Ethnicity textual analysis: Hotel Babylon

Ethnicity textual analysis: Hotel Babylon

During the TV series, there are many examples of ethnicity and stereotypes towards the workers at the hotel. One prime example of stereotype would be that the all of the workers in the kitchen and cleaners around the hotel are mostly immigrants which suggests that the hotel pays these workers less than they should be paid and gets them to work for them for less. During the start of the episode, the women behind the computer appears to be an intelligent Asian woman as she has the power behind the desk but the stereotypical powerful person would be a British white women compared to the women who is currently working behind the desk. In the TV series, Hotel Babylon, the man is helping the women who is diabetic and needs sugars because she collapsed. The man is stereotypically a violent man who is only seen to be able to be a cleaner because he is an immigrant. What they didn't know about him is that he is intelligent and knew a lot about medicine which could suggest that he had a job which involved a lot of skill and intelligence. This man is a counter stereotype because he is not what would be expected of an immigrant who has had a cleaning job in the hotel for what we expect, a long time because immigrants find it harder to get work because they shouldn't be where they are.

The camerawork in this TV series vary. Low angled shots are focused on the police man to show their authority compared to everyone else in the hotel. This could possibly be because of the stereotypical white men have significantly more authority and are higher on the hierarchy than other groups of people. Black people have a negative stereotype of being criminals and being violent causing trouble but the clip where the women who is diabetic collapses and the immigrant saves her life by giving her the sugars that she needs to save her. In this clip, the black immigrant is a hero which is a counter stereotype to the stereotype which they are given. Over camera shots which occur during this clip are over the shoulder shots to make you feels as if you are involved in the conversation or action which occurs during the scene.

The mise en scene in this episode varies but when all of the immigrants are working in the kitchen, it shows that they are working in a cramped environment which would be hard to work in. On the other hand, all of the white, British women on the upper floors work in an environment which is a more spacious area. With the immigrants on the lower floor and the white, British women on the upper floor, this could suggest that the level of floors which the members of staff work on, it could represent the hierarchy

The sound track that it is a dramatic scene due to the music being quite cynical and tense. Also, the sound track could suggest that something bad may happen to one of the immigrants which we know as the immigrant which is cleaning doesn’t receive the message that the migrant officers were coming to inspect the hotel. Whilst Jackie rounds up all of the immigrants in to the staff only room to keep them safe, the sound track speeds up creating tension because the immigrants are under stress due to the migrant officers coming which could mean that the an immigrant is taken away.

The editing in this episode is slow paced editing towards the start but gradually increases in speed to create fast paced editing to create tension throughout the episode. This was done to show the difference between the two different ethnic backgrounds. For example, the white British workers on the upper floors are more relaxed, serving customers in a polite manor compared to the immigrant workers working on the lower floors are more stressed, rushing around trying to get as much completed as quickly as they can as they are racing around for their own safety to make sure that they survive and aren’t taken by the migrant officers. They also create scenes where they use over the shoulder camera shots to create tension as if you are one of the characters overlooking the conversation which is occurring.