'Urban' being a euphemism for an unflinching depiction of under-age sex, drug-taking and fatal violence in a gun-riddled London that would have granny trembling behind the sofa. Campaigners tried to ban Kidulthood for supposedly glamorising these issues. Yet Clarke denies his films have a negative impact on youth.
'if people want to see certain things they're always going to pull that certain thing out of there. But you sometimes have to show the negativity to show the positivity that arises from it. I think if newspapers focused on how things could change rather than just sensationalising things that are happening, or saying movies are trying to glamorise them, then we could be in a better position.'
Binary Opposition is shown here between the youth and the older generation as
the 'granny' would be 'trembling behind the sofa' opposite to what shes used to. Negative impact of youth is created as well as moral panic. People think that all youth are this way when it is only the minority.
Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/175544-from-kidulthood-to-adulthood#ixzz1g2g1HAfH
Friday, 9 December 2011
Thursday, 1 December 2011
[CLASSWORK] How do music videos create a sense of collective identity?
Over time music videos have changed dramatically causing collective identities to mediate through time.
"Identity is complicated" David Gaunlett says this and is demonstrated via music videos in creating a collective identity. By looking at successful artsists such as Rihanna, we can explore how she has changed as an artist and an individual over time which has had an effect on the youth too.
In her music video "What's My Name" we see her hair colour to be red which was the first video which revealed the change of her and her appearance. Shortly after this, many girls followed this trend and also dyed their hair red, having a similarity to Rihanna and others around them, creating a sense of collective identity.
Richard Dyers theory is “A star is an image constructed from a range of materials” also known as the 'star theory'. In other words, a star has been created and marketed by the management. This is done so it can help benefit the company to increase sales as Rihanna is looked up to by many young girls. By continuously changing her look, styles and dance moves in her music videos portrays her as a changed artist which causes others to create a collective identity.
"Identity is complicated" David Gaunlett says this and is demonstrated via music videos in creating a collective identity. By looking at successful artsists such as Rihanna, we can explore how she has changed as an artist and an individual over time which has had an effect on the youth too.
In her music video "What's My Name" we see her hair colour to be red which was the first video which revealed the change of her and her appearance. Shortly after this, many girls followed this trend and also dyed their hair red, having a similarity to Rihanna and others around them, creating a sense of collective identity.
Richard Dyers theory is “A star is an image constructed from a range of materials” also known as the 'star theory'. In other words, a star has been created and marketed by the management. This is done so it can help benefit the company to increase sales as Rihanna is looked up to by many young girls. By continuously changing her look, styles and dance moves in her music videos portrays her as a changed artist which causes others to create a collective identity.
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
"With reference to youth, discuss how their identity has been mediated."
Throughout many years, identity has changed overtime for various age groups, in particular the youth. To form a familiar understanding with another person creates a collective identity whereby similar thoughts and interests are shared between each other.
Jacques Lacans theory is “we try to gain an understanding of ourselves by looking through a mirror” by this she means as a young child, an identity is developed by 'mirroring' what we see around us, such as the media.
As we grow older, the media continue to dominate our thoughts and actions acting as the 'Hypodermic Needle Model'. Media is like a drug, and we inject it without even wanting to, whereby it becomes almost inescapable.
If we take a look at a successful R&B artist within the music industry such as Rihanna, we can see how her personal changes throughout her music career has had an effect on youth, causing their identities to mediate.
Richard Dyer's Star theory is “A star is an image constructed from a range of materials". This can be supported clearly by an artist such as Rihanna. Rihanna has been a role model for many young kids, in particular to girls who may follow certain trends, styles and latest fashion that are set by her. She is moulded to the specific needs and wants of the target audience as identified by the management. For example if we concentrate on her hair, from previous videos such as "Pon De Replay" and "If Its Lovin' That You Want" we can see that her hair is long and styled particularly to suit the current trend at that time. Her hair changed dramatically to a short bob in her video "Umbrella" which caused a lot of young girls to start having their hair cut short into a bob. Furthermore, in her recent videos such as "S&M" and "What's My Name" she dyed her hair red which ceased the 'natural brown' look, creating even more girls to follow this look thus causing youths appearances and identities to mediate. Richard Jenkins says we need to interact in order to form our identity, and this can be done by literally replicating a person who help us to do so within the media, in this case, Rihanna.
Print Media, such as magazines can pick up on Richard Dyer's stay theory and use it to their advantage to increase sales. For instance, by having Rihanna as their front cover will attract youth into purchasing it, which causes both the Magazine Company and Rihanna's management to mutually benefit from this.
The levels of sexual references has also increased over time such as the lyrics to a song and the clothes worn. Sticking to Rihanna, if we take a look into her lyrics of "What's My Name" we can analyse and see that sexual innuendos and promiscuity is heightened within the content of the video. She shows more of her body, and her album covers can be considered to be 'soft porn' in comparison to her older ones. In reference to previous music videos by her such as "If Its Loving That You Want", we can see how innocent both the video and lyrics are in comparison to how explicit this has become and shockingly acceptable in our generation. We can say the youth of today have become 'desensitised' whereby the high levels of exposure is the norm within society and morally acceptable.
Identity is not necessarily mediated simply through time, but through different artists too. For example, two current artists who are successful in the music industry are Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne. The two artists juxtapose each other in their lyrics and what their music videos consist of. Lil Waynes' videos feature money, cars and women as he raps about them in almost every song, creating women to be inferior to men as he raps excessively about them. From his song 'Lollipop' the lyrics are "shawty wanna lick me like a lollipop" which has strong sexual connotations with the video is filled with scantily clad women.
In Nicki Minaj's video 'Super Bass' she calls herself a 'Barbie' referring to being 'played with' and exaggerates the image of sex appeal. However she shows that she is the dominant figure and the male figures are her sexual desires/objects. This can cause a great confusion to the audience and youth as to what image she is trying to portray. Her image may be perceived differently causing distorted implications of her as an artist and an individual thus creating youth identity to mediate. Winships notion can relate to this as his notion of complexity is about being prepared, in terms of audience gratification to finally recognise the ideal version of ourselves. So if we decide to follow Rihanna, Lil Wayne or Nicki Minaj we are finding and accepting our identity, therefore mediating.
In conclusion, youth and their identity has been mediated through the use of music videos whereby many give off different connotations to pick up on. The ones we choose to follow (ie Rihanna over Nicki Minaj or vise versa) will be the identity that we create, and mediate it from the identity we had before. Technology has allowed representations to develop (the use of auto-tune) which i think will help create a collective identity in the future as more and more artists are beginning to use it now over their natural voice which will have an effect on the youth and the way they choose to express themselves.
Jacques Lacans theory is “we try to gain an understanding of ourselves by looking through a mirror” by this she means as a young child, an identity is developed by 'mirroring' what we see around us, such as the media.
