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.