TV: Assessment
“Realism is a vital component of television drama”. To what extent does an analysis of your television close-study products support this view? [25 marks]
Realism is often used in Film and TV to give the audience a true indication of what life is like which engages the audience as they can identify with the characters and setting or can be used for gaining knowledge about a time or place.
Some may argue that realism is a vital component in television drama as if the drama is unrealistic or lacking key components in props,clothes,setting etc it will make the audience not want to watch the show. This is shown in Deutschland 83 as it has been praised for its accuracy when portraying historical and cultural components of Germany in 1983. The show uses an accurate depiction of costume,props and setting making the military uniform as realistic as possible as well as the East Germany houses and clothes of the friends and family was accurate as it establishes how class,culture and gender were represented then.It was important to recreate how Germany was at the time as realistically as possible so audiences can use the series not only as entertainment but also education and costume and props are a big part of trying to recreate that image.
Additionally, the supermarket scene in West Germany was an accurate depiction of how modern West Germany was due to the variety of options of food and it was portrayed in a manner that was glorifying the west. The show also uses music,audio codes and dialogue that represent West and East Germany clearly. For instance the dialogue between Martin's mother and aunt mirror the contrast, this is evident when the aunt brings brings her sister coffee and she was very surprised and pleased with it which highlights the lack of luxuries and variety of products in the east. The music and audio codes evokes a sense of nostalgia to the 80s and the show teaches the audience about history in an interesting and engaging way. This is also shown by the series German viewership decreasing from 3.19 million viewers in the beginning of the series to just 1.63 million views on the last episode showing that realism is an important component of television drama.
It could be argued that realism is not a vital component in television dramas as there are many parts in Deutschland 83 that are exaggerated or are just fiction and not based on true events. This is shown in the spy drama elements in the show which are used to engage people to continue watching the show. The show was targeting younger audiences so just the historical elements of the Cold War may not have have interested thus the use of the Spy genre. The voice over and the scenes in the training montage mirror the James Bond movies because of the props,fast paced editing and music. All of this was used despite it not being realistic which shows that it is not a vital component and audiences still watched the series. Additionally, the series was criticised for its use of stereotypes of Stasi soldiers presenting them as cruel and corrupt this deducts from the shows realism but the show was still popular globally suggesting that realism is not that important as long as the show is interesting and engaging.
The TV show Capital is a state of the nation drama due to it depicting the real life problems that people faced in London at the time. The show provides realism as it presents problems like immigration, housing problems, crime and the economic crash that people were living with. It reflects the diversity of London as well as the constant contrast of people's lives. For instance, one of the characters, Roger is a white middle class wealthy man. The audience are given an insight into his life and it seems as though that his main problem is whether or not he will receive a bonus from work . Roger's wife is presented as materialistic and unappreciative. The binary opposite of this is Quentina who is a refugee looking for asylum and money to live. This puts into perspective how different people are living and the diversity of London. Another example of how the show uses realism is the depiction of the Ahmed family's convenience store and how realistic it looks as the audience would be able to look at it and feel a sense of familiarity. Moreover, the work in the city scene provides realism because of the scene of the tube which is presented as busy and fast paced and most Londoners' would be able to relate to this and have a sense of personal identity.
On the other hand, there are aspects of Capital that lack realism and the characters are overly exaggerated, suggesting that realism is not a vital component. Capital reinforces Asian/Muslim stereotypes when the father makes a joke that hints at terrorism which portrays this family negatively. The show makes it seem like terrorism and dark topics like that are a part of Muslims casual conversations when in fact this is not true and gives Muslims a bad reputation and reinforces negative stereotypes. Additionally, the show feeds the stereotype of the upper/middle class due to the representation of Roger and Arabella making them seem like they lack substance as they are only presented as materialistic and privileged.
In conclusion, i do not think that realism is a vital part of television drama as both Deutschland 83 and Capital lack realism but still manage to have audiences that watch the show. However, i think there should be aspects of realism for educational purposes and so audiences can have the audience pleasure of surveillance.