As we grow older, the media continue to dominate our thoughts and actions acting as the 'Hypodermic Needle Model'. Media is like a drug, and we inject it without even wanting to, whereby it becomes almost inescapable.
If we take a look at a successful R&B artist within the music industry such as Rihanna, we can see how her personal changes throughout her music career has had an effect on youth, causing their identities to mediate.
Richard Dyer's Star theory is “A star is an image constructed from a range of materials". This can be supported clearly by an artist such as Rihanna. Rihanna has been a role model for many young kids, in particular to girls who may follow certain trends, styles and latest fashion that are set by her. She is moulded to the specific needs and wants of the target audience as identified by the management. For example if we concentrate on her hair, from previous videos such as "Pon De Replay" and "If Its Lovin' That You Want" we can see that her hair is long and styled particularly to suit the current trend at that time. Her hair changed dramatically to a short bob in her video "Umbrella" which caused a lot of young girls to start having their hair cut short into a bob. Furthermore, in her recent videos such as "S&M" and "What's My Name" she dyed her hair red which ceased the 'natural brown' look, creating even more girls to follow this look thus causing youths appearances and identities to mediate. Richard Jenkins says we need to interact in order to form our identity, and this can be done by literally replicating a person who help us to do so within the media, in this case, Rihanna.
Print Media, such as magazines can pick up on Richard Dyer's stay theory and use it to their advantage to increase sales. For instance, by having Rihanna as their front cover will attract youth into purchasing it, which causes both the Magazine Company and Rihanna's management to mutually benefit from this.
The levels of sexual references has also increased over time such as the lyrics to a song and the clothes worn. Sticking to Rihanna, if we take a look into her lyrics of "What's My Name" we can analyse and see that sexual innuendos and promiscuity is heightened within the content of the video. She shows more of her body, and her album covers can be considered to be 'soft porn' in comparison to her older ones. In reference to previous music videos by her such as "If Its Loving That You Want", we can see how innocent both the video and lyrics are in comparison to how explicit this has become and shockingly acceptable in our generation. We can say the youth of today have become 'desensitised' whereby the high levels of exposure is the norm within society and morally acceptable.
Identity is not necessarily mediated simply through time, but through different artists too. For example, two current artists who are successful in the music industry are Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne. The two artists juxtapose each other in their lyrics and what their music videos consist of. Lil Waynes' videos feature money, cars and women as he raps about them in almost every song, creating women to be inferior to men as he raps excessively about them. From his song 'Lollipop' the lyrics are "shawty wanna lick me like a lollipop" which has strong sexual connotations with the video is filled with scantily clad women.
In Nicki Minaj's video 'Super Bass' she calls herself a 'Barbie' referring to being 'played with' and exaggerates the image of sex appeal. However she shows that she is the dominant figure and the male figures are her sexual desires/objects. This can cause a great confusion to the audience and youth as to what image she is trying to portray. Her image may be perceived differently causing distorted implications of her as an artist and an individual thus creating youth identity to mediate. Winships notion can relate to this as his notion of complexity is about being prepared, in terms of audience gratification to finally recognise the ideal version of ourselves. So if we decide to follow Rihanna, Lil Wayne or Nicki Minaj we are finding and accepting our identity, therefore mediating.
In conclusion, youth and their identity has been mediated through the use of music videos whereby many give off different connotations to pick up on. The ones we choose to follow (ie Rihanna over Nicki Minaj or vise versa) will be the identity that we create, and mediate it from the identity we had before. Technology has allowed representations to develop (the use of auto-tune) which i think will help create a collective identity in the future as more and more artists are beginning to use it now over their natural voice which will have an effect on the youth and the way they choose to express themselves.
Thursday, 24 November 2011
Media Glossary
Collective Identity: A sense of ‘one-ness’. A membership in a social group that is collective and has a sense of togetherness.
Hegemony: Leadership or dominance, esp. by one country or social group over others.
Subculture: A cultural group within a larger culture, often having beliefs or interests at variance with those of the larger culture
Subversion: corruption, going against the typical view/social norms
Ideology: The ideas and manner of thinking of a group, social class, or individual:
Dichotomous: divided or dividing into two sharply distinguished parts or classifications
Dissonance: disagreement: a conflict of people's opinions or actions or characters
Archetypal: Very typical of a certain kind of person or thing
Subservient: Less important; subordinate
Anarchy: A state of disorder due to absence or non-recognition of authority
Counter Culture: A subculture that is opposed to the dominant values in a society
Surveillance: close observation of a person or group
Mediated: adapt, change.
Divergent: the act of moving away in different direction from a common point
Perspective: A particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view
The Female Gaze: Women are capable of what men are doing
The Male Gaze: Women objectified by male media
Post – Modernism: involves the belief that many, if not all, apparent realities are only social constructs, as they are subject to change inherent to time and place.
Viral: the rapid spread of information about a product or service by viral marketing techniques
Media – Saturated: Media is inescapable, we see it everywhere
Emergence: The process of becoming important, prominent.
Social Order: Stance and status (hierarchy)
Hierarchy: The order of status
Distorted: Giving a misleading or false account or impression; misrepresented
Moral Panic: the intensity of feeling expressed in a population about an issue that appears to threaten the social order
Reflection: The media presents opposite views from what has already been constructed
Construction: The way something is put together
Apathy: Lack of interest, not bothered.
Online media:
Regulation: A rule or directive made and maintained by an authority (Censorship, blocking of content)
Web 2.0: user centred information sharing (twitter and facebook)
Desensitised: Make less sensitive (exposure)
Verisimilitude: The appearance of being true or real
David Buckingham: “A focus on identity requires us to pay closer attention to the ways in which media and technologies are used in everyday life and their consequences for social groups”.
Hypodermic needle Model: Media is like a drug, it’s all around us and we even take it in without trying. The Hypodermic Needle Model suggests that the information from a text passes into the mass consciousness of the audience unmediated; the experience, intelligence and opinion of an individual are not relevant to the reception of the text
Karl Marx – Marxism Theory
Merlau Ponty - We have an embodied experience and anything in which we use our bodies to create, we help builds our identity.
Richard Jenkins: We need to interact in order to form our identity. With others or the media, partaking in an event (reality virtually) with people who help us form a collective identity.
Henri Jenkins:
Strinati:
David Gaunlett: “Identity is complicated; everybody thinks they’ve got one.”
Henri Tajfel - Individuals strive to improve their self-image by trying to enhance their self-esteem, based on their personal identity or various social identities - ‘in’ group, ‘out’ group.
Stuart Hall: Proposes that the media, as a principle from of ideological spreading, produces representations of the social world via images and portrayals. Hall asserts that ideological things become ‘naturalised’.
Caroline Howarth:
Jacques Lacan – Mirror stage. “we try to gain an understanding of ourselves by looking through a mirror” Child beings to develop their identity by ‘mirroring’ what they see (media).
