A negative representation of youths in shown throughout Fish Tank mainly through the main character Mia. Fish Tank, to some extent gives a negative representation of youths, however there are some positive experiences too that are shown. The negative representations are shown through experimentation of alcohol and violence. A scene which shows the violence is where Mia confronts the group of girls she used to be a associated with while they're dancing. Disagreements between Mia and the group of girls cause Mia to resort to violent behaviour and break one of the girls noses. This gives the representation that youths are violent towards one and other and are easily provoked into starting fights. Another negative representation is shown through the scene where Mia rips up her acceptance letter for school. This gives the representation that youths have no interest in getting an education and they rebel against authority.
The way Mia is presented as a character reflects youths in a negative light. This being the way she dresses and speaks. This can emphasise the negative way youths are presented in the media.
More positive representations of youths are shown through Mia's interest in dancing which she tries to pursue as a career. An example of this is where she goes for the dancing audition which turns out to be a negative experience. Through this she tries to create an identity for herself which isn't created by anyone else accept for herself. This gives the representation that youths are independent and enthusiastic of pursuing something that they want to do.
A negative representation of youths in Eden Lake is particularly shown through the gang of youths. At the beginning of the film, the youths were introduced playing loud music and owning a stereotypical violent dog. This portrays youths in a negative light as it shows they are trying to intimidate others while disrupting their privacy. When they was confronted by Steve the gang had no intentions of feeling guilt for their actions and continued to abuse the couple. This negatively represents youths of today by showing that they have no consideration for others.
Another scene that showed the gang sharing experiences involved in crime would be the violent knife scene where the gang of youths attack Steve. The individuals were dominated by their group identities. This was particularly shown by group members being pressured by Bret into taking turns stabbing Steve. Here we could see how some of the individuals adopt the group identity even if they don't want to take part in the violence (stabbing).
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
To what extent can the contemporary British films Fishtank and Eden lake be said to offer a negative representation of youth
The two films we have studied 'Fish-tank' and 'Eden lake' both contain a negative representation of youths in many aspects. Firstly Fish-tank is a film following a 15 year old girl living in a rural and working class environment. It displays a negative representation through her behavior, language and actions. The way we recognize this is through mise en scene. Her attitude reflects on the location that she lives in, the claustrophobic nature of the flat they live in acts a psychological prison, at her age, (Young teens) more than ever all she wants is privacy however living in such short proximity to her family, this becomes unobtainable and she often leaves only to come back late at night. interestingly however although their flat seems lost in a maze of other homes, they are often seen in the lighter, dreamt of countryside which acts as a halo of what 'Could' be, a way out of their socioeconomic class, in almost every one of the aforementioned scenes Mia is portrayed very innocently and her attitude is almost non existent.
Her clothes are often perceived as a typical lower class convention and allows the viewers to use them as a way understand the situation they are in, the 'tracksuit look' is depicted as the norm on the estate and is a strong reference to the poverty of the families, in addition to this both Mia and her sister have adopted their mothers mannerisms whereby there feelings are forcefully hidden by a layer of resent and anger, probably derived from the lack of a permanent male father figure, you can see this barrier put down when Mia's mum spends time with Cameron and a final convention of mise-en-scene is the use of relevant props, in the case of Fish-tank Mia's, her mum and her sister are often seen drinking cheap super market beer/alcohol as-well as smoking which shows they have , possibly in an attempt of escapism.
We can also tell the negative view upon youth through the diegetic sounds made from Mia and the sister. They tend to naturally use swear words and curse at each other through a way of communicating. This shows the lack of communication skills not only within her but within the community, which allows us to get an insight to why people do not succeed in education and the working world.
Music also plays a big part in developing character plot and relationships, both Connor and Mia share an affinity for the song 'California Dreamin' by Bobby Womack which ties there emotions together from an early point in the film, Also the lyrics in the non diegetic sounds (California Dreaming) relate to her feelings and emotions.
Cinematography is important in both of our case studies, however arguably most prominent in Eden lake
because it is filmed mostly within a woods and therefore a lot of space to get all sorts of angles to display negative representation of youths. Whenever the youths are onscreen they are in the shot together making them somewhat more intimidating and isolated from Steve and Jenny.
Throughout the film you begin to notice to a common theme in the cinematography, which is long camera shots, to force the viewer into watching scenes of harm towards Steve and Jenny and forcing them to relate and almost feel the pain themselves, opposite to this is the methods used in Fishtank wherby shots are short to show the volatile nature of her attitude and she is often shot alone, to force upon a feel of loneliness upon Mia.
