Wednesday 17 November 2010

Life on Mars: discuss how ethnicity is represented in this clip


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After watching the above clip, it can be said that ethnicity is represented in many ways in the programme. Firstly, the camera angles identify that the white men are racists and should be looked down upon as it is a low angle shot, form the police man's point of view, looking down on the two men. This makes him an authoritative figure and the audience immediately relates with him in thinking the men are inferior. The two white men attack an Indian couple, and they are wearing are typically 'skinhead' who were famously racist in the 70's, even though they think they are a superior race, they have extremely bad appearances (bad teeth). There is a swastika painted on the wall which represents a racist divide, also, in different cultures there are different meanings of the swastika again showing there is a great difference in cultures. In addition, there are many Indian murals and religious paintings and artwork around the homes and community centre, showing a pleasant environment that is ruined my racist skinheads throwing a brick through the window. The policeman paints the skinheads white which makes a mockery of them. Later in the clip, the white policemen are looking down on what the Indians are doing in the warehouse, highlighting the racist divide in England in the 70's. When the policeman enters  the office in the back of the warehouse, there is 70's music playing, but with Indian instruments such as a sitar, again emphasising a divide in the cultures in the 1970's.

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