Marxism: Communism, one way of thinking and living
Neo – Marxism:
Richard Dyer: “A star is an image constructed from a range of materials”
Michel Foucault: We are born with a basic construction of identity. Our identity mediates as we get older and meet other people creating a collective identity. However, it can be limited because a stereotypical view is created and portrayed as assumptions are made.
Isidore Isou:
Audience Gratification Theory: Blumer & Katz; Diversion - escape from everyday problems and routine. Personal Relationships - using the media for emotional and other interaction, eg) substituting soap operas for family life. Personal Identity - finding yourself reflected in texts, learning behaviour and values from texts. Surveillance - Information which could be useful for living eg) weather reports, financial news, holiday bargains.
Winship: notion of complexity is about being prepared, in terms of audienc gratificatioin to finally recognise the ideal version of ourselves. A constructed audience is 'made'
Maslow:hierachy of needs is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid, with the largest and most fundamental levels of needs at the bottom, and the need for self-actualization at the top.
Hegemony: Leadership or dominance, esp. by one country or social group over others.
Subculture: A cultural group within a larger culture, often having beliefs or interests at variance with those of the larger culture
Subversion: corruption, going against the typical view/social norms
Ideology: The ideas and manner of thinking of a group, social class, or individual:
Dichotomous: divided or dividing into two sharply distinguished parts or classifications
Dissonance: disagreement: a conflict of people's opinions or actions or characters
Archetypal: Very typical of a certain kind of person or thing
Subservient: Less important; subordinate
Anarchy: A state of disorder due to absence or non-recognition of authority
Counter Culture: A subculture that is opposed to the dominant values in a society
Surveillance: close observation of a person or group
Mediated: adapt, change.
Divergent: the act of moving away in different direction from a common point
Perspective: A particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view
The Female Gaze: Women are capable of what men are doing
The Male Gaze: Women objectified by male media
Post – Modernism: involves the belief that many, if not all, apparent realities are only social constructs, as they are subject to change inherent to time and place.
Viral: the rapid spread of information about a product or service by viral marketing techniques
Media – Saturated: Media is inescapable, we see it everywhere
Emergence: The process of becoming important, prominent.
Social Order: Stance and status (hierarchy)
Hierarchy: The order of status
Distorted: Giving a misleading or false account or impression; misrepresented
Moral Panic: the intensity of feeling expressed in a population about an issue that appears to threaten the social order
Reflection: The media presents opposite views from what has already been constructed
Construction: The way something is put together
Apathy: Lack of interest, not bothered.
Online media:
Regulation: A rule or directive made and maintained by an authority (Censorship, blocking of content)
Web 2.0: user centred information sharing (twitter and facebook)
Desensitised: Make less sensitive (exposure)
Verisimilitude: The appearance of being true or real
David Buckingham: “A focus on identity requires us to pay closer attention to the ways in which media and technologies are used in everyday life and their consequences for social groups”.
Hypodermic needle Model: Media is like a drug, it’s all around us and we even take it in without trying. The Hypodermic Needle Model suggests that the information from a text passes into the mass consciousness of the audience unmediated; the experience, intelligence and opinion of an individual are not relevant to the reception of the text
Karl Marx – Marxism Theory
Merlau Ponty - We have an embodied experience and anything in which we use our bodies to create, we help builds our identity.
Richard Jenkins: We need to interact in order to form our identity. With others or the media, partaking in an event (reality virtually) with people who help us form a collective identity.
Henri Jenkins:
Strinati:
David Gaunlett: “Identity is complicated; everybody thinks they’ve got one.”
Henri Tajfel - Individuals strive to improve their self-image by trying to enhance their self-esteem, based on their personal identity or various social identities - ‘in’ group, ‘out’ group.
Stuart Hall: Proposes that the media, as a principle from of ideological spreading, produces representations of the social world via images and portrayals. Hall asserts that ideological things become ‘naturalised’.
Caroline Howarth:
Jacques Lacan – Mirror stage. “we try to gain an understanding of ourselves by looking through a mirror” Child beings to develop their identity by ‘mirroring’ what they see (media).
Marxism: Communism, one way of thinking and living
Neo – Marxism:
Richard Dyer: “A star is an image constructed from a range of materials”
Michel Foucault: We are born with a basic construction of identity. Our identity mediates as we get older and meet other people creating a collective identity. However, it can be limited because a stereotypical view is created and portrayed as assumptions are made.
Isidore Isou:
Audience Gratification Theory: Blumer & Katz; Diversion - escape from everyday problems and routine. Personal Relationships - using the media for emotional and other interaction, eg) substituting soap operas for family life. Personal Identity - finding yourself reflected in texts, learning behaviour and values from texts. Surveillance - Information which could be useful for living eg) weather reports, financial news, holiday bargains.
Winship: notion of complexity is about being prepared, in terms of audienc gratificatioin to finally recognise the ideal version of ourselves. A constructed audience is 'made'
Maslow:hierachy of needs is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid, with the largest and most fundamental levels of needs at the bottom, and the need for self-actualization at the top.
Monday, 14 November 2011
To what extent do audiences use media to construct their own sense of collective identity?
Over several years, there has been a dramatic change within the media and the ways in which it helps construct certain identities. Identity is forever mediated and can be suggested that it isn’t always certain. Our views and opinions can change so quickly depending on the way in which media choose to represent and construct certain stories back to us via various media texts.
For example if we consider the London Riots, we can agree that a strong stereotype was created by the media that youth were the main cause and problem of this matter. Henri Tajfels theory can strongly relate as the youth were portrayed in a negative light. This made them the ‘out-group’ leaving the elder and ‘mature’ class and viewers of the news to be the ‘in-group’. Already collective identities have been recognized however, some young people may decide to dress differently to hoodies and tracksuits so they don’t fall under the stereotypical category of those who judge. This then creates even more identities as the media have constructed an image of youth within society to form. His theory suggests that there is a strong distinction made by the media about the ‘youth’ that damaged the streets of London.
With the use of Web 2.0, the London Riots was spread all over the internet and on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. This enabled people to communicate and share information which helps to develop a collective identity by having an opinion and sharing the same thoughts. Merlau Pontys theory can be applied here as we have an embodied experience and can present ourselves in many ways. By joining social network sites and integrating with other people who share the same ideas and personalities, gives us a sense of belonging; a collective identity. In addition, Blackberry Messenger was also used to spread the message of the riots. By having many open options makes it harder for regulators to keep things under control and many views and opinions are able to be spread. To cease this, Blackberry decided to turn off the use of Messenger in order to get some sort of control with the situation. However, this created more confusion as networks were down and complaints were made, creating even more frustration and anarchy within society.
