According to the uses and gratification theory by Denis McQuail there are many reasons why people watch Eastenders. Viewers may watch Eastenders to escape or be diverted from problems, for example if somebody is having a hard time in life they may watch Eastenders and realise that their problems are nothing compared to those on Eastenders. Viewers could also gain insight into people’s circumstances for example, parents may see through teenagers on Eastenders that there is a lot of pressure of teenagers and the pressure on teenagers and their exams. They may also see morals and values such as cheaters never winning and good people always end up with success or happiness as is shown in Eastenders.
In my opinion many people watch Eastenders simply for entertainment and to relax. Also, people watch Eastenders to stay up to date and have a talking point with friends and family at work or at school.
Teenagers are represented in a very diverse way in Eastenders. Jay Brown is a troubled teenager; problems at home have led to Jay’s involvement in gang culture. Jay is used to represent the position of thousands of teenagers across the country. Jay is a very individual character, he shows typical features of teenagers: disrespect to authority, to the elderly and lack of interest in school and education. Jay’s character is shown in his expression and clothes. Often Jay wears a hoody with any buttons on his top undone. When Jay is in school uniform he will always have his shirt untucked, tie too short and top button undone. This builds up Jay’s character of being rebellious, he has disregard for school rules about uniform, as he is often very untidy in his presentation. Jay’s facial expressions also are in line with his rebellious character. He is often frowning, the majority of the time in a disrespectful and intimidating way. Jay’s way of speaking is very rough, not always correct English and often uses slang. This is art of Jay’s rough and rebellious character in Eastenders. Jay’s actions are often very rebellious: being disrespectful and bunking off school.
Tamwar Masood is in many ways the opposite of Jay Brown, Tamwar is a studios teenager that outs in a lot of effort into his education. This can be seen by his appearance. The glasses that Tamwar wears are the typical style of glasses that studious teenagers will wear. Tamwar Masood’s image and clothing reflects his personality, for example: the buttons on his shirt are always done up, this is the typical convention of a type of people that Tamwar represents. Tamwar, unlike Jay, would never be seen with his hood up or his jeans worn low, this would not be right with his personality and characteristics.
Lucy Beale represents rebellious teenagers. She often acts in a selfish way, taking no care or regard for her parents. As with many families, Lucy’s parents want the best for her. This often conflicts with what Lucy wants and therefore a stereotypical conflict of father against daughter is created. The father wants the best for his daughter however the daughter is oblivious to this and thinks that his aim is to spoil her fun. Many fathers and daughters across the country can relate to the relationship that Lucy and Ian Beale share whilst looking at the situation from a view looking in, as opposed to be involved in the conflict. Fathers may realise that at times they are too harsh or strict on their daughters and likewise daughters will realise that their fathers are trying to keep them safe and not just trying to ruin their fun. Lucy Beale, like many teenagers, often shows no regard for her education and wants to go out and have fun. Lucy, like Jay, is often wearing her uniform in an untidy way, this is part of her rebellious characteristics that she has.
The current stereotype of teenagers is that they are rebellious and badly behaved. Currently in the media teenagers are portrayed in a negative way, this is because of the increase in knife crime of teenagers. Eastenders shows the current stereotype of teenagers and gang culture through characters such as Jay Brown. On the other hand Eastenders also shows teenagers such as Tamwar Masood that are well behaved and take care in their education.
In my opinion Eastenders does show teenagers fairly as they show the different types of teenagers. It would not be a fair representation of teenagers if they were only teenage gangs members in Eastenders or if every teenagers was very studious and smart. Eastenders does however show all the different types of teenagers, which is a fair representation of teenagers today as everybody is different.
