Do Kidulthood and Fish Tank create a realistic representation of youth?

The youth are generally represented in the media to be quite negative and are generally the focal topic of debates, reports, and in recent news, associated greatly in the Riots with the words such as “destructive”, “yobs” and “thugs”. Michel Focaults theory is based on the fact that everyone is born with a basic identity, which is then mediated through the people we meet and soon becomes limited as stereotypes are created. Both Kidulthood and Fish Tank can support this.
In Kidulthood, we immediately see a clique of young boys in their uniform in school. However, they have adjusted their uniform, with a hoodie, hat and a loose tie which creates their own sense of collective identity and a sense of rebelliousness. This can be said to be true as youth these days like to have their own recognition within their groups whether that is a symbol or a particular item of clothing, however it forms automatic stereotypes, so the thoughts that the media and outsiders have of us is misinterpreted and perhaps false. The use of hoodies and tracksuits is heightened in the film which creates a dominant view in society. For example, we see them hanging about in street corners, getting into fights and stealing a purse; showing that perhaps youth are in fact immature and troublesome. Print media, like tabloids and broadsheets newspapers, reflect and construct these views of youth, calling us “yobs” and “thugs” during the London Riots which therefore supports the 2k film. Focaults theory can also be related here as in a scene of Kidulthood, a security guard follows Trevor out of the shop as he assumes he stole a hat. This was clearly only done to show how strongly people feel about youth being in hoodies and tracksuits and how quickly assumptions can be made. In comparison to Fish Tank, the protagonist also wears similar type of clothing and is portrayed to be a destructive character as she gets into fights and rebels. These two personas can be classified as the 'in-group' where they see the adults and those who stereotype as the out'group, according to tajfels theory.

"Identity is complicated, everybody thinks they’ve got one" David Gaunlett says this and is presented clearly in both films. Being a youth, especially a teenager is a tough time period as we are still finding out ‘who we are’ for our identity. This is the phase in which we experiment, act both good and bad to see what we prefer, and as we grow older our identity becomes complicated. For example, in Kidulthood, Trevor talks about his notorious uncle who is a dangerous man, where no one believes him. When he goes to visit he doesn’t like the look of hurting others and is forced to use a blade to prove his ‘strength’ and commitment to his uncle. After that he repents for what he does and is highly ashamed as he runs away. His loneliness gives him time to think about what he’s done; therefore demonstrating mixed thoughts and a blurred identity. Furthermore, in Fish Tank the scene of which there is an open landscape and just a horse, presents a lonely identity, and her attempt to free the horse symbolises her attempt to free herself into finding her identity.
Both classes are of a similar type as we are shown they live on various council estates (block of flats) therefore deprived and of a lower class, which could suggest a hard lifestyle and neglected upbringing. This could be a reason as to why they both rebel and perhaps show a realistic representation of youth as it’s usually ones with a neglected upbringing who cause anarchy in society. (quote in-group –out group) those of a higher class are the out group in their view. Character in Fish Tank is impartial as she wants to dance, but to dance alone and not in a group. She likes being with her family but sometimes can’t stand them.

Merlau Ponty's embodied experience theory suggests that we physically use our hands on our phones, the internet and social networking sites to make and form our identity. Technology is a big factor of youth’s identity as we seem to revolve around that in contrast to historical times where family interaction and games used to be a major pass time. In Kidulthood we see a lot of mobile phones used, to communicate and meet up, and in Fish Tank, we also see her using a phone but the digital camera is used more to portray her identity, by dancing. This can therefore be said to create a realistic representation of youth as we highly dedicate a lot of time on technological devices and depend on them majorly.

The elements presented in both Kidulthood and Fish Tank can therefore be said to be a near enough perfect view of youth as it seems as though in society we have become desensitised to the typical hegemonic view of the youths of today. It comes to no surprise if they are recognised in the news as the media will always continue to represent youth in such a way so their story sells, continuing to reflect youth unfairly with the inability to change such a dominant view in society. To some extent it can be argued that Kidulthood holds more of a realistic represenation of youth as Noel Clarke, the producer, is younger and more involved with the youth of today to be able to present his view realistically.