep them away from decent people. They should be neutered.” This shows a typical conservative paper showing that the stereotype of the white working class hasn’t changed from the Victorian period. Other papers have also suggested that the working class are crude, violent and how the term chav has become a word we are using on a daily bases.

   The introduction of reality TV has helped this stereotype by showing the public what the working class are really like. Big Brother is a key example of this. The programme follows a group of working class people living in a house together, taking part in various tasks, trying to not get voted out and winning a large amount of money. This programme is full of nobodies who believe that appearing on this programme will give them instant access into the celebrity world. However this isn’t the case as many of the people who come out are only in the spotlight for a couple of months who have nothing going for them and are useless. While in the house they are made to look like idiots to show that people will do anything to get publicity. The producers of this show often bring in z-list celebrities such as Jodie Marsh, Jade Goody and Preston to show that “normal” celebrities can handle this format of programme but often make a fool of themselves to get noticed and earn a bit of money.

Another programme that shows a good representation of the working class is a reality programme called Wife Swap, which shows a family of white working class swapping mothers and wives with a middle class family often creating binary opposites and an intense reaction between the families. A key example of this is Lizzie and Mark Bardsley. The programme showed the Bardsley family as lazy, dirty and dysfunctional. At the end of each programme the two families met for the first time and often had a full-blown argument resolving in one member storming out. After the programme Lizzie became an ironic celebrity but then was prosecuted for benefit fraud. She is an example of how Victorian snobbishness towards the poor has made a comeback today.

 “The Jeremy Kyle show” is a chat show which showcases a dysfunctional representation of the white working class. At the beginning of every show the guests are wound up like a coiled spring to make them more aggressive when confronted with one another. They are also kept apart by staying in different hotels and green rooms to heighten their nervous confusion. The whole show is designed to produce a gladiatorial-style exchange. Guests walk out of opposite entrances in the same way that Roman fighters would enter the ring in the Colosseum. For particularly controversial or confrontational subjects, producers would ramp up the music, selecting heavy metal tracks to set the tone.

Little Britain

Chavs nowadays