Stuart Hall

http://www.thechronicle.demon.co.uk/tomsite/8_6_1rev.htm

A detailed and insightful webpage on Stuart Hall and his theory about how UK media fuelled race prejudice. He discusses the importance of the actual media organisations and how it does not take a few ethnic minority people on the screens to eradicate the prejudice and vast amount of stereotypes that circulate our society. An endless debate? I think so.

The most Powerful Asians in the Media

http://media.guardian.co.uk/mediaguardian/story/0,,1396802,00.html
The most Powerful Asians in the media...
Such an article must suggest that Asians do have a say perhaps it's just not the right 'liberal' views that should be circulated. Or perhaps the article has been created merely to conceal the fact that compared to the ethnic minority population the amount of 'powerful asians in the media' are greatly disproportionate.

However, Meera Syal is number 2...given that recognition could possibly reflect the content of her shows such as Goodness Gracious Me, Anite and Me and Life isn't all ha ha hee hee. Perhaps the way she represented the characters and subverted the stereotypes by creating people the audience could 'identify' and 'empathise' with (evident from BBC reviews) suggests Syal has demonstrated a somewhat accurate form of representation of Asians.

http://media.guardian.co.uk/mediaguardian/story/0,,1859506,00.html (Why minorities feel marginalised?)

Whilst researching i've come across this journalist..Sunny Hundal.. who is the editor of Asians in Media and writes for the Guardian and The Independent. He has also written the above thorough and analytical article
..."The news media must stop seeing themselves as mainstream and others as 'niche' if they want a bigger ethnic minority audience.."
..." "We are fighting for crumbs, despite how long we've been here and how much we've contributed to this country.."
And that's not the first time i'v heard someone say that.

http://www.asiansinmedia.org/news/article.php/television/1232

My comment

Survey shows that Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, black Caribbeans, black African, Chinese, mixed-race and other non-white groups have expressed a deep feeling of under representation on terrestrial channels. Perhaps with the increasingly popular channels such as Zee TV terrestrial channels such as BBC and ITV feel there is no room for contest against channels which cater specifically for ethnic minorities. But then again many first and second generations have been through the f0rmal English/British education system thus being a potential audience for terrestrial channels to reach out to. However, with the touchy subject of ethics and whole dissatisfaction with misrepresentation it is not surprising that terrestrial channels do not produce more or even enough programmes to satisfy ethnic minority audiences.

An intersting article on Asians in Media magazine online about the BBC and how the content of especially newsreels are more entertaining than informative.
..."The viewer loses out by being exposed to an uninformative and deliberately sensationalist charade."
Does this mean that 'life isn't all ha ha hee hee" was too part of nothing but mere entertainment? If it is interpreted in this way; the institution may be considered irrelevant since
..."across our media landscape the tone of analysis has become increasingly frenzied as commentators are encouraged not to inform their readers or sit on the fence but instead play to their prejudices."...
If 'neutral' reportage of news has come to this what can we expect from drama series and the extent of accuracy in the representation of ethnicity and class it depicts?

http://www.asiansinmedia.org/news/article.php/television/1467

Via the med 5 tags i came across "Race - Definitions of Key Race Relations Terms." It significantly discusses that race is predominantly a "social construct" (meaning a social phenomenon or category created and developed by society; a perception of an individual, group, or idea that is `constructed' through cultural or social practice).

This links in directly with my debate about stereotypes which are presented/not presented in 'Life isn't all ha ha hee hee' possibly resulting in the fact that no film/television series could ever present a race accurately because stereotypes are a mental model- ingrained in our way of thinking from a young age perpetuated by parents/educators/media itself e.t.c

http://racerelations.about.com/od/skillsbuildingresources/g/racedef.htm

Clips from all 3 epsiodes

Have a look at some clips from the drama series so you can make more of an informed and personal decision about the representation of Asians without my bias.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/hahaheehee/episodeguide.shtml

Terminology and theroies

Chomsky, Noam (1928-)
US academic who is recently associated with a radical neo-Marxist critique of US society and the manipulative power of global media organisations. He sees the relationship between profit-seeking media organisations and governments as one of mutual interest in supporting the status quo and this acts as a form of social control. 80% of the population are kept happy by a diet of popular texts such as soap operas, celeb gossip, spotrt and light entertainment.

