Progress Report For Linked Production
Week 1 (15th Feb - 19th Feb) - In this week, we started to look at our competitors magazines. We went out and bought a few magazines of our main competitors and we started to analyse the codes and conventions it uses. We also began to made notes on what ideas we can get from competitors that we can use in our magazine. We carried out a couple of analysis on teen magazines to understand in a better view of how to create a teen magazine that will reach out to teenagers. We looked at magazines such as Bliss, Twist, Sugar and J14 who will be our main competitors.
Week 2 (22nd Feb - 26th Feb) - In this week, we are starting to take more pictures for our magazine because we found that the images that we already have are not enough. We started going around and taking pictures that will be useful for our magazine and will be able to relate to teenagers. For example, we got an image showing teenage romance which is likely to appeal to female teenagers. As the images for the magazine have been completed and we now have enough, we have started to think about the image that we can use for the front cover too. We have considered using Taylor Lautner as he is popular with teenage girls but we can't seem to find the right image as yet . . . .
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
Action plan
Action plan for Linked Production:
Week 1 (15th Feb - 19th Feb) - Start researching more magazines and looking at the codes and conventions used. We will need to do this by looking at our competitors closely e.g. Bliss. We will also need to look at the publishers of the magazine to see what publishers we have to compete with. This week will be based on just researching competitors and making sure we have as much information that we need on the competitors.
Week 2 (22nd Feb - 26th Feb) - This week we will need to focus on the images that we are going to use for the magazine. We will need to make sure that we have enough images and if we need any more. This will involve looking at the images that we will need for the actual features and the image that we will use for the front cover as we will need to find an attractive front cover image.
Week 3 (1st March - 5th March) - Start doing mock ups. We will need to focus on the mock ups of the magazine and its features this week to make sure that we have some idea of what layout to follow for the magazine. This will also help us to plan our magazine and ensure that it is well thought. In this week, we will just be focusing on mock ups and doing a couple of mock ups each and seeing which one is the best for the magazine.
Week 4 (8th March - 12th March) - After finalising the mock up we have chosen for the magazine, we will begin to create the front cover of the magazine and do one feature which will be the feature on gang movies which is based on Aqeel's critical investigation. By this we will be able to get it done quickly as we will have the whole week for the front cover and the feature. We will need to construct the front cover as a teen magazines would be like and write the article for the feature and add in the suitable images required for the feature.
Week 5 (15th March - 19th March) - This week we will focus on the second feature which is on celebrity influence which is based on Gurpreet's critical investigation. By this we will be able to do each feature week by week to ensure that we are spending as much time on it as possible and not rushing it. This will also make sure that the article can be adjusted around in the week and that we are writing the article in a teen style to ensure that the teens are attracted.
Week 6 (22nd March - 26th March) - This week we will focus on the last feature which is on typical teenagers and is based on Jawaria's critical investigation. We will have a week to do this feature too which will ensure that we have plenty of time for each feature to be completed. In this week, we will also put together all of the magazine and see how it looks together and if it has a slight problem, we can also adjust that in this week to ensure that everything is fine with the magazine and up to date.
Week 1 (15th Feb - 19th Feb) - Start researching more magazines and looking at the codes and conventions used. We will need to do this by looking at our competitors closely e.g. Bliss. We will also need to look at the publishers of the magazine to see what publishers we have to compete with. This week will be based on just researching competitors and making sure we have as much information that we need on the competitors.
Week 2 (22nd Feb - 26th Feb) - This week we will need to focus on the images that we are going to use for the magazine. We will need to make sure that we have enough images and if we need any more. This will involve looking at the images that we will need for the actual features and the image that we will use for the front cover as we will need to find an attractive front cover image.
Week 3 (1st March - 5th March) - Start doing mock ups. We will need to focus on the mock ups of the magazine and its features this week to make sure that we have some idea of what layout to follow for the magazine. This will also help us to plan our magazine and ensure that it is well thought. In this week, we will just be focusing on mock ups and doing a couple of mock ups each and seeing which one is the best for the magazine.
