Historical Case Studies - Write Up

Quadrophenia

Details

·      Made in 1979 and was produced by The Who, whose music is features heavily in the song. Their song ‘My Generation’ is apt for the song, as it shows the divide between the young people and their parents.

·      The main characters are Jimmy, Dave (Jimmy’s Friend), Steph (Feminine Character in an androgynous group), Ace (The ‘Leader’ of the Mods) and Kevin (Jimmy’s friend, who turns out to be a rocker).

·      It is mainly set in milkshake bars; clubs and then the big scenes are in Brighton. These were the usual locations of these groups of youths in the 60s.

Ideologies in the Film

·      The Mods vs. Society. You can see this when they are in Brighton and they are smashing up the milkshake bar and fighting with the rockers. They are going against the social norms and this would be why the real mods and rockers were the focal points of Cohen’s Folk Devils theory.

·      There is a divide between Youths and Parents. You can see this when Jimmy is shrinking his Levis jeans and his father asks him why he is wearing wet jeans. This shows that at the time they didn’t understand each other. Another instance of this is when Jimmy is watching The Who on TV and his father says that Pete Townshend is playing his guitar wrong. This shows the divide between what the parents believe in, and the sub-cultures they are a part of, and the way that Jimmy is.

·      Jimmy wants to be an individual. Jimmy thinks that being part of this gang is the most important thing, and that if he sticks to it then he will be alternative. However he takes it too far and ends up giving up his job and becoming estranged with his family, which comes as a consequence of a mass use of amphetamines.

Clockwork Orange

·      Made in 1971 by Stanley Kubrick and was an adaptation of the Anthony Burgess Book.

·      It was meant to show a utopian future of Britain and the way that people would act at this point.

·      The main characters are Alex and his ‘Droogs’, who are the gang who he takes around with him, giving out his ‘ultra-violence’.

Ideologies in/ from the film

·      Young people in these environments are vicious and will lash out, unprovoked to demonstrate their power. They were given a very negative press in the film and this meant that the film was frowned upon and many people believed that it should have been banned, as it could promote this sort of behaviour in real life situations.

·      In the years after the film was produced, newspapers used the term ‘Clockwork Orange’ as a way of describing the attacks that were similar to those in the film e.g. when two girls beat a 62 year old gay man to death, for no real reason.

Applicable Theory

·      STANLEY COHEN – He said that FOLK DEVILS (people who go against societies norms) are shown in the media so that people we see them and judge against them. This would create a MORAL PANIC, through DEVIANCE AMPLIFICATION, which usually sensationalises an issue and makes it bigger than it ordinarily would be.

·      GRAMSCI – The Broadsheet Newspapers all display young people as folk devils (Cohen) and always gives them bad press. This was evident in the times that Jimmy lived in, with the newspapers telling the adults that these Mods and Rockers would ruin communities and cause trouble, putting their ideologies into others.

·      GAUNTLETT – He said that IDENTITIES AREN’T GIVEN, BUT NEGOTIATED by the things around them. You can see this in Quadrophenia, where the clothes that they wore, the music they listened to and the social norms and attitudes that their friends and peers held influenced their own ideologies.

·      HEBDIGE – He said that SUB-CULTURES WOULD CHALLENGE THE HEGEMONIC TIMES that we live in. The Mods and Rockers challenged this, with them amplifying what the papers were saying about them, behaving in the way that people were expecting them to and not challenging it. 

