Young Peoples Rep

In this post, I will be talking about the representations of young people in one particular TV Drama of my choice. 

So don't worry, it'll be a good programme. No nonsense :)

TV Drama Choice; E20

Quick Facts; British internet soap-opera spin-off from Eastenders. Followers four teenagers of Walford and tried to improve the portrayal of young people as well as attract a younger audience. EastEnders: E20 originally aired as part of the main show's 25th anniversary celebrations. (sneaky trailer for E20)

Link To Title Sequence; >>Click here<<

Characters; (in order of photo)

Zsa Zsa, Fatboy (a.k.a Arthur), Leon and Mercy

The very first episode gives very strong first impressions of the types of personalities these characters have. 

Zsa Zsa is chased by a scary man demanding money, pushes her up to a wall and she is vulnerable and helpless, despite her loud mouthed self trying to talk her way out of it. 

Fatboy is loud, outspoken and dominating in his first appearance on the soap as he introduces his new website to encourage young people to be more involved in the local church. 

Leon is seen saving Zsa Zsa from a rather aggressive man and manages to avoid being punched from the back and swings a punch himself. He is shown to be the knight in shining armour, rescuing Zsa Zsa in distress. 

Mercy, is seen as the quiet, religious and obedient character of the group, but we are shocked to see that she sneaks off to the toilet to take a pregnancy test!

The first episode gives all these details in a very short 15 minutes. It leads us to want to see what happens next by providing a cliff hanger with Mercy calling her grandma saying she'll not be home that night. The four characters bond immediately with some tension, which demonstrates a sense of unity and belonging as they all decide to stay in a vacant flat together, giving that they'd only just met properly outside of college. 

The Series Continued...

As you follow the episodes, we get to know the characters as they bond with each other by trying to retrieve the flat keys as they get locked out, get money to buy food and cleaning essentials and deal with Mercy's pregnancy. They all have some issue such as deaths in the family, abandonment and secrets, and as these get revealed the group form a close friendship. E20 represents young people quite positively despite the negative connotations such as having no regard for the sacredness of sex, the immorality of stealing and acts that are frowned up such as disrespecting other peoples property (i.e. house parties in another persons home without permission!)