Week 4 (8th March - 12th March) - After finalising the mock up we have chosen for the magazine, we will begin to create the front cover of the magazine and do one feature which will be the feature on gang movies which is based on Aqeel's critical investigation. By this we will be able to get it done quickly as we will have the whole week for the front cover and the feature. We will need to construct the front cover as a teen magazines would be like and write the article for the feature and add in the suitable images required for the feature.
Week 5 (15th March - 19th March) - This week we will focus on the second feature which is on celebrity influence which is based on Gurpreet's critical investigation. By this we will be able to do each feature week by week to ensure that we are spending as much time on it as possible and not rushing it. This will also make sure that the article can be adjusted around in the week and that we are writing the article in a teen style to ensure that the teens are attracted.
Week 6 (22nd March - 26th March) - This week we will focus on the last feature which is on typical teenagers and is based on Jawaria's critical investigation. We will have a week to do this feature too which will ensure that we have plenty of time for each feature to be completed. In this week, we will also put together all of the magazine and see how it looks together and if it has a slight problem, we can also adjust that in this week to ensure that everything is fine with the magazine and up to date.
Friday, 5 February 2010
Media texts - Linked production
1. Sugar magazine
http://www.sugarscape.com/
- This magazine has freebies for customers to persuade them to take part.
- Theres all the latest information for teenagers e.g. what gossip is going on with celebrities.
- Theres music and video features available for the audience on the website.
2. Cosmogirl magazine
http://www.cosmogirl.com/
- Theres beauty and fashion tips for teenagers to look at and that would interest them to look at the magazine.
- Theres games for the audience. They can use the website as well as the maagzine and that would mean that the audience are given a chance to get involved.
- Theres advice on guys and that would attract teenage girls because they would be going through a phase of liking boys and etc so they would be interested in getting advice.
3. Teen magazine
http://www.teenmag.com/
- It has monthly features.
- The magazine has quizzes for the audience to give them a chance to get involved.
- Theres horoscopes and that would attract teenage girls because they would want to see what their horoscope holds.
- Theres a section on 'celeb stuff' so the audience can find out more about the lives of teenagers and feel that they are involved with their lives.
Magazine chosen to analyse: Cosmogirl Magazine
http://newmediamags.pbworks.com/f/cosmo%20girl.jpg
- This magazine front cover has used bright colours and this is because the colours used are bright pink, purple and yellow. This would be a combination of bright colours that would attract teenage girls to look at the magazine.
- Theres a image of Paris Hilton and that is the largest image on the front cover and this would mean that teenagers could be attracted because they might want to know more about Paris Hilton.
- Theres phrases used such as "Hot celeb body" and this could mean that the teenagers could be attracted because they might want to know the tips of getting a celeb body.
- Theres a phrase that says "10 ways to turn guys on". By this we can tell that phrases are being used that would interest teenage girls because they might have a crush and would want to get the males attention. This shows that by the magazine giving teenage girls tips, they would be attracted to buy the magazine.
- There is also a mention of "get celeb hair fast". By this we can tell that this would attract the teenage girls to look at the magazine because they would want to get hair like celebs too.
- Overall this shows that this magazine is using the conventions to use mainly phrases that would attract the audience because teenagers would be interested in boys, make up, looking good and etc. There is bright colours too and that would attract teenagers because they would not want to look at dull colours.
http://www.sugarscape.com/
- This magazine has freebies for customers to persuade them to take part.
- Theres all the latest information for teenagers e.g. what gossip is going on with celebrities.
- Theres music and video features available for the audience on the website.
2. Cosmogirl magazine
http://www.cosmogirl.com/
- Theres beauty and fashion tips for teenagers to look at and that would interest them to look at the magazine.
- Theres games for the audience. They can use the website as well as the maagzine and that would mean that the audience are given a chance to get involved.
