Question 3 Read
and cut down to 1000 words and replace Deutschland 83 and Homeland with your
texts. Though this is too long it gives you a good idea for a structure.
In this question you will be rewarded for drawing together
elements from your full course of study, including different areas of the
theoretical frameworks and media contexts.
Why do long form dramas from different countries offer
different representations? In your answer you must:
·
consider the contexts in which long form dramas
are produced and consumed
·
explain how media contexts may have influenced
the representations in the set episodes of the two LFTVDs you have studied
·
make judgements and reach conclusions about the
reasons for the differences in representation between the two episodes. [30]
Sample answer
Long form television dramas (LFTVDs) are influenced by social, cultural,
economic, political and historical contexts. Social contexts include such
factors as changes in gender roles, inequalities based on gender, race and
ethnicity, and social attitudes to sexualities. They include the social
anxieties and/or contested social values of the time and place that television
programmes are made. These will influence representations. Cultural contexts
include the influence of national cultures on television programmes, for
example the cultural importance of television dramas in reflecting,
re-interpreting and re-enforcing national cultural identities and
representations of social groups, events and the individuals within those (and
on occasion, challenging and subverting those representations to try and
instigate cultural change and domestic conversations on representations and
identity).
Political contexts include the influence of political debate on
regulation of television; how television programmes can reflect and comment
upon national political institutions given the freedom of Western programme
makers to criticise and satirise their own political systems; and how in
political dramas such as Deutschland 83 or House of Cards the audience may need
to have political knowledge to understand some representations.
Economic contexts include the competitive nature of the television
industries and influence of high budgets on flagship television programmes,
e.g. the opportunities for character development in ‘authored’ high-budget
programmes allow for more complex, individualised three-dimensional
characterisation rather than stereotyping
I am going to consider the effects of contexts on the American LFTVD Stranger
Things and the German LFTVD Deutschland 83.
In Stranger Things, we see the influence of social contexts. The episode
reflects socially contested gender and racial/ethnic relations in that it
represents a world in which apparent conformity to social norms masks
underlying tensions and conflicts; in particular, we see a racial slur towards
Lucas as he is called ‘Midnight’ when confronted by the bullies.
In Stanger Things, we see the influence of cultural contexts: the episode
shows the influence of American culture’s reaction to terrorism and extra-terrestrial
worries – overt patriotism, militarism and the search for heroes. However, the
series is based on an Spielberg type films, so may reflect more universal
cultural responses about the best way to respond to threats that are applicable
in a global cultural context. The representational complexity of the programme,
particularly its morally ambiguous heroine, reflects the context of the high
expectations of narrative complexity in LFTVDs. In Stranger Things, we see the
influence of political contexts: the programme reflects cynicism towards
federal politics in the USA by representing the government as desperate for a
‘win’ in a foreign war. The series requires some understanding of the CIA and American
government (but international audiences are used to being positioned as
requiring knowledge of American society).
In Stranger Things, we see the influence of economic contexts: the
episode reflects the highly competitive market in which US Netflix operate and
that one strategy available to such a streaming service is to differentiate the
brand with high-quality adult drama, which portray complex and individualised
representations of people and places.
In Deutschland 83, the representations reflect social contexts: the
episode reflects contested gender relations showing the impact of feminism on
patriarchal society; politics and the media are mostly male dominated, but
women are represented as skilled professionals and Eastern spy Lenora, in
particular, is represented as decisive. Many of the representations foreground
the work of constructing femininity (as in Butler’s theory), especially for Lenora.
However, the general’s wife fits the traditional patriarchal stereotype of the
‘hysterical’ woman. Masculinity is represented both positively from a feminist
perspective.
In Deutschland 83, the representations reflect cultural contexts: the
episode reflects Danish culture in its depiction of consensual decision-making
and coalition politics and its celebration of tolerance and inclusivity towards
minority groups. However, much of the politics is not only a representation of
a national culture but of a globalised ideology of western liberalism. The
representational complexity and sophistication of the programme reflects the
context of the high expectations of LFTVD.
In Deutschland 83, the representations reflect political contexts: the
episode reflects a cynical view of spin driven politics yet provides an optimistic
vision of democratic politics; the political world is cynical, Machiavellian,
and driven by spin, but the voters respond to the honesty of a conviction
politician. The episode reflects the context of immigration becoming an issue
in German politics. The series requires some understanding of German national
politics but does not assume this knowledge on the part of audiences, providing
enough exposition to enable politically literate audiences to understand the
narrative. The representations in Deutschland 83 reflect the historical context
of the rising power of women, in that Lenora is a leading government spy.
In Deutschland 83, the representations reflect economic contexts of a
small publicly owned national broadcaster with limited finances but with an unsuccessful
track record in selling series internationally, thus encouraging cooperation
with other European television producers, creating a very national product yet
with international appeal.
In
conclusion, the representations in these two LFTVDs do reflect their national
social, cultural and political contexts, with Stranger Things explicitly
interrogating what it means to be American and Deutschland 83 exploring the
opportunities for a news politics within a very European consensual social
democratic political system. However, both dramas include elements that are due
to genre: Stranger Things could be remade as a German spy thriller, for
example, with similar representations; equally, Deutschland 83 could be remade
as a small town based political drama with an idealistic peaceful lifestyle.
Audience may also be a factor here. The sophisticated international audiences
for LFTVDs may demand both local colour, so specifically national or even local
representations, but also archetypal themes that can be enjoyed globally, such
as protecting the homeland or creating a new politics. The streaming American
television market as compared to the highly regulated and small German television
market may also account for some of the representational differences. The German
programme has to have cultural significance as DR’s one big drama for the
season, whereas Stranger Things has rapidly to establish its identity as a
brand within a highly competitive American television market, hence its more
mainstream use of genre. It is likely that genre, audience, industries and
contexts all intertwine in their influence on representations in LFTVDs.
