First draft

“I want you to carve a "c" from the corner of him eye to the corner of him mouth” [1]

An investigation into the representation of male teenagers in contemporary urban dramas.

Male teenagers are constantly being stereotyped from a negative view in the media. This representation of male teenagers has changed in a range of ways from a historical perspective. This essay will be an investigation on how male teenagers are being represented in urban dramas and if this representation is a good representation or not. In order to look at the representation of male teenagers, the examples that would be looked at are contemporary texts as well as historical to find out the ways that the representations have changed. The media texts that my essay would focus on are 'Rebel without a Cause' (1955), ‘Alpha Dog’ (2006) and 'Adulthood' (2009). "Stereotypes come and go; they also change in the light of the shifting political cultural context" [2] . This would mean that the representations of males are changing too which will be looked at. This essay would also include a conclusion on how male teenagers are being represented in urban dramas and what effect this would have on the audience and the public.

The media can also be seen as providing the audience with information that tells us what it feels like to “occupy a particular subject – position” [3] . This is shown as in the media male teenagers are being represented as aggressive, violent and irresponsible which is present in the media as the media is stereotyping teenagers in a particular way which is making the audience think like this too. As shown in the films, ‘Adulthood’, ‘Kidulthood’ (2006) and ‘Bullet Boy’ (2004), male teenagers are being represented negatively in all films. This has been shown to the audience because of male teenagers getting involved in crime, taking drugs, getting involved in knife and gun crime with a lack of interest in education. ‘Bullet Boy’ is also known as a film that has a “valid storyline which will resonate and reverberate with different communities throughout the UK” [4]. This shows that films such as ‘Bullet Boy’ may show teenagers through a negative view but it would be a form of help for teenagers to get out of their ‘ghetto life’. This demonstrates that in these media texts, the male characters have similar roles because of them being shown as 'gangsters'. By this we can see that male teenagers are being given roles that would represent them negatively in the media and they are being shown in contemporary films such as the ones mentioned.

Male teenagers have been stereotyped in a way in which teenagers are shown to be portrayed negatively to the public that is also mentioned by Stan Cohen who has argued that the media labels youth culture in a “stereotyped and negative way” [5]. This shows that the media is increasing the negative representation of male teenagers and it is being shown in urban dramas too. ‘Kidulthood’ is a contemporary urban drama that has represented male teenagers in a very negative view mainly. This was shown as Trife is murdered in the film because of a dispute between the male teenagers. By this we can see that male teenagers are being continuously represented in a threatening way that is leading to the audiences having the same opinion about male teenagers. As a result of this stereotype of male teenagers created in the media has meant that “youths have suffered from a rather negative representation in the media” [6]. By this we can tell that this negative view of male teenagers has turned in to a moral panic in the media that could result in the self fulfilling prophecy as male teenagers would believe that they are in reality in the way that the media is portraying them because there are “violent visions of the young teen rebel and delinquent” [7]. By this we can tell that there male teenagers are being influenced because of movies and this is also shown because David Buckingham believes that "young boys make sense of what it means to be masculine partly from the ways they talked about videos and this would mean that male teenagers mainly get influenced by videos" [8].

Over time there has been an increase in the change of the stereotypes of male teenagers in the media because in a historical view, male teenagers were not stereotyped as harshly as they are now. By looking at the film ‘Rebel without a Cause’ (1955), it shows male teenagers being represented negatively but the male teenagers are not taking part in dangerous activities for example, Jim who is new to town is trying to gain popularity from his friends by taking part in activities such as car racing towards a cliff. From this we can see that this would be a negative representation of teenagers but it is not as harsh as now. ‘Rebel without a Cause’ was a film in the 90’s that was “accused of encouraging delinquency and driving a wedge between the younger and older generations” [9]. This demonstrates that this film is known to be encouraging delinquency and this would mean that in a way the media is encouraging male teenagers to go on the wrong path. By this we can tell that this contemporary stereotype of male teenagers is widely different from the historical stereotypes of male teenagers. ‘Rebel without a Cause’ may also be a film which is known to create a stereotype on male teenagers that is “inaccurate, simplistic generalisations about a group of individuals that may lead to a particular perception of the group by others” [10]. This shows that the way that male teenagers were represented in ‘Rebel without a Cause’ may have been to create a moral panic in the media of teenagers and encourage ‘delinquency’. However, by comparing this to a contemporary media text, it is clear that the stereotypes of male teenagers in contemporary urban dramas have changed to a large extent that is labelling all male teenagers in a harsh way.

‘Fire with Fire’ (1986) is another historical text that looks at teenagers in a negative way, Tessa Perkins has pointed out that some stereotypes are based on “truth that can be observed” [11]. However, this is not the situation when looking at the representation of male teenagers that can be argued by looking at ‘Fire with Fire’ because this film stereotypes male teenagers as being immature and against their parents. This was shown because the young woman and young man from the film are trying to run away from their parents together and from the law. This shows that this is going with the typical stereotypes of teenagers which are that they are often described as “moody, argumentative, violent and causing trouble” [12]. By this we can tell that this film does stereotype male teenagers negatively but it is definitely not as negative as it is in a contemporary view but it is seen as negative against teenagers because of “dominant assumptions of our society” [13] that have been created because of dominant groups that have control over the subordinate groups such as young males. This is because this film is based on two teenagers in love running away from their parents and the law whereas there is not any murder taking place or dangerous activities. This film could be known to become a social factor in the media because the audience would watch this and be influenced to believe what is shown in the film which comes from the hypodermic needle theory. By this we can see that this would mean that the audience would then be influenced to think that male teenagers are really like this that would mean that there would be a negative representation created in the media of male teenagers.

