The Effects Debate...Kidulthood

Kidulthood...


1) Should Images In Your Case Study Be Censored - if so why?
I think that even though some of the images in Kidulthood could be disturbing to some people, for example when Trife cuts the 'C' into a man's face. These images show the audience what really happens in gang violence and what situations members of gangs can get into. The film is based on actual newspaper articles that the director had read over a year so the images seen have actually happened to people which makes them more dramatic and believable.

2) If You Think Your Case Study Can Have A Negative Effect On Collective Groups, Could It Have A Positive Effect?
The positive effect on the audience is that people not from that area can see what actually goes on. Because  I'm from Cambridge there isn't really any gang violence in my area so I don't know the situations and consequences but from watching 'Kidulthood' I can see that most teenagers are set into a gang and have to do certain things to become a gang member for example taking drugs. Reputation is everything when being in a gang so people have to keep up with the expectations and follow certain rules.

3) Do You Agree That Your Case Study Could Influence/Change Someone's Behaviour?
I think that watching 'Kidulthood' can easily change people's views and opinions on British teenagers. People watching this from abroad could see this film as quite negative as it's based around violence, sex and drugs. They may be quite shocked by what they see whereas people living in England might not be as shocked as they may have seen programmes/films which are based around the same sort of images.

Semiology...

FISH TANK

Signifier- Sky and clouds painted on Mia's bedroom door
Signified- Escapism
Sign- She can't leave her lifestyle, she is trapped

Signifier- Little sister always watching "Cribs" on the TV
Signified- A rich lifestyle is the norm in today's society as it is always displayed in the media
Sign- They want that lifestyle but they are not making the effort to get there e.g. Mum has no job, children don't go to school

AN EDUCATION


Signifier- Chanel Perfume
Signified- Glamour and wealth
Sign- It wasn't available in England at the time and was very expensive and luxurious so everyone wanted Jenny to buy it for them from Paris

Signifier- Trip to Paris
Signified- Wealth
Sign- Jenny's trip to Paris was seen as a once in a lifetime opportunity back then, all her school friends were jealous because they knew they would never be able to go themselves

Starbucks...

Starbucks Coffee is a very global franchise in the world today. The logo above is the signifier and at first it signified just coffee however today it represents much more.

• Fresh Food
• Supports Fairtrade
• Merchandise and gifts
• Supports the National Literacy Trust
• Supports the Prince's Trust
• Concerned about the environment

Upstairs, Downstairs...

1) Is The Representation Of The Chauffeur Portrayed From A Biased Point Of View? If So Why?

We think that the portrayal of the chauffeur is biased because the programme is made by the BBC which is a British company. The programme was made recently therefore the people making the programme know how bad Hitler and the Nazis were and the awful things they did so the BBC wanted to influence their audience to be against the Black Shirts. The chauffeur was shown to influence Lady Persephone to follow the Black Shirts even though she didn't know much about it. So he was thought of badly because he influenced a young girl into the Black Shirt's ways.

2) In What Ways Could You Say The Upstairs Family and Downstairs Staff Are Clinging To Tradition In A Changing World?

The Upstairs family are oblivious to the happenings that are going on at the time. They are more interested in the monarchy and their personal situations i.e the pregnancy. This is possibly their way of distracting themselves from facing the terrible truths. The Downstairs staff are more aware of the political situations and they face reality because they are lower class and it will effect them more. Lady Persephone and the Chauffeur are the people in the house who are most concerned about the current affairs and they are the people who talk about it the most.

3) Why Do You Think Lady Persephone Wants To Join The Black Shirts?

Lady Persephone takes an interest in politics and reads the paper to keep up with current events. She is also influenced by the chauffeur and his beliefs in the Black Shirts therefore the combination of her interests and his influence lead her to join in the Black Shirts. Another motive is the appeal of rebelling against her family as they always tell her what to do and what to dress like.

4) Can You Find Similarities Between Lady Persephone And Jenny From 'An Education'?

Both characters are quite similar as they both feel frustrated with their families holding them back and telling them what to do. Both characters are strong minded and opinionated therefore want to choose their own future. Jenny rebels by lying to her parents about why she is going to Oxford pretending that it is an educational visit when actually it is just for fun. Similarly when Lady Persephone turns up to a Black Shirts rally without telling her family where she is.

5) Whose British Collective Identity Do You Think Is The Strongest And Why? The Downstairs Staff, The Upstairs Family Or The Black Shirts.

