er and radio times essay

Using a comparison of the two texts as a starting point consider the issues and debates that they raise

You should consider:

© Key concepts

© Media theory

© Wider concepts

Two texts to analyse: Cover of Radio times from 3-9 April 1976 and the title sequence of ER’s 13 series

The cover of the radio times is from 1976, almost 32 years older than the more modern contemporary comparison text of ER’s title sequence from the 13^th series. The aim of both texts however even though one is print and one is moving image is to summarise the actual text and attract a particular audience to view the text itself.

The Radio times cover was originally in black and white, this is because of the time this issue was printed, which is the 70’s and colour print wasn’t yet established. The ER title sequence however is much more modern, and is a moving text therefore changes the messages sent across to viewers dramatically. The title sequence is able to engage the audience with its fast paced editing and music. These elements of media language have a very large impact on its viewers.

Both texts focus on hospital dramas, from different centuries. From this representation differences within the years the audience is able to relate to the programmes. For the radio times there are just 5 female nurses, all white. This would help the audience in the 70’s relate to these characters. The women were seen in maternal orientated roles, which were familiarised with because women in those days were just starting the revolution of feminism. They were happy to see women in other roles apart from housewives in any programme, but what they did not realise was the lack of females shown. For example in angels all these women are nurses, none are seen as doctors which keeps them very low in the hierarchy of hospital jobs. Nurses are usually midwives, or give patients bed baths etc, again giving them a maternal role. ER is able to subvert this idea, and not only do they show woman superior to men but also portray different ethnicities. The audience sees Black and Asian people working alongside white people. These individuals are not just placed in an act of tokenism, because the female Asian is a surgeon, whose life is immensely focused upon.

The radio times cover shows the females happy with their jobs, all 5 women are smiling and looking at an x-ray, this was a misrepresentation because women were seen to be consistently happy. ER’s title sequence alone is able to portray all kinds of emotion, panic, anger, sadness, ecstatic etc. This is a much more realistic view of normal people’s lives, allowing more people to relate to the characters.

The ER is broadcasted on NBC in the U.S and on channel 4 in the U.K whereas “angels” was broadcasted on BBC, who also owned the radio times. The radio times was the only TV listings magazine in that time whereas now the audience has many TV listing guides. At that time the Radio times had become a monopoly because it was the only of what was to come on TV for the next week, whereas now we have the internet and other magazines, this shows how much technology has developed allowing competitors to rise for BBC, and because the BBC owned the Radio times they were able to heavily advertise their programmes more than other channels.

Both texts show women but none are objectified, women’s are respectfully portrayed in order to avoid any disagreements. In the 70’s the feminist movement had just risen therefore producers and directors were very wary of how women were portrayed. The costumes provided for the “angels” were all white not only connoting them as real angels but also “Madonna’s” as described by Laura Mulvey there are only two stereotypes that female characters conform to, and they are either a Madonna, who is pure in every form or a whore who is sexually objectified for the male gaze. These women were not objectified but were placed on the cover for other real women to relate to them. However a sexually objectified form of women has always created a stereotype of nurses. Nurses for men don’t usually mean a person looking after an ill individual, but more of treating them in other ways. Therefore these nurses were seen through a fetishistic gaze, by males.

In terms of props, iconic elements within both texts are x rays. The nurses are holding an x ray, something which is directly linked to hospitals and it is also used within the title sequences throughout in the background. This therefore shows that audiences are able to pick up on these iconic elements to identify the hospital drama genre.

Overall both texts, however large the time space between them have elements which allow the audiences to identify the genre, but have dramatically changed in terms of representation because of the feminist movement which allows females to grasp the essence of equality within the media.