How does Chomsky's critique relate to my study?
If 'Life isn't all ha ha hee hee' is part of 'popular media texts such as soap operas..' it may be considered as part of supporting the status quo and dominant ideology thus acting as a form of social control. Furthermore, this confirms that the representation of Asians in the drama series are limited and confirms public opinion of Asian culture via the humour used merely enhancing existing stereotypes to ensure they remain pigeonholed and dont break out of their 'false class consciousness'- issues portrayed such as friendship and betrayal diverts attention from the fact that they are part of the aspiring 'proletariat.'

Stuart Hall (1932)
A leading academic figure in culture studies theory..highlights how dominant ideology is reinforced. His 1970s studies of the representation of face on British TV have been the basis of debate on positive, negative or non-existent representations. Hall proposed a decoding/encoding model where the meaning of a text is framed by the produced and decoded by readers in line with their own background and circumstances.

How does Stuart Hall's theory relate to my study?
Hall is perhaps one of very few who has studied the link between race and representation. His focus on postive and negative representations is directly relevant to my study. Furthermore, his theory on the 'racial clown' whereby a tried and tested formula is used to present a typical stereotype who is easily laughed at because of the recognised traits of the character is also present in Life isn't all ha ha hee hee.

Active Audience Theory
In active theories, the beliefs, values, social and education background and life experiences audiences bring to a text are seen as influencing the way they accept, negotiate or challenge the preferred reading.

How does the active audience theory relate ot my study?
Prior research has shown that Meera Syal being comfortable with her dual identity was keen to break away from pigeonholed representations especially the 'Asian' tag so to what extent has Syal successfully represented Asian characters in such a light? Has she achieved the preferred reading or has the use of cliches and formulaic storylines to ensure identification with the characters meant the drama series was not far off from the Ferrairas?

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
The principal public service broadcasting organisation in the UK..it's become a more commercially minded organisation in the last 10 years, openly competing in the market place despite its remit to inform, educate and entertain

How does the BBC relate to my study?
BBC is the instiution that distrubited 'Life isn't all ha ha hee hee' and therefore is vital in looking at how the remit has functioned and affected the audiences' response to the series and the characters in it. It is the BBC's duty to give a well informed and accurate picture of all that is shown..so to what extent have they fulfilled this obligation?

Empathy
The ability to share the emotions or point of view of a group or individual which is encouraged by a shared experience rather than sympathising from a detached postion.

How does the idea of empathy relate to my study?
Many BBC reviews has shown that many viewers related and empathised with the characters despite their ethnic origin since the social experiences and issues were similiar thus encouraging empathy. However, if the representation of 'Asians' is to some extent not accuarate and relfective of reality it can result in alienation-the complete opposite.

My comments

Puja: http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33648322&postID=115763193274785050

Raspreet: http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33842838&postID=115801536442577556

Harveen: http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33962213&postID=11576496258855861

Shreena: http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=34086644&postID=115775216278527714

Jatinder: http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33375295&postID=115827117724107257&isPopup=true

Meera says..

"We wanted to do something fresh and contemporary, getting away from this assumption that anything feauring us [Asians] has to be issue based, which is why the focus is very much on universal emotional experiences like friendship, marriage, betrayal, motherhood and especially the changing landscape of male-female relationships."

http://www.asiansinmedia.org/news/article.php/television/818

Social, Political and Economical context all-in-one

The effect of 9/11, 7/7 and other attempted terroism attacks has undoubetdly caused injustice and misrepresentation of British 'Asians.' Due to the collective noun 'Asian' it has meant every brown-skinned person is ignorantly placed into the category of extreme terrorists. Nonetheless, i'd like to think the majority of British citizens dont think this way but unfortunately some do. With racist attacks soaring up to 600% after terrosim attacks..to what extent have drama series such as 'Life isn't all ha ha hee hee' subverted such stereotypes?

The following are a few quotes from http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/2006/452/index.html?id=mp4.htm disccussing the impact it has had on British Asians.

OpPrEsSiOn... "In reality, Bush's regime did so partly to increase its prestige in the wake of 9/11 by flexing its military might, but also to follow the dream of cheap oil for US imperialism."

"Blair has enthusiastically supported every nuance of US foreign policy to a greater extent that any previous British prime minister. This has inevitably had a particular effect on British Muslims."

"The vast majority of Muslims in Britain are completely opposed to terrorist attacks. Nonetheless, the increase in the tiny numbers who not only support, but are prepared to take part in, such plots, is directly linked to the US and British imperialism's brutal policies."

"British Muslims have also suffered an increase in prejudice, with racism increasingly being expressed in 'anti-Islam' terms."