Section B Theory Grid

THEORIST	CONCEPT	OWN EXPLANATION	LINK TO CASE STUDIES
BUCKINGHAM	Complex and Complicated	Identity doesn’t just have one layer; it is constructed by the things around us and is complicated and complex.	In Quadrophenia Jimmy was a Mod like most of his friends, but then beneath that he was friends with a rocker, and ended up with split loyalties.
GRAMSCI	Hegemonic Control	The mass media feed us ideas that we learn to believe. This can be things that they tell us or attitudes they have, we learn to reflect their views, and not our own.	The Broadsheet Newspapers all display young people as folk devils (Cohen) and always give them bad press (Daily Mail in particular)
GAUNTLETT	Identities aren’t given	The identity that people see is not all our own, but is constructed by things that influence us e.g. music, style, people	Mods and Rockers were influenced by the music they listened to and the way that their role models dressed
COHEN	Folk Devils and Moral Panics	Mass media create folk devils, those who go against the social norms, and then use these people to create a moral panic, which is where they tell the public that this is going to challenge the social conventions.	Quadrophenia – Mods vs. Rockers, these are the Folk Devils and the Moral Panic was the fighting between them. People who were involved in the riots, fighting with those in control.
FOUCAULT	Discourses	People don’t have a real identity but a framework/ discourse, which they use to hide behind. The groups that they are part of, or the media that they use can do this.	In social media especially people are able to construct opinions about their own age groups, seen during the riots. Some youths had posts about going looting while others made pages like ‘Help The Met Police’
JENKINS	Participatory Culture	This is where the general public all feel that their contributions will matter. If these people collaborate then a change may occur.	People on sites like Twitter and Facebook came together during the riots. This was for both good and bad, some also used BBM to organise riots, whereas some used it to organise clean-up operations.
HEBDIGE	Subcultures challenge hegemony	When people join together to form their sub-cultues, they are able to challenge the popular beliefs about them (Hegemony)	Quadrophenia - Mods vs. Society. London Rioters vs, The Police. Working Classes vs. Rich Politicians (Plan B)

Section A Link

http://jordanthornhillsection1a.blogspot.co.uk/

Future Representation Of Youths

Has representation of youths changed from the past to the present?

If you compare the way that the youths were seen at the time of Quadrophenia and the way are seen now, you will see both similarities and differences.
The similarities are:

• The youths all want to be part of a gang, in the time of Quadrophenia everyone was either a Mod or a Rocker, and this was decided by the clothes you wore, the music you listened to, the bike you were riding and the places you went to socialise in. In todays society you can see similar trends like this, with people being grouped into Indie, Goth and Chav to name 3, by the clothes they wear, music they listen to and where you socialise. 
• The parents of these youths never seemed to understand about what they were doing, for example in Quadrophenia Jimmy's dad asks him why he's wearing wet jeans, and calls him a freak. This shows the way that people who aren't part of this society, don't understand the things that they are doing. In the modern day riots, people couldn't understand what youths were doing. The parents of those rioting didn't know why they were rioting, and there were high profile celebrities who couldn't work it out. For example David Gilmour, guitarist and vocalist for Pink Floyd, spoke after his son was arrested for violent disorder, after throwing a fire extinguisher from the roof of an office block. He said he couldn't understand why he did this, and blamed the people he was surrounded by for 'influencing' him. 
• The people who were in these fore mentioned gangs wanted to challenge authority. In the 60s they all wanted to be individuals, challenging the authorities and do what they wanted, when they wanted. They wanted to ride around on their bikes, and if they seen someone from a rival gang, they wanted it so that they could beat them up, and smash up their bikes, without consequence. In the modern day, 2012, the young people in the council estates want to run their estates, with the police not coming anywhere near, let them sort out their own problems. There are areas in London where even the Police fear to go, and this is where the youths have successfully challenged authority and won. 

The differences are:

• In the 60s the gangs would organise things using word of mouth, or if they had a home telephone through that, but then would have to stick to their plans, making them reasonably easy to intercept for forces like the police, and this meant that the crime rates were able to be lowered by preventing the crimes before they got out of hand. In 2012 there is BBM, Twitter, MSN and Facebook to organise, all of which can be taken on the move with iPhone and BlackBerry, and can then organise quickly, and crucially, discreetly, if they feel that something needs to be changed or to halt it altogether to avoid an unwelcome confrontation.

Will the Representation of Youths Change?

After the riots a lot of young people have done things to change the way that they are perceived in the media, setting up projects, webpages and peaceful protests to try and get papers like the Daily Mail to stop on printing negative things about them. They have set up websites like Truth About Youth and the 99% Blog. These are websites that people can look at to see what the young people are doing in the communities, and it is a way to see that they are not all the looting, violent thugs that the mass media would like you to believe they were. This is the sort of things that youths can do to change their representation and could help them in the future, with the way the country's economy is. Also they set up things on sites like Facebook and Twitter, which helped to set up clean up operations, and to set up marches against the rioters. 