We think that the strongest collective identity is the Black Shirts because they are a purposely a group that have come together to follow the same beliefs. They wear the same clothes to show that they are a very tight unit because they all feel strongly about the same thing. They are a very large group of people spread over a wide area and they come together at arranged rallies to put their views across.

Misfits...

1) Has the humour in this episode advanced from what we have seen in "Are You Being Served"?

In "Are You Being Served" the comedy is very staged and quite predictable. The comedy is based on the actions of the characters for example sending the letter and splitting the trousers. Where as "Misfits" is more about banter between the characters and the way they speak to each other. The language used in "Are You Being Served" is very posh and formal, the characters respect each other  in the way they speak which is the complete opposite to "Misfits". The characters in "Misfits" don't respect each other, they are sarcastic and not afraid to make fun of each other.

2) Are the generations or sexes divided by humour?

Yes both generations and sexes are divided by humour in "Misfits". We think this because it is clear that the young offenders have no respect for their probation officer, they don't acknowledge this importance/authority.

Questions...

1) Are there any cultural or fashion movements taking place in Britain right now, that you think would be strong enough to form a 'collective identity'?

One cultural movement that is taking place and has been going on for a while is the 'Essex' stereotype. This involves the people speaking in a very common accent and most women aspiring to be a WAG. The women are caught up in glamour and beauty, however not in the most classy of ways. For example, the typical 'Essex' teenage girl would wear thick orange foundation even on their lips with dark, heavy eye make up and with tacky hair extensions. Their clothing is cheap and often showing off too much body. A perfect example of this would be 'Essex' girl Jodie Marsh. Even the men seem to be very vain and obviously take care of their looks and body. They aspire to be footballers and build a reputation by dating many different girls. We think that this cultural movement is strong enough because a TV programme has been made about how people in 'Essex' live and it has proved to be very popular. This is seen as the norm in the typical 'Essex' area.

2) Argue ways that you could relate each theorists argument to one of our case study texts.

Stryker: We think that 'Kidulthood' is a perfect example of this theory because the film is based on gang culture in West London. The people within the gangs are abusive towards everyone even their elders. They have no respect for others and age doesn't seem to matter. The people have been accepted into the gangs because of their status and proving themselves by the bad things they have done. Within the film, there is one girl that is an outsider because she comes from a wealthy background and has had a stable family upbringing. The members of the gang see her as a weak target and out of jealously they attack her on a daily basis.

Fish Tank Analysis...

1) How might a non- British audience view this representation of British Collective Identity?
The film only focuses on one area of Britain and people abroad may assume that the rest of Britain is similar therefore may put them off coming. The film is set in a lower class area which is shown through the surroundings, the language used and the characters' actions for example underage drinking and smoking and violence. It is a very negative view of our country and doesn't invite people abroad to our country.

2) From your point of view is this film realistic?
The film definitely touches upon realistic problems within our society e.g. broken families, people breaking the law and a change of moral framework within society. There were definitely realistic elements of the film; Mia was not very good at dancing which actually made sense because however much she may like dancing, in her situation she would not be able to afford dance tuition.

Fish Tank...

1) Do Your Decisions Change After Watching The Film?
We were disappointed with the film overall because the review we read made it out to be better than it was. The review said that the ideas were original which we agree with, however they were also very random and a lot of questions were left unanswered. The film lacked a sense of flow and we feel that some scenes didn't relate to each other and were left unexplained. When we read the review we assumed that Mia would be a talented dancer, however once we had watched the film, we realised that she wasn't that good. This was a shame because her ambition is to be a dancer and Connor is giving her false hope by telling her she is really good and in reality she would never make it as a dancer.

2) Is Connor A Parental Figure?
Initially Connor appears fatherly and caring, for instance he took the family to a lake to catch fish and when Mia cuts her foot, he straight away bandages it up for her. Her own mother doesn't show any maternal instinct at this moment. As the film progresses, this fatherly figure loses his parental qualities and turns sexual towards Mia. This made us feel uncomfortable and it was uneasy to watch. At the end of the film, we no longer see Connor as a parental figure but as someone who as abused their status with a vulnerable young girl.

3) What Does This Film Say About The State Of British Family?
Overall, this film portrays British families badly. Mia's mother shows no maternal instinct towards her children. She is not afraid to tell her daughter that when she was pregnant with her, she wanted her aborted.    She is very selfish and neglects her own children while having relationships with countless men to make her happy. A solid family unit is not apparent in this film because even though Connor is married with a child and seems like a stable father, he is actually going behind his family's back by cheating on his wife and getting involved with another family. This is not a film that portrays our country well and we would not want to be represented in that way.

