Stereotypes

Perkins' 5 assumptions about stereotypes can be applied to the 'Hotel Babylon' clip, Not all stereotypes are negative. For example the African character was portrayed as ex Doctor which shows he's intelligent. Stereotypes are not always about minorities either as the white character who had a high up job was stereotyped; blonde and pretty. The assumption that stereotypes are not rigid and unchanging is shown through the end sequence when the African character is praying, as the stereotype for Africans wasn't always that they were religious/Christian. Stereotypes are not always false either, the Asian character could be interested in technology and using computers as its her job so she would've had to of chosen it. They can also be held by the members of the group, for example the white character could enjoy being stereotypes as blonde and attractive because of it.

Theory of cognitive dissonance - Why are shows popular?

Leon Festinger's theory of  cognitive dissonance can be used to help explain the popularity of certain programmes. If we have an opinion of something or a view on something and then we see this reflected in TV drama were assumed to like it straight away. For example how some of the characters behave in ' skins' is how some people assume teenagers to be like. If a teenager can relate to this then they're definitely going to enjoy watching the programme; it may remind them of their life or their friends which they could find comfort or enjoyment in. We seek out confirmation of our views on things and when a programme successfully gets our approval of a view we tend to enjoy watching the show, it agrees with us and our brains are programmed to find this appealing. For example if a strong atheist watched a programme about religion it'd aggravate them due to the distinct contrast of beliefs. Furthermore they dislike the programme and are likely to not watch it again. Our morals and views are very useful when finding out why we like certain programmes; which is what Festinger's theory tells us. Generally the reason people like the shows they do is because of their opinions on people or topics. People like TV dramas like 'hollyoaks' and 'emmerdale' because it confirms their stereotypes of certain groups and this makes them feel right.