However as all of the good things are going on there are still bad, which the media are always quick to pick up on. When they are doing things like thieving from injured Malaysian students or beating up old men for small change, this makes their representation even worse than it was before. jCombine this with those who were arrested during the riots, those who go out binge drinking every night and those who are portrayed in TV Shows and in the mass media, and it seems unlikely that they will ever get a better representation in the press, or in the eyes of those looking on. 

Plan B (Ben Drew, 28) Analysis

Does the video fuel negative representations of youth collective identities? Or does the video attempt to change the views?

In the whole it shows the youths in a negative light. Some of the images it uses make it impossible for others to see the people in these communities as anything other than trouble. It shows them looting flat screen TVs, beating up and filming other youths and intimidating old women, these are definitely negative things to show these people doing. It doesn't really try to change the views of the youths, as there isn't any footage in it to say that they are actually doing something positive. For example, it could of showed the youths who were helping to clean up the streets after the riots, but instead it showed angry clashes with the police force and them fire-bombing cars, whilst talking about shanking, slang term for slashing someones throat, and mugging. 

What textual examples are there in the video to show the collective identity of youths?

In the video you can see many things that could show the ideas that people would have about young people. These can be:

• Hanging around on council estates in gangs, intimidating people who aren't associated and in one scene beating up someone who gets too close to him.
• In the scene where it is building towards the chorus and the young people look bored, and end up throwing a petrol bomb at an empty car, even though there doesn't seem to have been any sort of provocation. 
• At the beginning of the video it shows a group of young men, walking down what we assume was a London street, with their hoods up and face covered, fuelling the idea that these people don't want to be recognised by the other public. 
• It also shows the young people from the council estate clashing with riot police, throwing glass bottles, petrol bombs and anything else they can find, in an attempt to drive the authorities away.
• It shows again the gang culture when they were in what looked like a multi-storey car park, beating up two young people, with dogs, whilst videoing it on their mobile phones.
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Are there any instances in the video where those in authority are abusing their power?

In the video it shows a Police Officer pushing over a man, even though the provocation, if any, is minimal and there is no proper reason for doing it. This shows that even the Police, the people who run our country's streets, have given in to the idea that the all youths should be tarred with the same brush, thinking that because they are in the area of trouble, they must be involved. This is similar to the historical issue we looked at, in Quadrophenia. After Jimmy and Steph sneak off, and then come back into a street, the police grab them and throw Jimmy in the back of a van, because he was wearing a Parka and was with the other 'Mods'.

What was Plan B trying to challenge through his video?

Plan B seemed to be trying to challenge the idea that the youths involved in the riots didn't do it because they were hardened criminals who wanted to steal as much as possible, it was because they had nothing to do, and felt that they were being preyed on by the police and government. As fore mentioned the police seemed to just want to 'get' some of the young people in these areas, so it looked as though their presence at these riots had been a success. It did show them stealing TVs and getting into fights, bu this again was because they were driven to it. It is like when Drew says that the young people in these areas are like animals, they are backed into a corner and they lash out, it is a primal instinct, he says.  

What does Plan B try to achieve through both his song and his film?

He said that he doesn't agree with the riots, but that he feels that the people who were involved in them should be highlighted, so that they can be helped, and shown that there is a better way to live than this. This could be what he is trying to get across in the video, and film he is making to highlight these things in the future.

Plan B - ill MANOR Video Analysis

This video by multi genre artist, film director and actor Plan B (Real name Ben Drew) and is for a song called ill MANOR.

Lyrics


Its lyrics show what many of the looters would of had, using lyrics like 'You can't put us all in prison' which reflects the idea that many people had, that the riots wer caused by the country having a failed Penal System. Another lyric is 'who closed down the Community Centre' with this reflecting the idea that some of the looters that were previously interviewed gave, they had nothing to do. It also reflects the gang culture of the communities who allegedly took part in these riots. It uses the words 'People get stabbed round here there's many shanks, nice knowing someones got your back when you get attacked'. This shows the culture of the gangs and the violence which is shown in these places.

