Representation of social class and status
- 2. Ruth Rosen, a 20 year old provisional police officer from a Romany background. Tina Fallon a 19 year old who loves horses and wants to be the first female jockey to win the Derby. A local girl, she’s been in trouble with the law before Eli Bray, a 23 year old young Romany man and brother . of the murdered boy with his dad in jail and his mother dead Janine Riley a young vet, a relative newcomer to the village. Janine loves animals and is extraordinarily good vet Dom Richards, 23 year old Assistant Trainer at the stables, not part of the gang but he’s attractive and cocky and vulnerable. Rob Kendle, 18 year old who is better looking than most, more socially at ease than most, though frequently gets entangled in situations he doesn’t quite understand
- 3. Throughout this TV series the audience can see a contrast between the jobs and occupations of the characters. This is shown when Ruth is wearing a police uniform which shows that she has a well paid job. In the scene when the police are interviewing some travellers we see the difference between classes and how the police think its acceptable to look down on the travellers because they think they have more power over them. However, in this scene we see Ruth comes down to one of the gypsy girls level to suggest that she is coming down to her level and wont let the hierarchy of social classes ruin the relation she has with this girl. We also see aside from these jobs certain characters have they like to enjoy life and let go of their worries by partying, drinking and having a good time with their friends. This is shown in the opening scene of the series where all the characters are being rebellious by jumping into the cyclone and playing tricks on each other although, later in the programme we learn they were under the influence of drugs which suggests why they were behaving in this way.
- 4. Linking to this as other characters are introduced we as the audience learn about their social class and status by the jobs and occupations they have. Tina- well educated because she is looking to apply for universities. Ruth- has a job in the police force which shows her social status is about the over characters in the series Janine- is a young vet which suggests she is well educated and comes from a good background Rob- is unemployed, still lives at home with his dad and spends all his money on either alcohol or drugs Dom- has the highest social status than the rest of the characters which is shown by him being able to afford a racehorse. This could partly be because he is older Eli- is poor as his mother died and dad is in jail. This suggests he has the lowest social status because he has no home as we see him sleeping in a horses stable although he does have a job.
- 5. Binary opposites in this series can be shown in the differences between higher classes and lower classes. There are binary opposites in the following: Police force and Travellers- shown when the police look down on the gypsies because they are higher in class and by their social status. Ruth and Tina- Ruth has a better well paid job than Tina does for people of their age as Ruth is working with the law and Tina just cares for horses. Ruth is also shown to have a higher social status because she has the money to afford to drive a car whereas Tina has little money which she has to give to her mum for financial problems and the only transport she has is her bike to ride. Rob and the other characters in the series- All the other characters in the series have jobs whereas Rob is the only character that is unemployed and because he lives with his dad it suggests the only money he gets is spent on drugs and alcohol. Ruth and Eli- Ruth has a career in the police and her own home and car whereas Eli might not have a home because his job isn’t well paid and we see him sleeping rough in a stable.
- 6. The characters which can be seen in the higher class through this programme is Ruth and Dom. We see Ruth can be in the higher class because she is in the police force which is a well respected job, requires good education and she has a higher social status than the other characters of her age. We as the audience can also see that Dom has a high social status because he orders Tina an Eli like they work for him. Linking to this, Dom also tells Tina to get of his ‘million pound racehorse’ which suggests he has a lot of money and a high social status by being able to afford a racehorse. Despite the age difference between these characters we see they are both in a higher social class than the rest of the characters and have a high social status which is represented in the jobs they do with Ruth in the police force for instance, and Dom has a higher social status than Ruth because of his ability to afford the best racehorse money can get.
- 7. Tina and Rob represent the lower class which is shown at the start of the programme. Most of the other characters are waking up and getting ready to work, whereas Tina and Rob are still in bed and not dressed. This suggests they are lazy and because Rob doesn’t have a job he influences Tina to stay at home with him. Also, the lower class of some characters are shown like when Tina and Rob steel a car. Common stereotypes of teenagers and young people around the age group of 18-20 year olds are based around young people who are unemployed and are more likely to commit crime In this episode some of the characters we see are travellers, a point of the differences between classes in this episode this is shown when the traveller girl is sat on the floor while the other police officers stand over and look their noses down on her. Ruth talks to the girl then comes down to her level to suggest that she sees them as equal citizens. This could be a way of representing the fact the travellers are lower class than the other characters and they are always being looked down on. From the differences in lower class and higher class is suggests that people in our society today are still judgemental towards those who are less fortunate than us and feel its acceptable to look down on those of a lower class because they feel they have more power and its acceptable behaviour. This is shown in Glue when the police force look down on the travellers and use inappropriate language but still expect them to help them with information on the murder.
- 8. The clothing worn by the characters of a higher class is a shirt, body warmer and smart trousers. This is represented in Dom’s clothing because he shows his wealth in the clothes he wears and the horses he owns. Also, the working class characters wear typical farmers wear including checked shirts, dungarees and dirty denim jeans. This shows they work hard and don’t care about their appearance. Although when these characters go out their clothes change and the appear to be more formal. The character Tina usually wears leggings and a vest top or plain T-shirt. This could give the impression that she doesn’t have a lot of money and can only afford cheap clothing. We also see Rob wears common teenager clothing including skinny jeans and a T-shirt. Although rob is unemployed he wears the same clothes as those in the working class which suggests he comes from a good background or he just spends his dads money. Ruth works for the police force and is the only characters of the young age group to go to a job that requires a uniform. Linking to this, we also learn Ruth has a young daughter who is ill. We see Ruth is the most mature out of all these characters because e has faced up to her responsibilities as a police officer and also as a mother.
- 9. In the scene when Tina and Eli ride the horses the director uses a low angle camera shot. This can represent the power these characters might feel (particularly Tina) as they are above everyone else on the horse and the camera angle makes them look bigger. Linking to this it makes them look like they are looking down on the audience, which could represent the fact that they could be of a higher class or feel they have power over other people who they don’t normally have power of. Establishing shots and longshots are used in a lot of the scene when they are on the farm. This allow the audience to become familiar with the landscape they live and work on, which shows there upper class. It also tells the audience that the whole of the series is set on this farm and the audience is familiar with the surroundings. Another camera shot of a close up on Eli represents the fact that he is of a lower class is when the audience sees him sleeping in the barn. The director uses a high camera shot to make the camera point down on him, which informs the audience he has little power and shows his vulnerability and weakness against other characters.