Representaion of Ethnicity-

Stereotype of a Young British Black Man in his 20's-

-gangs
-drugs/drug dealers
-thug
-dangerous
-oversized clothing
-doo rags
-speak with their own idiolect
-gobby/loud mouthed
-don't really care, go against the law
-protective over their families
-anti authority



Spooks- [MI5] Danny's Death.

Danny's death in this clip from the TV series 'Spooks' shows a man dying with dignity. The clip shows two terrorists holding hostage two MI5 spys, one man (Danny), and one woman. The clip opens with the MI5 boss listening on the phone to the heartless and deeply moving conversation between the terrorist and Danny. The terrorist tells the boss that all he has to do is say one name, (insinuating the person he choses' life would be spared), the woman tells he boss of MI5 that she loves him, and not to choose either of the hostages and not to listen to the 'psychopath' holding a gun to her head. Danny then starts talking about how if he was born somewhere else, then maybe he would be standing there holding the gun, and if the terrorist was born somewhere else, then maybe he would be the one sat chained to a chair, he comes across as a very brave and intellectual person, as he is well spoken, shows pride and seems very selfless. Danny speaks about how the terrorist has lost all humanity and if he wasn't sat chained to the chair, then he would be up in his face, saying 'fuck you, you death worshipping facist!' moments after this, he is shot dead. When speaking to the terrorist, Danny seemed to show no fear, just anger, and pity. The image we get from this about Danny is the fact that he quite obviously hates terrorists, the words he says creates the idea that he feels sorry for them, as he calls them 'unlucky' and says thet at they have no kindness or pity left in them, he shows a high level of pride, and says that if he was born somewhere else, maybe it would be him bearing the gun, maybe this relates to skin colour and ethnicity? The main terrorist, looks like a typical, middle-class business man, well dressed and smart, we can see this as he is wearing a beige suite with french cuffs, his hair is slicked back, and he looks very presentable and professional. The other terrorist on the other hand, looks exactly how you would expect a stereotypical terrorist to look, dressed in all black, wearing a balaclava and holding a huge rifle. The mise en scene is rather basic, all we see is dark shadows and white light which creates the impression of interrogation. The music however, is very depressing and haunting, seconds after danny is shot, music which sounds like an islam prayer is played, it makes the scene very emotional and eerie and gives an arabic and religios atmosphere to the situation, there is also some whale song being played during the music, which makes you question the choice of music even more, did the producers want the audience to feel confused?. Throughout the clip, you hear drum beats, which create the feel of a heart beat and a very tense atmosphere, we see the terrorist stroking the womans face near the beginning of the clip, i think this is a very sarcastic, mocking and evil attempt to try and reassure her that everything is going to be okay, when thet both know full well, that either her, or Danny is going to die. We can see that she is clearly in great distress and the terrorist doing this clearly makes the situation more unbearable, also, we see her face after Danny has been shot, and there is a very distinct blood stain round her mouth insinuating that she has been hit quite hard. The clip has a mini narrative structure to it, which in the 3/4 minutes it is on for, i think is very clever and well planned, aswell, there are obvious binary opposites in the clip, the MI5 boss, (Adam) and the terrorist holding the gun, they are both high up in their jobs, having to make decisions and at a crucial point in their jobs/careers.