From my perspective, I believe that the use of Web 2.0 helped me to create my sense of identity. Interacting with other people and getting used to the functions of Facebook and Twitter made me dependant on it so much that it has become an addiction, something which I have to check and update every day. The freedom to share my thoughts with others helps me to interact with them in order to gain something in common, suggesting that media plays a great part in creating my identity, thus helping to construct a collective one.
As an audience, we read newspapers to update us about everyday life. The media are able to construct their views about youth, portraying them in a negative light - as we know this is what sells. Michael Foucault’s theory can relate to this as he says that everyone is born with a basic identity, which is then mediated through the people we meet and soon becomes limited. His theory is clearly applicable here as it causes all audiences to refer to youth as ‘yobs’ because of the headlines and therefore construct us to be destructive and rebellious creating a limited view of our identity, which is falsely interpreted due to the mass media. A sense of moral panic is thus caused, creating a threat within society.
Furthermore, online press play a huge part in moulding our views as it has become a dominant aspect in which it can influence our minds and become our 'everyday reality'. Videos of the London Riots were shown of the destruction that was caused giving people a reason to dislike the youth of today. However, by having videos shown(on Youtube and Sky News) of youth justifying themselves, supports the media in creating these identities for us within society.
In conclusion, it can be seen that the audience rely heavily on media to construct their own sense of identity. The world and its news can only be fed by the media in many forms therefore, depending on how an article, story or text is written, we will interpret it in the way the media want to and make our minds up from that. With the continuous development in technology and new inventions, it will help to promote and present media in different formats and in effect, dominate our lives and way of thinking. It can be said that collective identity will still be formed in many different ways of interaction with the help of the media and the ways in which they decide to sell their products.
For example if we consider the London Riots, we can agree that a strong stereotype was created by the media that youth were the main cause and problem of this matter. Henri Tajfels theory can strongly relate as the youth were portrayed in a negative light. This made them the ‘out-group’ leaving the elder and ‘mature’ class and viewers of the news to be the ‘in-group’. Already collective identities have been recognized however, some young people may decide to dress differently to hoodies and tracksuits so they don’t fall under the stereotypical category of those who judge. This then creates even more identities as the media have constructed an image of youth within society to form. His theory suggests that there is a strong distinction made by the media about the ‘youth’ that damaged the streets of London.
With the use of Web 2.0, the London Riots was spread all over the internet and on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. This enabled people to communicate and share information which helps to develop a collective identity by having an opinion and sharing the same thoughts. Merlau Pontys theory can be applied here as we have an embodied experience and can present ourselves in many ways. By joining social network sites and integrating with other people who share the same ideas and personalities, gives us a sense of belonging; a collective identity. In addition, Blackberry Messenger was also used to spread the message of the riots. By having many open options makes it harder for regulators to keep things under control and many views and opinions are able to be spread. To cease this, Blackberry decided to turn off the use of Messenger in order to get some sort of control with the situation. However, this created more confusion as networks were down and complaints were made, creating even more frustration and anarchy within society.
From my perspective, I believe that the use of Web 2.0 helped me to create my sense of identity. Interacting with other people and getting used to the functions of Facebook and Twitter made me dependant on it so much that it has become an addiction, something which I have to check and update every day. The freedom to share my thoughts with others helps me to interact with them in order to gain something in common, suggesting that media plays a great part in creating my identity, thus helping to construct a collective one.
As an audience, we read newspapers to update us about everyday life. The media are able to construct their views about youth, portraying them in a negative light - as we know this is what sells. Michael Foucault’s theory can relate to this as he says that everyone is born with a basic identity, which is then mediated through the people we meet and soon becomes limited. His theory is clearly applicable here as it causes all audiences to refer to youth as ‘yobs’ because of the headlines and therefore construct us to be destructive and rebellious creating a limited view of our identity, which is falsely interpreted due to the mass media. A sense of moral panic is thus caused, creating a threat within society.
Furthermore, online press play a huge part in moulding our views as it has become a dominant aspect in which it can influence our minds and become our 'everyday reality'. Videos of the London Riots were shown of the destruction that was caused giving people a reason to dislike the youth of today. However, by having videos shown(on Youtube and Sky News) of youth justifying themselves, supports the media in creating these identities for us within society.
In conclusion, it can be seen that the audience rely heavily on media to construct their own sense of identity. The world and its news can only be fed by the media in many forms therefore, depending on how an article, story or text is written, we will interpret it in the way the media want to and make our minds up from that. With the continuous development in technology and new inventions, it will help to promote and present media in different formats and in effect, dominate our lives and way of thinking. It can be said that collective identity will still be formed in many different ways of interaction with the help of the media and the ways in which they decide to sell their products.
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
“The Media do not construct collective identity; they merely reflect it.” Discuss.
For many years now, the youth have been both constructed and reflected in the media in a negative light. However collective identity (the process of sharing common factors with others) can be either constructed or reflected, some may say both. Tabloid and broadsheet newspapers achieve to contain the two, giving readers more to say about the youth of today.
Michel Focault’s theory is demonstrated by the media as he says that everyone is born with a basic identity, which is then mediated through the people we meet and soon becomes limited. This can relate to the statement as the mass media dominate our lives as it is inescapable which lures people in to having a stereotypical way of thinking and behaving.
Representation of youth in the media creates a sense of moral panic as the youth are continuously reflected negatively so that the portrayal of youngsters is very nearly impossible to change. During the riots, The Daily Mirrors front page said “Yob Rule” and gave the youth a name whereby most newspapers and articles continue to use whenever they refer to us doing anything destructive. The term ‘Yob’ immediately brings to mind younger people and therefore feel negative towards them. It is words like these which actually construct collective identity rather than reflect it, making the youth look worse than they actually are via the use of bias words and phrases.
Furthermore, The Suns front page was “Rioters aged 7” which increases moral panic as people will think it’s not only teenagers that are causing this anarchy but it’s those even younger. However, we know that adults were involved in the riots but do not see it reflect them as it does not create the same buzz as it does to those younger. It’s as if people are all ignorant to have an opinion for those older who do it but comes as a shock to them when they hear that the youth are reliable. Perhaps we’re just following by example?
The negativity that is shown across to the readers of these articles continue to reflect youth quite stereotypically to be destructive, rebellious and careless. The Hoodies or Alter Boys article has statistics to help strengthen their viewpoint by saying things like “85% of teen boys said newspapers portray them in a bad light” and “80% of teen boys think adults are more wary of them now than they were a year ago.” by using these statistics, makes us assume that the majority of teenage boys believe this as opposed to the minority. Many stories in this newspaper articles are about how youth are reflected in a bad way as there has been an increase in newspaper stories about teens and crime over the past year. The newspapers choose not to represent youth in a positive light, even though there are many positive things happening i.e statistics on education. For example “White working class boys are turning their backs on university even if they do well enough at school, a study revealed yesterday.” Daily Mail, 19 June 2008. The Daily Mail haven't written a figure which means this could be a minority of ‘white working class’ but they still choose to write this in the newspapers over the amount of people who choose to go to university, because that isn’t a story that people will want to read of the youth, simply because it isn't negative. It therefore can be believed that the media construct collective identity rather than reflect it.
