An investigation into the representations of British teenagers in three crime dramas.
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.” Both of these online articles challenge the negative stereotype of British teenagers in society today. 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.
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.” Both of these online articles challenge the negative stereotype of British teenagers in society today. 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 many of the
stereotypes held by society today.
The
film Bulletboy suggests to the audience that crime is a regular occurrence
among teenagers. For example: The central character, 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 which highlights how easy it is to get hold of a gun. 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. For example, when a young girl called 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. This highlights the lack of morals the teenagers have therefore representing them negatively. Furthermore, the gang 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. This barrier which has been built between British teenage gangs and the public, in society today, is further highlighted in an online article which states "'We can't put up with this anymore.' Residents living in fear as gang of youths spend every evening drinking on the street, attacking pets and vandalising businesses". This shows the growing divide between British teenagers and the public due to the public's fear of what will happen next. Also, in Harry Brown, 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. During the
film Harry Brown we see youths show disrespect towards authority figures and other members of the community. An example of this is when a teenage boy, Noel
Winters, shouts sexual verbal abuse at DI Frampton. Despite DI Frampton being part of the police, Noel still talks disrespectfully to her regardless of how much authority she has. He also grips a girl up
against the subway wall even though it is clear that she is uncomfortable with
the situation. This again represent teenagers with a lack of morals and no respect. To conclude, this film gives an overall negative representation of British
teenagers throughout the narrative.
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 particular 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 has revealed that British teenagers
have an overall negative representation within the media. This is shown through the three films: Bulletboy, Kidulthood and Harry Brown. Many of the negative representations of teenagers in these films are further supported by different statistics and articles. However, there are positive
representations that can be found of British teenagers in the media but they are simply not as common due to the overwhelming scope of negative representations in the media today.
Bibliography-
Books:
Bibliography-
Books:
- Nick Lacey, Image and Representation, 1998
- Clive Gifford, Gangs, 2006
- Saul Dibb, Bulletboy, 2004
- Menhaj Huda, Kidulthood, 2006
- Daniel Barber, Harry Brown, 2009
- The Telegraph, July 2009 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/5796887/Teenage-robbery-crime-wave-sweeping-Britain.html
- Good News Network website, March 2015, http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/teenstodayareactuallygood/
- Teenage Cancer Trust website https://www.teenagecancertrust.org/get-help/young-peoples-stories/stephen-sutton
- The Sun, Septemeber 2016 https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1772785/residents-living-in-fear-as-gang-of-youths-spend-every-evening-drinking-on-the-street-attacking-pets-and-vandalising-businesses/
Newspaper articles:
- The Guardian, May 2014 https://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-network/2014/may/02/teenagers-charity-campaigns-stephen-sutton-malala
- The Guardian, February 2014 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/16/hoodies-goodies-teenagers-makings-good-citizens-young
