Eastenders textual analysis

Eastenders is set in Central London, this is portrayed by the cultural diversity within the show. Each family has a different background and different events occur in their lives. The target audience for the show would be teens up to people in their 30's/40's, however elderly people can be drawn to the show because of characters such as Dot and Pat who are of the older generation. Because of this wide audience there are many different story lines which are touched upon, from things that would effect the younger audience such as teenage pregnancy and drug abuse, to story lines for the elder generation such as illness and loss of a loved one.

In this clip we saw the character Patrick sitting around the table for dinner with his family which consisted of his daughter (Denise), son-in-law (Lucas) and his two granddaughters (Chelsea and Libby). They were having a conversation about Patricks history.

There are a number of stereotypes seen in the short clip of Eastenders, the first one was the representation of teenagers. One character appeared interested in something about history of her granddads culture. She was instantly questioned as to why she was interested, showing the stereotype that teenagers are usually not interested in subjects such as history. This was a negative stereotype.

Another stereotype was of the culture of the actors. The main actor, Patrick, spoke in a thick Jamaican accent and was discussing the history of Jamaica. I think this was a positive stereotype as they are talking about the history and celebrating the culture of Jamaica.

The language was quite casual and informal which reflected in the body language in which they were all sat back around the table, this made it feel as if they genuinely were a family and that they felt comfortable with each other.

Eastenders is a soap opera, the conventions that tell us this is that it focuses on real life events and there is little exaggeration of story lines. The shots used are very different and create different emotions from each. The close up shots showed tension between characters, this was paired with the facial expressions used and the silent moments that the director chose to use to show that there was a secret that only Patrick and Lucus knew. The camera would tend to shoot close shots of people that were talking and then quickly cut to someone else to show their reaction or response, these responses would usually connote something to the audience.