THE REPRESENTATION OF AGEYOUTH

Learning Objective: Key areas

Tuesday 22nd April 2014Please Note the first section up to slide 25 is what we studies before Easter. Pick up from slide 26 and do as much as you can! Thanks.

Ideology

• Ideology is a system of ideas, values and beliefs promoted by dominant groups to reinforce their power (e.g governments, state institutions, corporations).

IDEOLOGY

Karl Marx• Developed the concept in

1900s.• Analysed the way those in

power protected their interests by representing their privileged position as being natural.

• Consider how dominant ideologies are reinforced/challenged by media texts.

LO: Students will explore and define representation

The media machine and Ideology

During the process of mediation any media text can carry and convey

ideological messages

MediationMediation is the process of taking something real (a person or an event) and changing its form to produce a media text.

Mediation is achieved through:• Selection• Organisation• Focusing

In life we make our own decisions about what is worth our attention. Through mediation, the media text tries to decide this for us. As a result our version of reality is altered

Recap: Theories of Representation (Stuart

Hall)

Reflective approach• This approach suggests that representations are a

direct reflection of reality.

Intentional Approach• We believe teenagers are yobs because of the

way newspapers portray them.

Constructionist Approach

• This is a mixture! It accepts that representations construct meaning, but that this meaning is understood through reference to reality and the audience’s own ability to analyse, accept and reject.

Constructionists believe:

• Representation is a mixture of:• The person or group being represented• The opinions of those encoding (making) the

representation – through use of symbolic, visual, technical and written codes.

• The reaction of the target audience (decoders)

• The context of the society – how the representation fits in with certain dominant ideologies

A charity

advertisement that

represents

children as

vulnerable (hand

out)

• The person being represented:

• The opinions of those encoding the representation:

• The reaction of the target audience:

• The context of our society and dominant ideologies:

• All of this adds up to why we would say that the advertisement represents children as vulnerable.

Question…

HOW DO YOU THINK YOUTHS ARE REPRESENTED IN THE MEDIA?

Task: Constructionist Approach

• Watch the following clip and work through the four parts of the Constructionist Approach to say how young people are represented.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX0HvD8JQI8

Stereotypes…• The representation of young people

you have just analysed creates a stereotype of young people as violent and dangerous. But what do we mean when we use the word ‘stereotype’?

Stereotypes• Stereotypes are representations,

usually of a group of people, where a characteristic seen in a few people is applied to a whole group. Over time this stereotype becomes the dominant representation.

Representation of Youth

• On the whole, the way that young people are represented in the media is largely negative.

• Common stereotypes are yobbish and antisocial behaviour, gang culture, disrespect for elders, drink and drug abuse and teen pregnancies.

Analysing stereotypes• Appearance – physical appearance (weight,

height, hair colour etc.) clothes, accent, pitch of voice

• Behaviour – they typical things that people in the group might do

• Media Codes and Conventions – in the media the stereotype is constructed in a way that is appropriate to the codes and conventions of specific media form (context and purpose) e.g. a sitcom will use a stereotype in a different way to a news programme

• Ideology – stereotypes are created within the context of what is seem as normal/abnormal in society.

Skins

• Now your turn to analyse:

• Watch the following compilation of clips from Skins. Analyse how young people are stereotyped, by discussing how the stereotype is constructed:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho69_sCkwyI

Skins• Skins stereotypes young people as…

• Appearance:

• Behaviour:

• How would different audiences react differently to a text like Skins?

Print

Learning Objectives

• 1) Hand in homework on audience essay question• 2) Analyse three media text which explore

representations of youth (dominant and alternative)

Starter: Rep of youth in the

media

• Think of three examples of teenagers in the media – fill out worksheet

Theorists• Dick Hebdige (1979) explored the

polarised (contradictory) media representations of teens as “trouble” or “fun”.

• Michael Brake (1985) categorises the media representations of teens into:oRespectableoDelinquent (usually male)oCultural rebelso Politically militant

The Dominant Representation of

youths

‘Delinquent’ (Michael Brake).

‘Trouble’ (Dick

Hebdige)

More Theory• Daren Garratt (1997) suggests that

negative media representations of teens as trouble invite teens to be trouble. “Media coverage represents how they should behave, even if, largely, they haven’t been.”

• Graeme Burton (1999) argues that teen subculture is in opposition to the dominant culture (of adults). He uses the term ‘problematisation’ to describe the idea of youths as problems.

One more bit: Stuart Hall (1978)

• Argues that the negative representations of young men by the media, is deliberate as it justifies social control by authority figures, such as the police and government.

• Hall identifies the media as having a key role in this ‘social production’ of news. Youths are often portrayed by new media as a social problem.

Moral panics!

Ideology❖Stanley Cohen (1972)

❖A moral panic occurs when society sees itself threatened by the values and activities of a group who are stigmatised as deviant and seen as threatening to mainstream society’s values, ideologies and /or way of life.

❖Mods & Rockers (1960s), football hooligans, hoodies, muggers, vandals, mobile-phone snatchers.