A stereotypical assumption of boys would be that they like to play a lot of computer games, some of which are violent (COD) which could be why boys are portrayed to be in crime and violence more than girls. This can be backed up as the ‘Women In Journalism’ website says that boys are named as ‘yob, thugs, feral, hoodies, louts and scum.’ Games like COD are advertised everywhere on billboards, ad breaks and heavily rely on graphical content to create a sense of realism which is perhaps why boys are involved in partaking in real violence. It can be argued that the media infect the youth to act this way as collective identities can be created by those playing the same games and contributing similarly via their actions within society; making it beneficial for them to then write about our actions on various media contexts. From this example, we can see that the media is thus constructing our opinions on youths and their video games and as a result, has repercussions on our views of reality. People may now see that violent video games do effect youths and will attempt to stop them playing them. Print media will pick up on this, create moral panic and therefore contribute to post modernism this way as the media are a powerful force.
If we consider Broadsheet newspapers such as The Daily Telegraph and The Independent, they both used headlines referring to the word 'Mob'. Even the slightest change of letters can alter the meaning of a word, as 'yob' is considered to be much worse than 'mob' and is more of a realistic view of defining togetherness and collective identity about the London Riots. It can be said that they apply a more of a reflection of the youth and are considered to be more factual based and impartial, providing the opportunity to change minds about the youth of today.
Because of this difference in tabloids and broadsheets, readers will come away with different opinions and views. According to Stuart Halls encoding and decoding model, we decode the media the way we see fit. However, with the tabloids creating moral panic and exaggerating events, readers adopt a biased opinion; unlike they would if reading a broadsheet.
In conclusion, it is clear to see both collective identities have been constructed and reflected. However, as people are forever idolising celebrities and prefer to read something entertaining rather than factual, it can be said that most people read and prefer tabloid newspapers. They fall into the constructed collective identity created by the media, which targets those of a lower to middle class who then become highly opinionated about the youth within society.
Michel Focault’s theory is demonstrated by the media as he says that everyone is born with a basic identity, which is then mediated through the people we meet and soon becomes limited. This can relate to the statement as the mass media dominate our lives as it is inescapable which lures people in to having a stereotypical way of thinking and behaving.
Representation of youth in the media creates a sense of moral panic as the youth are continuously reflected negatively so that the portrayal of youngsters is very nearly impossible to change. During the riots, The Daily Mirrors front page said “Yob Rule” and gave the youth a name whereby most newspapers and articles continue to use whenever they refer to us doing anything destructive. The term ‘Yob’ immediately brings to mind younger people and therefore feel negative towards them. It is words like these which actually construct collective identity rather than reflect it, making the youth look worse than they actually are via the use of bias words and phrases.
Furthermore, The Suns front page was “Rioters aged 7” which increases moral panic as people will think it’s not only teenagers that are causing this anarchy but it’s those even younger. However, we know that adults were involved in the riots but do not see it reflect them as it does not create the same buzz as it does to those younger. It’s as if people are all ignorant to have an opinion for those older who do it but comes as a shock to them when they hear that the youth are reliable. Perhaps we’re just following by example?
The negativity that is shown across to the readers of these articles continue to reflect youth quite stereotypically to be destructive, rebellious and careless. The Hoodies or Alter Boys article has statistics to help strengthen their viewpoint by saying things like “85% of teen boys said newspapers portray them in a bad light” and “80% of teen boys think adults are more wary of them now than they were a year ago.” by using these statistics, makes us assume that the majority of teenage boys believe this as opposed to the minority. Many stories in this newspaper articles are about how youth are reflected in a bad way as there has been an increase in newspaper stories about teens and crime over the past year. The newspapers choose not to represent youth in a positive light, even though there are many positive things happening i.e statistics on education. For example “White working class boys are turning their backs on university even if they do well enough at school, a study revealed yesterday.” Daily Mail, 19 June 2008. The Daily Mail haven't written a figure which means this could be a minority of ‘white working class’ but they still choose to write this in the newspapers over the amount of people who choose to go to university, because that isn’t a story that people will want to read of the youth, simply because it isn't negative. It therefore can be believed that the media construct collective identity rather than reflect it.
A stereotypical assumption of boys would be that they like to play a lot of computer games, some of which are violent (COD) which could be why boys are portrayed to be in crime and violence more than girls. This can be backed up as the ‘Women In Journalism’ website says that boys are named as ‘yob, thugs, feral, hoodies, louts and scum.’ Games like COD are advertised everywhere on billboards, ad breaks and heavily rely on graphical content to create a sense of realism which is perhaps why boys are involved in partaking in real violence. It can be argued that the media infect the youth to act this way as collective identities can be created by those playing the same games and contributing similarly via their actions within society; making it beneficial for them to then write about our actions on various media contexts. From this example, we can see that the media is thus constructing our opinions on youths and their video games and as a result, has repercussions on our views of reality. People may now see that violent video games do effect youths and will attempt to stop them playing them. Print media will pick up on this, create moral panic and therefore contribute to post modernism this way as the media are a powerful force.
If we consider Broadsheet newspapers such as The Daily Telegraph and The Independent, they both used headlines referring to the word 'Mob'. Even the slightest change of letters can alter the meaning of a word, as 'yob' is considered to be much worse than 'mob' and is more of a realistic view of defining togetherness and collective identity about the London Riots. It can be said that they apply a more of a reflection of the youth and are considered to be more factual based and impartial, providing the opportunity to change minds about the youth of today.
Because of this difference in tabloids and broadsheets, readers will come away with different opinions and views. According to Stuart Halls encoding and decoding model, we decode the media the way we see fit. However, with the tabloids creating moral panic and exaggerating events, readers adopt a biased opinion; unlike they would if reading a broadsheet.
In conclusion, it is clear to see both collective identities have been constructed and reflected. However, as people are forever idolising celebrities and prefer to read something entertaining rather than factual, it can be said that most people read and prefer tabloid newspapers. They fall into the constructed collective identity created by the media, which targets those of a lower to middle class who then become highly opinionated about the youth within society.
Wednesday, 2 November 2011
Friday, 21 October 2011
How far does the representation of youth change over time?
For many years the youth of today have had a negative representation within the media. Many events have occurred to support this such as youth violence of gun and knife crime and quite recently, the riots, whereby the 'youth' were stereotypically the dominant age group portrayed. I will be focussing on two films: ‘Rebel Without A Cause’ (RWAC) juxtaposed with ‘Kidulthood’ to see if the representation of youth has changed and how (if any) that is evident through these films.
