Do you think that programs such as skint are good or bad?

 

 

I both agree and disagree with programs such as benefit street and skint. This is because it helps give other people an insight into how ‘the other half’ live. It helps give people an understanding into why people are in such states of poverty, and how they are occasionally trying to get out of it. I also disagree with this because it causes an already negative opinion on the lower class to be reinforced. This is due to the fact that the program exploits the people because it is edited and scripted meaning only the worst aspects of the people are shown, causing them to have a bad representation. Also, some of the people act up to the cameras, helping to create the persona of a person who doesn’t care about anything. This can then lead on to the whole of the lower class being labelled in the same way. I believe that if people are making programs about people who are middle class there should also be the alternative of programs based on the lower class.

The audience for this documentary program could be all watching it for the same reason but by the end of it they may have come out with different interpretations of how people living on the bread line struggle to provide the essentials for themselves and sometimes their children. Also within this program there will be a range of audiences ranging from wealthy middle class backgrounds, to the working class; with a range of reasons and judgments of the people on the show before they have actually watched it. The audience may feel like if they watch it the may have their opinions changed on the matter, causing them to be more open minded and even helpful towards people below the poverty line. Certain people watching this program may not understand some of the cultural codes and ranges of communication that the participants are using. This is due to the lower class having a restricted code with basic syntax where as some people observing the program may have an elaborated code with entropic words.
 
People now say that a culture of the 'under class' has been born, and programs like these seem to add to this belief. In the UK the media are using their power, to cause the audience to believe that 'all' people on benefits are cheating the system, as to get out of having to work whether full time or part time.



Posh people: Inside Tatler

 

 

 

Tatler is a magazine company based on news that is stirring up the upper class only. Every issue features the country homes of the British elite. Even though there are only a small amount of readers (around 160,000), Tatler still has the richest readers within the United Kingdom. This shows when looking through the pages, and seeing the world’s most expensive fashion and jewellery.  The upper class always want to follow the dress code without having to compromise on style.

Most of the Tatler team were privately educated and well versed in the intricacies of upper class life. Matthew Bell is of a middle class background as his mother was a teacher and his father was a doctor. Whenever someone first joins Tatler they are given a book called ‘Debretts new guide to etiquette and modern manners’. For the employees of the upper class background this is easier for them to pick up almost immediately as they have an elaborated code, whereas if you are not from an upper class background this book can be quite confusing, as you haven’t grown up around these norms and may have a more restricted code. Matthew is considered a ‘middle class intruder’ as he is working with and in an upper class magazine company, but he is middle class.  The staging and personal style were important within this as the team were helping him fit into the upper class culture, by making him wear clothes from place such as Marks and Spencer’s instead of high street brands. It also helps us see that even where the magazine is produced is in a posh area of London.

Whilst watching the documentary we can see that semiotics is very important in the way you use it, For example where on the magazine cover you put the headers. On the cover of the Tatler magazine was a close up of Kate Middleton’s face. While the header which was in line with her eyes was a question of ‘are you a slut?’ The magazines publishing director read the sign as suggesting that the header was asking Kate Middleton if she was a slut. Everyone interprets signs differently meaning when the editors first printed the magazine cover they didn’t see anything wrong with it, but when it was pointed out they could see how other people may interpret the question. The ideology of the magazine employees was set upon the beliefs within the upper class culture. Helping us to see that they belonged to a certain group within society as the way in which they spoke revealed how they all felt on the same topics.



1b) Sub-cultural groups offer a safe haven from the dangers of being an individual

A subcultural group is a group of people who share similar aspects if their identity and life, within the western culture. For example Goth’s would wear mainly black clothing with certain types of accessories with things such as skulls on. This creates a big signifier as people internally and externally in the group would recognise what type of sub-culture they belong to.