Her clothes are often perceived as a typical lower class convention and allows the viewers to use them as a way understand the situation they are in, the 'tracksuit look' is depicted as the norm on the estate and is a strong reference to the poverty of the families, in addition to this both Mia and her sister have adopted their mothers mannerisms whereby there feelings are forcefully hidden by a layer of resent and anger, probably derived from the lack of a permanent male father figure, you can see this barrier put down when Mia's mum spends time with Cameron and a final convention of mise-en-scene is the use of relevant props, in the case of Fish-tank Mia's, her mum and her sister are often seen drinking cheap super market beer/alcohol as-well as smoking which shows they have , possibly in an attempt of escapism.
We can also tell the negative view upon youth through the diegetic sounds made from Mia and the sister. They tend to naturally use swear words and curse at each other through a way of communicating. This shows the lack of communication skills not only within her but within the community, which allows us to get an insight to why people do not succeed in education and the working world.
Music also plays a big part in developing character plot and relationships, both Connor and Mia share an affinity for the song 'California Dreamin' by Bobby Womack which ties there emotions together from an early point in the film, Also the lyrics in the non diegetic sounds (California Dreaming) relate to her feelings and emotions.
Cinematography is important in both of our case studies, however arguably most prominent in Eden lake
because it is filmed mostly within a woods and therefore a lot of space to get all sorts of angles to display negative representation of youths. Whenever the youths are onscreen they are in the shot together making them somewhat more intimidating and isolated from Steve and Jenny.
Throughout the film you begin to notice to a common theme in the cinematography, which is long camera shots, to force the viewer into watching scenes of harm towards Steve and Jenny and forcing them to relate and almost feel the pain themselves, opposite to this is the methods used in Fishtank wherby shots are short to show the volatile nature of her attitude and she is often shot alone, to force upon a feel of loneliness upon Mia.
To what extent can the contemporary British films Fish Tank and Eden Lake be said to offer a negative representation of youth.
FISH TANK
ADOLESCENCE - Adolescence is portrayed by her having no control about the decision of her going off to the referral unit. She also has no control about living at home, but she and her younger sister both smoke and drink showing that they are trying to gain some control by breaking age limits. They also both rebel against authoritative figures such as their mother and her boyfriend and immediately go against what they are told to do.
SCHOOL/EDUCATION - Through out the film you notice Mia does not attend school, how ever in one scene a representative in a special needs school come to talk to her about attending and she runs away. then later in the film she has a letter from that special school and she rips it up and chucks it out the window. Within the film her mother make remarks about attending the school , and tries to rub it in as if she is forcing her to go.
FINDING WORK - Mia doesn't specifically go out and search for work, she stumbles upon a job ad in a shop window for a dancer, as she thinks herself as quite the dancer, she finds it relevant to apply. However, she misinterpreted what kind of dancing was required and ended up making a fool of herself. Instead of gracefully saying that she has misunderstood the kind of dancing they were looking for, she stormed out.
CHOOSING A CAREER - Mia throughout the film shows an interest of dancing and dances every day in an abandoned flat in a council estate. She finds a flyer advertising a dance audition so she decides to send in her audition tape and gets a callback to come for an audition and she freezes during the audition because she misunderstood street dancing for stripping and is underage so leaves the audition. She then loses her passion for dancing and goes off with a traveler.
FINDING LOVE/FRIENDSHIP/ACCEPTANCE - Finding love she has a soft spot for her mothers boyfriend and develops a love for him and ends up having her first sexual experience with him. Then making friends with one of the travelers and moves away with him. This can also show her acceptance as she never really had any from her mother and friends. Also loosing her friends and trying to get there friendship back she move on and goes to wales.
EXPERIMENTATION - DRUGS, CULTURE, CRIME - Instead of doing one off crime, Mia in essence is living a life of crime as she breaks into the same empty flat and uses it as her get away. This is unsurprising as the culture in which she lives in is fraught with crime and drug abuse. Although Mia doesn't take any drugs, there is a lot of intake of alcohol, which could be perceived to be in the same league as drugs.
LEAVING HOME - At the end of the film after being rejected from her dance audition, she leaves with the traveler that she has built a relationship with throughout the film after trying to steal his horse and then it dies. The end of the film sees her leaving, having a final moment with her mum that contrasts their relationship throughout the film as they dance together and have a laugh whereas throughout the film they have been arguing a lot. She then leaves with the traveler and goes to Wales with her sister chasing the car, also contrasting the previous relationship.