❖Today - Muslims, Immigrants, Youths

Process of a moral panic

1. Occurrence of deviant act.2. Act or problem widely reported in

media: news outlets; internet chat rooms; fictional narratives; video games…

3. Call for government control either from legislation/policy initiatives or the more vigilant operation of already existing social controls.

Case Studies • It is important in order to access the higher grades,

that the case studies you use in the examination are fully developed to show your understanding of representation.

• Print – this will include; the layout and design, language and mode of address, visual codes, camera shots/angles

• In AV - the creation of representation involved:• Camera shots and angles• Editing• Audio codes• Visual codes

Representations of Age

• What is the media (form and genre).• Who produced the representation?• How has the representation been

constructed (visual and audio codes)?• What reasons are there for the

representation?• How might the representation affect

audience?

Context and Purpose• The representation in a media text may

have a different purpose. This may change according to the type of text it is, i.e. the context.

• Skins – uses comedy to represent youth• Kidulthood (film)- is trying to present

‘reality’

Dominant representation

Representations which are the same as the dominant representation REINFORCE the stereotype

Representations which are different from the dominant representation CHALLENGE the stereotype

Deconstruct the film poster. How does it use visual and technical codes to represent teenagers? What would cultivation theorists suggest about the effect of this film on an audience? What would an oppositional reading of this text be?

Representation of Youth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8GvLKTsTuI

How has the representations been constructed (visual, technical and audio codes)?  Context (Time, place or mindset in which we consume media products) and purpose of the video?  Are there any noticeable absences from the text? What has been left out? Who produced the representation?  How might the representation affect the audience? Think about oppositional readings of the text Does it create a positive/negative/stereotypical representation of young people?Youth – dominant representation (negative) = delinquent or trouble??

Attack The Block is a British hybrid film of science fiction, action comedy horror generic conventions and codes

Deconstruct the poster.

How are youths represented through visual and technical codes?

How are the youths represented throughAudioVisualTechnicalGenre Codes?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD0gm7dHKKc

3. What is the denotation and connotation of this image from the film?

4. How might an audience from Eastbourne react to this image? How might an audience from South London react? How might a pensioner react? What about a young man?

7. How is the older guy represented (denotation and connotation)?

8. What type of lighting is used? What is the effect?

Neknomination

Underage drinking

Alternative

Representation =

(depending on your

reading: Skins seems

‘fun’ for a teen audience,

but more like ‘trouble’ for

an older audience).

‘

Some Girls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMqjrXu3ynQ

Some Girls is a British sitcom written by Bernadette Davis that airs on BBC Three. It débuted on 6 November 2012 and the first series ran for six episodes.

In Real Life…• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGKgjmKzXYM

Alternative Representations?

How are they constructed?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlOa80Y7nTw

Teen Awards

http://www.bbc.co.uk/events/eqbc6q/videos/p01klbck#p01ktlxd

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/16/hoodies-goodies-teenagers-makings-good-citizens-young

From hoodies to goodies: today's teenagers have the makings of model citizens

Representation of Older Age

• What is the media (form and genre).• Who produced the representation?• How has the representation been constructed

(visual, technical and audio codes)?• What reasons are there for the representation?• How might the representation affect audience?

7. Which TV genres often use negative stereotypes in their representations of older people. Why?

How has Catherine Tate represented ‘Nan’?

Is she stereotypical?Why? Why not?

Look at her iconography.

What genre of programme does she exist in?

How does this affect her representation?

http://www.tubechop.com/watch/2448627

Representation of the Old

Genre: Sitcom• Humorous idiosyncrasies (mode of

behaviour):oForgetfulnessoSenilityoGrumpinessoSaying the wrong thing

• Does this reinforce the stereotype?

• Shreddies – ‘Knitted by Nanas’ advert 2014• How is the representation constructed?• What technical/audio/visual codes create this

representation?• Nana Shreddies

Saga Magazine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd5WdxGRNG8

Derek

The elderly in the News

• http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/oct/18/neglect-deaths-five-elderly-care-home-orchid-view

Needs to retire

Bruce Forsyth

Bruce Forsyth getting too old?

Who can replace Mr Saturday Night?

Representation: Amazing Greys

http://www.itv.com/daybreak/showbiz/amazing-greysWhat do you think? Positive or negative??? How are the representations of both young and old constructed and why has this been done?

Now your turn to analyse:

• Watch this trailer for the show ‘Young, Dumb and Living off Mum’. Analyse how the representation of young people have been mediated by each stage of the process

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyeFabd_oqY

• Audio/visual: Take multiple screen shots of your chosen text - annotate using the audio/visual/genre/technical/narrative codes.

• How and why has this representation been constructed?

• Print: Annotate your chosen text (either print it and annotate by hand or annotate the image on pages). How and why has this representation been constructed?

• E-Media: Dependant on the type of e-media you have chosen - deconstruct your text. How and why has this representation been constructed?USE MEDIA

TERMINOLOGY AND THEORY

ANALYSIS OF REPRESENTATIONS

A final thought…• There is no single 'media

representation' of youth; there may be dominant representations (delinquent/trouble), but across films, TV, fiction and documentary there are significant differences and nuances which need to be teased out.