Representations * Scotland * OAPs * Scottish Men * Women * Asians _________________________________________ Scotland The episode is set in Craiglang which appears to be a council housing estate somewhere in Glasgow. This is therefore the representation of Scotland the audience is given. It is very different from the glens and mountains of the adverts put out by the Scottish Tourist Board and is certainly much less positive. The setting consists of a high rise block surrounded by waste ground and very basic housing. The name of the building ‘Osprey Heights’ is ironic; ospreys are a very rare Scottish bird found only in remote and beautiful parts of the Highlands. There is nothing beautiful about the building and the emptiness of the area around it gives it a dismal uncared for look. This image feeds in to the stereotypical inner city where life is hard and poverty common. The pub adds to this as it is a very functional ugly building with little or no windows and a flat roof. This represents Glasgow itself as a place that lacks any beauty or culture, where people are poor and working class. The residents have only low paid jobs like Isa’s cleaning job or Bobbie’s bar work. The only entrepreneur is Navid who is Asian. The weather is very stereotypical in that the sun rarely shines and when it does the residents seem surprised. Scottish men Scottish men are represented fairly stereotypically in the episode. They all seem to enjoy a drink and their meals consist of pies at the bar and cans of lager in the house. There is never a vegetable in sight. Although Jack and Victor live alone and appear to have fairly tidy clean houses we never see them engaged in housework, in fact the only person we see cleaning is Isa. This again fits the stereotype of women as housekeepers and feeds in to the patriarchal ideology that exists in the episode where men are in control and women play a more subservient role. The men in the series also visit the bookies regularly and spend a large amount of time in the Clansman. When introduced to the university the thing that catches the attention of Jack and Victor is the price of a pint in the union. We then see them drinking huge quantities of beer, this all fits into the stereotypical Scotsman as a big drinker. In fact when faced with a choice between the Student Union and a lecture they choose the Union highlighting the importance of alcohol in their lives and suggesting that education has little part to play in Scottish working class culture. This idea is continued when the two women who Jack and Victor talk to outside the university have more refined accents, suggesting a more middle class position, and choose to attend the lecture refusing the invitation to come for a drink. Although the stereotype of the hard drinking, foul mouthed Scotsman is upheld to some extent in the series the language is not too bad. This may be for a number of different reasons including the problems associated with TV watersheds, however within the episode the men are also seen to have a level of manners and Jack is told off for swearing in front of a pregnant women. This suggests that these men may be a little rough but underneath it all they are gentlemen. This again may not fit the stereotype of Scotsmen commonly held but, given this series is aimed at a Scottish audience, it is important that the negative parts of this stereotype are reduced in some way. We also see the image of the Scotsman as a violent wife beater turned around when we are introduced to ????? who’s husband seems to live in terror of her as she constantly threatens to beat him up for minor things he has done. This is one way in which the dominant patriarchal ideology is challenged, however, this man is treated with contempt by the other men in the pub suggesting this is not a manly way to act and therefore making it clear that this change in ideological stance is not normal or accepted. When in the Clansman the interaction between the characters is also fairly stereotypical, they take the mick out of each other and use a large number of swear words. The only thing missing from their conversations is a discussion of sport, in particular football. This has been done deliberately because of the problems associated with Celtic and Rangers. The writers felt that any discussion of football would lead to a view that the programme was pro/anti one team or the other so avoided the subject altogether in order to avoid alienated any of their possible audience. The character of Tam represents the stereotypical Scotsman who is mean with money. He constantly tries to avoid paying for anything, however as this series is aimed at a Scottish audience this behaviour is one that the other characters are shown to dislike. In order to show that the writers do not believe this stereotype to be a true representation he regularly has jokes made about how mean he is. Pensioners This is one of the biggest representations in the episode and in the series as a whole. The basic foundation of the whole series is the life of Jack, Victor and their friends in the setting of Craiglang and, as these characters are mainly OAP’s, their way of life is part and parcel of the action. Unlike the stereotypical OAP the characters in the episode seem to have spirit and life in them. They are not the downtrodden old people that we expect; in fact in many of the episodes in the series they defeat much younger, much more powerful groups. In this particular episode Jack and Victor take on a group of students, stereotypically big drinkers, and drink them under the table. The basis of the episode is that Jack and Victor want to do something with their lives. The writers begin the episode with the stereotype of an OAP sitting about sleeping or watching telly. The two men feel that they are wasting their time and want