Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers - CI Essay

Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers are often misconceived as sharing the same origin. This common mistake is proven with Channel 4's 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding'. As a media consumer we will believe what the narrator of the show tells us, as the effect of the voice-over manipulates the audience to believe we are viewing a group of people that we do not understand, and that are foreign to our own. The reason behind a documentary is to educate the audience. However Channel 4 have twisted this programme into a half documentary, half reality show. This new approach to documentary making - with it's purpose being to entertain a greater audience - has both positives and negatives. The positive being that media consumers who would usually find documentary's not in their taste, are now interested with it's semi-comical approach. However with the show being about a minority group, it feels like they are told as a joke for the audience's benefit. The feedback 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding' has received from the Irish community prove this suspicion, as the majority has been negative.

Firstly the title of the program is the largest misconception. The peoples' journey the show follows, are in fact Irish Travellers, they are not of Romany Gypsy decent. This mistake could be purely accidental and innocent ignorance on the show creator(s) part, but it could also be proof upon the fact that the show creator(s) are further trying to manipulate the viewer into thinking that Irish Travellers and Roman Gypsies are without difference, the beneficial side would be that they don't have to do their research and the title has a nice jingle to it.

The target audience for 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding' are not Irish Travellers themselves, but those who are ignorant of this collective group's lifestyle, and in turn, trust the program to fulfil their interest. However the perception of the Travellers on the show are not assuring and genuine. We know this from the negative feedback the show has received from Travellers themselves. Most seem to believe that they are being represented as uneducated rebels who refuse to conform to political correctness. They feel only the disconcerting side to some of their community is being shown, such as thieving and possessing generally low-morals. This includes differences in respect to gender, and the romantic aspect of their lives and the whole ordeal it entails.

The Travellers on this show have had their historical background changed to suit the creator(s) of the show, and their social lives and how they live politically dictated by what outsiders find most amusing, regardless of the entire truth behind it. The show only follows a small group, therefore only showing one or two families' views and beliefs. This does not give us an overview of how all Irish Travellers live. This lead to the outrage Travellers felt when witnessing the tale of 'grabbing' shown on the show, which is the act of a male who takes an interest in a female, quite literally manhandling the woman away to do as they please. This is a blatant try at painting the men in these communities as viscous and violent, with absolutely no interest in the females' feelings on the matter. The show could perhaps mention that this is just how some of the Travellers behave, and that it is not in fact a ritual taken on by every male and female Traveller. Also the way it is portrayed by the evidence the viewer is shown, and the narrator, 'grabbing' seems like a substitute word for rape. The viewer is once again shown not the overview, but a small portion, and are instantly expected to be disgusted by what we are shown without questioning the morals of the show's motives by showing us clips. The show has made the viewers believe that the only goal a young female Traveller or Gypsy has is to marry, in fear that by the time they reach adulthood, they'll remain unwanted for the rest of their lives, hence why girls who haven't even reached the age of ten yet, are constantly dressed up and wearing make-up. This idea of 'grabbing' within the community that is preached to the viewer is in taste of wanting the outsider to be scandalized by this, and deem this community as a lesser intelligence because they do not teach the girls in the community basics like independence and self-respect.
In comparison to other television networks such as ITV and BBC, Channel 4 gained a reputation of representing the underdog, and not limiting their aired shows to just topics that often hit the mainstream media.
As well as the drastically outdated rule of women being second-class citizens to men that has been established in 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding', the old-fashioned view that physical prowess is the only way to achieve anything has been marked on the men in these communities too.
Seen in an episode that depicts 'grabbing', the inequality between men and women is clear. We are made to pity the females of this community, and think of them as vulnerable and victimised. However by the show painting this image that the male gender is made up of violent, drunken, and ignorant men, isn't fair at all. The woman in these communities have expressed their anger at being out to be weak and inferior, when them themselves believe they are able and are not brainwashed and manipulated. They make their own choices, and have their own intellect behind them to support their decisions.
The male communities feedback is often irritated and upset at being made out to be uneducated and cruel. They aren't shown to have emotion, and what views of theirs we get on their lifestyle are purposely edited to make them seem as ignorant as can be, leading the viewer to have a dark and negative impression on them, and even installing some kind of fear.
The community as a whole, and not just a selective gender or age group, are presented as an outdated, defective society. The woman are shown as weak, unintelligent and low-moraled, as shown in their barely-attempted battle against 'grabbing', and their general appearance throughout childhood, adolescence and adulthood.
The mean are also shown an unintelligent, weak-minded, selfish and violent drunks, especially so in the clips we see on 'grabbing' that presents them as rapists. They are depicted as animals, constantly shown fighting to decide the winner of everything and anything. Besides the argument that both Gypsy and Irish Traveller communities are extremely tight-knit and look out for each other closely within their groups and outside their groups, and that their is a strong family feel to the community.

The idea that the reasoning behind creating a show that teaches about an under spoken minority's ethnic  and cultural background can be heavily questioned in regards to this particular program. Channel 4 is renowned for showing examples of different groups of societies in a semi-positive light, however with the evidence gathered around this particular group of people, the truth behind their political, historical and social backgrounds and views are hidden and twisted, and therefore make Channel 4's 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding' not a reliable source to learn about this group of people.