"Immediately after the 7/7 bombings there was a 600% increase in racist attacks. Every Muslim, and person who might be 'seen as Muslim', must now fear that the latest alleged plot will lead to another rise in racism."

"All about Meera"
Meera's 'comfortable dual identity' has had a profound impact on Asian representation via the media having written and starred in various projects such as 'Anita and me' and 'Bhaji on the beach.' An article (of which i will paste extracts) in the Observer, 2002 is overall positive but it will be interesting to analyse how her career and previous work affected the outcome of 'Life isn't all ha ha hee hee.'

All about Meera
The Wolverhampton-born novelist, playwright and TV star is the feisty face of multicultural Britain. Now she could even bring Lloyd Webber luck
Akin Ojumu Sunday June 16, 2002 The Observer

Meera Syal's career demonstrates the dramatic impact British Asians have made on popular culture over the past few years. The actress, novelist and screenwriter is at the forefront of a wave of second generation British Asians, born in the Sixties, seemingly comfortable and confident with their dual identity. They include musicians such as Talvin Singh and Nitin Sawnhey, playwright Ayub Khan-Din (East is East), filmmaker Gurinder Chadha (Bend it like Beckham) and actor Sanjeev Bhaskar (Goodness Gracious Me). Of these, Syal is the most prominent and is enjoying a banner year.
She has already appeared in two BBC comedy series, The Kumars at No 42 and All About Me, while Anita and Me, the film based on her semi-autobiographical novel (she also wrote the screenplay) will be released this year.

Interest in British Asian culture has reached critical mass - which means more than that everyone just likes a curry these days. It marks the long-overdue recognition for a section of society that has often been the victim of lazy stereotyping. After the breakthroughs in the world of music in the Nineties and epitomised by the success of Goodness Gracious Me and East is East, interest in contemporary British Asian lives has never been greater. When Syal took her place in the jubilee celebrations, she played a part in telegraphing the message that here was a nation seemingly proud of its broad heritage.
Part of Syal's universal appeal is that she is accessible and non-confrontational. Unlike the more literary Hanif Kureishi, her two novels, Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee and Anita and Me, deal lightheartedly with the clash between Indian values and liberal British society. Her comedy is based on a mixture of debunking myths and poking fun at Indian traditions.

But the woman credited with helping to create the 'Asian comedy' genre bristles at the suggestion that she has made a career out of her background. 'I don't want to be known as an Asian personality,' she said recently. In fact, as a British woman of Indian descent, she is wary of the 'Asian' tag. 'I hate the term "Asian",' she said. 'It's something you end up saying because it's been used as our collective noun for so long.'

While critics raved, some commentators expressed reservations. 'I hope people aren't laughing at us rather than with us. If you are Asian, you take a completely different set of messages from it,' said author Yasmin Alibhai-Brown. There is also the danger that 'Asian comedy' has become something of a cliché.

The same strain of humour is present in The Kumars at No 42, a spoof chat show featuring an aspirant Parky constantly embarrassed by his tactless family. While the Kumars counts as a success, her BBC sitcom All About Me, featuring Syal and Jasper Carrott as a mixed-race couple, was unfunny and out of date, sparking fears that she was doing too much.

My comment

Is 'Asian' comedy becoming too cliche? A few BBC reviews thought the same thing..but surely 'life isn't all ha ha hee hee' wasn't presenting the struggling 'Asian' trying to conform to British culture but rather showed 'Asian' women as normal people who dealt with a dual identity and that wasn't the forefront issue but rather everyday trials and tribulations which people from all different walks of life can relate to (evident from BBC reviews).

Syal has definetly been a figurehead in presenting 'Asian' culture in a lighthearded way but perhaps 'life isn't all ha ha hee hee' is the icing on the cake now. With the tried and tested 'racial clown' and overt dissapproval from members of Asian family..Syal should move away from coating serious issues with humour but perhaps move with times and look at how 9/11 and the London bombings have affected the lives of British Asians. Just like British social realism films and dramas such as 'Billy Elliot' reached its peak in the 90s perhaps all Asian-cast dramas have reached theirs too unless another formula is created.

The Ferreiras.. permanent damage??

We all know that that the BBC has a remit to inform and educate above all but why is it that when the Ferrerias came on the scene in July 2003 they were branded as "unbelievable and unrealistic?" With a prime opportunity to set a few records straight about ambigious topics such as religion and race..it ended up as a complete farce. Here's an extract from the media guardian to confirm the damage it did..