EDEN LAKE
ADOLESCENCE - PHYSICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY MATURING - The kids within the film are aggressive in every from in the film. For example when Steve asked Brett to turn down the music he is still aggressive even if he asked nicely, and for that he bursts Steve's car tires and tries to steel the keys.
SCHOOL/EDUCATION - School and education doesn't play a major role in the film. However, Jenny, Steve's girlfriend, is a primary school teacher. This seems to echo throughout the film as her affection for children is that she doesn't want to harm them, but she just gets pushed to the edge, but she soon regrets her actions.
ADOLESCENCE - Adolescence is portrayed by her having no control about the decision of her going off to the referral unit. She also has no control about living at home, but she and her younger sister both smoke and drink showing that they are trying to gain some control by breaking age limits. They also both rebel against authoritative figures such as their mother and her boyfriend and immediately go against what they are told to do.
SCHOOL/EDUCATION - Through out the film you notice Mia does not attend school, how ever in one scene a representative in a special needs school come to talk to her about attending and she runs away. then later in the film she has a letter from that special school and she rips it up and chucks it out the window. Within the film her mother make remarks about attending the school , and tries to rub it in as if she is forcing her to go.
FINDING WORK - Mia doesn't specifically go out and search for work, she stumbles upon a job ad in a shop window for a dancer, as she thinks herself as quite the dancer, she finds it relevant to apply. However, she misinterpreted what kind of dancing was required and ended up making a fool of herself. Instead of gracefully saying that she has misunderstood the kind of dancing they were looking for, she stormed out.
CHOOSING A CAREER - Mia throughout the film shows an interest of dancing and dances every day in an abandoned flat in a council estate. She finds a flyer advertising a dance audition so she decides to send in her audition tape and gets a callback to come for an audition and she freezes during the audition because she misunderstood street dancing for stripping and is underage so leaves the audition. She then loses her passion for dancing and goes off with a traveler.
FINDING LOVE/FRIENDSHIP/ACCEPTANCE - Finding love she has a soft spot for her mothers boyfriend and develops a love for him and ends up having her first sexual experience with him. Then making friends with one of the travelers and moves away with him. This can also show her acceptance as she never really had any from her mother and friends. Also loosing her friends and trying to get there friendship back she move on and goes to wales.
EXPERIMENTATION - DRUGS, CULTURE, CRIME - Instead of doing one off crime, Mia in essence is living a life of crime as she breaks into the same empty flat and uses it as her get away. This is unsurprising as the culture in which she lives in is fraught with crime and drug abuse. Although Mia doesn't take any drugs, there is a lot of intake of alcohol, which could be perceived to be in the same league as drugs.
LEAVING HOME - At the end of the film after being rejected from her dance audition, she leaves with the traveler that she has built a relationship with throughout the film after trying to steal his horse and then it dies. The end of the film sees her leaving, having a final moment with her mum that contrasts their relationship throughout the film as they dance together and have a laugh whereas throughout the film they have been arguing a lot. She then leaves with the traveler and goes to Wales with her sister chasing the car, also contrasting the previous relationship.
EDEN LAKE
ADOLESCENCE - PHYSICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY MATURING - The kids within the film are aggressive in every from in the film. For example when Steve asked Brett to turn down the music he is still aggressive even if he asked nicely, and for that he bursts Steve's car tires and tries to steel the keys.
SCHOOL/EDUCATION - School and education doesn't play a major role in the film. However, Jenny, Steve's girlfriend, is a primary school teacher. This seems to echo throughout the film as her affection for children is that she doesn't want to harm them, but she just gets pushed to the edge, but she soon regrets her actions.
To what extent can the contemporay British Films Fish Tank and eden lake be said to offer a negative representation of youth
Fish Tank:
Fish Tank offers a range of different representations towards British youth culture, this primarily includes Adolescence, School and education, work, acceptance/love/friendship, experimentation(violence, crime, drugs). Collectively this forms a expansive look into the lives of the characters and the way they interact with each other, for example Mia's rejection of the offer for a chance to enter into school shows her lack of interest and her strong feelings against being put into a environment which she does not have full control over. Her need for freedom and the ability to act in anyway she fits would be put at risk in a learning environment, this portrays her as a reckless and uneasy youth who will only look out for herself and always put her interests first in most situations. This selfish appearance is a popular negative representation of youth who are often portrayed to only ever be interested in their own problems and not caring or understanding of the problems they create for other people. Another example Fish Tank gives towards negative youth representations is the experimentation with drugs, violence and alcohol with are referenced to constantly throughout the film. An example of this is the scene where Mia and Billy go to Connor's work to get money off him. They claim that it is money for food, however they just go and buy alcohol with it instead. This expresses the typical youth representation of abusive alcohol use, and also the use of deceitfulness.
