Ethnicity is represented in Hotel Babylon by many aspects such as dialect/accent, charisma and skin colour There are separate scenes throughout this 4 minute and 22 second clip, all in which portray a different ethnicity.
The clip begins with a jolly black man dressed in formal attire being helpful towards people at a swimming pool (he clearly works there).
He stumbles across someone who climbs out of the pool to greet him with loud dialogue. The audience find out this jolly man's name to be "Benjamin Truman" along with this loud man being called "Tel" short for Terry.
Terry uses words such as "bro", "blud" and "man" which are all stereotypically associated with black people and how they communicate. Shot reverse shot is used to portray their conversation, also portraying both of their costume. Benjamin is looking "slick" in a suit whilst Terry is topless with a chain around his neck and a large silver earring in one ear. He also has dreadlocks tied back; these are all elements of costume and hairstyle that portray his cultural background.
Terry is dismissive towards having a party that the other guy is eager for, he's more relaxed, laid back and formal whereas Terry is outgoing, confident and bubbly. Benjamin also speaks in a more sophisticated and formal manner compared to Terry who uses slang terms and shortened words. This separates the two of them as black men because Terry is the more stereotypical black man who's care free where as Benjamin takes himself a bit more seriously.
Benjamin hesitantly agrees to the party and Terry says "That's the old Benjamin right there man" as the camera zooms in to Ben's face. This could represent how the audience need to study his facial expression towards Terry's comment as there's something perhaps bad about the "old Benjamin".
He stumbles across someone who climbs out of the pool to greet him with loud dialogue. The audience find out this jolly man's name to be "Benjamin Truman" along with this loud man being called "Tel" short for Terry.
Terry uses words such as "bro", "blud" and "man" which are all stereotypically associated with black people and how they communicate. Shot reverse shot is used to portray their conversation, also portraying both of their costume. Benjamin is looking "slick" in a suit whilst Terry is topless with a chain around his neck and a large silver earring in one ear. He also has dreadlocks tied back; these are all elements of costume and hairstyle that portray his cultural background.
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| Terry. |
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| Benjamin. |
Benjamin hesitantly agrees to the party and Terry says "That's the old Benjamin right there man" as the camera zooms in to Ben's face. This could represent how the audience need to study his facial expression towards Terry's comment as there's something perhaps bad about the "old Benjamin".
Throughout this whole clip already a mysterious tune has been playing in the background. Just a repetitive tune with slight raised notes at certain points in the soundtrack. It makes the audience question the scenes that are happening.
A simple cut is used to introduce the next scene. The music continues but becomes a lot more sneaky and the type of music you'd hear on a film where a mission is taking place. A tracking shot is used to follow the movement of two females dressed in white collared formal dresses in ownership of two trolleys containing cleaning products. The older woman verbally introduces the younger lady to a door pass that lets them enter the room with the man on the other side of the door.
She has a French accent which supports her ethnicity as being European. As they enter the room, the sound of the music increases and a cut is used to instantly show the audience what they're seeing; an asian man sat promptly on his bed looking excited.
A two shot of the ladies followed by a close up shot of the money on the table automatically makes the audience assume the situation occuring here.
So far the scene has been tense and mysterious, but is quickly exchanged for a humerous one when the man plays the song "Lady Marmalade" by All Saints. It's not everyday you expect a fully grown asian man to play a song of this style. The two women begin to strip from their maid outfits as the man sits there eagerly anticipating the view. Close ups of his reactions are used to aware the audience of his excitement.
Ethnicity is perhaps shown here to be a negative because these two women will perform naughty antics for a man that is willing to pay them. They could both perhaps be on a low paid job and therefore willing to expose themselves to men for money. The younger woman unfortunately can't do it and runs out of the room. She too has an accent which is different to the French lady's, demonstrating how she has never done something like this before.
She has a French accent which supports her ethnicity as being European. As they enter the room, the sound of the music increases and a cut is used to instantly show the audience what they're seeing; an asian man sat promptly on his bed looking excited.
A two shot of the ladies followed by a close up shot of the money on the table automatically makes the audience assume the situation occuring here.
Ethnicity is perhaps shown here to be a negative because these two women will perform naughty antics for a man that is willing to pay them. They could both perhaps be on a low paid job and therefore willing to expose themselves to men for money. The younger woman unfortunately can't do it and runs out of the room. She too has an accent which is different to the French lady's, demonstrating how she has never done something like this before.
Another cut is used to display the next scene, the previous tense mission like music playing in the background as Lady Marmalade cuts off. Another asian woman come into play with two toilet rolls in her hand. She speaks in a clear English accent which separates her ethnicity from her physical appearance. A tracking shot is used to follow her movements as she communicates with someone through a toilet door.
So far this clip has introduced pretty much all of the workers at Hotel Babylon. They're all of different ethnicities and come from different backgrounds so this show evidently explores a variety of different races. The audience are next introduced to a white man and woman both dressed in formal and glam clothing with clear posh accents as the communicate.
The two of these characters enter the kitchen of the Hotel, both with confident posture. A variety of different shots are used to confirm the busy atmosphere in the kitchen. The lady approaches an Italian man who welcomes "Madamme" with a cheerful tone and enthusiastic smile.
This character is very over the top with his charisma and slightly loud compared to the white English man that he pretends to be friends with.
The italian does that traditional "bellissima" with his fingers and lips which all round conveys his Italian roots.
Unfortunately, when the two posh white people exit the scene he insults the English man by calling him an "English pleb!". He's actually rude and inconsiderate; this demonstrates the conflict shared between two people of different ethnicity's.
The two of these characters enter the kitchen of the Hotel, both with confident posture. A variety of different shots are used to confirm the busy atmosphere in the kitchen. The lady approaches an Italian man who welcomes "Madamme" with a cheerful tone and enthusiastic smile.
This character is very over the top with his charisma and slightly loud compared to the white English man that he pretends to be friends with.
Unfortunately, when the two posh white people exit the scene he insults the English man by calling him an "English pleb!". He's actually rude and inconsiderate; this demonstrates the conflict shared between two people of different ethnicity's.
Overall, a range of ethnicity's were portrayed in this clip. A variety of stereotypes stood out along with a few things that wouldn't normally be associated with an enthic region e.g. French women being sexually provocative for money.
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