British youth

Giroux argues that in media representations youth becomes an empty category. This is because media representations of young people are constructed by adults. As a result of this media representations of young people do not necessarily reflect the reality of youth identity. who constructed the representation and who it is aimed at?

Hebridge argues that the representations of young people are quite limited showing them as either fun or trouble. This does not relate to reality.

Cohen: the representation of working class youth suggest that they have become a contemporary folk devil, concerns about a benefit culture and in the long term unemployment. A moral panic occurs when the media reports on these folk devils in a sensationalised way. The effect of moral panics is to reassert  hegemony by allowing a society to make it clear what values it does not accept.

Eden lake: this film  represents contemporary working class British youth in extremely negative ways. It has a middle class adult character as the main protagonist. It begins by introducing us to Jenny and Steve who are clearly represented as middle class. They are contrasted with the working class teenagers who are initially shown engaged in anti social behaviour-listening to loud music and swearing. This escalated into them hunting and killing the middle class teenagers. The film uses the conventions of a horror film to portray working class teenagers as monsters. Middle class characters are therefore tortured and killed by working class youths which is supposed to leave the audience horrified. Aimed at a wider target audience.

Fish Tank- film employs a similar broken British approach with a sink estate setting, dysfunctional broken family and anti social behaviour. But Mia is represented in a more sympathetically way and is seen in a more victim role. Middle class boyfriend character is represented more negatively , exploiting Mia. This sympathetic approach could be related to issues of genre as it is a low budget independent film at a niche audience of art film fans.

Misfits uses stereotypical images of ASBO teens but represents them in a like able way. Does not have an adult point of view. The characters are represented quite negatively. In the opening episode the probation officer is represented as a monster. use of superhero trope to make the representation more positive. challenges negative stereotypes. shown on a channel aimed at a young audience.

Hoodies or altar boys: study of newspaper representations of teenage boys found that these representations were extremely negative. Most popular words used to describe them in news reports were thugs, yobs, evil, monsters or scum. The majority of stories about teenage boys were in relation of crime. The representation makes the audience fearful of teenagers. According to Cohen this creates a moral panic for society.  It also relates to Aclands theory as these representations reinforce hegemony by identifying what is acceptable behaviour and what is unacceptable.

Reception theory- the audience will receive the text differently depending on their class gender and ethnicity- Morley

Eastenders- =Liam gets influenced by a gang in trying to become part of them and join their 'group'. He starts to adopt their behaviour and becomes violent and talks back to his Mum. Absent father, Ricky could be the main cause of this and he does not have an adult male figure to look up to. This is as form of youth subculture and they form an identity in terms of their style; clothes. Stereotype of British youth to be apart of a gang especially in parts of London such as Brixton. Always news coverage about gangs and crimes that they have committed such as knife crime. Special slang not shared with society; they have their own vocabulary and language.

Can be identified with specific music such as Hip hop and figures and artists like 50 cent.

1960'-1970's quadrophenia film about the mods and rockers in Britain. they are engaged in getting into fights with one another in Brighton. negative representations of youth in the media is not a new construction.

Most media representations of young British youth is negative this is because it reflects the concerns of their middle class producers and as a result produce hegemony. More positive representations can be found on television channels at younger people like E4. The representations of British youth in the media has an effect on their identity as not all of young teenagers are the same eg violent. the media therefore creates a stereotype and image about them which makes the audience look down on them in a way especially by the older generation. However, social media such as social networking sites allows young people to construct their own identity however this self representation has a limited impact compared to the mass media.

Question 1a Practice

Describe the ways in which your production work was informed by research into real media texts and how your ability to use such research for production developed over time.

My production was informed and influenced by research that I conducted during the planning stages at the beginning and also throughout the creativity of my production. I researched numerous things in order to create my music video such as previous music videos made by the artist William Control as well as other music videos of the same genre. This enabled me to find out more about the conventions of a music video, but especially ones within the genre I am focusing on which is electric. I also used a number of aspects in order to conduct my research starting from using the Internet to gaining audience feedback on social networking sites. My research carried out and how this developed over time to help create my music video will be discussed throughout this essay.

Firstly, I used the internet to research previous music videos other A Level students have made in order to see the standard and quality needed to create one. I used Youtube to do this and by using this form of research it developed my ideas over time. This is because my ideas for the music video kept changing and once we finally came up with an idea we kept adding new things to it. For example, at first I chose to have the video in colour, however, after watching the video through I decided to change it into black and white. I chose to have it in this way because after researching the conventions of electric music videos I noticed a lot of dark colouring was used. This made the video look more effective and it fitted well with the genre as it is quite eerie, using colour did not give it the effect I wanted it to have. I used iMovie to edit the colour of the footage, using this programme was useful as I had already became familiar with it during my AS course. Therefore, I did not need to worry about learning to use a new programme I was not confident with.



