‘Wife swap’ I feel does challenge this stereotype slightly in that Lizzie Bardsley, it could be argued, is depicted as a bad mother. She doesn’t do the housework, she cooks bad food for her children, she smokes, swears and basically challenges the idealist view of how a mother should be. However, the gossipy, up-front side of Lizzie (“I’m a gobby cow!”) I believe is quite stereotypical. Also, I feel that Mark Bardsley doesn’t fit the stereotype of the typical Northern man either as we find out, much to his disappointment, that he in-fact does all the household chores and cooks for the family. We are likely to assume that the Northern family is more traditional and that it is the woman who looks after the house and children.
On the other hand, when I think of the typical South of England stereotypes they are quite different. I believe most people instantly think of middle class, semi-detached houses, good education, office jobs, suits, independent women, high fashion, an elegant/glamorous way of life, bars, effeminate men, snobby attitudes and a society where everyone keeps to themselves. I think that this stereotype of the South is depicted through ‘wife swap’ constantly. Collin Spry is thrilled to cook for his family and do the housework while his ‘princess’ Emma rests. We are given this idea of the father taking on a traditionally female role in the family, which I feel is not challenging societies ideologies as it is almost depicted as okay in the South, however, in the North I would say that Mark Bardsley taking on a traditionally female is arguably frowned upon as it challenges the typical stereotype of the Northern man. There is a shot we are shown quite a few times of Emma reading magazines on the sofa while Collin is preparing dinner and I think this is a great example of representation construction as it is the mise-en-scene that gives this strong reinforcement of the typical stereotype of the Southern household- shared status and more effeminate men.
The representation construction is created by the clever use of music, language, dress, camera angles and the mise-en-scene. The Bardsley’s wear very casual clothes such as tracksuits, however the Spry’s wear smart trousers and formal tops, which is a great contrast. I think this is to strengthen the audience’s stereotypes and represent the North and South accordingly to them. I think the representations are aimed at channel 4’s target audience, which I believe is the ‘minority audience’ consisting of youths (aged between 15-25), disabled people, ethnic minorities and also perhaps homosexuals. Channel 4 attracts audiences that are most valuable to advertisers; the young, upmarket “light” viewers and those consumers who are most likely to be the earliest adopters of new technologies and services.
There is an extreme close-up of Lizzie Bardsley, which I feel is part of the representation construction of the North, making her look almost ‘villain like’, as it is very invasive. I think that Vladimir Propp’s theory of characters having a narrative function and providing a structure for the text can be applied to this episode of ‘wife swap’ because, it seems that Emma Spry is like a princess, Collin is like her hero, Lizzie is the villain and Mark Bardsley is perhaps the false hero as he deceives the audience of his role in the family to begin with.
I also feel that Todorov’s theory of equilibrium can be identified in ‘wife swap’. At first, everything is fine and they appear to be struggling okay, but then it al crashes and Lizzie demands the show to come to an end (causing disequilibrium). However at the end, when both couples from the North and South talk, the problems are resolved and there is restoration of a new equilibrium.
I believe the South is represented as a nice, peaceful pleasant environment, which is a huge contrast to the representation of the North at the Bardsleys household. They have eight children and there is lots of fast shots and edits to perhaps connote a very busy, chaotic lifestyle. This is also portrayed by the editor’s clever use of a shot of “uncouth road” which seems to be deliberately connoting a representation of the North as quite ‘rough’. It is a great example of mediation. This shot I feel was put in to make us as an audience feel a certain way toward the North. This is also very ironic. We are shown a shot of the Bardsleys back garden too, with lots of toys and this alone gives us an idea of a crazy lifestyle and an idea of chaos. This is an example of key iconography within the text.
I feel there are quite a few significant ideologies depicted through the episode, such as caring for your children and to work hard –whether that is working in employment circumstances or working to help your family.
I think there is quite a fair representation shown of the North and South of England overall, although they are both very different in many respects. I believe the representations have kept mainly to the typical stereotypes and I feel this may be because it is what an audience like and expect, they don’t really like to have their stereotypes challenged. However, ‘wife swap’ uses Lizzie Barnsley to represents the North in, arguably, a bad light as she swears, smokes and doesn’t come across as a very good mother. I believe this view of the North is not likely to be very stereotypical as she doesn’t stick to the feminine, traditional lady that people would expect her to be like. Whereas, the south is represented through Emma as being very independent, quite feminine, and more modern, perhaps fitting with that stereotype of the South better. Therefore I conclude with the opinion that in this particular episode of ‘wife swap’, the North and South are represented very stereotypically, overall.