An investigation into the representations of British teenagers in three crime dramas - Draft 2.

This essay will explore the representations of British teenagers in three crime dramas: Bulletboy (Saul Dibb, 2004 ), Kidulthood (Menhaj Huda, 2006) and Harry Brown (Daniel Barber, 2009).  A representation is how people, places and things are portrayed through the media. Currently, media products are providing many different representations of teenagers, which is why this is an important yet interesting topic to study. The media often creates stereotypes through representations, this can lead to the audience holding an inaccurate judgement on certain people, places and things. An example of this is the negative representation of teenagers in the media today, it leads to people in society presuming that all teenagers behave this way despite the many good things that a certain amount of teenagers demonstrate. This is shown in an article on www.goodnewsnetwork.org which states that "A higher number of teens in twelfth-grade are volunteering at least one per month. The proportion rose from 24 percent in 1991 to 37 percent in 2012, according to Child Trends." A further positive example is based on a teenager, Stephen Sutton, who raised money for the Teenage Cancer Trust. The article on the Teenage Cancer Trust website states that “Stephen’s fundraising total is the most an individual has ever raised for the Teenage Cancer Trust, and he’ll be remembered in the UK and beyond for his positivity, determination and courage.” However, due to the overwhelming scope of negative representations portrayed in the media, the more positive tend to be less evident. This essay will address these issues.

Stereotypes are held all over the world today about different groups of people, a group which have an overall negative stereotype held of them is British teenagers. Nick Lacey states that “Stereotypes are an invaluable aid to understanding the world and all the stereotypes must have, in Perkins’ terms, a ‘kernel of truth’; or they would not have such an influence on our lives” (1998, p135).  Lacey further states that stereotypes “are an essential part of making sense of the world and society” (1998, p135). Society presumes that all teenagers are: antisocial, involved with crime, part of a gang, a victim of teenage pregnancy, violent towards others, involved in drug taking and binge drinking. This is due to the way that teenagers are portrayed through the media. Although, as earlier mentioned, there must be a ‘kernel of truth’ in these negative stereotypes that are being held. This is supported by Clive Gifford who states that “The number of teenage members of gangs has increased in many countries in the past 20 years” (2006, p8). Gifford further states that “Many children are in a gang at school. It makes them feel part of a group of mates” (2006,p6). This shows the ‘kernel’ of truth within the negative stereotype of British teenagers today.

All three British crime dramas: Bulletboy, Kidulthood and Harry Brown focus mainly on the negative representations which are held and therefore reinforce the stereotypes held by society today.

The film Bulletboy suggests to the audience that crime is a regular occurrence among teenagers. For example: a teenager, called Ricky, is at home with his family when his house gets raided by the police. His mum acts like this is nothing new, he gets arrested and taken down to the police station and it is clear this has happened various times previously as his mum is not shocked by this. This scene of the film reinforces the general stereotype of British teenagers being highly involved with crime. Furthermore, in the film we see the younger generation being drawn to the life of violence and crime due to the influence of the older teenagers. An example of this is when a young boy, Curtis, gets a gun off his older brother which results in him shooting his friend. We also see children, Rio and Curtis, getting joy from playing with the gun although it is a toy, this suggests that the weapon is a normal, everyday item to see. The easy access to weapons suggests that teenagers are getting more involved with crime without even realising it. This gives an overall negative representation of British teenagers. During the film, we build up the idea that crime is almost something to show off about within the younger generation. A young boy called Rio, who gets shot, says that he “can’t wait to show everyone at school” regarding his bullet wound. This allows us to predict that being involved in crime gives younger people a higher status within their school or group of friends. The film gives out the overriding message that the life of crime among teenagers leads to losing everything. Throughout the film we see Ricky lose his family, girlfriend, best friend and eventually himself. This is almost warning teenagers away from the life of crime. At the end of Bulletboy we see Curtis throw the gun, the main weapon used, into the water. This is an optimistic ending and outlines a positive representation of teenagers as Curtis is throwing away the life of crime as he knows it is the wrong way to live. This challenges the general stereotypes of British teenagers in society. However, it must be recognised that the actions and behaviour of the characters in the film may not be due to the fact that they are teenagers, but the fact they are from disadvantaged backgrounds and lack opportunities. Therefore, they turn to violence and crime. However, there are aspects of the film which positively represent British teenagers. An example of this is the loyalty shown between Ricky and Wisdom, they highly value their friendship and show respect for each other.