  

Essay practice

With reference to any group of people you have studied discuss how their identity has been mediated.
Cultural identity is the identity of a group, culture or of an individual. I explored this topic further by looking at British youth and how they have been mediated through a number of representations. For example, the dominant representation of British youth's and the absent representations of them. This term mediated is when something in the media is exaggerated, changed, distorted or misrepresented which then influences the audiences views and perceptions. The shot choices made, the editing and sound bridges has an effect on what it is that is being represented, in effect mediating it. In this essay I will be focusing on the representation of British youth's and their identity has been mediated through Films, Newspapers and Social networks.

The Marxist theory fits well with this idea as they believe that the ruling class control much of our behaviour and views. The ruling classes values and beliefs are put across in the media and they are the ones who own and control the content.  For example, the editors and owners of the media are mainly from a ruling class background called the Bourgeoisie. They control what is put into the media and what gets left out. Therefore, their views and opinions will be the ones that are represented and shown in the media which reflect the ruling classes ideologies. This manipulates the way audiences think and changes and alters their views. An example of this is, in newspaper articles they always portray British Youth's in a negative way such as 'troublemakers' and 'scroungers'. The main articles in the telegraph and many other newspapers during August 2011 focused on the London Riots and the British youth's involvement in this. This is a dominant representation of British youth's and it mediates their identity and makes the audience believe that all British youngsters are the same and behave in this way. This is a typical stereotype of British youth's in the media and as Cohen states they are used as scapegoats to whip up a moral panic against them. As a result, all young people may then get labelled as a anti-social 'problem group' in society. Owners of the media create these moral panics in order to attract a wider audience and to gain more money and profit.

In the media, there are very little articles and stories published about the positive representations of British youth such as the number of students who now attend University and go onto higher education. This is referred to as absent representations, which means that certain groups and cultures are not represented at all in the media. Survival is another absent representation of British youth's in  films and documentaries due to them mostly being murdered. For example, the drama 'My Murder' displays a teenage boy being led to his death by his girlfriend, this ends up being a set up and he ends up losing his life.  However, in the film 'Fish tank' the Patriarchal ideology is challenged through the narrative outcome as Mia escapes and survives by herself. This is an alternative representation as she comes out at the other end and the film shows a positive representation of the teenager; that she is strong.

Another form of media which relates to the Marxist's theory is social networks. This is because on Facebook it asks 'What's on your mind?" this gives the audience the power to share with people what's on their mind. But Marxist's would argue that people's ideas and thoughts are already likely to be formed by major powers with capitalism being the main culprit. Another example is Twitter as it has many functions which back up these ideas. For example, the 'retweet' function is essentially the opportunity to affirm yourself to someone else's ideas and you are basically confirming that you agree and think the same as that person. However, ideas and opinions people hold should be their own as it is these opinions and beliefs that add up to make their identity. Therefore, if someone was to hold other peoples ideas most of the time them it can be questioned whether their identity is really theirs or not? Or is it through mediation that they have become a person that they are unsure of?

This view that identity in the media has been mediated also ties in with the hypodermic syringe model. This is because it explains that our behaviour is influenced by the media in the terms of what we hear, see and read about. For example, Bandura conducted an experiment called the bobo doll and he found that the violent films which the little girl had watched on television influenced her behaviour. This is because she copied the behaviour from the character in the film and became violent towards her doll. Therefore, this theory explains that the audience is more likely to copy and display the behaviour seen in the media. If this is the case, television programmes such as 'Underage and Pregnant' which follows the lives of British teenage girls who have fallen pregnant at a young age must lead to the rise in teenage pregnancy in British teenage girls in society today. This is because it  has become the 'norm' to see teenage girls pregnant as around 8,196 girls under 16 in England and Wales are estimated to have become pregnant in 2007, which represents just under 1% of all conceptions. Thirty years ago teenage pregnancy was a rare occurrence and would have been frowned upon by people in society. However, this is no longer the case as it is more acceptable and this maybe due to the fact that it is shown more in the media through programmes such as 'Underage and Pregnant'.  However, other theorists would challenge this view that the audience is passive and would argue that they are now more active. This is because they do not consume and believe everything they read and hear about; they have their own opinions and are not influenced by every representation put across in the media.

