Representation of Britain

Britain represented in the media

Britain is stereo-typically known and associated to things like The Queen, drinking tea and eating a full English for breakfast. But in the media these stereotypes are constructed to create a perception of what it is like to be British and what Britain is like. These perceptions and stereotypes are created through the media through different types of media, for example on the Visit Britain has images of different locations in Britain that contain historical buildings that would be recognizable for anyone who doesn't live in Britain, the website have done this as a advertising technique as they are wanting people to visit Britain through their website so they want to make it seem appealing and tranquil as it would need to be to appeal to its target audience of potential British tourists. This text also highlights the opinion of the producer of the text as they would see Britain as a old fashioned and tranquil place which is why they would choice to use this representation.

Britain's are represented in the media also for example the TV documentary series 'Skint' shows some of the poorest people in Britain and the awful living conditions they live in with next to no more or food. The representation is constructed through mediation as it is a minority of British citizens being shown and they are a select few who have been organised and focused on by the producer of the text. This documentary series causes a stereotype to arise as it keeps the focus on a minority but shows them as if they are the majority of the UK's population, which would cause people to believe that the UK is a poor place as the vast majority of its citizens live in poor conditions and are 'skint'. This would provoke a reaction from the audience as they would choice to either reject the text and see that the people in the show are selected or take the preferred reading and accept the producers ideology.

Another media text that represents Britain is the film 'Harry Brown', the film shows suburban Britain on the streets and shows violent adolescents who carry around guns around and participate in violent acts. This film uses a ideology as it shows a selected stereotypical group of people to the viewers of the film, the group of people being shown are the stereotypical teenager but taken to a extreme, for example the anti social behavior. This film would enhance the already stereotype of teenagers behavior but add a more dramatic spin as it is intended for the film with them being drug deals with guns and knives. This stereotype makes it easier for the audience to recognize with and makes the characters more believable because the characters are based of a already existing stereotype.

British celebrities also represent Britain, for example Katie Hopkins is a well known celebrity all around Britain for being so controversial. Katie has featured on many mainstream talk shows like 'This Morning' discussing popular topics and giving her opinion. She would be considered as posh as she talks in a very posh tone and speaks a very clean English. It is debatable if she is a good or bad representation of Britain as she with holds the stereotypes of the British female and is a very strong woman but is also very controversial and hypocritical due to some of her ideologies. But Katie herself represents British citizens as her personality is reflected onto the British public.



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