Stereotype of ethnicity in Hotel Babylon

In Hotel Babylon, the stereotype of ethnicity are used to demonstrate the different classes in society.  We are first introduced to the scene as the Police Officer walks into the hotel and we can first see how the receptionist is hesitant at first but regains her composure and looks confident. We are shown there conversation through shot-reverse-shots and the Police Officer brings out his ID badge which is symbolic for the symbol of power and authority. The receptionist is shown through a point of view shot at a high angle from the Police Officer's view which shows she is lower in society as she has a lower job than him which again adds to the stereotype that men are smarter and more powerful. Yet she fits the stereotype of white people being smarter than black people as she knows to alert them yet the black man has to be told for him to realise. This suggests she's more powerful because she's white. While this is going on, the non-diegetic sound of music is in the background and the music is very tense which builds the atmosphere in this scene. This connotes the idea of fear and the need to protect others.

The male then rushes downstairs which shows that he is also smart but this time it fits the male stereotype. He then tells an Asian woman who are stereotypically smart and she also knows exactly what to do and is shown she can speak a variety of languages which tells us she's multi-cultured or is smart and knows lots of languages and the audience aren't surprised by this as we would stereotypically expect her to know more than one language. She takes the authoritative role of taking everyone to the staff room and even though there are males, her uniform is smarter which suggests she is a higher social class. She is wearing red lipstick which connotes the idea of power and authority which means the audience are more drawn to look at her. Through the use of mies-en-scene, we can see that the 'immigrants' are all workers which shows they are in a lower class. They have more simple clothing whereas the higher class people have very elegant clothing which suggests they are more important and deserve to look nicer. This means that British people will have authority over them which would stereotypically be expected.

Once everyone is in the room, through shot-reverse-shots we can see that everyone appears scared and there is a significant sense of them being victims in this situation. This teaches the audience the effects of racism and segregation. We then zoom in on the authoritative girl that took them here as she realises one person is missing and this zoom in is effective as it shows the audience how concerned and worried she is for him. Through cross-cutting, we are then shown what the missing man is doing at the moment and we are shown he is vacuuming which again adds to the idea they all have the lower class jobs at this Hotel because they aren't valued as much because they aren't British. The synchronous sound of this vacuum builds the atmosphere in the Hotel.

A woman in the room is diabetic as falls to the floor and we see everyones reaction as they go to help her. One of the workers has a wide medical knowledge which defeats the stereotype of black people not being as smart as white or Asian people as the Asian women didn't know what to do in this situation yet she is stereotypically supposed to be smarter than both white and black people. The man helping her appears confident in what he's talking about which shows he is very intelligent as medicine is a very difficult thing to fully learn. He takes up the authoritative role in this situation which fits the stereotype of him being male yet defeats the stereotype of the white workers and asian female not knowing what to do.

A man then knocks on the door which again suggests the idea of males having more authority than woman as we are told over a over the shoulder shot that the cleaner has been caught. This suggests males know more about what's going on than women do. Through fast paced editing we see the scene moved to the Hotel Lobby as they take the cleaner away and the Asian woman is begging them not to. She suggests she could fire him which tells us she is in a role of authority over males so she is in a higher social class which isn't stereotypical. As she talks to the Police Officer, through shot-reverse-shots we see that his role of power intimidates her. The receptionist then tells a male waiter to get everyone drinks which shows how even though she is in a lower class job, she still knows how to take authority over the situation which suggests she feels she has because she is white.

We then see the Asian woman takes photos out of a locker which suggests this is a regular occurrence and it presents the people that are other races as a victim. We then move to the dining area and through a tracking shot, we can see the different ethnicities and races segregated from each other as if it's dangerous and they aren't supposed to. We then zoom in on two people praying before they eat which is significant as it shows they are grateful they have food. This suggests where they come from that they don't have much food. The male seems more dedicated to his religion than the female does and when she goes to eat before he's finished he holds up a finger asking her to wait. This shows again the role of dominance and it suggests the male is doing the right thing so may get more respect from the audience. This is tied in with how the cleaner saved the diabetic woman's life which shows how they're good people and deserve to be noticed.