The first few differences noticeable between the two films are the dialogue in them. The conversations held and tone of voice in RWAC is much ‘softer’ than what is heard in Kidulthood. There are very few scenes in Kidulthood where one character doesn’t swear or use harsh, inappropriate language to the other. (A few that can be pointed out are when they talk to their friends’ parents – respect is shown which suggests that even though youth are collectively portrayed to be disrespectful to one another, they know to respect their elders creating a positive representation of the youth.) To communicate, the youth use colloquialisms (slang) to one another where they understand each other, and anyone else (like adults) wouldn’t, which shows a sense of togetherness between their own generations. In RWAC, James Dean speaks respectfully to both his peers and parents and even when harsh language was used, it wasn’t as aggressive as Kidulthood, due to the fact that foul language back in the 1950s was censored.
The difference in social class between the two is evident by the way the characters dress and where they live. In RWAC, James Dean wears a leather jacket and has a smart-casual look whereas the characters in Kidulthood are wearing a typical “gangster” hoodie and tracksuit look. This represents the continuous changing and developing sub cultures over time. In Kidulthood, the characters seem to add their own style to their uniform by accessorising with a cap, loose tie and a hoodie which forms their own collective identity, separating themselves from the rest of the school which also suggests a sense of rebelliousness. The theory of Foucault is present as he believes that “everyone is born with a basic identity, which is then mediated through the people we meet and is soon limited, as a stereotypical view is created.” Evidently, those part of the same ‘gang’ follow each other by the way they dress and are stereotyped heavily due to what they look like. For example, in a scene in Kidulthood, a security guard follows Trevor and his two friends out of the shop as he assumes that Trevor stole a hat, but was actually already wearing it when he came in. Perhaps, if Trevor and his two friends were dressed in a smart suited look, the security guard wouldn’t have looked twice at them. It is clear to see that the representation of youth has remained negative since the trend of hoodies and tracksuits have been in fashion and the negative stereotype will remain amongst this type of clothing until a huge impact can change the view of people.
Furthermore, the area they live in can help define the youth of today. For example, the area which the youth live in Kidulthood can be considered to be deprived and of a lower class, as various council estates are shown, which could suggest a hard lifestyle and neglected upbringing. In comparison to RWAC we see James Dean’s house which is of a modern size, in an area that can be considered to be more middle to an upper class which clearly presents a juxtaposition not just within the areas, but with their families and lifestyle too.
Other negative and rebellious views of youth are evident through both of these films which may question whether or not the negative stereotype has developed over time or if it has always been like this. For example, although RWAC is much more 'cleaner' and less-violent than Kidulthood, it holds aspects where negativity it portrayed of the youth. There was a scene where all the students met up after college and had a car race. This is a dangerous and ignorant thing to do and is typical of the youth to carry out this event, almost as though it is expected of them. Theorist Isidore Isou said "the young, who have nothing to lose, are the attack. They are the adventure" this conforms to the scenario as the youth knew their lives were at risk, but do not realise the consequences until someone gets hurt. And in Kidulthood the violence, gang fights and obvious promiscuity is heightened which perhaps shows that the actions of youth have developed more-so for others to have a stronger opinion, rather than it being a whole new concept.
It is fair to say that the representation of youth has developed rather than changed as there has always been a sense of negativity for a long period of time. The extent to which this is revealed is quite explicit nowadays with regards to the sex, drugs and violence presented in Kidulthood in comparison to RWAC where it wouldn't have been accepted as society hadn't developed thus far. The media perceives the youth in a negative light whereby they can be seen as the 'out-group' and everybody else who doesn’t fit into the category as the 'in-group' conforming to Henri Tajfel's theory.
Thursday, 6 October 2011
How do young people form their 'collective identity' through reality tv?
Use Michel Foucault thoery
'togetherness'
Collective identity: the individfual sense of belonging to a group (part of personal identity)
representation: the way reality is 'mediated' or 're-presented' to us.
self-construction by others of the media (what we watch/see helps us to make an image of myself)
Young people form the biggest part of their identity through the period of adolescence because this when they make the transition from childhood to adulthood and are still finding out who 'they are'. The media and those around us help us to form an identity which transforms to a collective identity (the individual sense of belonging to a group). This can be done in various ways, for example through music, having the same taste in fashion and clothing, or the one which will be focussed on; reality tv.
There are many popular and current reality tv shows that have a form of collective identity of young people such as 'The Only Way Is Essex', 'Geordie Shore' and 'Made in Chelsea.'
Made In Chelsea is a British reality TV show set in a wealthy area, Chelsea. It shows young people who are connected in a way of wealth which brings them together to form a collective identity. They live in highly materialistic lifestyles 'where the gossip is as startling as the prices.' Their clothing is designer and are dominated by their values of money. Collectively, the aristocrats are related in a similar way to one another as they share the same interests and lifestyles as each other. Michel Foucault's theory states that we are born with a basic construction of identity, which can be mediated through various influences. This is proven to be true, as in this case, these young people have been born and raised in a wealthy area so they know no better as to what life is like without the glits and glamour. However he believes that our identity can also be limited as a stereotypical view is portrayed by 'outsiders' looking in, therefore assuming wrongly about who we are and the identity that we hold. This can also be interlinked with Henri Tajfel's theory as two groups are formed here, those that fit in ('in-group') and those that don't ('out-group') - both of these groups are a form of collective identity. The young people in Made In Chelsea try and break the stereotype by subverting through discorse, as in a few episodes the conversations held between one another can be considered to be more of a lower class slang as opposed to an upper class posh.
Furthermore, Geordie Shore is a tv series with a group of middle-classed young people who are partying occassionally and can be seen to have quite low self-esteem. This automatically categorises them as the 'wild' ones who love to socialise and get drunk. They have an obsession with asthetic appearance and care more about being attractive and popular rather than rich and famous. These two reality tv shows seem to be the antithesis of each other and demonstrates clearly how two different forms of collective identity can be depicted by what they do together and how they live their lives. Young people watching these shows may favour one over the other. This subconciously could be due to the fact that they relate to the young people witin the Tv Shows in some way or another.
The Only Way is Essex (TOWIE) is a reality tv show filmed in Essex which shows "real people in modified situations, saying unscripted lines but in a structured way." The young people in it are concerned with their appearance and are portrayed to be quite rich. To some extent, it can be argued that TOWIE represents a perfect mix of the two reality TV shows discussed before.
In conclusion, it is evident that the way media portrays people, their lifestyles and hobbies, others will also be able to relate, creating these collective identities. The way in which the three reality tv shows discussed, shows lifestyles of three completely different types of groups, classes and lifestyles but of all similar ages (young people) conforms to the fact that young people are still making the transition to finding their true identity. From what they see around them, and how much they adapt to other forms of identity throughout their adolescence through the people they meet, forms a collective identity.