There are many things associated with the identity of British youth's in the media such as their  costume. For example, in films such as 'Kidulthood' the teenage boys tend to wear hoodies and play certain characters and roles such as the 'thug' and 'gangster'. This role includes violence, swearing and having a rude attitude. This is a form of mediation and is another dominant representation of British youth's in the media which is always included and spoken about. Their costume and attitude make them come across as dangerous and intimidating, this is because of the way that they are portrayed in the media. Another example, is the costume of the teenage girls in the film 'Fish Tank'. Mia is the main protagonist and she wears a track suit and a t-shirt and is represented as a 'chav'. She is also portrayed as having a bad attitude as she uses inappropriate language and swears a lot throughout the film. These characters are mediated in the media and this has a negative effect on their identity. This is because it influences what the audience think about them and what label they get given to them.

On the other hand, there are other representations of British youth's in the media which are based on humour. One example, is the programme 'Inbetweeners' this is about four teenage boys and their daily life events in which they usually have a comical journey. This representation of British youth's as opposed to the others show them in a way that makes them look less threatening to society. The programme has a beneficial effect as it weakens the stereotype of them being violent and aggressive. However, certain aspects have to be considered such as the show is based on four white boys. Other programmes which include black teenage boys tend to include more criminal and anti-social behaviour. This means that their identity is more mediated in films than white boys identities. Another factor which needs to be considered is the fact that the boys are all from a working class background except one. He is from a middle class background and is portrayed as more smarter than the other boys and has more common sense. Therefore, he is represented as the one that is always getting them out of trouble. This could be argued that the programme reinforces the ruling classes ideology, that working class males are more dumber than the middle class man as they tend rely on them for help.

In conclusion, the identity of British youth's is mediated greatly as they are represented in a negative way, both females and males. This could be for entertainment purposes as the audience tends to enjoy more negative portrayals as opposed to more positive ones. However, this negative portrayal has only been shown through working class youth's, it has not been shown through middle class youth's. This influences and has an impact on the audiences thoughts and views about them. The British youth are then stereotyped and labelled which makes the audience think that they are all the same and that they do not have their own identity and are not their own person. However, the representations do not influence us as much as the hyperdemic needle suggests.

representation of young black men

Gramsci's theory of hegemony: relevant to the exploration of racial representations in the media. It focuses on culture and ideology.
Many of the racist images on past television and cinema are now fading from western screens. These can be explained in hegemonic terms in relation to colonialism and white supremacy. His notion of hegemony can be used to identify elements of the old racist stereotypes and new and the representations of racial minorities in current media.

Hall points out racist stereotypes which have evolved in the media of a less liberal society. He points our three base images of the grammer of race employed in old movies. 1) slave figure. eg dependable, loving Mother with the rolling eyes who is attached devoted to "his" master. The message given here is that the slave is someone who is willing to serve their master and wait on him. Their devotion allows a white audience to displace any guilt about their history of colonialism and slavery.
Consequence: relates to Gramsci's idea of spontaneous  consent, where individuals voluntarily choose to accept the world view/ hegemony of the dominant group.

Stephen Lawrence Inquiry: Report by Sir William Macpherson of Cluny

Institutionalised Racism. The inquiry found that Unwitting racism can arise because of a number of different reasons.

• The lack of understanding, ignorance or mistaken beliefs.
• From well intentioned but patronising  words/actions.
•  From unfamiliarity with the behaviour/cultural traditions of people or families from miniority ethnic communities.
• Racist stereotyping of black people as potential criminals/troublemakers.

Sir Paul Condon at the time Police Commissioner stated that he recognised individual officers can be and are overtly racist. 
Mr Panton, the barrister acting for Greenwich council argued that if the colour of the victim and the attackers was reversed then the police would have acted differently.
Conclusion: Must be a change so that there is a genuine partnership between the police and all sections of the community.
Part 2 of the inquiry. One universal area of complaint was to do with the use of police powers of stop and search as stats for 97/98 showed that black people were on average 5 times more likely to be stopped and searched by the police than white people. Black people are also more likely to be arrested than white or other ethnic groups.

The media re-present groups, however, no media representation can be neutral. Representations are shaped usually  by genre, the target audience and the dominant ideologies in society.
Some critics would argue that representations reinforce dominant idelogies in society, ideologies of gender promote sexist  representations of women. These ideologies create inequalities and subordination appear natural. <---- STUART PRICE. A-Z MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION HANDBOOK.

Others would argue that representations in the media can challenge dominant ideologies in society.

