Some Girls

Some Girls is a TV comedy based around 4 female sixth formers and their daily lives.

There are 4 main characters that each have their own distinct personality. These personalities are purposely exaggerated for comedic reasons, but they have some level of truth to them as the characters are made to be somewhat relatable to the people watching the show.

The main character archetypes are the ‘dumb one’, the ‘angry one’, the ‘sarcastic one’ and the ‘responsible one’. Although the characters can fit easily into these categories, they still have a level of depth towards them that is shown as the show progresses. Some Girls shows the home lives of each individual, that contrasts and compliments each character to their personality outside of their house.

The main character begins with trouble at home as her father is practically ignoring her and having a child with her P.E. teacher. While this is mainly for comedic reasons, it gives a reasonable method to have the character angry at her father which then sets up a plot device for the main character to stay at all of her friends’ houses, therefore showing off each of their home lives.

The show is set on an estate, so each character is from a lower/working class family. This builds the idea that each character has completely different aspirations in life. One of them wants to finish sixth form and go to university in order to be successful; another is referred to as a future prisoner and the other main characters are unsure about their future, which I feel a lot of the shows target audience is able to relate to.

Youth Culture in TV: Black Mirror

Black Mirror is a British anthology show that shows the dark side of technology (the name is a reference to how a screen becomes a 'black mirror' as it is turned off).

Since Black Mirror is an anthology show, only a few episodes show examples of youth culture:
-Season 2 Episode 3: The Waldo Moment
-Season 3 Episode 1: Nosedive
-Season 3 Episode 2: Playtest

The Waldo Moment

The Waldo Moment is based around a failed comedian who voices a cartoon bear named Waldo gets mixed up in politics as the Shows’ executives want Waldo to run for Office

-This episode is especially relevant today as Donald Trump won the Presidency this year (this episode aired in February of 2013, whereas Donald Trump announced his campaign for president in June 2015). 

-The Waldo moment features a small example of British youth culture where it is mentioned that Waldo is gaining traction from young voters. It is mentioned in the episode that the amount of young people that are voting is the highest it has ever been. This fits with the Hebdige theory of youth where they are very limited to being either trouble or fun, this representation is clearly trouble as the youth are voting a cartoon character to become the Prime Minister of the UK.

-It also fits well with the Cohen theory of Moral Panic, this is because the youth are ‘trying to express themselves in a way that adults have not seen before’ by rebelling against the establishment by voting for Waldo. The Waldo moment also contrasts the Acland theory of the state trying to ‘control’ the youth, this episode shows the youth rebelling against this theory.

Nosedive

-This future is controlled by an app that lets people give others a rating out of 5 stars, and provides a very detailed view of youth culture. 

-This episode aligns itself with Acland’s theory of control. This is because of the app being a form of control by the state as this episode essentially replaces social classes with ratings i.e. only people with a certain rating can have certain jobs or houses. Acland’s theory of control blends well with this episode because the rating system stops people from disobeying the state as people with ratings below a 2 are essentially outcast from society.

-This episode also lends itself to the Gramsci theory where he describes the impact social classes have on the representation of youth as the ‘lower’ social classes (low ratings) are shown in a much more negative manner and are unable to to have the same lifestyle as middle/upper class people (mid and high ratings).

Playtest

Playtest is set around a young adult who leaves his home and family after his father dies (from complications due to Alzheimer's disease) in order to go traveling .

-This is the main example of youth culture, and it is a more negative representation of youth as it therefore relates to the Hebdige theory of youth culture as this youth is represented as trouble rather than fun as he abandons his family rather than helping them deal with their loss; however, this also links with Giroux’s theory of youth culture as he describes them as an ‘empty category’ that adults do not understand, this implies that he left his family in order to deal with his loss in his own way.