'togetherness'
Collective identity: the individfual sense of belonging to a group (part of personal identity)
representation: the way reality is 'mediated' or 're-presented' to us.
self-construction by others of the media (what we watch/see helps us to make an image of myself)
Young people form the biggest part of their identity through the period of adolescence because this when they make the transition from childhood to adulthood and are still finding out who 'they are'. The media and those around us help us to form an identity which transforms to a collective identity (the individual sense of belonging to a group). This can be done in various ways, for example through music, having the same taste in fashion and clothing, or the one which will be focussed on; reality tv.
There are many popular and current reality tv shows that have a form of collective identity of young people such as 'The Only Way Is Essex', 'Geordie Shore' and 'Made in Chelsea.'
Made In Chelsea is a British reality TV show set in a wealthy area, Chelsea. It shows young people who are connected in a way of wealth which brings them together to form a collective identity. They live in highly materialistic lifestyles 'where the gossip is as startling as the prices.' Their clothing is designer and are dominated by their values of money. Collectively, the aristocrats are related in a similar way to one another as they share the same interests and lifestyles as each other. Michel Foucault's theory states that we are born with a basic construction of identity, which can be mediated through various influences. This is proven to be true, as in this case, these young people have been born and raised in a wealthy area so they know no better as to what life is like without the glits and glamour. However he believes that our identity can also be limited as a stereotypical view is portrayed by 'outsiders' looking in, therefore assuming wrongly about who we are and the identity that we hold. This can also be interlinked with Henri Tajfel's theory as two groups are formed here, those that fit in ('in-group') and those that don't ('out-group') - both of these groups are a form of collective identity. The young people in Made In Chelsea try and break the stereotype by subverting through discorse, as in a few episodes the conversations held between one another can be considered to be more of a lower class slang as opposed to an upper class posh.
Furthermore, Geordie Shore is a tv series with a group of middle-classed young people who are partying occassionally and can be seen to have quite low self-esteem. This automatically categorises them as the 'wild' ones who love to socialise and get drunk. They have an obsession with asthetic appearance and care more about being attractive and popular rather than rich and famous. These two reality tv shows seem to be the antithesis of each other and demonstrates clearly how two different forms of collective identity can be depicted by what they do together and how they live their lives. Young people watching these shows may favour one over the other. This subconciously could be due to the fact that they relate to the young people witin the Tv Shows in some way or another.
The Only Way is Essex (TOWIE) is a reality tv show filmed in Essex which shows "real people in modified situations, saying unscripted lines but in a structured way." The young people in it are concerned with their appearance and are portrayed to be quite rich. To some extent, it can be argued that TOWIE represents a perfect mix of the two reality TV shows discussed before.
In conclusion, it is evident that the way media portrays people, their lifestyles and hobbies, others will also be able to relate, creating these collective identities. The way in which the three reality tv shows discussed, shows lifestyles of three completely different types of groups, classes and lifestyles but of all similar ages (young people) conforms to the fact that young people are still making the transition to finding their true identity. From what they see around them, and how much they adapt to other forms of identity throughout their adolescence through the people they meet, forms a collective identity.
Thursday, 22 September 2011
What are the social implications of the ways in which different media represent social groups?
Notes from reading the chosen essay:
- Perspective of the youth is always from an adults’ interpretation in order to ‘serve the needs’ of adults’ society.
- Using peoples theories which support your argument, strengthens it (regardless of whether this subverts or conforms)
- Rebel Without A Cause – good example to use in supporting the era of youths out of control and generating their own identities. Young people are still related to the likes of knives, crime and theft. - The view of the youth of today remains the same. (slightly altered view)
- Use other forms of references – newspapers, films, tv.
- A strong negative representation of the youth is perceived.
Media construction is a dominant source.
- Misfits = stereotypical imagery ohf working class Brisitsh youth. Giving teenage protagonists superpowers creates a positive view. Perhaps minds of the media is changing slightly? Youths seen in a positive light.
- Mass media products represents young people in such negative ways. Technological developments offer young people the opportunity to construct their own representation and respond to mass media representations
Using key terminology and backing up theories and idieologies with appropriate evidence is shown and elaborated. The use of films/tv and how that represents the era of the youth is demonstrated clearly. The explanation of different films/tv series represents how the view of the youth has been alternating and changing through the years. Mass media production dominates the way youth are perceived through the news and other sources which makes it impossible for the youth to be portrayed the way they want as adults have control over the way we are represented.
- Using peoples theories which support your argument, strengthens it (regardless of whether this subverts or conforms)
- Rebel Without A Cause – good example to use in supporting the era of youths out of control and generating their own identities. Young people are still related to the likes of knives, crime and theft. - The view of the youth of today remains the same. (slightly altered view)
- Use other forms of references – newspapers, films, tv.
- A strong negative representation of the youth is perceived.
Media construction is a dominant source.
- Misfits = stereotypical imagery ohf working class Brisitsh youth. Giving teenage protagonists superpowers creates a positive view. Perhaps minds of the media is changing slightly? Youths seen in a positive light.
- Mass media products represents young people in such negative ways. Technological developments offer young people the opportunity to construct their own representation and respond to mass media representations
Using key terminology and backing up theories and idieologies with appropriate evidence is shown and elaborated. The use of films/tv and how that represents the era of the youth is demonstrated clearly. The explanation of different films/tv series represents how the view of the youth has been alternating and changing through the years. Mass media production dominates the way youth are perceived through the news and other sources which makes it impossible for the youth to be portrayed the way they want as adults have control over the way we are represented.
Relating theories to the London Riots 2011
Henri Tajfel
Social identity theory – 1979.
Understanding the psychological basis of intergroup discrimination. Tajfel attempted to identify the minimal conditions that would lead members of one group to discriminate in favour of the in-group to which they belonged and against another out-group.
This can relate to the London Riots as the youth were portrayed by the media in a negative light which made us collectively the ‘out-group’ leaving the elder and ‘mature’ class and viewers of the news to be the ‘in-group’.
“After being categorized of a group membership, individuals seek to achieve positive self-esteem by positively differentiating their ingroup from a comparison outgroup on some valued dimension. This quest for positive distinctiveness means that people’s sense of who they are is defined in terms of ‘we’ rather than ‘I’.” – In other words, the riots and looting from the perspective of those involved was changed from a negative to a positive. People genuinely believed they were benefitting from it, as it would help their families and thinking it was right because others around them were doing it and were majorly influenced by the acts of others. Many united as one as they helped themselves and helped each other to carry the loot from one place to another. Tajfels theory shows that there is a strong distinction made by the media about the ‘youth’ that damaged the streets of London.
Understanding the psychological basis of intergroup discrimination. Tajfel attempted to identify the minimal conditions that would lead members of one group to discriminate in favour of the in-group to which they belonged and against another out-group.