Eden Lake:
Eden Lake focused alot more on the violence aspect of youth representaion, displaying extreme levels of violent youth behaviour. A good example of the portrayal of violence is the scene in which they have Steve tied up with barb wire against a post, they all take turns knifeing him making there "mark" while recording it on one of their phones. This portrayal of youth violence plays on popular sterotypes of moralless over the top behaviour. The extreme level of this scene is intented to make a shocking lasting impact through out the film giving an idea on just how cruel youths can be. Alongside violence, there is also a strong representation of bad language, theft and disruptiveness. Examples of this are at the scene by the lake when their music in on full blast and refuse to turn it down, despite being told to. This also links in to the idea shown in Fish Tank, that youths are selfish and always put themselves before other people's needs.
Fish Tank offers a range of different representations towards British youth culture, this primarily includes Adolescence, School and education, work, acceptance/love/friendship, experimentation(violence, crime, drugs). Collectively this forms a expansive look into the lives of the characters and the way they interact with each other, for example Mia's rejection of the offer for a chance to enter into school shows her lack of interest and her strong feelings against being put into a environment which she does not have full control over. Her need for freedom and the ability to act in anyway she fits would be put at risk in a learning environment, this portrays her as a reckless and uneasy youth who will only look out for herself and always put her interests first in most situations. This selfish appearance is a popular negative representation of youth who are often portrayed to only ever be interested in their own problems and not caring or understanding of the problems they create for other people. Another example Fish Tank gives towards negative youth representations is the experimentation with drugs, violence and alcohol with are referenced to constantly throughout the film. An example of this is the scene where Mia and Billy go to Connor's work to get money off him. They claim that it is money for food, however they just go and buy alcohol with it instead. This expresses the typical youth representation of abusive alcohol use, and also the use of deceitfulness.
Eden Lake:
Eden Lake focused alot more on the violence aspect of youth representaion, displaying extreme levels of violent youth behaviour. A good example of the portrayal of violence is the scene in which they have Steve tied up with barb wire against a post, they all take turns knifeing him making there "mark" while recording it on one of their phones. This portrayal of youth violence plays on popular sterotypes of moralless over the top behaviour. The extreme level of this scene is intented to make a shocking lasting impact through out the film giving an idea on just how cruel youths can be. Alongside violence, there is also a strong representation of bad language, theft and disruptiveness. Examples of this are at the scene by the lake when their music in on full blast and refuse to turn it down, despite being told to. This also links in to the idea shown in Fish Tank, that youths are selfish and always put themselves before other people's needs.
To what extent can the contemporary british films 'Fish Tank' and 'Eden Lake' be said to offer a negative representation of youth?
Both 'Fish Tank' and 'Eden Lake' offer negative representations of youth in today's society, in Britain.
Both deal with youths aged from about 8 to 18, and these youths are often influenced by abusive or negligent parents/guardians, as well as various other characters, e.g Steve in 'Eden Lake'.
Both films portray the youths as 'chavs' or 'hoodies', which comes with it's own set of shared conventions. For example: Aggression, use of abusive language, and alcohol and solvent abuse, as well as the clothes they wear. Both main 'youth' characters are often seen in tracksuits, again lending itself to the stereotype.
The characters in 'Eden Lake' are introduced as violent and rude in their first scene on the beach, where they both bully Adam, and interrupt 'Steve' and 'Jenny' whilst they are relaxing. This is shown through confrontation between the 'gang' and 'Steve' when they refuse to turn their music down, which is stereotypical music for this type of character. This is only exacerbated throughout the rest of the film as we see that the 'gang' who frequent the town on bikes, become goaded by 'Steve' and his refusal to be scared by the 'gang'.
When we first meet 'Mia', who is the main character in 'Fish Tank', we get a totally different feel than we did for the youths in 'Eden Lake', at least at first. We're introduced to 'Mia' via her dancing, and her concern for her friend who isn't answering her calls. Shortly after this relatively calm introduction, she yells at her friends dad calling him a 'cunt'. This is where we see she's more like the youths in 'Eden Lake', sans the murders.