The film Kidulthood also represents British teenagers in a negative light. In the film we see physical bullying taking place among teens in a secondary school. An example of this is when a young girl, Claire, gets pushed against the wall and attacked by a group of girls. Peers are watching this as though it is a normal thing to see in school, no one is horrified by the violence and bullying which is taking place. This suggests that this form of bullying is a regular occurrence amongst British teenagers and therefore reinforcing the negative stereotypes which are held. Drug taking is a common theme throughout Kidulthood. We see two 15 year old school girls taking drugs for recreational purposes and also a group of boys casually talking about smoking cannabis in school. This highlights how drugs are part of an everyday teenage life and reinforces the stereotype which society holds against teenagers. Teen pregnancy is a further issue highlighted in Kidulthood. A young teen, Alisa, finds out that she is pregnant. Not only is she 15 and pregnant, but she takes drugs for recreational purposes whilst knowing that she is pregnant. This again reinforces the overall negative stereotype of teenagers today. A young girl, Claire, results in suicide as she is a victim of bullying in school. This highlights the extreme outcomes of anti-social youths in British societies today. Throughout the film all the teenagers use the vernacular. This reinforces the stereotypical representation of young people who choose to adopt the slang language. Overall, the film Kidulthood portrays British teens in a negative way.

Harry Brown is yet another British film which provides us with various representations of teenagers. To begin with we see the local area covered in graffiti which highlights the decline of society due to youths today. The teenagers in this film linger around the subway, making it uncomfortable for other members of the community to walk through. This portrays the youths almost as a threat to society as people fear them and their actions. The area around the subway where the gang of teenagers tend to congregate is trashed, with litter all over the floor. This shows a lack of respect that youths have for the local area as it ruins it for the other members of the community. In the film Harry Brown we see youths show disrespect towards other people in the community, especially women. An example of this is when a teenage boy, Noel Winters, shouts sexual verbal abuse at DI Frampton. He also grips a girl up against the subway wall even though it is clear that she is uncomfortable with the situation. This film gives an overall negative representation of British teens as we see the negative stereotypes which are held of teenagers being reinforced.

These films provide us with very similar representations of teenagers which are overall negative. However, without these extremely negative representations there would be no film. The representations are exaggerated within the film to build up the storyline, this can lead to the conclusion that films are an unreliable source to use when researching the representations of British teens as it may not be an accurate representation. Although there are various other sources which support the negative representations of teenagers shown within the three films. One of these sources is an online article from The Telegraph (2009) which is headlined “Teenage robbery crime wave sweeps Britain”. It states that: “The equivalent of 11 teenagers are guilty of mugging every day in the courts” and “Those convicted of sex offences has also increased by 16 per cent, from 469 in 1997 to 543 a decade later”. The Telegraph is a newspaper, which is generally seen as a reliable source as they cannot provide false information to the public. A further source which supports the negative portrayal of teenagers in the three films is the Youth Justice Statistics (2015) found on the official government website. It states that: “In the year ending March 2015 there were around 950,000 arrests for notifiable offences in England and Wales, of which 94,960 were of people aged 10 – 17 years”. It further states that: “Overall young people were convicted of 87,160 proven offences(those resulting in a caution or conviction) in the year ending March 2015.” The official government statistics are generally a reliable source and useful in my research towards the representations of British teenagers. However, official statistics can often be misused as sometimes certain aspects aren’t included within them.

Although these three films overwhelmingly show negative representations of teenagers, a study of wider media representations of teenagers would reveal the more positive aspects. An example of this is in an online article from The Guardian. It states that: “Today’s teenagers are more engaged with social activism and volunteering than ever before, according to recent research.” The article further highlights: “Charity campaigns involving young people are becoming increasingly high profile.” This article shows that there are positive portrayals of teenagers in the media today. A further example from The Guardian is an article headlined “From hoodies to goodies” which states that ‘A report says that today’s teenagers, far from being antisocial hoody-clad riot-mongers, are actually highly concerned with social issues, keen to volunteer, and take fewer drugs and drink less alcohol than previous generations.’ This quote from the article emphasises the more positive view on British teenagers in society.

Overall, my research into three British crime dramas revealed that British teenagers have an overall negative representation within the media. There are positive representations that can be found of British teenagers in the media however they are simply not as common.