Youth in newspapers,
film and E media have been largely portrayed negatively over the last 100
years, other than small sections during the war era when youth were portrayed
positively as the media, working for the nation, wanted to get something out of
them. To prove my statement to be true I am going to apply the theories of
Stanley Hall (1904), Medhurst (1998) and Osgerby and Hedbridge (1998&1988) and
case studies to my evaluation of each decade in turn.
The only decade that
contradicted the negative stereotyping’s of youth occurred between 1915 and
1945. This was because the government wanted the younger people to sign up for
the wars. Many British newspapers have quotes that prove this is evident in
media as youth were
portrayed as heroic, selfless and courageous. The first quote I am going to
apply has been taken from the Sunday Pictorial on August 20th 1944, “Because
victory is nearer, our men do not slacken in their efforts. Because they have
had success.” This is saying that although they are doing well in the war they
still need more people to be recruited and the youth in the army have done well
so far and shall continue to do well as long as they still sign up. Another newspaper,
the Daily Mail, also followed a similar theme during this era. In 1941 the
reported that, “British troops were taking a well
earned rest from a
grueling mornings training somewhere in France.” Once more this is portraying
youth positively as it is showing that they are doing well and working hard for
their country. Prior to this quote from the Daily Mail also reported that,
“There were casualties perhaps inevitable for the remarkable view… these men
laid down their lives for this country.” This also breaks the stereotype of
negative media on youth as it is showing that they have died heroically.
As well as this cinema
was used as another method of propaganda to create positive media about youth
during this time period. ‘The Way Ahead’ (1944) was a film
shown that portrayed
youth as being heroic once more which encouraged youth to sign up for the war.
Similarly to this, ‘In Which We Serve,’ (________) was another film, which portrayed this
type of action.
In short, the media
portrayed young people as heroes as a way of manipulating young people to sign
up and join the war effort connoting the government and the press believe in
their own power and influence adding to the idea that the media can indeed
mediate youth culture. Interesting I think it is worth noting that society
arguable looked to the media for its moral compass and because the media was
telling people all young able bodied men should sign up to fight society also
pressured all young able bodied men to fight creating a society of peer pressure
which is very powerful.
However, once the nation
and the press had no more use for young people, the portrayal of youth culture
became less bias and not all coverage was positive. Between 1945 up until the
end of the 1950’s, society was mainly made up of a young population due to the
baby boom that followed the war and the fact so many people of a certain
generation had been killed. The press seemed to not go too far into negative
stereotyping, probably for two reasons, firstly those who had survived the war
needed to be reassured it had been for a positive outcome and secondly because
of the lack of older customers with spending powers the media had to start
pitching products at younger people – this commercial need is arguably one of
the factors that lead to the new term, “Teenager” that started in America in
the 1950s that the UK was quick to use. This links to Laurie’s theory (1950)
that, “Teenagers are presented as a class of themselves,” (Laurie, 1950)
because teenagers were presented as, “Trouble and Fun,” (Osgerby/Hedbrigde,
1998/1988) and different in terms of fashion and attitude to older generations.
NEEDS NEWSPAPER QUOTES….
Fiction films went a bit
further towards a negative stereotype than news papers, this is shown in the
film The Blue Lamp (1952), directed by Basil Dearden, when two boys are shown
smoking and looking as though they are up too no good, showing they are
troublesome. There is also a scene where two older police officers speak to a
young boy and give him a warning, which shows that youth are often seen to be
causing
trouble. This links to Hall’s
theory but also to Medhurst’s theory: "They are awful
because they are not
like us," (1998) as you see the elderly policeman showing they're in
charge and telling people off because the younger generation are not like them. This seems to encourage older generations (the former soldiers who had been portrayed
positively by the press) that the generations that followed them should be
looked down on. It also arguably encouraged other young people to think it was
a socially acceptably way to behave because the media was mediating and playing
on this image.
The portrayal of youths
only got worse in the 1960s, and having not been alive then it is hard to know
for certain if the majority of youths were behaving how the media implied or
whether the media was magnifying (Medhurst, 1997) the minority and perhaps even
encouraging others to join the movements it covered. Studying the press and
fiction film coverage of the decade has shown me that, according to the media,
the 1960’s were a massive era for youth and there were many things going on in
terms of youth culture because there were three prominent sub-culture groups;
‘mods’, ‘rockers’ and ‘hippies.’ The media connoted that each of these youth
groups had flaws that fitted Hall, Osgerby and Hedbridges theories because
hippies were portrayed as, sex obsessed (free love made possible by science
e.g. the introduction of the contraceptive pill), drug taking anti
establishment protestors NEWSPAPER
QUOTE FOR HIPPIES NEEDED. While mods and rockers were presented as
violent rivals who were extremely violent towards each other and also had anti
establishment tendencies and enjoyed drug taking. There are countless articles linking to the violent
acts between Mods and Rockers, for example in 1964 the BBC reported that, “Mods
and Rockers jailed after seaside riots. Scores of youths have been given prison
sentences following a Whitsun weekend of violent clashes between gangs of Mods
and Rockers at a number of resorts on the south coasts of England.” Another event
similar to this was reported in 1960 by the BBC was the so-
called, “Battle of
Briton,” which was also a very violent even which led to, “two stabbed in
Margate where 50 were arrested.” In all of my research I did not come
across any positive press examples for mods and rockers, connoting that these
groups fitted a violent and rebellious stereotype for them proving and linking
to Stanley Hall’s 1904 theory that;
“Youth is a time of
storm and stress, sex, drink, drugs and crime.” Personally, I do not think all
young people during this decade could have been as badly behaved as the media
implied. In other words, I think the media mediate the concept of negatives stereotypes
but this in turn had a negative impact on some impressionable youths because
others copied the behaviour and styles they saw in the press because they would
have seen it as a social norm. We know this does happen because the hyperdermic
needle theory has been proven to have some elements of truth in some cases
involving impressionable young people (like the ________ Clockwork Orange
killings court case and the Buldger Killings where the killers
copied__________) and I think the same can be said to be true with the mods v
rockers because each fight/riot seemed to grow in participant numbers and
logically this could link to the coverage inspiring others to get involved.