Realism is often used in Film and TV to give the audience a true indication of what life is like which engages the audience as they can identify with the characters and setting or can be used for gaining knowledge about a time or place.
Some may argue that realism is a vital component in television drama as if the drama is unrealistic or lacking key components in props,clothes,setting etc it will make the audience not want to watch the show. This is shown in Deutschland 83 as it has been praised for its accuracy when portraying historical and cultural components of Germany in 1983. The show uses an accurate depiction of costume,props and setting making the military uniform as realistic as possible as well as the East Germany houses and clothes of the friends and family was accurate as it establishes how class,culture and gender were represented then.It was important to recreate how Germany was at the time as realistically as possible so audiences can use the series not only as entertainment but also education and costume and props are a big part of trying to recreate that image.
Additionally, the supermarket scene in West Germany was an accurate depiction of how modern West Germany was due to the variety of options of food and it was portrayed in a manner that was glorifying the west. The show also uses music,audio codes and dialogue that represent West and East Germany clearly. For instance the dialogue between Martin's mother and aunt mirror the contrast, this is evident when the aunt brings brings her sister coffee and she was very surprised and pleased with it which highlights the lack of luxuries and variety of products in the east. The music and audio codes evokes a sense of nostalgia to the 80s and the show teaches the audience about history in an interesting and engaging way. This is also shown by the series German viewership decreasing from 3.19 million viewers in the beginning of the series to just 1.63 million views on the last episode showing that realism is an important component of television drama.
It could be argued that realism is not a vital component in television dramas as there are many parts in Deutschland 83 that are exaggerated or are just fiction and not based on true events. This is shown in the spy drama elements in the show which are used to engage people to continue watching the show. The show was targeting younger audiences so just the historical elements of the Cold War may not have have interested thus the use of the Spy genre. The voice over and the scenes in the training montage mirror the James Bond movies because of the props,fast paced editing and music. All of this was used despite it not being realistic which shows that it is not a vital component and audiences still watched the series. Additionally, the series was criticised for its use of stereotypes of Stasi soldiers presenting them as cruel and corrupt this deducts from the shows realism but the show was still popular globally suggesting that realism is not that important as long as the show is interesting and engaging.
The TV show Capital is a state of the nation drama due to it depicting the real life problems that people faced in London at the time. The show provides realism as it presents problems like immigration, housing problems, crime and the economic crash that people were living with. It reflects the diversity of London as well as the constant contrast of people's lives. For instance, one of the characters, Roger is a white middle class wealthy man. The audience are given an insight into his life and it seems as though that his main problem is whether or not he will receive a bonus from work . Roger's wife is presented as materialistic and unappreciative. The binary opposite of this is Quentina who is a refugee looking for asylum and money to live. This puts into perspective how different people are living and the diversity of London. Another example of how the show uses realism is the depiction of the Ahmed family's convenience store and how realistic it looks as the audience would be able to look at it and feel a sense of familiarity. Moreover, the work in the city scene provides realism because of the scene of the tube which is presented as busy and fast paced and most Londoners' would be able to relate to this and have a sense of personal identity.
On the other hand, there are aspects of Capital that lack realism and the characters are overly exaggerated, suggesting that realism is not a vital component. Capital reinforces Asian/Muslim stereotypes when the father makes a joke that hints at terrorism which portrays this family negatively. The show makes it seem like terrorism and dark topics like that are a part of Muslims casual conversations when in fact this is not true and gives Muslims a bad reputation and reinforces negative stereotypes. Additionally, the show feeds the stereotype of the upper/middle class due to the representation of Roger and Arabella making them seem like they lack substance as they are only presented as materialistic and privileged.
In conclusion, i do not think that realism is a vital part of television drama as both Deutschland 83 and Capital lack realism but still manage to have audiences that watch the show. However, i think there should be aspects of realism for educational purposes and so audiences can have the audience pleasure of surveillance.
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