- Theres advice on guys and that would attract teenage girls because they would be going through a phase of liking boys and etc so they would be interested in getting advice.
3. Teen magazine
http://www.teenmag.com/
- It has monthly features.
- The magazine has quizzes for the audience to give them a chance to get involved.
- Theres horoscopes and that would attract teenage girls because they would want to see what their horoscope holds.
- Theres a section on 'celeb stuff' so the audience can find out more about the lives of teenagers and feel that they are involved with their lives.
Magazine chosen to analyse: Cosmogirl Magazine
http://newmediamags.pbworks.com/f/cosmo%20girl.jpg
- This magazine front cover has used bright colours and this is because the colours used are bright pink, purple and yellow. This would be a combination of bright colours that would attract teenage girls to look at the magazine.
- Theres a image of Paris Hilton and that is the largest image on the front cover and this would mean that teenagers could be attracted because they might want to know more about Paris Hilton.
- Theres phrases used such as "Hot celeb body" and this could mean that the teenagers could be attracted because they might want to know the tips of getting a celeb body.
- Theres a phrase that says "10 ways to turn guys on". By this we can tell that phrases are being used that would interest teenage girls because they might have a crush and would want to get the males attention. This shows that by the magazine giving teenage girls tips, they would be attracted to buy the magazine.
- There is also a mention of "get celeb hair fast". By this we can tell that this would attract the teenage girls to look at the magazine because they would want to get hair like celebs too.
- Overall this shows that this magazine is using the conventions to use mainly phrases that would attract the audience because teenagers would be interested in boys, make up, looking good and etc. There is bright colours too and that would attract teenagers because they would not want to look at dull colours.
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
Task 3
For my historical text, I will look at the film Bad Boys (1995).
A review of the film:
Source - http://www.cinemablend.com/reviews/Bad-Boys-1995-407.html
After a pair of overproduced duds that include the back-to-back Tony Scott eye-burners Beverly Hills Cop II and Days of Thunder, the uber-producing team of Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer make a welcome return to the kind of no-holds-barred, go-for-the-throat thrill ride that established them as action experts extraordinaire in the mid-1980s. Setting aside any pretensions, Bad Boys is what it is. Viewers can either understand that or direct themselves to a more ambitious action blockbuster. Like the standard action films of the early 90’s, Bad Boys has no problem with being a super-slick, super-fast cops-and-drug lords movie that viewers will probably forget by the time they exit the theater.
The plot resembles that of a cheesy episode of “Miami Vice,” complete with said drug lords, the fiery orange heat of the Miami setting, and enough running and jumping to exhaust even Bruce Willis. In keeping with true buddy-movie formula, Miami narcotics cops Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) both lead very different lives. Lowery is a womanizing rich-kid who also happens to be a dedicated police officer. His partner and best friend, Burnett, is an overworked, undersexed family man with a pretty wife (Theresa Randle) and three kids. Both have just made the biggest drug bust of their careers, confiscating $100 million in heroin. But when a criminal mastermind (Tchéky Karyo) steals the evidence from police storage and Internal Affairs threatens to shut them down, Lowrey and Burnett must find a witness (Téa Leoni) who can help them solve the case. The catch? Lowrey and Burnett must switch identities to gain the witness’ trust.
A more appropriate name for Bad Boys would actually be Beverly Hills Cop Lite. Both this and Cop are Bruckheimer/Simpson productions that feature a savvy African-American Police Officer (in this case, two) investigating the murder of a close friend who is somehow linked to an underground drug ring. While it retains some of the action and wise-guy humor of the Eddie Murphy classic, it also lacks the nuisances and intelligence that made that film so memorable.
Lawrence and Smith are, however, in fine (albeit not exactly star-making) form. The interaction between the wisecracking duo is so smooth and displays such a good chemistry, it’s as if they’ve done all this before. Since the film opens with the two of them jabbering away, you get the idea that they started during a previous adventure. The interesting note about the casting is that both of the leads play the “wise guy.” We see how different they are through how they use their sense of humor. The switch even takes a stab (no doubt, unintended) at making a social statement about people adapting to a completely new lifestyle.