There are various other similarities between the two films. For example, both main characters ('Mia' and 'Brett') are quite vulnerable. 'Mia' is naive and easily mislead by 'Connor' to the point where she has sex with him after he encourages her dancing. Whereas 'Brett' dislikes having his authority undermimed as he is constantly undermimed and beaten by his dad. Both characters have short fuses, becoming easily enraged usually leading to violence, for example when 'Mia' headbutts one of the 'chav' girls in the face after a fight, and 'Brett' punches his friend to death.
In general, both sets of characters abuse some kind of drug. 'Mia' and the youths in 'Fish Tank' tend to drink a lot, not to get drunk but simply because that's what they do. Brett and the 'gang' tend to abuse solvents, as we see them sniffing a substance to give them courage. Also, both families have a violent, or at least frightening dog. 'Brett's family owns a rottweiler, who doesn't like strangers, but likes barking at them, whereas 'Mia's family own some sort of terrier who is far less violent.
One thing that sets the films apart is the portrayal of the main character. 'Brett' is a violent, rude and sadistic character who doesn't care for others and easily kills without a second thought. He is also a bully to those who would be his friends, goading them into doing things they normally wouldn't, like stabbing 'Steve' and abusing animals (tortures rabbits). Whereas 'Mia' is a more empathetic character and appears to have more of a conscience. She tries to rescue a horse several times during 'Fish Tank' when she believes it's being malnourished. She is also more naive than 'Brett', and this is shown by her innocence, and her blatent bragging about things she's never done, like sex.
In conclusion, both films are quite similar in the way they negatively portray modern youths in British culture, although 'Fish Tank' at least ends on a moral high note when all the issues are resolved.
Both deal with youths aged from about 8 to 18, and these youths are often influenced by abusive or negligent parents/guardians, as well as various other characters, e.g Steve in 'Eden Lake'.
Both films portray the youths as 'chavs' or 'hoodies', which comes with it's own set of shared conventions. For example: Aggression, use of abusive language, and alcohol and solvent abuse, as well as the clothes they wear. Both main 'youth' characters are often seen in tracksuits, again lending itself to the stereotype.
The characters in 'Eden Lake' are introduced as violent and rude in their first scene on the beach, where they both bully Adam, and interrupt 'Steve' and 'Jenny' whilst they are relaxing. This is shown through confrontation between the 'gang' and 'Steve' when they refuse to turn their music down, which is stereotypical music for this type of character. This is only exacerbated throughout the rest of the film as we see that the 'gang' who frequent the town on bikes, become goaded by 'Steve' and his refusal to be scared by the 'gang'.
When we first meet 'Mia', who is the main character in 'Fish Tank', we get a totally different feel than we did for the youths in 'Eden Lake', at least at first. We're introduced to 'Mia' via her dancing, and her concern for her friend who isn't answering her calls. Shortly after this relatively calm introduction, she yells at her friends dad calling him a 'cunt'. This is where we see she's more like the youths in 'Eden Lake', sans the murders.
There are various other similarities between the two films. For example, both main characters ('Mia' and 'Brett') are quite vulnerable. 'Mia' is naive and easily mislead by 'Connor' to the point where she has sex with him after he encourages her dancing. Whereas 'Brett' dislikes having his authority undermimed as he is constantly undermimed and beaten by his dad. Both characters have short fuses, becoming easily enraged usually leading to violence, for example when 'Mia' headbutts one of the 'chav' girls in the face after a fight, and 'Brett' punches his friend to death.
In general, both sets of characters abuse some kind of drug. 'Mia' and the youths in 'Fish Tank' tend to drink a lot, not to get drunk but simply because that's what they do. Brett and the 'gang' tend to abuse solvents, as we see them sniffing a substance to give them courage. Also, both families have a violent, or at least frightening dog. 'Brett's family owns a rottweiler, who doesn't like strangers, but likes barking at them, whereas 'Mia's family own some sort of terrier who is far less violent.
One thing that sets the films apart is the portrayal of the main character. 'Brett' is a violent, rude and sadistic character who doesn't care for others and easily kills without a second thought. He is also a bully to those who would be his friends, goading them into doing things they normally wouldn't, like stabbing 'Steve' and abusing animals (tortures rabbits). Whereas 'Mia' is a more empathetic character and appears to have more of a conscience. She tries to rescue a horse several times during 'Fish Tank' when she believes it's being malnourished. She is also more naive than 'Brett', and this is shown by her innocence, and her blatent bragging about things she's never done, like sex.
In conclusion, both films are quite similar in the way they negatively portray modern youths in British culture, although 'Fish Tank' at least ends on a moral high note when all the issues are resolved.