Dossier

Trailer Trash Teens

Primary research: Jeremy Kyle show. This show represents people from a sub working class culture. It is aimed at people from the same background and class so that they can judge their own class.
Litte Britain
Catherine Tate
Fish Tank
Precious

Theories: The characters in these shows, films and programmes are used as folk devils according to Cohen. This is to whip up a moral panic for the audience.
All of the characters are portrayed in a stereotypical way according to what they wear, where they live, the way they speak and the lifestyle that they have. The characters are mostly chavs or common from a working class background. They do not work and are deprived in many ways; financially and materially.

Comparing Fish Tank with Precious

The representation and the collective identity of the two main characters in Fish Tank and Precious is socially disadvantaged girls. Mia is the main protagonist in Fish Tank and is represented as a typical teenage girl from a sub working class culture. This is shown through the mise en scene such as where  Mia lives and the costume that she wears. Precious is the main protagonist in the film Precious is also presented in a negative way; a teenager who is pregnant and who is about to give birth to her second child. This essay will compare the two ways that these characters are portrayed in the two films.

Poverty, social housing and single parent families are the themes in Fish Tank. Mia lives on a council estate in Essex and lives with her Mother who appears to not work/have a job. This is noticable as the film is set during the day and her Mother is at home. The film is very realistic as the camera is handheld and the audience gets a point of view feel of Mia's character and lifestyle. Through this we see that she plays the typical social realist protagonist who is angry, frustrated and alienated teenager. Her Mother is overtly sexualised, abusive and irresponsible. However, as the film continues the audience learns that Mia is physically abused in her home and searches for an escape.

Precious also gets physically abused in her home by her Mother. Precious' Mother is also very mentally unstable, this shows that both of these characters have irresponsible parents and that they do not have a strong bond/relationship with their Mothers. Both protagonists also seem to be deprived by their living conditions and the fact that they come from working class backgrounds. Precious also wants to escape just like Mia in the film Fish Tank. However, they both choose different ways of escaping their dysfunctional families.

In the film Fish tank the Patriarchal ideology is challenged through the narrative outcome as Mia escapes and survives. She escapes by herself without no ones help and her Mother's boyfriend is exposed. The audience see that he is a liar and a cheat as he has his own family. This is an alternative represention as she actually escapes and comes out at the other end. The end of the film shows a positive representation of Mia; that she is a strong and a heroine. Where as, at the beginning of the film she was portrayed as a 'trailer trash teen'.

The difference between Mia escaping and Precious escaping is that Precious receives help and support from people when doing so, however Mia escaped by herself. Precious received this help from a teacher and a social worker, both of which were White adults. This represention of the White teacher and social worker helping out Precious was not popular amongst Black communities because of ethnicity issues amongst society. The Black communities wanted to see them being more aspirational and dealing with problems themselves instead of depending on White citizens.

Blumer and Katz's theory called the Uses and Gratification theory explains that we consume the media for entertainment, to compare the characters identities with our own, for social interactions and for observations. This is a key element as the audience voyeuristically see the grim realism of what both character's go through. The audience see the poverty of others and the unpleasant acts which the both Mia and Precious go through.

In conclusion, Mia and Precious are both portrayed negatively at the beginning of each of the films. Their characters are very similar as they are both teenagers suffering from abuse and have irresponsible parents. However, they both escape their families differently and show how they want to break free in different ways. Mia shows it in a very symbollic way; trying to let the chained up horse free. On the other hand, Precious finds a way out of her traumatic daily existence through imagination and fantasy. In her mind, there is another world where she is loved and appreciated. Therefore, there are dominant representations as well as alternative reprensentations of the two female characters.

Essay on gypsies

How do the contemporary media represent nations, regions and ethnic/social/collective groups of people in different ways?

Contemporary media represent different groups of people in a number of different ways. For example, through the use of costume, language and behaviour. Some representations have a major affect on people's lives and the way  that they are viewed by others. This essay will be focusing on the representation of Romany gypsies and Irish travellers in films, television programmes, newspapers and in the social media.

The main words associated with the terms 'gypsies' and 'travellers' are caravans, thieves and pikeys. People associate the terms with them words because of the way that they are represented in the media today. The documentary 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding' is commissioned by Channel 4. It follows the travellers around showing the audience their lifestyle, how they communicate and their beliefs. It portrays gypsies and travellers in a very negative way and because of this the audience then attaches a negative label to them all. The programme is produced for entertainment however, this affects the reading as the representation of gypsies and travellers is mediated on a large scale. For example, the brides in each programme wear big meringue dresses to show that 'the bigger the better'. They also have big tier cakes and brand new cars. This shows that they have money and are very rich. The fact that is has been made for entertainment means that the editors may manipulate what we see in post production in order to make it more controversial.