The real star here is Director Michael Bay. Bay (who cut his teeth directing high-octane television commercials and music videos) treats every action sequence like a photographed stage production. He keeps the camera moving swiftly enough to generate excitement, but stops shy of inducing nausea. Working closely with the editor, Bay favors frequent cuts, but without falsifying the sense of excitement generated. This talent for staging good action is displayed mostly in a getaway chase around halfway through the film and the exciting climax that features a shootout in an airport hangar. A fantastic shot that I feel is worth singling out comes at the end of the getaway chase when Lowrey and Burnett rise from the aftermath in a shot that circles around the heroes as they look on to see the villains get away. This wonderful method tells the viewers what they must face in the best dramatic fashion possible.
This film shows a range of different ways that it is similar to contemporary texts and how it is different from contemporary texts.
The film is similar from urban drama texts now because there is still the use of cars that is a main item used by males in urban dramas. Teenage males are known to drive around in their cars and it is used in many texts today too for example, male teenagers hanging around in their cars is also shown in the film 'Adulthood' because it is a main thing that represents males. Another thing that is the same is that males are still shown to be obsessed with sex because in this film the male shown in the car with Will Smith says "please I am not getting my sex at home". This connotes that these are two main factors that characterise teenage males because this was common in the 1900's and is still a commin factor in 2010. By this we can tell that males are obsessed with cars and sex and that is still the same case.
The thing that is also similar is the use of language that is used by teenage males because in Bad Boys, Will Smith and his friend both use language that might be unappropriate. This language is still used today but there is a slight difference that is there is more aggresive and disrespectful language used today. By this we can tell that this is a similar factor but it has changed slightly as now male teenagers have less restrictions on what is said on screen. Another thing that is similar from historical texts and contemporary texts is the use of propps. This is because in Bad Boys, guns are used and they are used in contemporary texts too. There is also a slight change in contemporary texts because more violent propps are now used for example, knifes, bats and etc.
In addition, the things that are different now is the clothing. This is because in the historical texts, male teenagers do not dress as male teenagers do now. For example there is no hoodies, or tracksuits etc but there is normal clothing that would not really categorise male teenagers today. Another difference in contemporary and historical texts is that there are more violent scenes now. This is because the audience is actually shown the victim suffering now whereas in historical texts, the victim just dies and is not shown actually dying. This happens in the film when the man is shot and he falls off the car but is not shown actually dying. By this we can tell that contemporary films show more suffering of the victims and this did not happen in historical texts.
A review of the film:
Source - http://www.cinemablend.com/reviews/Bad-Boys-1995-407.html
After a pair of overproduced duds that include the back-to-back Tony Scott eye-burners Beverly Hills Cop II and Days of Thunder, the uber-producing team of Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer make a welcome return to the kind of no-holds-barred, go-for-the-throat thrill ride that established them as action experts extraordinaire in the mid-1980s. Setting aside any pretensions, Bad Boys is what it is. Viewers can either understand that or direct themselves to a more ambitious action blockbuster. Like the standard action films of the early 90’s, Bad Boys has no problem with being a super-slick, super-fast cops-and-drug lords movie that viewers will probably forget by the time they exit the theater.
The plot resembles that of a cheesy episode of “Miami Vice,” complete with said drug lords, the fiery orange heat of the Miami setting, and enough running and jumping to exhaust even Bruce Willis. In keeping with true buddy-movie formula, Miami narcotics cops Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) both lead very different lives. Lowery is a womanizing rich-kid who also happens to be a dedicated police officer. His partner and best friend, Burnett, is an overworked, undersexed family man with a pretty wife (Theresa Randle) and three kids. Both have just made the biggest drug bust of their careers, confiscating $100 million in heroin. But when a criminal mastermind (Tchéky Karyo) steals the evidence from police storage and Internal Affairs threatens to shut them down, Lowrey and Burnett must find a witness (Téa Leoni) who can help them solve the case. The catch? Lowrey and Burnett must switch identities to gain the witness’ trust.