To what extent can the contemporary british films Fishtank and Eden Lake be said to offer a negative representation of youth?
To some extent the films can be said to offer both negative and positive representation of youth, both films are portraying negative stereotype's of the antisocial youth.
In Fish Tank we see Mia, a troubled and antisocial adolescent girl, who lives with her mother and sister, in a populated tower block. We see the negative representation throughout the film, in one scene she receives a letter from a behavioural school saying she has got a place but she rips it up and throws it out the window. This displays an negative even aggressive attitude towards education, something that would benefit her and that is a stereotypical characteristic of youth.
She is at the stage in her life when she is between childhood and adulthood and is physically and emotionally maturing, and this is denoted in her personality. She desperately wants to be seen as an adult yet she displays her innocence and naivety throughout the film. She is begining to rebel against the identity dictated to her throughout her earlier years by schools, her mother and other figures of authority, and is trying to create her personal identity as the young adult she see's herself as. She does this through trying to find acceptance in her peers for example her friends and the traveler she befrends and eventally runs away with. Her charecter is portrayed in accordance with popular notions of adolecence as 'a period of storm and stress' and her confusion about her identity shows her incompleate emotional development and results in her deviant and antisocial behaviour.
Her search for an identity and for career, leads her to a dance audition at what looks like a strip club, she is only fifteen at this time and lies and tells the judges she is seventeen. this could be seen as a result of none of her familys intrest in her passion for dance and as an attempt for attention.
In Fish Tank we see Mia, a troubled and antisocial adolescent girl, who lives with her mother and sister, in a populated tower block. We see the negative representation throughout the film, in one scene she receives a letter from a behavioural school saying she has got a place but she rips it up and throws it out the window. This displays an negative even aggressive attitude towards education, something that would benefit her and that is a stereotypical characteristic of youth.
She is at the stage in her life when she is between childhood and adulthood and is physically and emotionally maturing, and this is denoted in her personality. She desperately wants to be seen as an adult yet she displays her innocence and naivety throughout the film. She is begining to rebel against the identity dictated to her throughout her earlier years by schools, her mother and other figures of authority, and is trying to create her personal identity as the young adult she see's herself as. She does this through trying to find acceptance in her peers for example her friends and the traveler she befrends and eventally runs away with. Her charecter is portrayed in accordance with popular notions of adolecence as 'a period of storm and stress' and her confusion about her identity shows her incompleate emotional development and results in her deviant and antisocial behaviour.
Her search for an identity and for career, leads her to a dance audition at what looks like a strip club, she is only fifteen at this time and lies and tells the judges she is seventeen. this could be seen as a result of none of her familys intrest in her passion for dance and as an attempt for attention.
Media & Collective Identity by james and ben
Fish Tank and Eden Lake are both british films which have contrasting views on the youth of today, with two differing outcomes, with eden lake seen to be the start of something new, where as eden lake is seen to kill off the characters through a massacre led by Brett, the antagonist of the film. However Fish Tank starts off with the main protagonist , Mia, seen to live a dead end life with know new aspects or aspirations as she doesn't attend school and mother appears to have little morals and is the catalyst for her rebellious attitudes.
At various scenes with in Fish tank it is apparent that the youth are being conveyed in a poor light when she is seen to be frequently being aggressive specifically in the scene where she breaks a girls nose after 'nutting' her but also on a deeper level conveyed through her emotions to life and her stubborn attitudes possibly bought on by the lack of love from her mother and siblings as well as no fatherly figure to look out for her. She also is seen to be engrossed in a culture surrounded by both drink and smoking this is portrayed through the seen in which her mother has a party and flouts any responsibility of which expected by others of a motherly figure.
Most of the scenes in Eden Lake are portrayed as the youths being 'demonic' in some kind of sense, but at first they all seem to be 'boys just being boys' by playing loud music, drinking and 'perving' on Jenny, the main protagonist in the film. But this behaviour soon escalates due to Steve killing Brett's dog which unleashes a wrath upon the two protagonists, which results in them being hunted like a dog as Brett quickly loses more of his mind as the film continues.
In some cases both films do infact portray arguably a positive out look on the, 'youth of today', for example in fish tank this is evident with her, aim to free the horse conveying a sense of escapism and some moral attitudes which she has, and this can be seen in Eden Lake where the little blonde boy realises what theyre doing is very wrong and he wants no more so he sees Jenny and goes to see if she's alright but as she's in such a state, she lashes out and stabs him in the neck, which again portrays that even when youths are trying to be nice and friendly, it can be taken in the wrong way.