The Future Development of Youth Cinema

In my opinion, I believe that youth culture films will not change all that much from now on. This is because I cannot see there being any ground breaking changes to how youth are portrayed in the media. What I mean by this is that the media and people have become used to/desensitized to almost anything that the media can throw at them. For example, Grange Hill was aired in 1978 and featured themes of racism, drugs, rape and pregnancy; at the time, this was very taboo and rare to be seen on television, but as time progressed, people have become much more used to seeing this type of stuff on TV and in movies. This is why I believe that the portrayal of youth in the media will not change much in the future as people are much more used to seeing extreme portrayals of life on the TV now. This could however lead to TV story lines and characters becoming over saturated and overused which will lead to people becoming bored, leading to an eventual change in the way youth culture is represented in TV.

The only way that I can see the portrayal of youth culture in TV/cinema changing is if life itself changed drastically, but I believe that life and experiences in school will remain relatively similar to what it is now. For example, in Grange Hill, there were problems with racism in the story line, but in a modern society, this is much less prevalent (although it still happens), whereas in a modern society people are much more inclusive of others (depending on location).

Furthermore, I also don’t believe that there are many other ‘taboo’ subjects to portray on TV anymore that will surprise anyone or that will totally change the media’s portrayal of youths. On the other hand, I would like to see a wider range of personalities/examples of youth culture in order to differentiate from the conventional Hebdige theory of youths being either trouble or fun.

The Inbetweeners 2

‘The Inbetweeners 2’ is a movie is a continuation of the series (3 seasons) and a direct sequel to the first movie, which is based around a small group of 4 friends who are all around the age of 19-20. The film/series is often referenced as one of the best and most relatable representations of youth culture in the media. The reason the Inbetweeners is so relatable is because it accurately portrays experiences that almost every teenager/student can relate to; albeit a much more exaggerated version. The Inbetweeners 2 definitely links well to the Hebdige theory of youth culture, Hebdige described youth as fitting into two categories, trouble or fun. This movie portrays youth as much more fun than trouble (although there is occasionally examples of trouble, but it is more or less used to exaggerate the ‘fun’).

Youth culture films tend to place teenagers/young people into groups (similar to the Hebdige theory), this is because it makes the film a lot easier to make and more enjoyable to watch. Youth culture films are, more often than not, about ‘hoodie cinema’, gang culture and crime or they are about the awkward and funny experiences that teenagers might go through during their life (i.e. portraying relatable and entertaining experiences). This relates to the Giroux theory that the media portrays youth in an ‘empty category’ that adults simply do not understand and the adults that write the show/movie therefore just ‘plonk’ their own ideas of what youth culture is onto an empty space (the characters). This could perhaps be why youth are portrayed in a much more ‘blanket’ fashion rather than as individuals. This means that youths are portrayed as either criminals or as complete fools rather than as individuals with complex lifestyles and personalities. However, if the Inbetweeners had not been a much more exaggerated the movie would not have been as entertaining because the life of most students isn’t as ‘extreme’ as that of the Inbetweeners movie because most student’s lives are about going to school and having a part time job. Portraying youths in this way are almost a necessity when it comes to cinema as it is what is the most interesting to watch.

Fast Girls

‘Fast Girls’ is a film about a team of Olympic sprinters that are brought together to participate in the 4 by 100m relay team. The film is centred around two main characters, Shania and Lisa. Shania’s character is based in a lower class area of London. She lives with her sister and her aunt in a flat. Shania’s mother passed away and her father is not featured in the movie at all. In contrast, Lisa is a wealthy, upper class athlete that has trained her whole life, due to her father being a past Olympian. This is where Shania and Lisa contrast at first, as they are both on completely different sides of the spectrum in terms of wealth, but their similarities are quickly shown when the movie displays both of the girls’ determination to be an athlete.

‘Fast Girls’ displays youth culture in a much more positive light than the likes of films such as ‘My Brother the Devil’ or older films such as ‘A Taste of Honey’. ‘Fast Girls’ shows the journey of a poor/lower class girl trying to become an Olympic athlete; this contrasts to films such as ‘A Taste of Honey’ because the main character isn’t presented with a problem, they have a goal to reach which follows with some problems, whereas ‘A Taste of Honey’ presents the main character with a problem and the film entails her journey of dealing with her problem.    

