Textual analysis and representation.

Verisimilitude means that the world/characters is made believable/authentic.

Whilst watching Life on mars we made note of all the activities that took place that would be considered inappropriate or illegal in the present day, we categorised each activity in to one of three sections; Political,technological and Cultural.

• Political would be an activity/action that you would class as being `Politically incorrect`
• Technological would be an activity/action that uses gadgets which have been replaced by another piece of technology which is more high tech in the present day.
• Cultural context would be an activity/actions that were acceptable in 1973 (the year Tyler travels back to), but these actions would not be considered acceptable in the present day in 2009.

Technological

• The vast use of files around the police office, this is because in 1973 there would not have been computers to store all the files/documents on. In the present day you would not see many folders if any at all, however you would see many computer as all the files/documents would be on the computer.
• The use of a typewriter in the office, which in the present day be replaced by a computer
• The Izal toilet paper which is shown was used in all workplace and public toilets, Izal toilet paper was very uncomfortable and felt like plastic, technology has changed this and allowed us to make better toilet paper.
• The old phones that are shown in the office, have been replaced by cordless phones in the present day.
• The black and white television that is shown in the female workers house, have been replaced by digital colour televisions in the present day.
• A switch board operator is shown in the office in 1973, a switch board operator would usually be female and it would be a very low paid job, hence it was mainly a job that females had, as females were to be lower in society. They have been replaced with internal telephones and technology.

Cultural

• When Tyler arrives in the police office, because of his startled look one of the other members of staff makes comment about him being drunk , this tells us that it would have been acceptable to drink during work time, however in present day it would be highly unacceptable to drink during work time.
• Some of the men in the office used quotes such as "As white as a gingerbirds arse" , "She will kiss it better", which are being sexist towards women one of the men also referred to the woman working upstairs as if they are nothing and as if they were worthless.
• Sam Tyler gets beaten up by the boss in the police office in 1973, he is later punched in the stomach by the same man, this would now be considered to be highly unacceptable.
• The meeting that a member of staff had with the press about a case was in the pub, which would now be considered an inappropriate place to have a formal meeting.
• One man in the office is eating his sandwhich over the evidence for a case and his sandwich filling is falling onto the evidence, which would be considered very inappropriate in the present because the sandwhich filling would distort the fingerprints, which would be needed to find out who the criminal was.

Political

• The first scene in the police office in 1973 we see the room is filled with smoke from the men that are smoking in the work place, this would be considered disrespectful and is also against the law to smoke in enclosed areas and work places.
• We notice during the first scene that there are no women present in the detectives office, this means that there were all male detectives, this would have been because society in the 1970s was very mlae dominated and women were seen to be lower in society and were not regarded of as very important people in society. In the present there would more than likely be an even spread of male and female in a work place, some work places will be very male dominated, however some work places will be very female dominated.
• A male worker in the office made another sexist quote saying "I wouldn`t give a tarts furry cup".
• The male workers referred to the women who worked upstairs in the lower paid jobs as `birds`, although this term is heard sometimes in the present , it is not as commonly used as it was then.
• When the two detectives from 1973 and Sam Tyler are in the mortuary the two detectives are laughing about the young woman who was a prostitute, who was murdered the two detectives believed that anyone in her position;working as a prostiute deserved to be murdered. In this small section of the programme we see the difference between the men from 1973 and Sam Tyler who is from the present and the difference in their values and sensitivity towards others.
• Throughout the time when Tyler travels back to 1973, the male workers in the office make sexual inuendos towards women,this was another way that women were looked at as a lower class in society.