Channel 4 have stayed away from the mainstream programmes like the ones shown on BBC and ITV. Instead they have gained the audiences trust through exploring and presenting stories of minority ethnic, social and collective groups. As not a lot of programmes focus on these groups we know very little about them therefore, the audience is more likely to trust the representation that Channel 4 present as this is the only source of information about these groups.

There is a strong  representation of women in the documentary 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding', this is for them to get married at quite a young age and to become a Housewife. Their role presented in the programme is to stay at home and complete the domestic roles in the house such as cleaning and cooking, whilst the husband goes to work and provides for the them. The programme also shows that a lot of young girls drop out of school at an early age in order to become a good Wife and get married. Therefore, this is their main priority over education and live to please men and make them happy. However, the programme 'Thelma's Gypsy Girls' shows a different side to Gypsy girls and they are choosing a career and work over being a Housewife. In this programmes Thelma teaches a group of young girls how to sew and make dresses. She shows them that there are other directions and things in life than just depending on their husband; they can also provide and earn their own money.

Feminists would criticise the way that women are represented in the programme 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding', as it shows an inequality amongst the two genders. It presents men as the male dominant figure and the women as dependant on men. Mulvey would argue that the presentation associated with women is that they are sexualised, she calls this the Male Gaze Theory. The Gypsy women wear limited clothing and a lot of their flesh is shown. Therefore, they are used as sex objects through the costume as well as the way that the camera angles them up and down and focuses on certain parts of their body. This creates pleasure for men and makes it seem like they are inferior to men. There are also advertisements which do this in the media, for example this advertisement is used to sell alcohol and reveals the figure of a woman to attract a wide audience, especially men.

In conclusion, there are many negative representations of Gypsies and Travellers in the media. They are always frowned upon and used as folk devils in order to create a moral panic.

Essay

With reference to any group of people you have studied discuss how their identity has been mediated.

Cultural identity is the identity of a group, culture or of an individual. I explored this topic further by looking at British youth and how it has been mediated through a number of representations such as the dominant and absent representations. This term mediated is when something in the media is exaggerated which then influences the audiences views and perceptions.

The Marxist theory fits well with this idea as the theory holds the view that the ruling class control much of our behaviour. This is because their values and beliefs are put across in the media and they are the ones who own and control the content. Therefore, Marxists manipulate the way we think and their views change and alter our opinions. For example, in newspaper articles they always portray British youth in a negative way such as 'troublemakers' this mediates their identity and makes the audience believe that all British youngsters behave like this. This is a stereotype and makes the British youth the 'folk devils' in the media. This creates a moral panic to attract a wider audience and to make more money.

This view that identity in the media has been mediated also ties in with the hypodermic syringe model. This is because it states that our behaviour is influenced by the media; what we hear, see and read about. For example, Bandura conducted an experiment called the bobo doll, he found that what the little girl had watched on television which was a violence she then copied this behaviour and became violent towards her doll. Therefore, this theory explains that the audience is more likely to copy and display the behaviour seen in the media.

There are many things associated with the identity of British youth in the media. For example, in films such as Kidulthood the guys tend to wear 'hoodies' and play certain roles such as 'thugs'. This could be a form of mediation and is seen as the dominant representation of British youth. The media hardly ever portrays them in a positive way, so the audience then label them negatively because of the portrayals within in the media. The Marxists would describe this as capitalism as the ruling class are in control and dominating the working class.

Absent representations refer to the groups or cultures that are not represented at all in the media. For example, deliquency is mostly represented in the media. There is only a small portion of the media that portrays British youth in a positive way. Some articles in newspapers tend to report the good grades that students get from exams. However, this is not the main focus of the newspapers it only counts for a small part of it. But, when the riots happened this was published all over the newspapers and was the main focus of it. Therefore, the owners and journalists see bad news better than good news as they see it as more newsworthy.

In conclusion, the identity of British youth is mediated greatly. This influences and has an impact on the audiences thoughts and views. The media, including films and newspapers only focuses on the negative aspects of British youth rather than the positives. This creates a stereotype about them and a creates moral panic in which the audience view all British youth the same. They do not see them as having their own identity and being their own person.

Essay on Collective Identity

“Media representations are complex, not simple and straightforward”. How far do you agree with this statement in relation to the collective group that you have studied?

Media representations are complex, not simple and straightforward.The representation of Britishness has changed throughout the years in the media. Because of this people are constantly changing their views and opinions about Britishness. The media is an institution which is used to communicate messages to the audience. These messages may be complex and may be interpreted in different ways depending on the individuals background and other factors. In this essay I will discuss the different representations of Britishness, how these have changed throughout the years and the different theories relating to the collective identity of Britishness.