At various scenes with in Fish tank it is apparent that the youth are being conveyed in a poor light when she is seen to be frequently being aggressive specifically in the scene where she breaks a girls nose after 'nutting' her but also on a deeper level conveyed through her emotions to life and her stubborn attitudes possibly bought on by the lack of love from her mother and siblings as well as no fatherly figure to look out for her. She also is seen to be engrossed in a culture surrounded by both drink and smoking this is portrayed through the seen in which her mother has a party and flouts any responsibility of which expected by others of a motherly figure.
Most of the scenes in Eden Lake are portrayed as the youths being 'demonic' in some kind of sense, but at first they all seem to be 'boys just being boys' by playing loud music, drinking and 'perving' on Jenny, the main protagonist in the film. But this behaviour soon escalates due to Steve killing Brett's dog which unleashes a wrath upon the two protagonists, which results in them being hunted like a dog as Brett quickly loses more of his mind as the film continues.
In some cases both films do infact portray arguably a positive out look on the, 'youth of today', for example in fish tank this is evident with her, aim to free the horse conveying a sense of escapism and some moral attitudes which she has, and this can be seen in Eden Lake where the little blonde boy realises what theyre doing is very wrong and he wants no more so he sees Jenny and goes to see if she's alright but as she's in such a state, she lashes out and stabs him in the neck, which again portrays that even when youths are trying to be nice and friendly, it can be taken in the wrong way.
Collective Identitiy Question
To what extent can the contemporary British film Fish Tank and Eden Lake be said to offer a negative representation of youth?
Fish Tank
The film 'Fish Tank' gives a negative representation of youth. It does this throughout the whole film, several times. An example of a way in which the film does this is by showing the way that the youth in a run down area behave. The whole of the estate seems to be filled up with youths that are causing trouble and starting fights, but although this may be true of some areas, the extent at which these instances happen are greatly exaggerated. For example. it may be true that areas are filled with crime and violence and gangs, but it isn't pure crime and violence and the film has exaggerated the truth to make these areas seem a lot worse than they actually are.
They have also given the traveller community bad representation. This is done by when mia (the main girl actor) enters the travveler site they take all of her things and give the impression that they are going to rape her or beat her up. They also show the traveler youth community and put them in bad light by having the girl imply that they are treating the horse badly, and she tries to set it free as she thinks that the horse is being kept badly and should be treated better and put in better conditions.
Another way that bad representation is shown is through the actions that the younger girls take. For example mias sister who is about 6 years old is with friends and they are drinking and smoking. Although smoking and drinking could be started by children at a young age, i don't think it is to the extent of 6 year olds meeting up and doing it. All of them also have discusting words. This is shown when they argue and this seems to be all the time. For the majority of the film there is constant arguing and discusting uses of the english language in which they just insult each other. One of the only times where there isn't arguing is when the 15 year old is seduced by connor and ends up having sex with him. This represents girls as being slaggy and having sex with someone who they clearly shouldn't due to the age difference and its her mums boyfriend. This scene implies that youth will just do things like this given the chance, but it is highly unlikely that these things will actually happen, but this makes it look like if the youth these days are offered a chance to do something illegal or that comes with trouble or bad consequences, they can't resist doing it.
Poor representation is also shown when mia applies to be a dancer. She goes there and is up against a lot of other girls that are all having their audition, dancing to try and get picked to have the job. All the girls that are there applying for the job have barely any clithes on. And when mia is up there dancing, she is wearing a tracksuit whilst looking out at all the other people auditioning who are wearing things such as short skirts or hot pants. The people hosting the audition ask her to take off her hot pants, almost as if it wasn't right that she was covered up and fully clothed. This makes it look like the youth are desperate and willing to do anything for money as all the other girls are barely clothed.
Eden Lake
In the film Eden Lake their is an introduction of the stereotypical 'hoody' which is very similar to that of the stereotyping in Fish Tank. However the 'hoody' is basic in a more contradicting setting of a rural village. The hooded characters act like they own the village and show no respect to the other people living there. This is a very negative representation of youths as it massively over exaggerated the common stereotype.
The behavior is very extreme and over the top, for example the youths torcher and abuse the male character, the ring leader of the gang gets all the other members to use a knife and stab the character steve, this leaves him in a condition close to death. Although they did this they did not have intentions to kill him but he then dies later on from the wounds, because of this the female character ' Jenny' is at risk because the gang then want to find her to kill her as well and protect them selves from getting in trouble with the law. This makes the youths appear less human and there morals seem to not be present within there characteristics giving them a very negative representation.
