“THEY DON’T LAUGH WITH US, THEY LAUGH AT US” A qualitative study on how young adults with an ethnic minority background experience representation in movies and TV-shows

Abstract

This thesis explores how Norwegian young adults with an ethnic minority background experience minority representation in movies and TV-shows. Based on 13 interviews with participants with a background from Pakistan, Somalia and Vietnam I explore their understanding of representation and which meaning they ascribe representation on screen. The participants in this study happen to be in an intercultural position where they are raised by parents with a different cultural background, at the same time they are growing up with a Norwegian culture living in a Norwegian society. Inspired by Stuart Hall’s understanding of representation I too look at the participants’ experience of representation in relation to the meaning it conveys. The focus in this study is ethnic representation on screen, however religious representation will also be touched upon as several of the participants highlighted religion as an important aspect of their identity and were cautious of how religion was portrayed on screen. I have used photo-elicitation as a methodological tool to understand how the participants view movies and TV-shows starring ethnic minorities. By combining questions and a physical example of a TV-show with actors with an ethnic minority background my goal was to question and compare what the participants had previously mentioned during the interviews to their reaction when presented with an example that illustrates minority representation on screen. This led to an interesting finding as the majority of the participant reacted strongly, both positively and negatively, towards the clip that was shown. This proved to be an interesting take on representation and the role the sender plays in how a media production is perceived by the viewer. My findings suggest that there is a general agreement between the participants that even though visibility of ethnic minority portrayals on screen is important, the type of representation is something that needs to be focused on. They highlighted the roles actors of a minority background play and which stories get told as something that also should be considered when discussing representation. A recurring theme during the interviews was the feeling of otherness stereotypical portrayals seemed to evoke. The participants mentioned intersectionality as a welcomed approach to combat such portrayals. The thesis also touches upon how entertainment in the form of movies and TV-shows can be understood as a soft power push by global exporters of mass media, shaping certain narratives of minorities. By looking at representation through the lens of power there seems to be a connection between images presented on screen and the public opinion of the subjects and issues presented. This was evident both by the participants saying they have experienced prejudice based on representation on screen as well as themselves saying they get affected by such portrayals in relation to how they view others.