EXAM PRACTISE

Discuss the representation of youth in contemporary film and television

Youth are represented as being let down by society

One way the youth are represented in contemporary film and TV is by being let down by adults. Parents aren't always around to help socialise their children or even just to show them affection compared to other cultures, British youth are less integrated into the adult world and spend more time with peers according to the Time Magazine article 'Britain's Mean Streets'. Young people want to make healthy and informed decisions, but until now, too many have been let down by the education system- Katrina Mather, 16 year old member of the Youth Parliament.

Fish Tank

In Fish Tank we see that Mia has little to no positive relationship with her mother and no Father. As The Guardian said "Mia has an enormous poignant capacity for love, but she has never received any, certainly not from a damaged mother, whose one moment of intimacy with her daughter comes when she ferociously tells Mia that she was thinking of having her aborted". This leaves Mia not knowing how to express and manage love, hence why she ends up mistaking her new father figure for a relationship opportunity. In the scene below we see the type of person Mia is, we see her attitude and kind of relationship with some of her peers. We also see the relationship between her and her mother and the lack of respect they have for each other. Another thing we get from this scene is the potential for Connor to become a positive father figure in Mia and her sister's lives. However the photo shows us how due to her lack of loving parents and care throughout her childhood, she mistakes this father figure for a relationship.

The Selfish Giant

In The Selfish Giant it is very obvious that both boys have been failed by the education system and adults in general. Both Arbor and Swifty are excluded from school, Arbor permanently and Swifty temporarily, for violent behaviour. As a film review of The Selfish Giant Film of the week says; "the school does, afterall, entirely give up on the boys". Due to their expulsion from education both boys find themselves bored and looking for something to do together rather than stay at home with their troubled family's. Arbor's brother is a drug addict and this mixed with Arbors violent outbursts makes it very difficult for their mum to cope with on top of paying all the bills. Swifty has lots of siblings and parents who cannot afford to keep their house and pay all their rent and bills so people are constantly there taking furniture etc away. With both boys wanting to help their family's out of their money problems they turn to the scrap metal trade to support their families. Kitten gets them to do little jobs for him and he ends up luring them to steal power cables for money which eventually results in Swiftys death. Kitten knew the potential risk of the jobs he was giving the boys and there was a reason he wasn't doing it himself, instead he targeted naive young boys who were just trying to help their families out of debt and didn't realise the danger they were being put at. Therefore ultimately a mixture of school, their family's and Kitten all let the boys down which led to the death of Swifty.

Alienation- Youth are represented as being estranged from society

According to Henry A. Giroux, the youth are prohibited from speaking as moral and political agents. Calabrese said that adolescence is a growth period conducive to alienation due to the 'betwixt and between' nature of this particular position in life-course. The Guardian states that young people do not trust the older generations and that 46% of so-called 'Generation Y-voters' (those born after 1982) expressed faith in the man or woman in the street to "tell the truth".

This Country

In This Country Kurtis and his cousin are the only youths in the whole series. This is because all the other young people in their local area have all gone off to higher education and universities but they don't have the qualifications to be able to do the same so they are stuck at home still living with their parents. They are therefore alienated and marginalised from the rest of society because they no longer have a collective identity other than just the two of them. They aren't old enough or mature enough to fit in with the adults in society but they also no longer have any peers there own age as they have all moved on with their lives and education which leaves them segregated from the rest of society and feeling like they don't fit in anywhere.

The Selfish Giant

In The Selfish Giant, Arbor and Swifty are represented as estranged from society. They have been expelled from school so therefore no longer have their equal peer group to identify with and they only really have each other. The boys act their age however at the same time they take on responsibilities way above their maturity such as working in environments not safe for anyone of any age let alone theirs and giving the money to help their family's out of debt. Kitten treats them both like adults in the world of work, giving them the same jobs and pay as he would anyone else although when it comes to the dangerous jobs he takes advantage of their naivety and young age and gets them to do the jobs that are too dangerous for anyone to do let alone two young boys who don't really understand the dangers and risks. Because of this the boys don't really fit in anywhere and are marginalised by society.

Youth are represented as being part of a subculture

The role of youth culture involves offering symbolic elements that are used by youth to construct an identity outside the restraints of class and education- Michael Brake. According to Jonathon Epstein, youth re-appropriate artifacts which creates group identity and promotes mutual recognition by members. Hebdige (1979) found that youths formed subcultures as a way of expressing themselves and to challenge the hegemony. He argues that representation of youth is very limited and either shows them as trouble or fun which isn't reality, he suggests that as a result of these two extremes we never get to see hardworking teens represented in film and TV.

Spike Island

In Spike Island the characters are very much part of a strong subculture. The characters in Spike Island share a collective identity. A collective identity refers to the shared definition of a group that derives from its members common interests, experiences and solidarities. All the youths in Spike Island share a strong interest for the Stone Roses and this brings all the groups of people together despite previous situations. They are represented as having their own unique style and perhaps not fitting in with the rest of society.