A more appropriate name for Bad Boys would actually be Beverly Hills Cop Lite. Both this and Cop are Bruckheimer/Simpson productions that feature a savvy African-American Police Officer (in this case, two) investigating the murder of a close friend who is somehow linked to an underground drug ring. While it retains some of the action and wise-guy humor of the Eddie Murphy classic, it also lacks the nuisances and intelligence that made that film so memorable.
Lawrence and Smith are, however, in fine (albeit not exactly star-making) form. The interaction between the wisecracking duo is so smooth and displays such a good chemistry, it’s as if they’ve done all this before. Since the film opens with the two of them jabbering away, you get the idea that they started during a previous adventure. The interesting note about the casting is that both of the leads play the “wise guy.” We see how different they are through how they use their sense of humor. The switch even takes a stab (no doubt, unintended) at making a social statement about people adapting to a completely new lifestyle.
The real star here is Director Michael Bay. Bay (who cut his teeth directing high-octane television commercials and music videos) treats every action sequence like a photographed stage production. He keeps the camera moving swiftly enough to generate excitement, but stops shy of inducing nausea. Working closely with the editor, Bay favors frequent cuts, but without falsifying the sense of excitement generated. This talent for staging good action is displayed mostly in a getaway chase around halfway through the film and the exciting climax that features a shootout in an airport hangar. A fantastic shot that I feel is worth singling out comes at the end of the getaway chase when Lowrey and Burnett rise from the aftermath in a shot that circles around the heroes as they look on to see the villains get away. This wonderful method tells the viewers what they must face in the best dramatic fashion possible.
This film shows a range of different ways that it is similar to contemporary texts and how it is different from contemporary texts.
The film is similar from urban drama texts now because there is still the use of cars that is a main item used by males in urban dramas. Teenage males are known to drive around in their cars and it is used in many texts today too for example, male teenagers hanging around in their cars is also shown in the film 'Adulthood' because it is a main thing that represents males. Another thing that is the same is that males are still shown to be obsessed with sex because in this film the male shown in the car with Will Smith says "please I am not getting my sex at home". This connotes that these are two main factors that characterise teenage males because this was common in the 1900's and is still a commin factor in 2010. By this we can tell that males are obsessed with cars and sex and that is still the same case.
The thing that is also similar is the use of language that is used by teenage males because in Bad Boys, Will Smith and his friend both use language that might be unappropriate. This language is still used today but there is a slight difference that is there is more aggresive and disrespectful language used today. By this we can tell that this is a similar factor but it has changed slightly as now male teenagers have less restrictions on what is said on screen. Another thing that is similar from historical texts and contemporary texts is the use of propps. This is because in Bad Boys, guns are used and they are used in contemporary texts too. There is also a slight change in contemporary texts because more violent propps are now used for example, knifes, bats and etc.
In addition, the things that are different now is the clothing. This is because in the historical texts, male teenagers do not dress as male teenagers do now. For example there is no hoodies, or tracksuits etc but there is normal clothing that would not really categorise male teenagers today. Another difference in contemporary and historical texts is that there are more violent scenes now. This is because the audience is actually shown the victim suffering now whereas in historical texts, the victim just dies and is not shown actually dying. This happens in the film when the man is shot and he falls off the car but is not shown actually dying. By this we can tell that contemporary films show more suffering of the victims and this did not happen in historical texts.
Task 6
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" [1]. This would mean that if stereotypes are coming and going, it must 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 be seen as providing us with the information which tells us what it feels like to occupy a particular subject - position" [2]. 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 and Bullet Boy, 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. This connotes 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.
