Analyse the ways in which the media represent groups of people.
This is one of the prompt questions and has appeared in the exam MOST years in different forms:
Analyse the ways in which the media
represent one group of people you have studied.
With reference to any one group of people that you have studied, discuss how their identity has been 'mediated'.
Discuss how one or more groups of people are represented through the media.
Analyse the ways in which at least one group of people is 'mediated'.
If
the word MEDIATED comes up here’s a
few ideas about it to include in an introduction
which then allows you go on to talk about your case studies.
"Mediation is the process of the
representation of events/people through the media." Gurevitch & Roberts
Mediated experiences make us reflect upon and
rethink our own self-narrative in relation to others - Gary Giddens (1991)
Almost
everything we see comes to us through the media prism which in turn colours not
just our view of this life but our own self-definition.
Thomas de Zengotita, Mediated: The Hidden Effect of the Media on You and Your
World (2005)
The word mediated is another way of talking how the media represents things, but
a word that emphasises the idea that representation is a CONSTRUCTION of
reality – fore-grounding, selecting, filtering reality.
Also in
your introduction mention what collective identity you have studied (UK youth)
and maybe what media types you have looked at (film, news, TV, advertising,
music video).
Use the following headers
to structure a response to the above question – what YOU must do is look for
SPECIFIC examples (key scenes/characters) from the texts we have studied and
explain why they are appropriate. Ensure they are CONTEMPORARY examples (from
the last 5 years).
You can mention past representations (Billy Liar, Press Gang, Kids Rule OK) but ONLY in comparison with the contemporary ones to highlight a certain point.
E.g. Jay in Youngers, while a very contemporary representation
in terms of issues (gang violence, multi-culturalism) and mise-en-scene (urban
street culture, South London), has many similarities with the lead character
from the 1963 film Billy Liar… (multiple girlfriends, aspirations of fame,
conflict with family).
You can also discuss the future of representation of UK youth and if you believe it will develop or will it continue in similar way. What factors could change this?
1) Youth are often represented in accordance with popular or hegemonic notions of adolescence
a) ‘A period of ‘storm and stress’ characterised by intergenerational
conflicts, mood swings and an enthusiasm for risky behaviour.’
G. Stanley Hall (1906)
b)
‘Adolescence is conflict between identity and ‘role confusion’. Resolving this
conflict involves finding a settled role in life. If unsuccessful this results
in ‘maladaption’ in the form of fanaticism or the rejection of adult
responsibility.’
Erik Erikson (1968)
c) Adolescence is a critical period of
identity formation in which individuals over uncertainty, become more
self-aware of their strengths and weaknesses.
Erik Erikson (1968)
d) Adolescence is primarily a state of
transition, a matter of becoming rather than being.
e) Continuing ‘confusion’ about one’s identity is a mark of incomplete
development and may result in deviant or antisocial behaviour.
Erik Erikson (1968)
2. Youth are often ‘demonised’ the mass media.
To demonise: to represent as diabolically evil.
‘Demonisation can only come about if
there is some collective identity to point at.’ – Stanley Cohen (Folk Devils
and Moral Panics)
a) ‘We
found some news coverage where teen boys were described in glowing terms –
'model student', 'angel', 'altar boy' or 'every mother's perfect son', but
sadly these were reserved for teenage boys who met a violent and untimely death."
‘Hoodies or Altar Boys’
b) ‘the true horrors we
fear day to day are not supernatural bogeymen or monsters created by
scientists. They're our own youth.
Daily Mail review of Eden Lake
c) ‘I was reminded of
something that the late Alexander
Walker, film critic of the London Evening Standard, once wrote about
Kubrick's Clockwork Orange: we hate
and fear our children - because they are going to kill us.’
Peter Bradshaw- Guardian – review of
Eden Lake
3. Youth are represented as being let down by adults
a) ‘Parents aren't always
around to help socialize their children — or even just to show them affection.
Compared to other cultures, British kids are less integrated into the adult
world and spend more time with peers.
Britain’s Mean Streets, Time Magazine
b) “Young people want to
make healthy and informed decisions… but until now, too many have been let down
by the education system. “Katrina Mather, 16, Member of Youth
Parliament
4. Youth are represented as part of a subculture
‘The role of youth culture involves offering
symbolic elements that are used by youth to construct an identity outside the
restraints of class and education.’
Michael Brake
c) ‘Youth re-appropriate
artefacts which creates group identity and promotes mutual recognition by
members.’
Jonathan Epstein
5. Alienation – youth are represented as being estranged from parts of society
a) “The Youth are prohibited from speaking as moral and political agents.” Henry A. Giroux
b) ‘Adolescence is a
growth period conducive to alienation due the ‘betwixt & between’ nature of
the this particular position in life-course.’ Calabrese
c) Young people do not trust older generations.
6. Youth are product of the society they were born into, and often embody the faults and fears of adult society.
“Prohibited
from speaking as moral and political agents, youth become an empty category
inhabited by the desires, fantasies, and interests of the adult world.” Henry
A. Giroux
7. Representations of UK Youth are often nostalgic and romanticized
a) ‘Adolescence
is the most intense of life-stages. Amidst its swirling emotions, raging
hormones and many-fronted conflicts, we shape the identity that will stay with
us into adulthood. Few of us emerge from this ordeal with our self-regard
unscathed. Perhaps, though, we want to believe we did. - Submarine shows us
how… flattering those who are safely beyond the torments of their youth.’
David Cox (Guardian)
b) ‘Recent research has pointed to the dangers
of romanticising youthful resistance and the tendency to overstate the political dimensions of youth culture – these
days youth cultures are increasingly diverse and fragmented as “scenes” or
“lifestyles” to which young people may be only temporarily attached.
David Buckingham, Introducing Identity