Ethnicity Essay - Spooks!

In the Spooks clip we see a main character Danny, a black man, in a terrorist kidnapping. He gives himself up to save the woman with him, Ruth.

Danny is the exact opposite of what we would stereotypically thing of a young British black man. He speaks in received pronunciation which suggests that he was well educated, we know that this is true as well as he has a good job in MI5 and he seems very intelligent. He is also shown to be a proud man, proud to be British and proud to be fighting terrorism. We see that he is a brave, selfless man as he gives his life to save the woman's. This noble act is not mirrored in any of the white characters within the clip who all seem are all speechless and actually seem quite helpless, especially when compared to Danny. When he says 'If I'd been born somewhere else...' we know that he is referring this to his skin colour and admitting that he was lucky to be born in England. Just before he antagonises the terrorist we see Danny whispering a prayer which gives the viewer a hint of what he is about to do, and shows that he still has faith in religion no matter his current circumstances.

There are two terrorists in the room. We can see that the main terrorist is middle eastern, presumably Arabic. However he is very non-stereotypical. He wears a nice suit which suggests that he is a middle-class business man kind of person, and he makes no attempt to hide his identity which is often seen in the media. On the other hand, however, the man accompanying him is the epitome of a modern stereotypical terrorist. This man is rather large, he is carrying a very big gun and his face is covered with a balaclava.

The other white people in the clip all react similarly to Danny's sacrifice. Ruth cries through out the clip. However when on the phone to Adam she says 'I love you' to him, which really comprises his choice and gives us an idea why he cant choose. She breaks down and tries to stop Danny from doing what he does but without success. Adam, who listens to the conversation, also similarly breaks down when Danny dies. As a main character and high member of the MI5 team it is strange that through out the crucial moments he is in silence unable to calm the situation in anyway. The two other white people in the clip are Harry, the head of the team and a stereotypically superior character, and an intelligence officer. We see these two listening to the events through headsets. When Danny is killed they are both stunned into almost motionless silence. All these white characters are shown to be useless and to have no control over the situation, which contrast to Danny's character. It is almost a role reversal from stereotypical media.

The mise en scene is used in this to create a dramatic effect. Mainly light is used to create this effect. The room and the clothes are dark and bland and there are very dark shadows. But this is broken by the bright white light, this light almost dazzles the viewer which could symbolise the sadness of the time as though vision is being distorted because of the light reflecting on tears. From the bright light bars are formed in shadows which represents that the MI5 agents are imprisoned and trapped.

The rhythmic drum through out the first part of the clip is used to build tension as to what Danny's decision will be. It then changes to an Islamic call to prayer. The use of this Arabic tradition, I think, is a direct address to the terrorist's religion, as the Quran states that they cannot murder people. Also the music is quite haunting which is another reason it may have been used.

Propp's character roles can be applied to the clip. The hero is obviously Danny, this is unusual as black people are often portrayed in Britain as being evil or bad, as he carries the events and save the life of Ruth, who could in fact be considered as the princess as the gun is focused on her and then she is saved by the hero. The villain is the terrorist. Adam could be classed as the helper as he is asked to save them on the phone however as he cannot choose he tries to save both by not answering. The dispatcher is the character Harry who is in charge of the other characters in the show, and he could also be seen as the father as he rewards the agents (heroes) when they complete missions.

The clip does not conform to Todorov's theory of equilibrium. We join the action in mid-disruption and it only worsens as the clip progresses. There is no calm or equilibrium, there is only disruption through out.

Following Levi-Stauss, the binary opposites featured in the clip are good vs. evil, east vs. west and black vs. white.