Hegemony is the dominant ideology which something everyone sees as normal. The dominant classes views are seen as more important than the working classes. Gramsci claims that they are more accepted and believe that Western ideology is mainly taking Britishness away. This is shown in print media, such as magazines where Amercian celebrities are used on the front page of British magazines. Also, working title is a British film company, however its ownership is American. The characters in these films are portrayed as posh, mainly from a middle class background and having a proud to be British attitude/ identity. This exports a particular representation of Britishness, however other film companies portray British characters in a negative way. For example, the characters in 'This is England' are shown using inappropriate language; swearing, racist and very violent towards other people. As well as this, people from other countries may have a different perspective and opinion about what they think Britishness is like. Therefore, the representations of Britishness is complex, not simple and straightforward.

Gender is not always presented in a simple and straight forward way in the British media. Women are normally presented in four different roles; a Mother, a Grandmother, a Virgin or a Whore. This is very stereotypical representation of women and Feminists believe the media represent women in this way to maintain the old stereotype. Therefore, women are sometimes portrayed in a negative way. However, patriarchal society has broken down within some parts of the media as television programmes such as Waterloo Road present positive representations of women. This is shown as one of the head teachers of the school is a female. The roles that women are given in the media therefore has changed slightly, as they are now given greater/higher roles. In the 1960's, films such as a 'Taste of Honey' show that pressures and struggles were placed on women. Where as, in the media today they shown as having free will and independence. The way that women dress and act in the media is also very different, in the 1960's the programme 'Britain on Film' shows that women entered a lot of beauty competitions, wore long dresses and skirts and perms were the hair style in fashion. However, women in the media today are shown wearing short skirts and dresses and wear lots of heavy make up. Feminists, such as Mulvey believe that they are represented in this way for men's sexual pleasure. This is referred to as the male gaze and the common features include the camera focusing on the characters curves, busts and legs. These changes in the media support this view that media representations are complex, not simple and straightforward.

Sexuality is another topic within the media that has also changed drastically and because of this the audiences opinions and views has also changed. For example, in the 60's homosexuality was frowned upon and was not accepted by people in society. It was a topic that was not specifically and openly spoken about. However, programmes in the British media such as Eastenders contains homosexual characters. There are also a lot of homosexual television hosts such as Graham Norton, this has changed the negative portrayal of homosexuality into a positive portrayal. It is now accepted in society and tolerated, where as in the 60's it was illegal. There are also laws against people who are homophobic to prevent these acts and threats towards homosexuals from happening. This suggests that media representations of sexuality are very complex and not simple as they have changed significantly.

The representation of young adults and teenagers in Britain has also changed within the last 50 years. In the programme 'Britain on Film' they were portrayed as happy and cheerful. They were enthusiastic when speaking about Britain and embraced Britishness. However, the teenagers and young adults are portrayed differently in 'Fish Tank' . Baudry believes that inactive viewers are unable to differentiate between the world of film and real world. This is because according the the Hypodermic syringe model the audience is passive and believe everything that they see, hear and read about in the media as it feels like what is being shown is real. This supports the view that representations are complex and not simple.

In conclusion, there are a number of theories and evidence that supports the view that the media representations of Britishness is complex, not simple and straightforward. For example, the Feminist and Hegemony theory. I also agree with the statement as the representations of British has changed drastically in the past 50 years and is continuing to do so. People also have different opinions and perceptions of what is portrayed in the media, therefore making the representations not so straightforward.

Decent essays

• Range of Theorists which are relevant to the representation you are writing about/focusing on
• Use terminology and references
• Use examples from the media eg films, adverts, magazines
• Clear explanations and detail
• Structure your essay so that it flows and makes sense
• Refer back to the question throughout the essay

Gauntlett's theory

David Gauntlett focuses on the idea of using visual methods to get the brain working in a different way. He used methods such as drawing, collage and video. He believes its a more switched on, hands on process which will get more truthful results. He says that making people define their identity through visual methods gives them time to think about it, it also makes them become creative. One of his way's of using visual methods to represent identity is by the use of lego which allowed the people to use the lego to create a metaphor of their identity and life. Therefore, he wanted to explore how people think about their own self identity. It is beneficial because creating images about themselves may be hard to word, or phrase.

• Identity is complicated, however, everybody feels that they have one.
• The average teenager can create numberous identities in a short space of time, especially by using the Internet and social networking sites.
• The relationship between people's sense of identity and the media is not straightforward as individuals interpret messages differently.

