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." 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 of the British crime dramas which I have studied:
Bulletboy, Kidulthood and Harry Brown focus mainly on the negative
representations which are held and therefore reinforce the stereotypes held by
society today.
From the film Bulletboy it can be gathered 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.
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 different 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.
Overall, my research has concluded that British teenagers
are represented negatively among the majority of media products today.
(Need help with conclusion)