to expand their knowledge. At the university they consider such things as Law and Medicine, discounting them only because they will be ‘deid’ before they qualify. These aspirations are not typical of the elderly, they are normally associated with the young. The writers make it clear that these OAPs, and by association all OAPs, still have the ability to live their lives to the full. This makes the representation very attractive to the elderly audience. The character of Winston represents the elderly who suffer from some sort of disability (he lost his leg in an earlier episode) and again he does not conform to the obvious stereotype. He does not seem to be held back in any way by his disability, he is as involved in the daily life of the series as any able bodied character. In fact none of the elderly characters seem to have any health issues and hospitals and doctors play very little part in the series as a whole. Women Women in the episode are very stereotypically represented. The only person we ever see doing any cleaning is Isa, and Meena’s role in the shop seems to be one of a shelf stacker, she is never seen interacting with customers. This representation of women as being fit only to carry out menial tasks is quite a negative one but fits into the patriarchal ideology that permeates the whole series, as such it might not be liked by some of the female audience. However in the episode we are also introduced to Margo who turns this stereotype on its head and challenges the dominant ideology when she beats up Bobby because he smacks her on the rear. She takes control of the situation and provides a representation of women as being able to look after themselves and equal to men. In ‘Swottin’ we see also three young women in the Clansman, one of whom is pregnant. They appear shocked by the swearing of the men and are drinking tall drinks, not pints and ‘nips’. This representation is one that conforms to the dominant ideology that says women are the more gentle sex and should be appalled at foul language and hard drinking. This idea is continued when we see Isa and her friends drinking sherry, normally associated with older ladies. The only character who does not fit this stereotype is the women with the downtrodden husband, however she does fit into the role of the ‘battle axe’, the wife who is very masculine and in charge in her relationship, another common stereotype. She abuses her husband, both physically and verbally, and is much bigger than him. She lacks any of the feminine qualities of the other women. This is not a representation that is a positive one and the preferred reading is that this woman is not like normal women, however it may be that some female audiences will like some of the aspects of this representation, they may take a negotiated reading, seeing her power and control over her life as a positive thing. Asians The Asian community is represented in the characters of Navide and Mina who own a corner shop in Craiglang. This in itself is a very stereotypical representation and most audiences will recognise it. As a representation of Asian men Navide is fairly positive. He always wears a shirt and tie and seems to be a respected part of his local community. In the episode he is highlighted as having provided a prize for the quiz night and when he stands to take the thanks of the people in the pub he waves almost like the queen, reminding us of someone in an elevated position taking the thanks of his subjects. He also has a very obvious Asian accent although he does use a number of Scottish phrases such as ‘dinnae’. The preferred reading of this seems to be that, although he is obviously from Asia, he is part of the Scottish community. This goes against the common view that Asian people stay within their own communities, refusing to be part of ours. As a representation of Muslim men Navide does not drink, having a soft drink in front of him in the pub, and sports a large beard. His wife seems fairly typically Asian, wearing traditional dress with her hair in a bun, and she serves only in the background of the shop with her back to the camera at all times, seeming to play the role of a subservient women. The Muslim audience who are of a conservative Muslim ideology are likely to enjoy this representation as it would appear the couple stick to the teachings of Islam. Mina however is not the meek wife she appears to be and the writers use subtitles to let the audience see this. She speaks to her husband in Punjabi, often quite disrespectfully, and makes negative comments about the customers regularly. In the episode she also reveals a knowledge of English football, giving Navide and Isa the answer to a question about an English player. Again this turns the stereotype on its head. This representation may well suggest that there is far more to Asian women than we think. As a group they seem almost invisible in Scottish society, staying home with children or, like Mina, working in the background in the family business. In the episode, and the series as a whole, we never see Mina’s face, this may well be seen as a metaphor highlighting the lack of understanding we have of these women. In the same way that Mina’s face is unseen, so their lives are equally invisible. The preferred reading of this representation would appear to be that Muslim women, although appearing to be second class members of the Muslim society, are in fact strong independent people who have a mind of their own and are not afraid to tell their husbands what they think. It may be a reading that young British Asian women will like, as it is a much more western attitude to marriage, however older, more traditional Asian women may well take an oppositional reading seeing Mina as a disrespectful wife who does not reflect the ideology of conservative Asian society.