Media and Collective Identity-Examiners Feedback

One very strong centre facilitated rich learning where candidates were able to utilise the ideas of Gauntlett on identity along with Judith Butler and a range of others very well in relation to film and magazines (with the exception of Lacan whose ‘mirror stage’ was usually misunderstood). There did tend to be an overwhelming sense of a prepared answer with almost all candidates beginning with ‘Gauntlett says ‘identity is complicated’) but whilst this may have been dull for the examiner after a while, candidates are not penalised for this approach. Other candidates considered the representation of youth and urban communities in music and other media and answers varied from sensitive and informed negotiations of the nature of subculture in 2010 whilst weaker candidates set up unhelpful and crude binary oppositions and crass generalisations about whole swathes of young people, ironically perhaps. Most pleasing was the ability of some candidates to take highly contemporary examples – eg the music of Dizzee Rascal and discuss them in theoretical contexts such as hegemony, democracy and representation and, again through Gauntlett, negotiated ‘self-help’ gender representation. A key piece of advice for centres is to move candidates away from generalised ideas of how ‘the media’ represent people and ideas and towards more ‘micro’ level discussions of how people give meaning to particular kinds of media in relation to their identities.

Britain on Film-BBC 4

The programme 'This Sceptred Isle', is very different compared to modern day programmes on television today. It is aparant that a lot has changed within the last 50 years based on roles played by men and women, views about sexuality and the way different ages are portrayed within the media. The entertainment in Britain today has changed compared to the entertainment shown in this programme. For example, Morris dancing was very popular as well as going to the circus. However, Morris dancing is only common in some parts of Britain today such as Cornwall. The lifestyle in Britain has changed and the society is much more multicultural. Programmes such as Eastenders on BBC 1 has a range of different characters; ranging from; Black people, White people, Asians and Homosexuals. Whereas, in this programme the majority of the characters were white, therefore a lot has changed in terms of the different ethnicity's living in Britain today and the different ethnicity's portrayed in the media.

Within the media today a lot of programmes focus on sex, this shows that the topic is more openly spoken about now and is more common. Sexuality is also more positively portrayed in the media than it was in the 1960's. For example, programmes such as 'Sun, sex and suspicious parents' focuses on what people aged 18+ get up to on their holidays which normally includes sex, drinking a large amounts of alcohol and nudity. Therefore, society today seems like it does not have boundaries.

In the era that this film was made, being homosexual was frowned upon, not widely spoken about or even shown in the media. However, more programmes now include homosexuals as well as television hosts  such as the host of Big Brother and the host of the show 'The Graham Norton Show'. Therefore the attitude towards Homosexuality has changed drastically within the last 50 years. It is now accepted in Britain and there are now campaigns for marriage equality.

In 'The Sceptred Isle' it showed mainly white middle class people going to University in Britain. It also showed only a small fraction of people choosing to go onto higher education this was because getting a job was more important to. However, different classes now go on to University in Britain today and larger proportions of people do from a number of different backgrounds.

Research on Britishness

How and why has the British collective identity changed over the last 50 years and how is this reflected thhrough the media?

• 2001: just over 87% said that they were White British. 1.2% Irish.
• 2011: just over 80% said that they were White British. 0.9% Irish.
• Mixed and multi ethnic groups: proportions in all of the groups increased between 2001 and 2011.
• England and Wales has become more ethnically diverse with rising numbers of people identifying with minority ethnic groups in 2011.
• White ethnic group is decreasing in size, however, it is still the majority ethnic group that people identify with.
• During the Middle Ages, the few black faces in Britain appeared to be entertainers linked to royal entourages. 1500-1700
• There was an increase in the number of African men, women and children resident in Britain. Approximately 14,000 black people lived in England by 1770.
• In Wales, Scotland and for Catholic participants in Northern Ireland they see the English as arrogant, superior and aggressive.
• However, young white people in England find it hard to distinguish between being English and British: the two appear interchangeable.
• British themes: old, Traditional, Hierarchical, Distant from everyday life, Political discourse and Parent to child.
• Britain is proud of welcoming new migrants who will add to the diversity and dynamism.
• Thanks to immigration Britain's demographic trends are healthier than in many neighbouring countries.
•  The Guardian's beautiful maps still show vast swaths of the country which are over 90% white Briton – Cornwall is 98%, where foreign-looking faces are rare.
• In the Mail melancholy writer Douglas Murray argues that the scale of immigration in the noughties has been too fast to absorb. 
• Associations with Britishness amongst young people include the Queen, tea and crumpets, and Big Ben etc, which are rather “old world” versions and do not reflect a contemporary Britain or social reality.
• For many young people Britain represents an old, hierarchical, traditional, political discourse that does not fit with the fresh, inventive, messy and often chaotic world of a teenager.
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Collective Identity 2

Love  Actually:

This film is written and directed by Richard Curtis so we expect it to have a similar mood and representation style to Notting Hill and Bridget Jones. The audience could be Americans because London is represented in a way that we know is not fully true. However, it does match some of the stereotypes that Americans have of English life. The film is is represented as a multicultural community.