[1] Hayward, Susan. (2000): Cinema Studies - The Key Concepts. London; Routledge. Page 358
[2] Woodward, K. (1997): Concepts of Identity and difference. London; Sage Books. Page 64
Task 5
Introduction
In this paragraph i will be writing and introducing my task which is my critical investigation. I would be writing about how the stereotype of male teens has changed in contempry urban drama and seeing how it was in the history and how it is now. I would do this by looking at historical texts such as Bad Boys. I would look at the similarities and differences between the historical text and a contemporary text such as Adulthood and other genre texts. I would then mention that I would be coming to a conclusion on how male teens are being represented in urban dramas and if it is positive or not. (G, H, R)
2nd Paragraph
In this paragraph i would be writing about male teenagers and how they are sterotyped in the media today. This would mean that I would start off with stating the obvious stereotypes of teenagers today. I would then be comparing contemporary texts to see how male teenagers are being stereotyped and put across to the audience. In this paragraph, I would have reference to the texts Adulthood, Kidulthood and Bullet Boy because by this I could see the different roles that male characters are having in urban dramas and if they are similar. This would fit in with the issue of violence and the media because the urban dramas that I would look at would have crime in them and I could see to what extent texts are going to show teenagers negatively. In this paragraph, I would put in the quote "The media can be seen as providing us with the information which tells us what it feels like to occupy a particular subject - position" because the media is showing teenagers negatively. (R, S,)
3rd Paragraph
In this paragraph I would be writing about how the way that male teens are shown has changed over a period of time. For this, I would be writing about the film Bad Boys (1995) and I would look at how males are being characterised in that film. This would mean that I would need to look the attitude of male teens used, the clothing, the propps and the language used. This would show if male teens representation has changed over time. For this I would have to look at the social and economical factor too because the representation of male teens could have changed over time because of these factors. In this paragraph I would add in the quote "Stereotypes tend to be resistant to change; Second, they generally carry a pejorativve and narrow range of meanings" because it shows that the stereotypes of male teens would not stay the same for a long period of time. (R, H, M, S, E)
4th Paragraph
In this paragraph I would look at what effect the representations of male teens is having on the audience and the public. I would need to look at certain contemporary texts such as Alpha Dog and Kidulthood to show how negatively male teens are being represented. I would then look at if this representation is causing a moral panic in the media because the public might then be afraid to talk to teenagers or be near them in public. I would also look in to if this on screen representation is having a effect on the way that male teens are starting to act for example, are they taking part in the self fulfilling prophecy and behaving how the narrative is constructed?. This would link to looking at the social and political factors because I would need to explore if the on screen representation of male teens is becoming a social factor and political factor which it is because of the big issue on hoodies. In this paragraph I could also add the quote "The two Godfather films were blockbusters, enormously popular and returning huge profits. So, too, was Steven Spielbergs 'Jaws' (1975), a horror film with a strong sense of viewer engagement" because it shows that even though the representation of male teens in urban drama films are negative, it is still attracting a large audience and that could mean that male teens are being influenced to behave like this too. (R, A, N, S, P)
5th Paragraph
In this paragraph I would look at the theory audience theory because I would look in more detail what this stereotypes of male teens is created. For example are there ideas being injected in to the audiences mind (hypodermic needle theory) because is the audience looking at a male teen and being influenced to behave like that too. Has this representation also meant that the public view male teens in a more negative way? Is this representation being created because of off screen representation where the producers might have something against male teens too and are influencing the public to think that too? This would mean that in this paragraph, I would look at the audience theory and look at what affects these films have on the audience and is that the reason for a moral panic of male teens in the media?. In this paragraph I could put in the quote "David Buckingham studied how young boys made sense of what it means to be male or masculine partly from the ways they talked about television programmes and videos". This would be a good quote for this paragraph because it shows that males are being influenced by movies and that means that more male teens would behave like this. (A, R)