In addition, another contemporary film that looks at the negative representation of male teenagers is ‘Alpha Dog’ because this film looks at a variety of different crimes that male teenagers take part in for example, there are scenes with the male teenagers using the guns, drugs and getting involved in street fights. By this we can tell that films such as ‘Bullet Boy’ are leading to an “increase in juvenile delinquency” [14] because male teenagers are repeatedly being represented in a very negative way in urban dramas. This demonstrates that this is making the audience think that male teenagers are like this because they are shown this side of teenagers repeatedly. Has this resulted to male behaviour being accepted in the media? This is because Glen Lewis believes that within certain limits, “aggressive male behaviour is accepted as a normal part of everyday life” [15] because of it being shown in literally every male teenage film. This demonstrates that if this male behaviour is being shown repeatedly then why is this representation of male teenagers being created in to a moral panic because in a way it is being accepted by the audience when it takes place with adult males. Furthermore, by looking at the film ‘Alpha Dog’ it demonstrates the effect of teenage gangs being created in this film because it is creating the impression that teenage gangs are a threat to the audience. Looking at films such as ‘Alpha Dog’ it is made clear to the audience that teenagers are a group to be afraid of and are referred to as ‘thugs’ that came around 800 years ago and means “a gang of criminals” [16]. By this we can tell that the media is repeatedly creating this negative view of male teenagers that has meant that the public is viewing teenagers negatively too.

The institution of the urban drama films could be held responsible on the representation of male teenagers. This would be because institutions are repeatedly making this representation of male teenagers and making them be seen as a negative group in the media. This has been investigated by Ryall who looks at the influence of the production of gangster films in the media. This could be because institutions have organised to produce films that can be seen as “determining factors of the individual film” [17]. By this we can tell that the institutions and the media have the power through “selection and reinforcement to give us very influential portrayals of a whole range of groups” [18] because the media is representing male teenagers in this way. This has been shown because institutions have the power to create this representation of male teenagers in films and influence the audience to think that male teenagers are in this way. This would demonstrate the effect that it would have on the audience because this would create a moral panic in the media and this would be a social factor because it would mean that a lot of people that have seen films of this representation would think that teenager males are like this and would become a well known topic.

I conclude that by looking at the representation of teenage males in contemporary urban dramas, the representation is making teenagers be viewed negatively and that is shown in urban dramas such as ‘Kidulthood’ that view teenagers as getting involved in murder and violence. The representation of male teenagers has changed from historical texts such as ‘Fire with Fire’ and that would mean that the representation of teenagers is “not fixed for ever and is possible to observe changes over a period of time” [19] and this has happened with teenagers as a group because now they are represented much more negatively. In addition, Dyer also believes that re-representation involves “media language and the conventions that are used to represent the world to the audience” [20]. By this we can tell that the media could be held responsible for the representation of male teenagers because they are being viewed negatively because of their actions and personality in the film. This shows that overall the representation that is being created of male teenagers is that they are being stereotyped negatively in urban dramas because of the level of crime used and this is then demonstrating that male teenagers are a negative group in the media.

Word Count – 2143

[1] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435680/quotes
[2] Hayward, Susan (2000): Cinema Studies - The Key Concepts, London; Routledge. Page 358
[3] Woodward, K (1997): Concepts of Identity and difference, London; Sage Books. Page 64
[4] http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2005/mar/20/features.review
[5] Sardar, Ziauddin, Loon, Boring (2000): Introducing Media Studies, UK; Totem Books. Page 77
[6] Rayner, Philip, Wall, Peter, Kruger, Stephen (2001): AS Media Studies: The Essential Introduction, London; Routledge, Page 68
[7] http://www.screenonline.org.uk/education/id/1292217/index.html
[8] Nicholos, Joe (1998): Advanced Studies Media, United Kingdom; Nelson. Page 45
[9] Bennett, Peter, Slater, Jerry, Wall Peter (2006): A2 Media Studies: The Essential Introduction, Oxon; Routledge. Page 133
[10] Bernadette, Casey, Neil, Calvery, Ben, French, Liam, Lewis, Justin (2002): Television Studies – The Key Concepts, London; Routledge. Page 229.
[11] Rayner, Philip, Wall, Peter, Kruger, Stephen (2001): AS Media Studies – The Essential Introduction, London; Routledge. Page 69
[12] http://www.coursework.info/University/Mass_Communications_and_Documentation/Media_Studies/Film_Studies/kidadulthood_review___How_are_teenagers_L137186.html
[13] O'Sullivian, Tim, Putton, Brian, Rayner, Phillip (1994): Studying the media: 2nd edition, London; Arnold. Page 81
[14] Carter, Cynthia, Weaver, Kay (2003): Violence and the media, USA; Open university press. Page 52.
[15] Mackinnon, Kenneth (2003): Representation of Men, New York; Arnold. Page 11.
[16] Gifford, Clive (2006): Gangs, London; Evans. Page 9
[17] Strinati, Dominic (2006): An Introduction to Studying Popular Culture, London; Routledge. Page 57
[18] www.mediaed.org.uk/posted_documents/repsyouth.html
[19] Phillip, Rayner, Wall Peter, Kruger Stephen. (2002): AS Media Studies - The Essential Introduction, London, Routledge. Page 68
[20] Lacey, Nick (1998): Image and representation - key concepts in media studies, New York; Macmillan Press Ltd. Page 131.