This can relate to the London Riots as the youth were portrayed by the media in a negative light which made us collectively the ‘out-group’ leaving the elder and ‘mature’ class and viewers of the news to be the ‘in-group’.
“After being categorized of a group membership, individuals seek to achieve positive self-esteem by positively differentiating their ingroup from a comparison outgroup on some valued dimension. This quest for positive distinctiveness means that people’s sense of who they are is defined in terms of ‘we’ rather than ‘I’.” – In other words, the riots and looting from the perspective of those involved was changed from a negative to a positive. People genuinely believed they were benefitting from it, as it would help their families and thinking it was right because others around them were doing it and were majorly influenced by the acts of others. Many united as one as they helped themselves and helped each other to carry the loot from one place to another. Tajfels theory shows that there is a strong distinction made by the media about the ‘youth’ that damaged the streets of London.
Stuart Hall
Hegemony and Cultural studies
Crime statistics, in Hall's view, are often manipulated for political and economic purposes. Moral panics (e.g. over mugging) could thereby be ignited in order to create public support for the need to "police the crisis." The media play a central role in the "social production of news" in order to reap the rewards of lurid crime stories. – This suggests how much of a dominant role the media has against the viewers, so by seeing the riots, they can portray the rioters in a way which they want them to be shown to the viewers, creating a biased and stereotypical opinion of the situation.
‘Culture is not something to simply appreciate or study, but a critical site of social action and intervention where power relations are both established and potentially unsettled.
Stuart Halls believes that identity is affected by history and culture, therefore an ongoing production. The past has had an impact on the future so we see and expect a domino effect to occur.
Crime statistics, in Hall's view, are often manipulated for political and economic purposes. Moral panics (e.g. over mugging) could thereby be ignited in order to create public support for the need to "police the crisis." The media play a central role in the "social production of news" in order to reap the rewards of lurid crime stories. – This suggests how much of a dominant role the media has against the viewers, so by seeing the riots, they can portray the rioters in a way which they want them to be shown to the viewers, creating a biased and stereotypical opinion of the situation.
‘Culture is not something to simply appreciate or study, but a critical site of social action and intervention where power relations are both established and potentially unsettled.
Stuart Halls believes that identity is affected by history and culture, therefore an ongoing production. The past has had an impact on the future so we see and expect a domino effect to occur.
Caroline Howarth
So you’re from Brixton? Struggling for Recognition –
Those who live in Brixton are often represented as ‘different’, ‘other’ and ‘inferior’. Already this creates a negative buzz about Brixton and by having the riots escalate to that location, from Tottenham originally, may not have come to a surprise to some. ‘Media images of Brixton, for example, portray the area and those who live there as threatening, aggressive and criminal.’ She goes on to say that ‘those who live there, and those who are well acquainted with the area, maintain that in spite of these inceptions, Brixton is a vibrant community, proud of a multicultural past and present.’ This suggests that the perceptions of those who aren’t associated with Brixton will automatically assume that Brixton is a rough area and perhaps not the best place of interest. Prejudice representations create images to us via the media as it was mentioned that only ‘young black youth’ were rioting in Brixton. This, of course, is inaccurate information as many other cultures of all ages were involved also. However, the majority choose to ignore it as we are so enticed with what we read and watch on the news.
Those who live in Brixton are often represented as ‘different’, ‘other’ and ‘inferior’. Already this creates a negative buzz about Brixton and by having the riots escalate to that location, from Tottenham originally, may not have come to a surprise to some. ‘Media images of Brixton, for example, portray the area and those who live there as threatening, aggressive and criminal.’ She goes on to say that ‘those who live there, and those who are well acquainted with the area, maintain that in spite of these inceptions, Brixton is a vibrant community, proud of a multicultural past and present.’ This suggests that the perceptions of those who aren’t associated with Brixton will automatically assume that Brixton is a rough area and perhaps not the best place of interest. Prejudice representations create images to us via the media as it was mentioned that only ‘young black youth’ were rioting in Brixton. This, of course, is inaccurate information as many other cultures of all ages were involved also. However, the majority choose to ignore it as we are so enticed with what we read and watch on the news.
Thursday, 15 September 2011
How are teenagers and young people in the media portrayed?
i have chosen to look at the TV series 'The Inbetweeners' because i believe it is quite a contraversial tv series and depicts a strange portrayal over teenagers and the youth of today. It follows 4 teenage boys who think about one thing, girls. except for Will who is interested in his studies. Will represents the youth of today who are interested in their education and are able to balance out their social life along with their working life. He is immidiately classed as a 'nerd' as he wears the typical glasses and holds a briefcase in the very first episode. He doesnt show an interest in girls because he doesn't think he can get anyone due to his looks and the clique he is with. They are embarrassing and get picked on by some of the bigger boys which shows that they hold no dominance unless its 'behind closed doors'. One of the characters, Jay is portrayed as a woman hungry teenager. He spends a lot of time talking about girls and tries showing off to his friends about what he has done in his sex-life but his friends know hes still a virgin and this is shown clearly to us as an audience too. This portrays teenage boys as a typical sort as we'd expect them to boast about the prettiest girls as they try to increase their 'rep.'
Furthermore, the boys decide to show a rebellious side as they bunk off for the day. They try and get served with alcohol also but are unable to do so, and in effect get caught bunking too. This portrays young people as the stereotype that they expect us to be which is exxaggerated and makes us assume that all teenagers are like that, and gives older viewers a negative view of the youth.
Throughout the series we see their identities change to fit into other groups and to be popular. This supports Jacques Lacans theory of the 'mirror stage' which holds the concept of imitating what we see around us and
adopting a new identity which we believe is the 'real us'. For example, in one series, to impress a girl, Simon tries to change his ways to be more noticed. He also starts making more time for her and less time with his boys which is the typical expectation when some you like is on your life.
The boys hold a collective identity even though they have completely different lifestyles. They interact with each other so much like going on a lads holiday in the movie that affinity is formed between them.
Furthermore, the boys decide to show a rebellious side as they bunk off for the day. They try and get served with alcohol also but are unable to do so, and in effect get caught bunking too. This portrays young people as the stereotype that they expect us to be which is exxaggerated and makes us assume that all teenagers are like that, and gives older viewers a negative view of the youth.
Throughout the series we see their identities change to fit into other groups and to be popular. This supports Jacques Lacans theory of the 'mirror stage' which holds the concept of imitating what we see around us and
adopting a new identity which we believe is the 'real us'. For example, in one series, to impress a girl, Simon tries to change his ways to be more noticed. He also starts making more time for her and less time with his boys which is the typical expectation when some you like is on your life.
The boys hold a collective identity even though they have completely different lifestyles. They interact with each other so much like going on a lads holiday in the movie that affinity is formed between them.
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