Social class and TV Drama

TV Drama: Representation of Class and Status

Starter – Class War

• Pick a ‘person’ and as class you need to sort yourselves into a ‘status continuum’ with the highest status person at the front by the white board and the lowest ranked person by the windows.

• You will need to justify your status and want to have the highest status possible….

Lesson Objectives

• Explore representations of class and status in TV Drama

• Evaluate the impact of these representations on the audience

Debates about our topic.• That your class affects who you become and what you can do.

• Whether class is relevant in today’s society (Boundaries of class are fragmenting and people are finding it harder to identify themselves as a particular class.)

• The varying limitations that being a lower class citizen enables, i.e. material deprivation can stop you from having the funds to purchase things needed for school (– your class is what has been your downfall).

• The link between class and status (i.e. Being a higher class gives you a higher status and vice versa.) – If this can enable corruption amongst the classes.

• Whether it is class that is important in society, or if its your ethnicity/gender.

Class War – Working Class

• Working class is a term used in sociology to describe those employed in ‘lower tier’ jobs (low skill, education and payment).

• It typically refers to a section of society dependent on physical labour, especially with an hourly wage.

• The term is usually contrasted with the upper class and middle class, in terms of less access to economic resources, education and cultural interests.

• Its usage can be derogatory, but many people self-identify as working class and experience a sense of pride.

• What jobs would we class as ‘working class’• What characteristics do we think ‘working class’ people have?

Class War – Middle Class• The middle class are any class in the middle of

a social schema or structure. • They are the broad group of people in

contemporary society who fall socioeconomically between the working class and upper class.

• Usually there is a sense that they are not sure of their place

• What jobs would we class as ‘middle class’• What characteristics do we think ‘middle class’

people have?

Class War – Upper Class• In sociology an upper class is the group of people at the

top of a social hierarchy. Members of an upper class may have great power over the allocation of resources and governmental policy in their area.

• The phrase "upper class" has had a complex range of meanings and usages. In many traditional societies, membership of the upper class was hard or even impossible to acquire by any means other than being born into it.

• What jobs would we class as ‘Upper class’ – would they even really work?

• What characteristics do we think ‘Upper class’ people have?

People.

Makeup.

The hairstyle

The big hoops

Brick wall

People.

Clean shaven

Hairstyle.

His shirt and jacket

Exterior setting

People.

Hairstyle

Makeup

Clothing

Facial Expression and Pose

People.

Costume Drama

Costume

Exterior Location

People.

Jewellery

Costume

Props

People.

CostumesFacial Expressions and Pose

Places.

Places.

Places.

Places.

Places.

Places.

Merlin

• What does this clip tell us about class and status ?

• Merlin

Mise en Scene

Sound

Camera

Editing

What does this clip tell us about class and status ?

Downton Abbey

What does this clip tell us about class and status ?

Trinity

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsQMGnysc5Y