Critical Investigation

Critical investigation:
To what extent and why is mental illness glamorized in contemporary British teenage Drama in comparison to mainstream soap operas

Linked production:
A documentary opening on a specific mental illness, such as teenage depression and anxiety. To be aired on channel 4 , pre watershed.

Key texts:
Skins
Shameless
Hollyoaks
Eastenders

M
•    Skins in particular use low angle lighting and back lighting to emphasise on the sinister nature of mental illness within the program.
•    Eastenders tend to use “natural” lighting and camera shots (medium long shots – eye level) aiming to imply a realistic feel to their text.
•    Skins often teams current “young” music with the action within the program
I
•    E4 (SKINS & SHAMELESS)– likely to have influenced the perspective placed on the illness. The comedy reputation for the channel means that the representation of the illness is seen less graphically? But makes it appear more shocking?
•    BBC(EASTENDERS)-Family orientated , likely to mellow down the representation of the illness showing the struggle of mental illness but almost sugar coating it ? We see Stacy getting sent away but never actually see her downfall only hear of it. Also we see very little of her stay in the mental institution.
•    C4(HOLLYOAKS)-Younger audiences as well as few older viewers , also with the time it is aired (pre-watershed) mea
*ns that the show cannot be as explicit as the dramas could possibly be. More serious outlook – Educational? Due to family based audience.
G
•    Teenage drama – Possibly more glamorized due to conventions? Often created for escapism purposes rather than personal identification – therefore exaggerated maybe? Added music , effects etc. Typically aiming to be shocking , unpredictable . Enigma codes etc.
•    Soap operas – “real life” , Personal identification intended to a certain extent although still out of the ordinary events. More believable settings , lighting etc. No non-digetic sound?
R
•    Current stereotypes.
•    Could be argued as fair representations though many arguments are often raised on the accuracy of certain characters places etc. For example , many may of seen the representation of the attitudes towards mental illness within Shameless as being bias or unfair.
A
•    Shameless : primary audience 16-35 secondary 40-55 . Escapism , personal identification.
•    Eastenders : Family audience . Personal identification , entertainment.
•    Hollyoaks : Primary 12-21 Secondary 30-40 . Entertainment – escapism , comedy etc
•    Skins : Primary 15-25 Secondary 30-45 .  Escapism , emotional gratifications.
I
•    All of the texts being British are mainly based upon the general views and social issues within England. Many social issues are raised particularly in the soap opera’s
* due to the wide family based audience and vast amount of viewers. The drama’s tend to represent more youthful stereotypes and current values rather than the more traditional morally “acceptable” views that are often seen in soap operas due to being aired pre-water shed.
N
•    Todorov’s theory can be seen throughout all of my focused texts acting as the foundations of each of the story lines . The length of each stage within the theory however changes within the different texts , for example whilst a soap opera could have a month of episodes to focus on the disequilibrium , a drama would only have 1 or 2 episodes dependent on the series duration.


S
•    Moral panics: Bullying , drug induced mental illness etc.
•    Unfair portrayal of mental illness? And stereotypes.
H
•    Changes in attitudes towards mental illness. Good/bad?
•    Change in support made available for those mentally ill.
E
•   
P