My Brother the Devil

‘My Brother the Devil’ is a film set around the gangland of London; it is based around a family (more specifically two brothers) of British Arabs and the gang that the oldest son (late 20’s) is in. The film tackles multiple prejudices at once as the movie focuses on gang culture, youth culture, religion and homosexuality. The film does a good job of humanizing the two main brothers in the film by immediately showing how the older brother (Rash) wants his younger brother (Mo) to go on from school and do better things with his good GCSE results; which defies the regular stereotype of ‘hoodies’ being unintelligent. 

The film highlights how Rash is only in the gang in order to provide a better life for Mo and his family by actively trying to stop Mo from being around other gang members and sneaking money into his mother’s purse; the film also shows how hard it is for these ‘hoodies’ or lower class people to get proper jobs to provide for themselves, as one of the former gang members goes to a job interview and is laughed out the building for not having any references. The film therefore does a good job of representing how hard it can be for these people to find a proper job and therefore subverts the stereotype that ‘hoodies’ choose not to go to a proper job and that it is their choice to live a life of crime. The film also tackles the subject of sexuality as Rash discovers that he is a homosexuality; Mo later finds out about this and is so ashamed that he would rather tell people that his brother is a terrorist. This really emphasizes how awful the homophobia is on the streets of London; the homophobia escalates to the point of Rash’s former gang setting him up by telling him to go kill a rival gang leader in order for the gang to stop talking to Mo (again showing Rash’s willingness to care for his brother), but it is actually a ploy to kill him because of his sexuality. The film is telling the audience that many gang members are unwillingly in a position that they cannot get out of, and the film really highlights how easy it can be for someone to be manipulated into joining. The film also helps the audience empathize with Rash by including his homosexuality, which shows how hard life can be for lower class citizens, the film is therefore trying to change people’s stereotypical opinion on ‘hoodies’ and youths.

Youth Culture

The media has a large impact on society, usually through film and TV. Both film and TV represent youth culture in positive and, mainly, negative ways. Because media influences society on such a large scale, the medias representation of youth culture often changes people’s perception of youth, or different groups of people. Because the media tends to represent youth groups in a more negative manner, this usually creates the idea that ‘youths’ are more violent, rude, dangerous and always misbehaving; even if that is not the case.

For example, the film ‘Quadrophenia’ portrays youths as violent criminals, this is emphasized when the main character is involved in a large riot that is instigated by younger people; this can create further disdain for youth culture. This disdain/fear for youth culture that can be created by films like Quadrophenia can create panic on a fairly large scale; this is Stanley Cohen’s theory of ‘Moral Panic’ which is a feeling of fear that is spread among a large number of people that some evil threatens the well-being of a society. A Dictionary of Sociology defines a moral panic as ‘the process of arousing social concern over an issue – usually the work of moral entrepreneurs and the mass media’. This is a strong link to films like Quadrophenia as they can create/change people’s opinion of youth culture to the point of creating mass (exaggerated) fear; this links to the theory of moral panic as it was described as the media (film/TV) creating and spreading fear.

The media has a wider affect than just youth culture. For example, the media affects people’s perception of other groups of people, like lower class people. In film and TV, the lower class (and often youths) are usually portrayed as ignorant, violent and uneducated criminals; film and TV usually have the lower class wear similar clothes like hoodies, which has now become a staple of lower class criminals in media.

Film began to portray youths in a negative way during the 1950’s with films such as ‘Rebel Without a Cause’ and ‘The Wild One’. This practically created a new genre of film as youth culture films started to become much more popular and mainstream, whereas now they have become the norm in film and TV, especially in British film and TV where there tend to be a lot more youth culture films like ‘My Brother the Devil’ and ‘Kidulthood’. As youth culture films became more of the norm outside of the 50’s, we saw releases like ‘A Taste of Honey’ which is the story of an unmarried plain young girl who becomes pregnant by a black sailor then befriends a homosexual; this was far against the norm during the sixties which was still a very sensitive period as black people and homosexual people were still heavily discriminated against. This film therefore could create a very negative opinion of youth culture because it was so far against what was accepted in society, which could therefore create a very bad perception of youths.