television
- stereotypes: suits analysis
- csp: doctor who + theories
- csp: class 2016
- THE BBC
- csp: doctor who + theories
- csp: class 2016
- THE BBC
[stereotype] widely held but fixed / oversimplified image or idea of a specific type of person or thing. Generally, in television stereotypes are used in order to quickly establish characters and their personalities
The television series "Suits" is about a genius college-dropout, Mike Ross, who accidentally lands a job working for a prestigious law firm and has to solve cases while never having gone to law school. The other main character is his mentor, Harvey Specter, a very successful very powerful lawyer. It follows under the genres drama and comedy. In "Suits" several character stereotypes are used. One example is Louis Litt, an associate at the law firm, Pearson-Hardman. He is a sidekick and the main source of comic relief in the series. He is there to make Harvey look better in comparison, and the audience is expected to pity and laugh at him. He fulfills the stereotype of the 'less cool sidekick' that is common in dramas. For example, he is balding and not particularly attractive. Also, he has a lot of idiosyncratic behaviour and quirks. Furthermore, he always gets shown up by the protagonist, Harvey. Another example of stereotype is Harvey Specter. He is the typical strong willed and individualistic character who always acts cool and doesn't like to show emotions or weakness. We are not always expected to like this character. |
Q. How are stereotypes used in television?
pick a specific episode of the TV show - analyse how the stereotype is developed - compare your example to others in the genre - analyse why stereotypes are used |
BASICS
Doctor Who is a Science Fiction show produced and funded by the BBC, that has been running since 1963. It is about a mysterious time-travelling 'Doctor' who goes on adventures saving the world with his various companions. It began during a time with much change - the rise of youth culture and a many technological advancements because of the cold war and competing with the soviet union. Since then it has changed to reflect the culture and values of the different time periods. For example, although the Doctor has traditionally been a man, the most recent season of Doctor Who features a female lead, which was influenced by modern feminist values. Part of Doctor Who's success may be because TVs became larger and cheaper and generally more accessible. Another part may be because there was nothing like Doctor Who on the market at the time, which made it memorable. Furthermore, the storyline premise, where the Doctor regenerates every few seasons, allows the BBC to recast and replace the Doctor easily. Each different iteration of the Doctor has their own acting style and personality that can appeal to different audiences. The premise of the show with an infinite number of different planets and aliens allows the BBC to continue producing Doctor Who indefinitely, using the same structure and formula and without getting too repetitive. The "old Doctor Who" ran from 1963-1989 for 26 seasons, and then was rebooted in 2005 (10 seasons so far) Early Doctor Who had shorter 25 minute episodes, while the reboot has longer 45 minute episodes. It was so popular that there is a lot of merchandise and even spin-off series eg. Touchwood and Class. They had a limited budget in the 1960s ($2000 then per episode), even to the extent that iconic villains like daleks were made of egg boxes and toilet plungers. This was because BBC had tiny budgets, and also because they had to prove that there was a demand for a niche science-fiction genre show like Doctor Who. In the reboot they got an increased budget etc. ($1.5 million per episode) and now able to extend episode length etc. Each season cost around £10,000,000 to produce, and even that was considered relatively inexpensive for such a large scale production. AUDIENCE Doctor Who has a strong following ranging from younger kids to adults who grew up watching it. And eventually, an international audience. It appeals to both men and women, as the science fiction aspects are popular with men, and drama and romance genre shows appeal to women. The target audience mainly consists of working class/middle class people of average income (because they are the largest market in the UK) -- we know this because the Doctor's companions often tend to be of this demographic. This is to show representation of the average British citizen. When it first began in 1963, people didn't expect Doctor Who to be very popular as it was a science fiction show targeting a niche market. It was originally intended to be partly educational, marketed as a family show to appeal to children and their parents. However in the 1970s, about 60% of the viewers were adults. As Doctor Who became more morally grey and too scary for children, production was soon stopped in 1989. Some people are concerned this will happen again, as Steven Moffat (writer/producer) seems to be focusing on darker themes, and the air time is being pushed later and later, when children would have already gone to bed. While originally a niche genre show, as it grew in popularity Doctor Who has started to appeal more to mainstreamers types in psychometrics. Doctor Who is viewed as a trustworthy program because of its association with BBC and its long history in the TV industry. |