Ferreiras kicked out of EastEnders
Jason Deans, broadcasting editorThursday October 14, 2004

The Ferreiras, the EastEnders family branded "unbelievable and unrealistic" by Asian viewers, have been axed in one of the first moves to turn around the struggling soap by new executive producer Kathleen Hutchison.

The most damning verdict, however, came from Asian viewers surveyed by online magazine Britainsasianassets.com earlier this year.
"The Ferreiras? Crap, unbelievable characters, negative storylines, totally unrealistic," one 20-year-old student told the survey.
A twentysomething female journalist added: "Shoot them all. None of them can act. They don't look like a family. How do you get a Tariq, a Ronnie, a Kareena and an Ash in one family? And Ferreira, how does that add up? It's lazy casting."

"Tariq is a muslim name, Kareena is Hindu, Ash is a bit of a catch-all - it could be Muslim or Hindu - and Ronnie, where does that come from? Plus they have a Portugese surname, so why aren't they Catholic?" said barrister Rehna Azim, who conducted the survey.

The house possession storyline was also criticised by Asian viewers in the poll who said repossession is unlikely in Asian culture where extended family would step into the breach.

However, former EastEnders executive producer Louise Berridge, who introduced the Ferreiras in July 2003, said her team had conducted two years' research before introducing the Asian family.

How did the rise and fall of the Ferreiras effect "Life isn't all ha ha hee hee?"
The BBC sure had a greater obligation to prove to viewers; especially 'Asian' viewers that they could do a decent job in representing Asians better..somehow i don't think using accurate is the right word to use. Therefore it is not surprising that "Life isn't all ha ha hee hee" was more of a success than the Ferreiras.. it was clearly more thought out and i guess it helped with Meera Syal being the director and writer. However was it enough to repair the damage that the Asian community suffered at the hands of the Ferreiras?

Hindus say it's time to ditch the Asian tag
By Ruth Gledhill , Religion Correspondent

They feel neglected and marginalised and yearn to be understood as a community
HINDUS living in Britain do not want to be described as “Asian”, according to a big study of the community.

Instead, they want to be known as British Indian, Hindu — or even Desi, a Hindi word growing in popularity with the young that means being rooted in one’s home country. At the time of the 2001 Census the Hindu population in Britain had reached nearly 550,000.


The report, Connecting British Hindus, to be published in the Commons today, was funded by the Government and carried out by the Runnymede Trust and the Hindu Forum.

It found concern about a “general assumption” that any brown-skinned Asian person was Muslim and shows that Hindus feel neglected, marginalised and misunderstood.

One example is their funeral traditions. One Hindu says in the report: “Our rituals take two hours and crematoria do not have the time, facilities or space for these rituals. We are trying to build a crematorium, but the planning permission needs to be given.”

Another example was the large number of hospitals that will provide halal but not vegetarian Hindu food.

Lord Parekh, who is a Hindu, writes in the report that the community is politically “invisible” because it makes “few noises when confronted with injustices”. He says that British Hindus, drawn mainly from Asia and East Africa, have quietly concentrated on building their careers, holding families together and nurturing their children’s education.

In three generations, he says, they have risen to senior positions in most of the professions and have a larger middle class than any other ethnic minority except the Jewish community. Yet only two MPs are Hindu.

Although relations with other communities are described as excellent, “those with Muslims leave much to be desired”, the Labour peer says.

The researchers interviewed more than 120 people in focus groups, carried out an online survey of nearly 700 and conducted telephone interviews.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2264215.html

My comment

Such research has shown that members of the Hindu community feel injustices regarding their representation and even though the matter may seem small (ditching the Asian tag); it's what creates their sense of identity. In many respects "Life isn't all ha ha hee hee" has overcome the 'Asian tag' but perhaps only to the 'Asian' community itself since the BBC reviews are evident of the fact that people are more than happy to cateogrise all brown skinned people into 'Asian' rather than make the effort to differentiate and thus allow various religions to have their own seperate identity. Interesting.

At first i thought..where do i start? But i made the right choice by having a look at the BBC website where i stumbled across heaps of reviews with.. controversial and contrasing views. It's been amazingly useful to get my head around the whole representation issue and here are some following comments which to me really stood out...

above Tania (Laila Rouass)


"I'm not Asian but I really don't think that mattered...It was very moving but ultimately encouraging. It does make you realise how fickle things are and how powerful the emotion of motherhood is too."

"It was a stereotypical Indian story and it lacked depth. Unfortunately it was void of any moral message, had no class or taste and gave the impression that Indian lives are based on immorality, broken relationships, and sex."