In this paragraph i will be writing and introducing my task which is my critical investigation. I would be writing about how the stereotype of male teens has changed in contempry urban drama and seeing how it was in the history and how it is now. I would do this by looking at historical texts such as Bad Boys. I would look at the similarities and differences between the historical text and a contemporary text such as Adulthood and other genre texts. I would then mention that I would be coming to a conclusion on how male teens are being represented in urban dramas and if it is positive or not. (G, H, R)
2nd Paragraph
In this paragraph i would be writing about male teenagers and how they are sterotyped in the media today. This would mean that I would start off with stating the obvious stereotypes of teenagers today. I would then be comparing contemporary texts to see how male teenagers are being stereotyped and put across to the audience. In this paragraph, I would have reference to the texts Adulthood, Kidulthood and Bullet Boy because by this I could see the different roles that male characters are having in urban dramas and if they are similar. This would fit in with the issue of violence and the media because the urban dramas that I would look at would have crime in them and I could see to what extent texts are going to show teenagers negatively. In this paragraph, I would put in the quote "The media can be seen as providing us with the information which tells us what it feels like to occupy a particular subject - position" because the media is showing teenagers negatively. (R, S,)
3rd Paragraph
In this paragraph I would be writing about how the way that male teens are shown has changed over a period of time. For this, I would be writing about the film Bad Boys (1995) and I would look at how males are being characterised in that film. This would mean that I would need to look the attitude of male teens used, the clothing, the propps and the language used. This would show if male teens representation has changed over time. For this I would have to look at the social and economical factor too because the representation of male teens could have changed over time because of these factors. In this paragraph I would add in the quote "Stereotypes tend to be resistant to change; Second, they generally carry a pejorativve and narrow range of meanings" because it shows that the stereotypes of male teens would not stay the same for a long period of time. (R, H, M, S, E)
4th Paragraph
In this paragraph I would look at what effect the representations of male teens is having on the audience and the public. I would need to look at certain contemporary texts such as Alpha Dog and Kidulthood to show how negatively male teens are being represented. I would then look at if this representation is causing a moral panic in the media because the public might then be afraid to talk to teenagers or be near them in public. I would also look in to if this on screen representation is having a effect on the way that male teens are starting to act for example, are they taking part in the self fulfilling prophecy and behaving how the narrative is constructed?. This would link to looking at the social and political factors because I would need to explore if the on screen representation of male teens is becoming a social factor and political factor which it is because of the big issue on hoodies. In this paragraph I could also add the quote "The two Godfather films were blockbusters, enormously popular and returning huge profits. So, too, was Steven Spielbergs 'Jaws' (1975), a horror film with a strong sense of viewer engagement" because it shows that even though the representation of male teens in urban drama films are negative, it is still attracting a large audience and that could mean that male teens are being influenced to behave like this too. (R, A, N, S, P)
5th Paragraph
In this paragraph I would look at the theory audience theory because I would look in more detail what this stereotypes of male teens is created. For example are there ideas being injected in to the audiences mind (hypodermic needle theory) because is the audience looking at a male teen and being influenced to behave like that too. Has this representation also meant that the public view male teens in a more negative way? Is this representation being created because of off screen representation where the producers might have something against male teens too and are influencing the public to think that too? This would mean that in this paragraph, I would look at the audience theory and look at what affects these films have on the audience and is that the reason for a moral panic of male teens in the media?. In this paragraph I could put in the quote "David Buckingham studied how young boys made sense of what it means to be male or masculine partly from the ways they talked about television programmes and videos". This would be a good quote for this paragraph because it shows that males are being influenced by movies and that means that more male teens would behave like this. (A, R)
Conclusion
I would now come to a decision on how male teens are being represented in contemporary urban dramas. I would make this decision by looking at contemporary and historical texts. This would show if male teens are being represented negatively and are these representations being created because of factors such as social, political and economical. This would mean that I would understand more why this representation of male teens is created and what are the factors that influence it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)