Cultural Hegonomy

Cultural hegemony, a concept developed by Italian scholar and activist Antonio Gramsci, refers to domination, or rule, achieved through ideological (cultural) means. The term refers to the ability of a group of people to hold power over social institutions, and thus, to strongly influence the everyday thoughts, expectations, and behavior of the rest of society by directing the normative ideas, values, and beliefs that become the dominant worldview of a society.

Hotel Babylon- Mise en Scené

 One way in which the director chose to use Mise En Scené in order for us to sympathise with Ibrahim is through the use of the prop the hoover. The hoover is a significant object as it represents Ibrahim's character. When the camera cuts to the hoover left on the floor, this tells the audience how Ibrahim will be remembered as a cleaner, rather than a person. The use of the metonymic shot tilting down onto the hoover also shows how though he is working hard and putting in the effort for his job, he is still going to prison for it and being taken away.

The workers are seen wearing maroon jumpsuits, whereas the white people are seen wearing suits and heavy makeup. This shows the difference in social class due to the colour of their skin. This represents the white people as high class, rich and presentable, whereas the other ethic groups are seen in basic clothing, and as outcasts.

Furthermore, when the immigrants are rushing to the stock room there is a sense of sympathy from the audience as they are obliged to feel tense as they want the immigrants to avoid getting captured. The immigrants rush down to the stock room in which they are enclosed in a small room to hide. The small room downstairs is out of the way which reinforces the representation of the immigrants being below the white people as the white people are upstairs in the hotel, with lots of space. This makes the audience sympathise with the hiding immigrants.

The use of facial expressions also helps represent race during this clip. When the immigrant officers arrive, the white woman on the desk speaks calmly and presentably by smiling and has open body language. In contrast, the hotel workers show signs of nervousness as they tremble on their words and also have a worried and tensed facial expression. This shows how the white manager feels superior to the other workers because she is the same colour as the officers and does not need to worry about being arrested.

When Jackie is clearing out Ibrahim's locker, the audience sympathise with him being arrested through the use of the music and also the photographs of his family and football club. When Jackie removes the photographs, this presents to the audience that he is now alone as his only family were the other immigrants. The director has done this to show how the closeness of the immigrants is like a family because they all stay together with fear that they could be taken away from the officers at any moment.

Love Thy Neighbour

Love Thy Neighbour- Race and Ethnicity




Race is presented to the audience in many different ways in Love Thy Neighbour. From the start the behavioural of the white characters is that they see themselves as a high status and highly educated. One way this is portrayed is through the clothing they are wearing as he is wearing a well fitted suit, and the woman is in a matching two piece and is seen knitting.

Furthermore, racial discrimination is portrayed in this episode when the white man has returned from shaking the hand of a potential prime minister and the black man shakes his hand. The reaction of the the black man's actions from the white man is "you have contaminated my hand" this suggests that the white man see's the black man as dirty, almost like a germ. The thoughtful and welcoming actions from the black man were criticised by the white man, this shows racial prejudice. Racial comments are repeated during this episode, for example, when the white man says to his wife, "you may need to buy monkey nuts" and "descended from the jungle" when talking about the evolution of "black" people. This presents the white race as people who feel they are more superior and special than black people. Additionally, this idea is portrayed also through the comments from the white man when he questions how the black man feels wearing a suit. This suggests that white people thought that they were only at a high class and therefore only they could wear suits and be presented smartly.

However, the black man does not challenge the racial comments. He confronts the white man and explains how he is not surprised by the white mans opinions on black people because he is "conditioned by society" to support the discrimination of black people. This allows the audience to understand that black people during 1970's were seen by outcasts by white people.

Overall, the ideology from this programme is that white people were the "norm" of society, whereas the black people were discriminated against, and were not treated the same way white people were during this time. This is presented also when the black man tries to emphasise to the white man the discrimination of black people when he challenges him to a bet that they will not serve him at a pub due to his skin colour. This programme allows the audience to become aware of the differences of treatment between black and white people during the 1970's. This episode makes us sympathise with the black character as he was only trying to be nice from the start, however, because of his skin colour he is not accepted in everyday society.

Race and Ethinicity