To what extent can the contemporary British Films Fish Tank and Eden Lake be said to offer a negative representation of youth?

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).