Collective identity essay feedback
0 Comments
What is obvious, when analysing representation of young people in the media, is that the people who control the media, and consequently control how something is represented, are middle aged, white males. From film to music, from video games to newspapers, there is evidence of, as Acland argues, a strong adult gaze. What we see on screens and in print is from the perspective of adults. Therefore we must assume that the representations are somewhat skewed or biased. In Quadrophenia’s romanticised account of the Brighton riots, the protagonist must shed his mod identity in favour of a blank one, ready to start his adult life, which is surely the opinions of the adults who made the film, who, ironically, were once mods and rockers themselves. In the decades since the making of that film, the ever-present adult gaze is still evident. The media portrayal of the 2011 London riots paints a similar picture to the newspapers commenting on the Brighton riots in the 1960s. The age old words ‘feral’, ‘yobs’ and ‘scum’ were plastered over the front pages. Once again, youths are represented as dangerous and a threat to society. Here we can apply Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony, where those in a position of power establish a ‘norm’ and those who are seen to be different become a threat to those norms, thus oppressing others, whilst maintaining control. Once again, a moral panic is created, through, as Cohen states, stylized images and words. This is evident where a single image was used on multiple front pages of national newspapers to depict destruction and violence. The ubiquitous hoodie causing destruction becomes, once again, a symbol for youth everywhere.
This ideas that young people are completely dangerous is challenged somewhat in the TV programme Misfits. This programme is aimed at a young audience, although arguably presented from the perspective of people significantly older than the age group they are representing. The opening scene of the first episode shows the group of young criminals as they meet for the first time. The long shot used captures their uniforms of orange jumpsuits, another symbol of delinquent and dangerous people. Through their distinctive uniforms they are branded as ‘other’, separate from society due to their volatile natures. However, as the audience are treated to mid-shots of the characters, it is evident that they themselves do not wish to be branded as such. They have all modified the uniform in different ways, in order to reflect their personalities. They certainly do not wish to be part of the collective here. As the episode progresses a freak storm gives them all superpowers, whilst the older probation officer turns into a crazed murderer who tries to kill them. The Misfits are represented as special, and different and it is the adult who becomes the threat. This is a more positive representation of young people in the mainstream media, although arguably this stemmed from the age-old stereotype, which, as Dyer states, can be used as a shortcut for a wider social meaning. One study of national newspapers found that words such as feral, yobs, and violent were used hundreds of times to describe young people. And, perhaps even more shockingly, the only time a young male was represented in a positive way was when they died. Stephen’s Story is an example of this. Stephen was a young man who was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He defied many odds and completed GCSEs and A Levels from hospital and then began completing a bucket list of activities in order to raise money for cancer research. This story of bravery was shown in the mainstream media and captured the hearts of millions. However, it could be argued that the tragic nature of the story was what drew the amount of media coverage. Plan B, in his TedTalks presentation emphasised how alienated young people are, which are exacerbated by damaging media representations. He told stories from when he was younger and gained solace in music and young artists as he felt that they were sending a truthful message about what it was like to be a young male, living in East London. When he was making Il Manors he met a group of youths living near Manor House, London. They offered the crew protection from gangs in the area who had threatened filming and became friends with Plan B and the crew members. When he retold the story of kindness, friendship and memories with a newspaper, they re-presented this tale to a national newspaper, this part was excluded and they focused on the danger of London’s streets. As Hall states, media texts are encoded with messages and ideologies for an audience to interpret. The audience are positioned to adopt a preferred reading that young people are a threat to the hegemonic norm. However, traditional media industries are not the sole source of representation in the media. Now the adult gaze has shifted and young people have the power to represent themselves. Social media has enabled a wider range of representations that reach a wide audience. As Fiske argues we can no longer speak of ‘the audience’, because a singular mass of consumers does not exist: there is only a range of different individuals with their own changing tastes and beliefs. Discuss how one or more groups of people are represented through the media
In the past, young people have been represented a rebellious youths who have posed a threat to society and its values. An example of this is through the representation of the Brighton riots in the 1960s. News and radio representations depicted the events as violent, mindless and destructive. Stanley Cohen wrote extensively on the effects of these media representations and he concluded that what was created was a moral panic, in which stylized images and words were used to perpetuate violence and bad feeling. Young people were, thus demonised through words such as feral and yobs which were used to label images of mods and rockers in the midst of destruction. The same events were portrayed 15 years later in the fiction film, Quadrophenia. This film, however, offered a romanticised portrayal of events all those years previous. As Buckingham states, ‘identity is complicated, everyone thinks they’ve got one’. And it is through Quadrophenia that this concept is explored. As the main protagonist reiterates, ‘you’ve got to be somebody, aint ya? otherwise you may as well walk into the sea and drown’. This is reinforced when the mods were shown as a collective, often filmed from a slightly low angle, which exaggerated the idea of a mob as a dangerous collective. The stylized images of the mods, with their scooters, trench coats were used to symbolize wayward and exuberant youth. However, the final scene of the films works to come full circle to repeat the beginning. Here the main protagonist shed his identity and discarded his alliance with the mods. Finally, he is depicted form an extreme long shot as a silhouette. Here he no longer has an identity, he must shed his immature image and now fit into society. He no longer places so much emphasis on belonging; after all, it’s a kid’s game. This suggests that adulthood is inevitable for all, and it is only a brief phase of rebellion, exacerbated by the media, for many young people. ![]()
![]()
![]()
Ali, Nicole, Pavan, Rhea: Look at the past papers below and create essay plans for these questions. The plans should include argument and explanation (AO1) Examples from case studies and theories (AO2) and key terminology (AO1).
Iqra and Kate: Complete the tasks on the future perspectives and the revision PowerPoints below ![]()
![]()
![]()
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
May 2015
Categories |