Struggling to structure your 25 mark essays? As an A* Media Student, I had always included key knowledge of the case study as well as structured my paragraphs in the way the examiners like it!
This is based on 'Deutschland 83' and 'Capital'.
To what extent do the representations in Capital reflect the concerns of modern 21st century
London life? (25 marks)
Capital presents a variety of different representations in terms of issues that the audience are able to
relate to such as gender, ethnicity, family and immigrants.
Within the first couple of scenes, representations of family and ethnicity are already presented; the
first relatable representation is of a Pakistani family who own a corner shop, and they are mistaken for
being Indians, ironically by of the main characters who is a white lady; this suggests white people are
uneducated when it comes to different ethnicity’s and the stereotype of an Asian family who work
together to maintain a shop is presented. However, the typical stereotype of a bad-tempered shop
keeper is defied; when Rogers wife comes in to ask if they had any coriander, he kindly offered a free
bunch to her without expecting anything in return. This presents them to be very respectful and
challenges the stereotype of a modern Asian family in the modern 21st century.
Similarly, the Muslim culture is presented very stereo typically; an example of this is in one of the very
first couple of scenes when we are shown Ahmed (the shopkeeper) working in his shop and his son is
taking down magazines that contain pornographic images and placing then into a 'returns' box and he
says "it is my duty as a Muslim". This encourages the 'typical Muslim man' stereotype because they do
not condone women or images of women to be dressed inappropriately and derogatorily. The
representation presented here further reinforces the Islam culture and portrays their ethics and
morals as well as their dedication to their religion. We are also shown Ahmed and his family having
dinner at the dining table together, while his wife is on face time nagging at him and the children;
although she is nagging, there is an element of love and care. On the other hand, not once do the
audience see Roger and his family having dinner or any family time at all; this shows the difference
between a man who is family orientated and money orientated.
Another representation is of African immigrants, who works exceptionally hard to bring in a pay check
as a parking warden; Capital reflects the issue with immigrants and asylum workers very accurately in
terms of presenting the struggles they go through to make money. Quentina (the asylum worker)
works as a parking warden where she is payed off the books; however, she is taken advantage of. As
she reports back to the person she is working for after a long day’s shift, Quentina earns £300 but is
only paid £200 because the guy took his commission. As well as being rinsed of her money she worked
hard for, there are also aspects of sexual abuse/ harassment as her boss told her to give her a kiss on
the cheek before she was given the money. This reflects the concerns of modern 21st century London
life because many people must work illegally to survive in comparison to the like of Roger who stresses
about losing large amounts of money in bonuses after receiving a large pay rate per annum.
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