How has ethnicity been
represented in the Hotel Babilion clip?
Throughout the clip we
see many different ethnic stereotypes. One of which being the classic white
British. The white group are seen to be superior to the other groups by the way
they are presented and what jobs they do.
The main character who
shows this representation is the lady we first see at the reception in the
hotel. She is portrayed as part of the Aryan race, which was synonymous with
Hilter as he suggested that their blonde hair and blue eyes lead towards their
purity of race. Also linking with the idea of purity the lady was wearing a
white dress. This again links to being pure because white is commonly seen as a
pure and natural colour. This suggests that their purity makes them superior to
other races. Another way that she is stereotyped as more superior is the way
she says to the police man, “Brain like a sieve” about her black colleague.
Also she tells her black colleague what to do, suggesting her job is more
important and she is superior to him, “Gino will you perhaps give these ladies
and gents a drink”. Another thing linking to this is the fact most of the
characters who are consumers at the hotel are white suggesting they have more
money and superiority. Lastly every one of the police are white which suggest
that they are more important and are the only ones who have the right to tell
people what to do, also what they say goes.
Another stereotype is the
Asian/ Chinese female stock character. She is represented as intelligent lady
by being bi-lingual this also suggests that this is one of the main reasons she
has her job because she is the only character we see who speaks more than one
language. The reason it links with her job is that she appears to be in charge
of the immigrants working at the hotel. It also suggests that Asians are less superior
to the white class but more than the black because her boss is white but most
of the immigrants are black. Also she is locked away with the immigrants
suggesting that she is like them. This may be why she appears to be caring
towards them and worried, especially when Ebrayum is not in the room with them
so will be taken by the authorities.
The last stereotype in
the clip is of black ethnicity. They are represented as the least superior race
below the Asians and Whites. Most of the immigrants are black which suggest
that black people are typically immigrants and work illegally in a white work
place, doing the bottom end jobs. This is also backed up by the fact when the
immigrants are locked in the room one of them faints and a black man helps her.
The Asian lady looks surprised at his knowledge as if to suggest he shouldn’t know
how to help her. So he feels he has to explain his intelligence to her, “I wasn’t
always a cleaner”. This also links with my first point that black people are
represented as less superior.
The fact the black man
says he wasn’t always a cleaner suggest he used to have a better life and that
maybe he feels that his job has taken that away from him. Black people are also
represented to have little belongings. There are two major of this in the clip,
the first is when the gentlemen who was taken away by the authorities locker is
cleaned out. There is next to nothing in there which suggest he has nothing.
Another example is when we see a couple of black people eating their lunch in the
café. They start to say grace for their food but one of them try’s to start
eating suggesting they don’t eat much which connotes poverty and poor.
