Capital: Representation questions

To what extent do the representations in Capital reflect the concerns of modern 21st century London life? [25 marks]


To some extent I agree that the representations in Capital reflects the concerns of the modern 21st century London life. Capital provides us with a range of representations that vary because of people’s social class, ethnicity and wealth. These representations focus on some concerns such as immigration, wealth and job security.

Within the opening scene of the flash back, the audience are shown Petunia’s past and how things have changed since then. The passing of time suggests how society has changed and developed over the years and how London is now made up of several different cultures. London is presented as quite diverse and accepting of people with different backgrounds and suggests that this is because of the increase of immigration. During the opening scene, Petunia mistakes Ahmed’s ethnicity which suggest that the representation of Asian people is often stereotyped by other ethnicities. This links back to Richard Dyer’s theory of stereotyping and power where those with more power stereotype those with less power. We can also link this back to Medhurst’s theory of stereotypes and how he suggests stereotyping is shorthand for identification and tells the audience a lot of information in a short amount of time. However, stereotyping can be seen as a positive as in the show we see the ‘Kamal’ family dining together whilst having a contestation and skyping the mother who resides in Pakistan. This can show a strong familial bond and links to Perkins theory that some stereotypes are correct and not necessarily portrayed in a negative light.

Capital shows many concerns of modern 21st century London life such as sexism and the inequality between the working class and the upper class. We can refer to the scene with the character, ‘roger’ who is a white male working in central London at an upscale trading firm, that is predominantly white males and a only a small handful are females. Rogers main concern is his bonus and how he has only received a sum of £30,000 out of his £1 million bonus. The scenario with the other character and Quentina is completely opposite, where she is a Zimbabwean illegal worker who is trying to earn a living. The situation with Quentina is also a case sexism as she is illegally working but in order to receive the meagre £300 she has earned she is harassed and coerced in to giving the man who is paying her a kiss. Even after she gives him the kiss, she still does not receive all the money she has earned, £100 is taken off as the man has increased his commission for allowing her to work illegally.

This still shows concerns of modern day London life as women are still not seen equal to men despite it being in the 21st century and also refers back to Daniel Chandler’s theory that people are defined by their Class, Age, Gender and Ethnicity. 

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