Fish Tank Review...

"Not since the early days of Jane Campion (The Piano) has international cinema seen a talent as fearlessly attuned to the primal female voice as the Dartford-born writer-director Andrea Arnold. Within the space of only two features and one Oscar-winning short film (Wasp), Arnold has articulated an unnerving, bleak but always compelling worldview where hard-knock women and sado-masochistic desires collide. In her previous feature, Red Road, she pitched an avenging widow into a Glasgow tower block and a murky world of sexual self-hatred. In Fish Tank, she moves to an Essex council estate and explores the often conflicting inner and outer desires of a teen tearaway and wannabe street dancer, Mia (Katie Jarvis, pictured).

A typical day in the life of 15-year-old Mia, who has been expelled from school, includes taunting some local girls, head- butting a rival dancer, trying to free a malnourished pony, narrowly escaping gang rape, enjoying some potty-mouthed exchanges with her precocious little sister (sample dialogue: “Shut up f*** face!” “If I’m a f*** face, you’re a c*** face!”), and being slapped across the head by her bleach-blonde mother, who screams: “I nearly had you aborted! Even made the appointment!” So far, so Loach.

But Mia’s life, and the movie surrounding her, suddenly dives into uncharted territory with the arrival of mum’s new boyfriend, a sensitive and attractive security guard called Connor (played by the rising star Michael Fassbender). The latter’s intentions towards Mia are seemingly paternalistic, but they appear to awaken complex adolescent emotions within. Through snatched exchanges, day trips and cramped kitchen encounters, their relationship see-saws queasily into a simmering Electra. Thus when Connor’s appetites and Mia’s minor seductions eventually collide the repercussions are, naturally, profound.

In all this, Arnold draws flawless performances from her cast while making exemplary choices with her camera — she shoots Fassbender in particular with a fantastically lusty eye, casually catching the low-slung jeans, the navel exposed and the wiry naked torso. However, there are some cracks in Arnold’s methods. Her treatment of class is curious, and vaguely patronising. The attempts to draw laughs from trash culture values is certainly ill-advised. When Mia’s mother warns her girls against sullying their clothes with the line “Oi! Those bloody tracksuits cost £20, ye know!” it feels cruel and sneering. And the endless roaming shots of breeze-block estates can seem like lazy visual shorthand for dramatic credibility in a superlative film that is otherwise awash with it."

This is a review about the film Fish Tank written in The Times. The review gives the film a very good standard and has a positive view. The film sounds original and the ideas that are used in the films could be actually happening in real life. The main character Mia sounds like a character that people can relate to for example, her dislike for her mother's boyfriend and the problems she says with her social worker. She is a stereotypical teenager, the review suggests and the she faces problems that normal teenagers would, for example having a dream of becoming a dancer but her family life and status disagree with the practicality of her dream.

An Education...

1) Draw similarities and comparisons with the representation of Britain we see here and the Britain we see in Alfie.

Similarities: - In both films the women know the expectations but they don't stick to them e.g Having sex before marriage. In An Education and Alfie women are expected to marry young, it was acceptable for Jenny to be engaged at only 16. Also both films show women letting men dominate their relationships for instance when David wanted to see Jenny's breasts she did not question it and in Alfie the women did all the house work for him as if it was expected of them. The only woman that didn't allow this was Ruby in Alfie, as she was the more dominant character in the relationship. 

Comparisons: In An Education, Jenny's parents raise her how they should, for example providing for her whereas in Alfie, we do not see that family unit. He has a son by accident but doesn't take responsibility for him by raising him as he should.

2) How typical is Jenny of a British teenager?

In An Education, Jenny is a very strong minded character as we see her being sarcastic and talking back to her parents which is a stage that most teenagers go through. She tells her parents lies about where she is going for instance going to Oxford "to see C.S. Lewis" when actually she was just going for a fun weekend with David and his friends. Again this is typical of a teenager. Jenny is naive like many teenagers are, she thinks she knows best and doesn't listen to advice she is given by older people for example her teacher and head master try to warn her about how important her education is when she wants to drop out of school and marry David. She is driven by fun and likes the idea of living a glamourous lifestyle which David and his friends introduce her to.