Although films were
portrayed youths in a negative way my research has shown me that film
portrayals were less harsh than the press and could be better linked to; “Youth
as fun and youth as trouble,” (Hedbridge, 1988). I think this is because films
and newspapers had different target audiences and because films were pitched at
young people they were not constructed with such negative stereotypes because
they did not want to alienate their audience. The Beatles film ‘A hard Days
Night’ (directed by Richard Lester in 1964) is a
good indication of what
youth portrayal in films was like in the 60’s. IT shows the band members
irritating an old man which shows there immaturity and supports Hedbridge’s
theory that, “youth is trouble, youth is fun.” As the boys are shown to be
enjoying their fame although they are following common stereotypes of youth
from that era as they are seen to be, chatting up young girls, drinking alcohol
and irritating older people. The Beatles were a pivotal group in the 1960’s as
they represented the majority of the subcultures around at the time. This is
evident in film when while one of them is being interviewed and asked, “Are you
a Mod or a Rocker?” and Ringo replies, “I’m a Mocker.” Showing they resented
the stereotyping of youth as they ridiculed it in this answer and refused to be
pigeonholed.
In a nutshell, I think
the portrayal of youths in the 1960s is slightly unjust, as not all of youth
would have behaved the way the media implied way. However, the news coverage is
not of fictional events and therefore the some youths must have been behaving
this way. In short, I think although the media did not completely mediate youth
image and behavior I do not think it gave a balanced account but focused on the
negative and this negative focus could have encouraged other youths to behave
more negatively like the stereotypes they say in the media.
1970s & 1980s (do as one section to save space)
Researching the 1990s
showed me that the media portrayed the decade as one where youth culture was
thriving and that there were three main sub-culture groups; grunge, pop culture
and lad culture. Like in other decades, these groups linked to music and
interests. Grunge was seen as the anti establishment alternative drug taking
group who spent there time going to raves and being rebellious (though not as
extreme as the punks of the 70s and 80s) their fashion linked to the group
Nirvana. Negative press followed this group, for example, as the BBC reported
in 1995, “Ecstasy pill puts party girl in coma” this can be directly linked to
the drug taking culture the media implied dominated the decade as it tells the
story of a 15 year old girl who was killed by the party drug ecstasy. It also
links to Hall’s 1904 theory and the theories of Osgerby and Hedbridge
(1998/1988) because it shows youth as trouble and youth as fun. Another news
story that shows drug activity, this time in the grunge culture, was the death
of Kurt Cobain. The NY times reported in 1994, “Kurt Cobain, Hesitant poet of
‘Grunge rock’ dead at 27.” As the man who headed grunge was often reported to be
doing drugs, before and after his death (by a self-inflicted gun shot wound to
the head) fans, according to the press, follow in his footsteps and took drugs
themselves.
It is arguable the case
that films from the 1990s depicting youth culture were the most hard hitting to
date because many of them contained extreme drug taking and violence in a
social realist style, classic examples linking to drug taking, grunge and the
party scene included; Trainspotting (Danny Boyle) and Human Traffic
(DIRECTOR).
Trainspotting, rated 18,
followed the lives of five heroine addicts (NAME OF CHARACTERS AND WHO PLAYED
THEM) in 90s Edinburgh as they shot up, stole to feed their habit, got involved
in violence (_______), had sex (in the case of _____ with an under-aged school
girl), ______contracted HIV/AIDs, got clean (occasionally), OD’ed and concluded
with them conducting a massive heroin deal in London. In short, every character
in the film and the narrative stereotyped youth as being rebellious criminals
obsessed with drugs totally supporting Hall’s theory. If you ask yourself the
question was all youth actually behaving like this the answer is no, so the
media magnified and mediated a negative stereotype of a minority (some people
in Scotland were taking heroin as media figures show). However, it could also
be argued that the film encouraged more youths to behave like this because the
lifestyle was made to look cool edgy and appealing – hence why the film got an
18 age rating.
Another sub group was ‘lad
culture’ that the media linked closely with football hooliganism, football
riots and violence. In short, young males were presented by the press as being
football short wearing, larger swilling violent yobs who behaved badly at home
and abroad. NEWSPAPER
QUOTE & FILM REFERENCE NEEDED…
The Internet and mobile
phones became more readily used in this decade and media theorists and the
media linked this technology to a rise in the number of youths taking part in
riots because this technology allowed youths to quickly communicate freely with
each other if riots were about to happen.
The female alternative
to lad culture was ‘Girl Power’ lead by the mainstream pop group the Spice
Girls. This aspect of youth culture was not presented by the media as being as
negative as the other subgroups but the stereotypes were still not entirely
positive because the press reported on girls wearing short dresses, dying their
hair and imitating some aspects of lad culture.
It is arguably the case that the fashion was tarty linking to Laura
Mulvey’s 1975 theory of girls/women being used as; “Erotic objects of desire,’
(Mulvey, 1975) in the press and that the press were judging girls for their
drinking/sexual exploits during this decade. NEWSPAPER QUOTE & FILM REFERENCE NEEDED…
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