Video


In the video there are many images that would reflect the ideas that people would of had about the people involved in the riots, it shows you the young people in communities, staying near their flats, drinking and attacking passers by. At one point it shows you people being beat up, and a teenage girl filming it all on her phone, showing again the impact that social media could have on these communities and the riots in particular. It is also showing what seems to be the main pictures of the riots, burning cars and makes this a big part of the video. When the song is coming back into the chorus at the end it shows a shot of a fire bomb being thrown into a car, in slow motion, in time with the music.

Plan B (Ben Drew) Opinion


In an interview with Radio 1Xtra he made these points:

• He doesn't agree witht the riots, he just feels that the people who were involved in them should be highlighted, so that they can be helped, and shown that there is a better way to live than this.
• He believes that the riots will not help these communities, it will make them worse, as peoples perceptions, which were already bad, could now be confirmed.
• There is now a divide between the adult middle classes, with those in government believing that they are better than those they are governing. 
• The words CHAV and YOB are used to much, and are taken too lightly in the media, and should be used less as it is possible that it could be as serious as racism and sexism, which you wouldn't ever see in the newspapers. 
• He also believes that having money and paying for an education is not an excuse to think that you are better than someone else, and certainly doesn't give you a right to judge people, after only seeing one side of them. 
• He compares all people to animals, who, when backed into the corner lash out, he calls it a primal instinct and he believes that this is what happened in causing the riots. He says that the people in the 'poorer' communities were oppressed and were pushed back and back and eventually it provoked a reaction, the rioting and looting. 
• He says that it is up to the people in the communities to change the perceptions made about them, by the things they do and the way that they act, especially when there is a spotlight on them, whether it be from the government, the police or other power. 

As you can see in what he says in that interview, and what is in the lyrical content, he is trying to get under the skins of the middle class and those in government, trying to provoke a reaction from them, like they did to the affected communities. 

Social Media, London Riots and Representation Of Youths

How far were the responses of the rioters themselves given space in the media?

When the TV Crews for news channels went out they usually went and talked to the adults at the scene, getting their opinion, and not that of those who were taking part in the rioting. It talked to people who were in a position of power, for example David Lammy MP and Mayor of London Boris Johnson. This meant that they couldn't get a full picture, as those adults in a position of power may all have the same ideas, so this would be the only one that BBC/ CNN and ITV News portrayed.

Given the general framing of young people as the key participants in the events, how much space was given to young peoples voices - and what sort of young people were given space to respond in the media debates?

As mentioned above the young people who were given press coverage were kept to a minimum, with the broadcasters preferring to interview MPs and Mayors, or get the reaction of shopkeepers. In regard to the type of people who were interviewed, they tended to choose people who could hardly string a sentence together, or who's every other word was a swear word, getting rid of the people who had a valid point to get across, as in this video. This helped to portray the ideas that the news wanted them to, with the young people involved in the riots being illiterate thugs who were opportunist and took what they wanted because they could.

To what extent did social media challenge or confirm representation of youth identity in the mass media during the time of the London Riots?


A lot of the newspapers seemed to condem the young people involved in the riots before there was any sort of investigations into the sources of it, and the actual percentages of people who were there, as you can see below. This meant that they got a negative press straight away, which then reflected Stanley Cohens theory that the Mass Media can create Moral Panics, through portraying these Folk Devils in a wholly negative light. However some of this media did portray some of the youth in a good light, highlighting the clean up operations and trying to make it plain that there were some young people who were doing good and not trying to destroy their communities or burning anything that stayed still for more than 30 seconds. You can also apply David Gauntlet in this case, as he says that identities are not given, but negotiated and constructed. Although the general mass media had decided on their opinion of the youth who were taking part in the riots, their opinions were changed and then moulded to fit in with what the youths were doing at the time. This has always happened, with one day them saying how terrible the youths were, wearing hoodies and mugging pensioners, but then the next day how great they were for helping to clean up communities and setting up youth projects. It is difficult because of the oligopoly in the media, with few companies having much to say, which only really gives you 1 or 2 messages.