Waterloo Road In the short clip of the TV drama Waterloo Road, gender is a representational issue displayed throughout the

scene. We are demonstrated this through the way the two characters are presented differently as opposite genders. At the start where we are shown Georges house, we can understand that he has high status as the camera tilts up to demonstrate how big and modern his house is, which therefore informs us that he is fairly rich. This could indicate to use how men are typically thought to be powerful and that they are in charge of earning money for the family. When Christine enters Georges house, the lighting is very dim and it creates a mysterious atmosphere as it is not very clear what it shown on the screen. This creates suspense as we dont know what to expect. However as soon as we find that he is sleeping on his sofa, everything becomes much clearer. Men are stereotypically thought to be lazy and careless. This is indicated by the use of props in the scene, where there are two bottles of wine and a cushion on the floor which makes the place look messy. Furthermore the way that he is dressed in his shorts and a shirt seems quite scruffy which depicts how men are usually thought to be. It also sends a different message of men being drunk all the time as we can understand from the bottles of wine and his tiredness, that he is hung-over. Another thing is the fact that he is sleeping on the sofa instead of his bed suggests how men may not even be bothered to sleep on their bed when they are drunk, even though it may be uncomfortable -as we can see the sofa is not long enough for him to stretch out his legs. In addition the body language and facial expressions of George highly suggests how men are thought to be quite sluggish as he is crawled up on the sofa and has his eyes closed. Throughout the clip he was on the sofa the whole time which informs the audience that he has not intentions of getting up. This therefore emphasises the stereotypical character of men being lazy. Whats more, as mentioned by Christine we know that George is a teacher at a primary school and the fact that he is still at home sleeping instead of teaching indicates how men are sometimes thought to be more irresponsible than women as Christine is trying to get him to go to work. On the other hand, in the perspective of Christine, we can see how women are portrayed as responsible and thoughtful as Christine purposely goes to Georges house to get him to go to work. Additionally, the way that she is dressed smartly in a blazer and trousers also suggest how women are thought to be smart and serious about their jobs. Furthermore the way that Christine uses her dialect in a clever way by exaggerating (we have to fill in a form the length of a novel) suggest how they are clever with the way they speak to persuade others to do something. This could suggest how women can be more powerful than men, which is seen more often nowadays.