Also make sure to talk about the historical side of collective identity. This could include films such as Quadrophenia (1979), which is a good one to include to highlight the old style of rebellious youth and the way that representations of collective identities has changed over time. Link to films such as Ill Manors (2012) and Sket (2011). Talk about women representations and how they have developed through the likes of Sket. Include TV programmes as well. For historical reference use Grange Hill (1978) and talk about the relationships that the young boys and girls have with their parents. Link to more recent programmes that highlight the development in relationships between parents and their children such as Youngers (2013) and contrast this with a more positive example, The Young Apprentice (2010). As well as TV, mentions newspapers and the way that youths were portrayed in the London Riots (2011) and the self-represented groups that were set up against the new's claims, such as the "Not In My Name Selfie" that circulated Facebook during the time of the riots.
As well as including the historical side of things in contrast to the present way that youth is represented as a collective identity, make sure to talk about the future aspect of the media and how it will collectively identify youth. Focus on Baudrillard and his theories as a future prediction on what the media will be like and reference his ideas to the likes of youth as a whole as this is what the exam will be on.
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ESSAY STRUCTURE
- Introduction
- Historical Representation - Quadrophenia (1979)
- Historical Representation - Grange Hill (1978)
- Contemporary - Ill Manors (2012) + Sket (2011)
- Contemporary - Youngers (2013) and Young Apprentice (2010)
- News - London Riots (2011)
- Self Representation - Facebook; Not in my name {London Riots}. Social Media.
- Future - Baudrillard
- Conclusion
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THEORISTS TO THINK ABOUT
Cohen (1972)
- Presented the idea of moral panic.
- Argued that sometimes 'folk devils' emerge in a society which reflect the anxieties of society at the time. (e.g mods and rockers shown in quadrophenia, reflect social anxiety about the emergence of youth culture, rock and roll etc.)
- Moral Panic occurs when the media reports on these 'folk devils' in a sensationalised way, leading to intervention on a state level.
- Moral panic is designed to reassert the hegemonic values that we are supposed to follow.
Hebidge (1979)
- Studied British YOUTH SUBCULTURES in the late 1970s. His work is more focused on the reality of youth culture, that theorists such as Giroux, who focus more on the media representations of youth and how they contrast reality.
- He argues that youth subcultures are a way for young people to express their opposition to society and to challenge the hegemony in society. He primarily expresses this through style.
- You may consider how the working class youth's behaviour is a response to their position in society e.g. the class envy of the characters in Eden Lake (only talk about briefly due to it being too old for contemporary film analysis) who steal the signifiers of middle class wealth such as the 4x4 and the Ray Bans.
- Argues that representations of young people are quite limited showing them as either fun or trouble. Contrast this idea to the representation of youth in the Young Apprentice. This further supports the idea that the media representations of young people do not really relate to reality.
Giroux (1997)
- Argues that in media representations, youth becomes an 'empty category', due to the representations being constructed by adults. Due to this they reflect adult concerns, anxieties and needs. As a result, media representations of young people, do not necessarily reflect the reality of youth identity.
- When applying Giroux's theory you need to think about who constructed the representation, who it is aimed at and does the representation reflect adult anxieties or serve the purposes of adult society (e.g. reinforcing hegemonic values).
Tajfel and Turner (1979)
- Individuals strive for positive self concept and identification with and comparison across groups serve that purpose.
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THE FUTURE
Baudrillard
- Hyper-reality: the need to create an unrealistic world to keep the audience entertained and so that they are not bored. Conventions and stereotypes have to be developed in order to constantly appeal to the growing audience's expectations. Hyperreality is the idea of blurred boundaries between the real and the fictional, e.g. Disney World, exists in the real world yet it is based on a fictional make believe one.
- He believed that in the post modernist world the illusion had gone that the media creates an accurate representation of reality or the truth behind people and events.
The Generated World
- This idea has led to a spectacular world that reality cannot match. Things are bigger and much more exciting in the media, through the way that they are presented to the audience.
- The nature of simulation over that of representation has been forwarded as being of fundamental importance to questions of the future of media and it's culture. A culture is claimed, that is increasingly de-realised by the screens of the mass media.
CGI and it's impact
- CGI heightens the visual, making it more spectacular, leading to the importance of the visual over all other aspects of cinema.
- The visual biomes king, Avatar for example, the increase of 3D, a creation of a social effects world that real life just can't live up to.
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