|
STEREOTYPES
MASCULINITY: the male characters assume "controlling" roles, which is a pretty common mindset in the past. For example, Barbara is usually deferring to Ian, and it is Ian and the doctor who face off while Barbara stays out of it. Also where he is seen to be 'protecting' Barbara from the doctor (she stands behind him) FEMININITY: portrays women as 'caring', 'nurturing' and 'sensitive'. This is typical of the time, and the kinds of roles expected for women. An example of this is when Barbara is confronting Susan in the Tardis and tries to use 'gentle' persuasion on her to escape AGE: the target audience of adults would be able to relate to Barbara / Ian, also being of similar circumstance to them and equally clueless. And they would view Susan, being younger, as 'naive' or 'foolish', which is a stereotype for youths in media. Whereas the doctor, being older, would be 'wise' and 'experienced.' |
|
- expected audience demographics vs actual uptake
- cost of promotion - revenue - was Class a success? justify your answer - what caused the success or failure? - compare Class to Doctor Who regarding all of the above |
AUDIENCE RECEPTION
I think Class was overall a failure. Although it had mostly good reviews, it wasn't very popular. It had very low viewership figures and was discontinued in September 2017 after only one season. BBC tried to widen their market and appeal to different demographics, but they didn't know what their audience wanted so it wasn't very successful. Their failure was also partly due to lack of publicity. Class was originally aired on BBC Three, so purely online, which meant that it was different from Doctor Who and all the other spin offs, and wouldn't have the standard audience of mainstream TV. Furthermore it wasn't advertised very much so many people didn't know about it. Those who did know about it may have felt less pressure to watch it right away because they could access it any time they liked, or they simply didn't like it. Most I think because nobody actually asked for a spin off of the Coalhill School, and fans wanted to watch shows about other aspects of the Doctor Who universe. Class was criticized for relying too heavily on the branding, and some people just didn't like the pacing or the story. Some disliked the "unnecessary gore" and "unnecessary relationships." |
THE BBC |
BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION
|
WHAT IS THE BBC
A public service organization, the oldest national broadcaster and with over 20,000 employees (largest) It's purposes - 1. provide impartial news / information to everyone so they can understand / engage with the world 2. support learning for people of all ages 3. creative and high quality content / services 4. represent + serve all diverse UK communities 5. reflect UK culture and values |
BBC SERVICES / CHANNELS
- National TV channels, BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four - CBBC, CBeebies, BBC News, BBC Parliament, BBC Alba - BBC Three - only online tv channel as of 2016 - BBC Red Button Interactive TV - BBC Online - BBC World Service - BBC radio stations, Radio 1, Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4, Radio 5 Live - 1Xtra, Radio 4 Extra, 5 Live Sports Extra etc. - TV / radio stations for Scotland / Wales / North Ireland etc. |
HOW IT IS FUNDED
- all funding comes from BBC license payers (unusual) - total income £5 billion, license costs £147 per year - license = a tax, so not paying is criminal offence - is necessary to legally receive broadcast tv - therefore content would try to appeal to as many different groups as possible / be very diverse - would not say anything politically incorrect or rude as they're trying to represent minorities etc, |
COMMISSIONING
- the BBC commissions shows, which is when the show is produced by another company but funded by the BBC - also produces it's own shows eg. Doctor Who because they want to maintain ownership and merchandising control etc. OFCOM
- Office of Communications - regulates BBC content and makes sure it follows a code of conduct, eg. quality standard / following the watershed - or license is removed / they are fined - in order to maintain BBC's reputation of quality and reliability etc. |