The mise en scene at the beginning of this film shows all the characters smartly dressed in suits. This connotes that they are from an upper class background. The type of language they use and how they speak also illustrate the background in which they are from. In the background Royalist music is heard, this implies Britishness and Nationalism.

This is England:

This film was set around 30 years ago and the characters at the beginning of the film seem to be from a working class background. This is shown through how they speak, their behaviour and the costume that they wear. At the beginning of the film, a group of men are spray painting a wall. This is referred to as graffiti and is classed anti-social behaviour. It suggests that they do not work as it is set during the day and that they have nothing better to do. As they are adults they should also know better than this and should be setting an example to children.

The characters in the film are very racist towards Indians. This is shown through the language used towards the Indian shopkeeper such as swearing and foul language. An example is when they call him a "Paki cunt". This indicates that they are rude, spiteful and crude. The men also speak with a Cockney accent which connotes their social class; working class.

Racism is also shown towards the Indian shopkeeper when the group of men become very aggressive and violent towards him. One of the men use a sword type of weapon to scare the shopkeeper. This is so that the White man feels in charge and has a dominant position over the Indian man. All of the characters threaten the shopkeeper to make him feel intimidated. The group shows another sign of anti-social behaviour when they steal a large number of things from the shop before leaving.

Taste of Honey:

This film is set in a dark and depressing location; a graveyard. At the time when the film was set/made, white women were not allowed to get pregnant and mix with other races. This was not common and accepted by society aswell as families as it was frowned upon. However, the woman in this film finds herself in this position as she is pregnant with a coloured baby.

It is clear that she is poor, and not confident with herself. Her Dad is Irish and refers to him as being "daft" which means stupid and therefore is putting him down and does not think much of him.

Collective Identity

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEF68384428FF5474

Fish Tank:

The characters used in this film are from a working class background. This is shown through the language used, the costume they wear and the location in which the film is set. All of the characters use informal language consisting of; slang and swearing/foul language. The foul language, such as the word "cunt" is used towards one another in the film which shows the class background that they are from. It also connotes that the characters are uneducated, bad mannered and disrespectful.

The main female character in the film is introduced at the beginning, she is teenager. Her costume includes; a grey tracksuit, a vest top and a pair of trainers. This suggests that she has played some type of sport, exercised or that she is a tomboy. The fact that her hair is tied up also indicates that she may be a tomboy. However, she is also wearing big hooped earrings which is a stereotypical image of a teenager from a working class background. Girls who have a similar image to this in Britain today are reffered to as "chav's". The stereotype was popularised in the British mass media to refer to working-class youth subculture in England.

The outside view from the main character's window at the beginning of the film immediately makes the audience think that she lives on a council estate. This is shown by the blocks of flats and the outside surroundings of a surburban area. The fact that the film is set during the day and her Mum and neighbour are at home suggests that they do not work. Therefore, this may make the audience think that they are both on benefits.

A hand held camera is used in this film which makes it more realistic. The audience becomes connected with the main character as many point of view shots are used. This enables the viewers to put themselves in her shoes and see things from the way she does. Everyone in the film is isolated from one another and no one seems to help eachother out. This shows that they do not have strong relationships and bonds with anyone as they continue to argue and show aggressive behaviour towards one another.

As the film continues we see the stereotypical behaviour associated with a teenager from this environment. For example, violence as she throws a stone at her neighbours door and headbutt's another girl. This implies that she is quite aggressive and troublesome. Her aggression and attitude is also shown towards her Mum which connotes that they have a bad relationship with each other.

The use of language spoken by the main character and the way that she speaks shows that she trying to act black. Her environment, social class or friends could influence the way that she communicates with people and the way that she speaks. The type of music played in her house which is reggae, also implies that her Mum likes this culture and background.

Aswell as showing the negative side and behaviour of the teenage girl, a caring side is also shown. This is seen when she tries to let the horse break free by trying to break the chain that it has attached to it. This could be seen as a metaphor as she may want to break free from the society that she lives in. This is because she may feel trapped and her trying to let the horse free illustrates that she wants to escape and have some sort of freedom.