People may join certain sub-cultural groups as they feel a sense of security and similarity for themselves and between other group members. For example if a person was a member of a fandom they may choose to create an online profile on sites such as instagram, where they only post things about the fandom rather than themselves. The person may not even use their real name as they don’t feel safe being an individual within society, so they use a persona as this helps to build their self-esteem. By creating this online profile they are able to gain positive comments on the things they are posting as everyone following will most likely be part of the fandom therefor will not judge. The communication is vital between fandoms as it is what holds it together, communication nearly always happen virtually. So if a person is unable to socialise first hand they will feel safe communicating in the fandom as they are able to talk to others without seeing reactions. Also, being part of a fandom means you gain power. For example if enough people in a certain fandom such as the directioners didn’t want Harry to date someone they would almost certainly be able to pull the relationship apart. This helps to give a person a sense of security as they may feel powerless as an individual but when they are in a group it is almost as if the group is backing them up and supporting their points of view.

If a person joins a subcultural group it may be because they have found security in which they cannot find by being an individual. Gration, Reilly and Titford would say this is because the person is becoming part of a group as the have needs for social support and the needs to make social contact. Being part of a group helps to give someone a positive outlook about having someone to support and stick up for them. It helps for individuals to see that there are people who see the individual as an important part of their social group and they feel like they need to help them through tough times. These groups will have a bigger secondary group including a couple of little primary groups within the bigger chosen group. An individual may feel like they are in a safe haven within a group due to the fact they have been granted exclusivity to a group, which other people have not been allowed access to.

The Harry Potter poster makes the on looker hopeful as it shows Harry, Ron and Hermione in the for front with piles of rubble in the background, suggesting that they will defeat Voldemort.The syntagm in thbis poster helps the audience to think that harry is ready to fight Voldemort and isn't going to give up. This is due to the army style jacket, having his wand at the ready and having an angry expression on his face. The connotation of the poster can be read differently by different people. For example some people may see Harry as worried about what he can see in front of him, but others may read it as him being ready to go against Voldemort. The fact that the wrinting telling us 'IT ALL ENDS 7.15', shows us that the producers wanted everyone to realise it is coming to and end. Its almost like the end of an era, and the producers are trying to get the long term audience to watch.

Malcolm (Woody) the bike courier who turned into a polo player.

At the beginning of the show Malcolm was a bike courier, who seemed to have very low self-esteem. This is because he seems to think that the only thing he can amount to is a bike courier, and nothing more. While talking to us as the courier Malcolm is being sincere about himself. His personal style is not of the social or cultural norm as he wears hand painted Gothic clothes, a lot of earrings in one ear and has an almost fully shaved head with just a pony tail at the back centre of his head. He also has numerous tattoos scattered about on his body. The staging in Malcolm’s life before the polo player is minimal as he mainly uses his bike and lives in Manchester.

When Malcolm arrives at the prestigious Beaufort polo club in Gloucester he is immediately taken to his mentors room; where they are surprised with his personal appearance and the fact that he has never been on a horse before. At this point Malcolm’s persona changes as he lies about never being on a horse before and he becomes more cynical. This is a self-maintenance strategy as it means if he is not good he can blame it on the fact he has never rode a horse before. At this point in the show the mentors tell Malcolm that he is going to have to change his identity. This is so he can fit in with the higher culture of the polo players. The mentors get Malcolm to go to a professional hairdresser and get him a personal stylist who is also of higher culture. This is so he has good representation of himself towards the spectators of the polo match, and of the other players.

It was obvious from the show that Malcolm had completely different cultural codes to that of Casper his mentor. For example Casper wouldn't be getting drunk the night before a big polo match as this is not in his cultural norms. However, Malcolm didn't seem to care that there was a big match the next day and got drunk with the stable hands, who are more suited to his social class. Taking this into consideration however, Malcolm did become a good polo player who fooled the judges into believing his role as the polo player was truthful and that he had been playing for many years. His personal style as the polo player gradually grew to that of a person with a higher cultural background and of a higher class. This helped him fit in with his fellow team players and the spectators. His self-esteem also grew throughout the 4 weeks. This is due to his mentors being able to understand Malcolm's blind self and help him see that he could do it, as long as he tried hard enough.