collective identity prompt question 3

1. in what way has britain been represented in the film London to Brighton?

overall Britain has been represented in quite a negative way through out the film, it highlights the very extreme circumstances that happens in gang culture. i think that Britain is not quite as bad as the movie shows and doesn't really reflect our modern day culture. of course these doings do still go on but it is very rare for such rash actions to be made. Although gang culture and crime is rife within the UK i don't think it is demonstrated fairly. although it is rare whenever this extreme gang culture happens it is immediately hyped up by the media such as newspapers and TV, there has been some stories about gangsters such as the Hells Angels gang where to join you first have to rape a women over 60 then seduce a girl under 16 then finally cut the head of a live chicken. with the news groups publishing these stories people are forced
to believe that these are common occurrences where in fact these crimes are becoming more rare.

can you identify a specific "collective group" which has been represented in the film?

there are lots of different types of collective groups in the film but i think the main one is 'Pimps' where women are rented and hired for sex.

An education

An education is set in England in the 1960s. The opening of the film represents what life was like at a girls grammer school. It gave us a good insight as to what they use to do and learn, for example not only did they do vocational studies such as english they also learnt how to cook and they all had to join in at school physical education lessons. It portays life as exciting and 'on the go'

The main character               is a 16 year old girl who is currently attending this grils grammer school with high hopes of going on to Oxford to read English. Her life in the early stages of the film so far seems to be based on average excitement and hardwork. She was content but was and has not been let of the leash so to speak. Her mother entails a typical women in the 1960s, she is a house wife devoted to maintaining the house keeping it in good order and looking after her husband and daughter.

However her life take a dramatic twist when a slightly older, handsome and charming man offers her some help in getting her cello home unscathed from the rain. As she gets more into her relationship with this man she starts to get more wild and starts living the 'highlife'! The title is cleverly labelled as an education points to her not only learning in school (an enclosed enviroment) but she starts to learn about life outside school and leanrs to have fun and freedom. She also learns from her mistakes especially when the young man drops the bomb shell on her that he is already married.

An education

Plot summary:

The main character Jenny is a 16 year old girl who lives in London in the 1960s. Her father hopes for her to go to Oxford university as she is a bright, pretty and hardworking girl. She meets 30 something year old David who is twice her age, he takes her to places she has always wanted to go, such as Paris and to theatre shows. Jenny quickly becomes accustomed to the life David leads with Danny and Helen and her and David's relationship becomes more romantic.

Jenny spends so much time with David, she leaves school and she eventually learns about David exploitive career and learns he is already married. She then decides to go back to school and gets accepted to a place at Oxford University.

Instituational detail:
Director: Lone Scherfig
Writers: Lynn Barber and Nick Hornby

Representation youth in 'An education':

- Strong theme of youths being represented as rebellious
- Well brought up children who obey and listen to their parents, Jenny is very polite towards her parents and has good manners towards them, she is also very well spoken
- Youths care about their education, in contrast to Mia in Fishtank, this is shown in the scene where Jenny's teacher describes her as skills in English

Representation of Britain in 'An education':

- Many scenes show it raining - When Jenny is carrying her cello when David drives beside her in the car
- Jenny and her family often ate breakfast around a table with cups of tea
- Lots of black taxis
- Strong theme on english education - focus on Oxford and Cambridge university


With the movie being set in the 1960s this era often had very strong and traditional gender roles in families. With the women staying at home with men going out to work.

How can youth be seen as collective identity

Youth are often represented in accordance with popular notions of adolescence

·         In A Room for Romeo Brass –the notion that youths steal- Romeo’s bedside table is a static traffic cone, most likely stolen.

·         In Shameless they all steal, however it is not just the children but the adults too and they do not punish them for it and therefore having no sense of right or wrong. (Could also come under being let down by adults?)

·         In This is England the young boy is shown to be innocent. He makes friends with Milky, the main black character, and is confused when Milky gets badly beaten for being black and does not understand why.