"I am of African origin and I loved the programme. We watched it as a family and we identified with the whole show...The depth of each main character I thought was well portrayed by all the actors, that when it finished, I really thought I had lost some friends."

" Meera seems to be able to look into our society, and the Asian community in this country, and really show, with all honesty, what it is like for an Asian Brit woman, living and growing up in this country."

"A fabulous, cliché-free end to a stunning drama. Entertaining in every way from comedy to sadness and back again. As a white man dating an Indian woman, it has been an additional benefit to see many of the barriers and issues we experience in our relationship being dispelled in public. Please use this drama as a benchmark for all future commissioning."

"This isn't about just Asian women. This is about women and the situations and dilemmas they could face regardless of their race."

"To me it doesn't say anything about the Asian community as the story seemed contrived and totally unrealistic"

"Why do people think that if there is an Asian story it is meant to represent Asians on a whole. Surely not all white people are like the Millers from EastEnders."

"What a contrivance! A string of cliches, Spice Girls' feminism, unconvincing 2D characters, trite dialogue, predictable plotting..It completely lacked any subtlety or sophistication in its desperation to get every possible "issue" in the story."


"I found the community issue particularly interesting: the women trying to escape pigeonholing as "Asian" as if that was the only category that could describe them."

"It's a shame to see British Asian stereotypes portrayed and rehashed in this manner..lets show more balanced South Asian identities, more pluralities. We need something fresh not Syal's tried and tested formulas."

"We are indian, not aliens. Most Indian women have the depth of character to be English and Indian in a healthy balance. This series undermines British Indian women greatly, and as there are very few representatives of our culture in the media I feel let down."

My comment

Clearly there's a vast mixture of opinion from members of public who posted reviews on the BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/hahaheehee/yourreviews.shtml) which range from a celebration of "accurate representation" or contrastingly an absolute disgust and often disappoint in another "cliche ridden" drama series. Just from reading a few reviews it has made me realise just how complicated this debate is and it's not even coming from an academic perspective..it's sure been insightful!

“Finally a programme that represents Asians properly.”
How accurately are Asians represented in “Life isn’t all ha ha hee hee?”


In many respects “Life isn’t all ha ha hee hee” was the first drama series (May 2005) which did not represent Asians in stereotyped and clichéd ways (evident from BBC reviews). However, after thorough analysis this may too seem inaccurate since with an attempt to make Asians look ‘normal’ it may have resulted in superficiality of the characters. Therefore, by investigating the accuracy of such representations considering all the wider contexts should prove to be an interesting independent study.


Media language: The format being a drama series would mean a majority of close up/medium shots to demonstrate the gripping emotional side of the drama since it portrays a tale of betrayal, forgiveness and ultimately friendship.

Institution: BBC-remit of entertain, inform and educate. Has the obligation to represent Asians accurately-does it?

Genre: drama series adapted from Meera Syal’s bestselling novel- tale of friendship and shocking betrayal, conventions include twists, vast amounts of empathy and sympathy and use of cliffhangers in order to increase the anticipation of the next episode.

Representation: Many argue that the drama is relevant to all people despite ethnic origin however ultimately it’s an all-Indian cast. Does the drama employ positive/negative stereotypes, does it try too hard to demonstrate that Asians are fully integrated into society or does it actually succeed in breaking away from pigeonholed representations?

Audience: Primary-Asians Secondary- All other ethnic groups-attempts to break into mainstream, shown after watershed so was aimed at older audiences.

Ideology and values: Postmodernism, feminist, patriarchy and Marxist-dominant ideologies.

Narrative: Todorov-twists and cliffhangers.

Social context: does the programme show that Asians have embraced British culture, role of women-rise of Feminism. Multicultural society-acceptability of such a programme.
Historical context: influx of Asians in the 60s-have stereotypes changed or are they relative (postmodern)?
Economical context: Brown pound, the funding of Asian lifestyle dramas.
Political context: The role of the labour party-more integration and opportunity to climb the occupational ladder. Perhaps programme reflects political mood of Britain; uncertainty?

Other texts: “Anita and Me,” “East is East,” “Bradford Riots,” “Goodness Gracious me” and “Bend it like Beckham.”

Theorists/theory: Laura Mulvey, Marxist (oppression of Asians via capitalist/dominant ideology), Feminism-liberation/oppression, Patriarchy in Asian culture, 'racial clown'- Stuart Hall.