In the film an 'innocent' younger boy is portrayed as being good as he does not follow the rest of the gangs traits, later on though in the film this image of innocence is later betrayed to Jenny and the audience as he shows the gang the location of Jenny when he could help her. This gives an inaccurate representation of youth because in real life a young boy that behaves in a normal way wouldn't help what is considered 'evil'. Later on the kid then gets betrayed himself and made to seem like a pointless life that isn't worth living because the gang burn him alive for the sole reason of trying to encourage Jenny to return to them to face her faith.
Conclusion
In conclusion both the films give a bad representation of youth which is not accurate across the majority of the population. We believe that both the films offer a negative representation of youth to a large an not necessary degree.
Toby Moffat, George Tibbett, Graeme Beck
Fish Tank
The film 'Fish Tank' gives a negative representation of youth. It does this throughout the whole film, several times. An example of a way in which the film does this is by showing the way that the youth in a run down area behave. The whole of the estate seems to be filled up with youths that are causing trouble and starting fights, but although this may be true of some areas, the extent at which these instances happen are greatly exaggerated. For example. it may be true that areas are filled with crime and violence and gangs, but it isn't pure crime and violence and the film has exaggerated the truth to make these areas seem a lot worse than they actually are.
They have also given the traveller community bad representation. This is done by when mia (the main girl actor) enters the travveler site they take all of her things and give the impression that they are going to rape her or beat her up. They also show the traveler youth community and put them in bad light by having the girl imply that they are treating the horse badly, and she tries to set it free as she thinks that the horse is being kept badly and should be treated better and put in better conditions.
Another way that bad representation is shown is through the actions that the younger girls take. For example mias sister who is about 6 years old is with friends and they are drinking and smoking. Although smoking and drinking could be started by children at a young age, i don't think it is to the extent of 6 year olds meeting up and doing it. All of them also have discusting words. This is shown when they argue and this seems to be all the time. For the majority of the film there is constant arguing and discusting uses of the english language in which they just insult each other. One of the only times where there isn't arguing is when the 15 year old is seduced by connor and ends up having sex with him. This represents girls as being slaggy and having sex with someone who they clearly shouldn't due to the age difference and its her mums boyfriend. This scene implies that youth will just do things like this given the chance, but it is highly unlikely that these things will actually happen, but this makes it look like if the youth these days are offered a chance to do something illegal or that comes with trouble or bad consequences, they can't resist doing it.
Poor representation is also shown when mia applies to be a dancer. She goes there and is up against a lot of other girls that are all having their audition, dancing to try and get picked to have the job. All the girls that are there applying for the job have barely any clithes on. And when mia is up there dancing, she is wearing a tracksuit whilst looking out at all the other people auditioning who are wearing things such as short skirts or hot pants. The people hosting the audition ask her to take off her hot pants, almost as if it wasn't right that she was covered up and fully clothed. This makes it look like the youth are desperate and willing to do anything for money as all the other girls are barely clothed.
Eden Lake
In the film Eden Lake their is an introduction of the stereotypical 'hoody' which is very similar to that of the stereotyping in Fish Tank. However the 'hoody' is basic in a more contradicting setting of a rural village. The hooded characters act like they own the village and show no respect to the other people living there. This is a very negative representation of youths as it massively over exaggerated the common stereotype.
The behavior is very extreme and over the top, for example the youths torcher and abuse the male character, the ring leader of the gang gets all the other members to use a knife and stab the character steve, this leaves him in a condition close to death. Although they did this they did not have intentions to kill him but he then dies later on from the wounds, because of this the female character ' Jenny' is at risk because the gang then want to find her to kill her as well and protect them selves from getting in trouble with the law. This makes the youths appear less human and there morals seem to not be present within there characteristics giving them a very negative representation.
In the film an 'innocent' younger boy is portrayed as being good as he does not follow the rest of the gangs traits, later on though in the film this image of innocence is later betrayed to Jenny and the audience as he shows the gang the location of Jenny when he could help her. This gives an inaccurate representation of youth because in real life a young boy that behaves in a normal way wouldn't help what is considered 'evil'. Later on the kid then gets betrayed himself and made to seem like a pointless life that isn't worth living because the gang burn him alive for the sole reason of trying to encourage Jenny to return to them to face her faith.
Conclusion
In conclusion both the films give a bad representation of youth which is not accurate across the majority of the population. We believe that both the films offer a negative representation of youth to a large an not necessary degree.
Toby Moffat, George Tibbett, Graeme Beck
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