Youth are often demonised in the mass media

·         My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding Vs Snatch (TV Vs film) -typical gypsy thieving stereotype Vs traveller children who contradict generalisations. In Snatch the traveller children try to steal and con money out of the people that visit about going to buy a new caravan. The traveller adults then end up conning them themselves so they gain a new caravan instead. This is not directly youth but is that where they learn the behaviour? Contradicting this, on My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, the travelling community is shown as well brought up people with morals and beliefs.

·         In Hot Fuzz the youths are demonised to be the trouble makers with minor graffiti that is instantly assumed to be their fault. They are prevented from going into the village shop in large numbers because of the assumption that they steal. Not directly demonization by mass media but if it was a bigger setting it is likely that it would be. They also get labelled as “hoodies”.

Youth are let down by adults

·         In Billy Elliot his own father mocks his passion for dance and is unsupportive.

·         In A Room For Romeo Brass even though the parents are present it is not always for the best as they often yell at them unreasonably. Romeo’s mum yelled at him and told him to go pack his bags as he ate some chips and then lied about the portions, the mother claiming that he is “as greedy as his father”. Gavin’s mum then yells at him for not talking and slaps him. Also Morell being an adult, not necessarily a parental figure, threatens both Gavin and Romeo fairly strongly, at one point threatening Gavin with a knife. Another point in the film when Gavin has his back operation and his dad comes to visit and he is more interested in watching the TV than how his son is after his ordeal. A similar scene after the operation when Gavin is bed ridden and his father is required to spend an hour visiting him, he is impatient and bored, constantly asking how long he has been there. He is almost childlike himself- slight role reversal?

·         In London to Brighton, when Kelly first meets Joanne, we learn that Joanne has often been let down by her abusive and alcoholic father which eventually caused her to leave and is the reason for her living on the streets at such a young age.

Represented as part of a subculture

·         In Billy Elliot the dancing/ballet is the subculture. It let’s Billy escape from his life to feel a part of another community that accepts him without judging.

·         The dancing in Fish Tank is also a type of subculture. It gives Mia independence and time away from her uncaring family and irresponsible mother.

Alienation- youth are estranged from part of society

·         In Fish Tank the main character Mia feels alone, like she has no place she belongs. A strong reoccurring theme to her is the horse- possibly sees herself reflected in the horse and could be a reason into why she constantly attempts to set it free. She feels restricted.

How is the collective identity you have studied represented in contemporary media?

Youth are often represented in accordance with popular notions of adolescence.

Shaun has been brought into an adult world, and wants to desperately be in another group where he can be seen as 'someone', when in reality he is only 12 years old, he looks for the strongest member in the group, which is combo, and idolises him. For example when Shaun helps Combo rob the corner shop with a Pakistani man running it. This is a prime example of Shaun being influenced by the elder generation.

Youth are often 'demonised' the mass media.

'This Is England' challenges this statement because it it in fact external influences that make the youth in this film demonised. The character Combo influences Shaun to do aggressive things........

Essay Plan on the representation of youth

paragraph one introduction- in this paragraph we would introduce the issue; we would speak about how each film represents youths similarly and differently.

Paragraph two- in this paragraph we would speak about youths are often "demonised" and repsented as violent. We would speak about how in Mischief Night the two cultures think they are very different but the films shows us that both are doing the same thing aka being violent and selling drugs. We could bring in reference to the aggression in Fish Tank between Mina and other youths.

Paragraph Three- In this paragraph we would speak about how youths are isolated. We would bring in the idea of how youths can often be represented as innocent and vulnerable and we would bring in ehre refereance to London to Brighton and the murder Joanne commited. We could alos speak about how in Fish Tank we feel sympathy for Mina as she has not been given the opportunity to make anything of herself and also how her family does not suppot her.

Conclusion-
in this paragraph we would sum up the essay and speak about what we think youths are most often branded as by the media. We would also bring in another factor of how youths are represented and give reference to the films

Plan For Essay

Film: Son Of Rambow

Both boys are on their own in their worlds. Will has a very religious family but wants to rebel against it and be friends with the other boy who is rebellious against society. 

Lonely in the toilet cubicle represents isolation from people and loneliness live in london to Brighton the girl in the toilet cubicle on her own in the beginning of the film.

Represents youth in the film because they are rebellious, lonely, aggressive and creative. this fits the list of ways youth is represented in todays media.