Common themes for films about teens.
You fill in the gaps.
The reasons why teens are interested in them...
The reasons why adults are interested in them...
TODAY
We watched some of City of God - check this out for a visceral, emotional and at times terrifying vision of teenagers growing up in the slums of Rio.
How do the representations of teens vary from or echo those in British and American films? Compare with Kidulthood, Bullet Boy, Elephant. Also compare with films set in other cultures - Slumdog Millionaire, Tsotsi, La Haine, Gomorrah, The Class.
TIPS TO APPROACHING REPS ESSAY
There are a number of possible routes into representation - the group - teens, young black men, Asian girls, old people, disabled, Black Hollywood etc. Or the place - the slum, school, workplace, location - East End of London, Rio etc. You can make this narrow or broad. You can look at very specific representations across a range of movies or look in depth at representation in just a few.
You should consider the range of platforms available too. Internet, TV, Games.
You should consider the forms of products and their purpose: advertising, magazines, drama, documentary, reality, news.
You might also consider how interaction between those represented and those who represent changes things, social networking.
In your planning make it REALLY CLEAR the main points you are dealing with in each paragraph.
Ensure that there is a balance between analysis of text, discussion of theory and debates and your own opinions. It is vital also to plan you conclusion - what is your overall argument? - this can help you with the preceding paragraphs.
Good luck.
ps. Try analysing the image for City of God above and comparing it with the poster for Kidulthood.
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3 comments:
the reason why teenagers are interested in them is because they are able to relate themselves better to the characters in the film but also they want to see how they are protrayed in the film.
the reason why adults are interested in them is because they want to see what teenagers are like in todays society but also how much things have changed since they were teenagers.
british films and hollywood films both have sterotypes which they like to show off in the films but hollywood films likes to make these sterotypes stand out more. one british film for example is kidulthood. this film only focuses on a small proportion of teenagers and doesn't focus on teenagers as a whole. because of this film society now thinks that all teenagers are like the characters in the film. whereas yes some parts of the film is true but not everyone is like that.
hollywood films likes to make the sterotypes stand out more and likes to show the differences between each character. some of the charaters in the film are fake and would not be actually seen in a real world.
overall teenagers are shown in films with some true elements but society should not think that every teenager is like that.
I agree with Safa
The reason teenagers are interested in these films as they can relate to the situations through the drama in the film, or to a character in the film. Almost as advice or just relation to the situation.
These films also attract adults as they believe the stereotypes n want to see how teenagers are in today’s society.
Whatever industry, British or Hollywood have particular stereotypes they follow which is only a minority of teenagers and usually very exaggerated.
Kidulthood is an example of this, the drug abuse and crime is shown ...almost to shock you and make an impact. So people will question today’s society and end up changing it.
Youngsters/Teenagers/Teen representations in the media globally reflects the issues that the society is facing-violence,poverty,exploitation,segregation,oppression,recession,crime,war,instability etc. All of these issues whether in politics,economics and other branches that composes the society links back to the teen represenatation.
What we don't realise is that Race and history have major roles in the development of the way we perceive what is being presented.
This links back to why teens and adults are interested in watching this kind of films (City of God,Kidulthood,Fame,HSM,Elephant,Bullet Boy,Step up,Honey,Bend it like beckam etc.) Specifically, teens were interested due to the characters involved (actors and actresses),the issues that surounds the film specifically the plot of the story. It could also be for entertainment or they feel belongingness to one of the character that represents them(self representation) but most of all its the trend that sets them up, like many people watch it that persuades them to watch.
For adults, they are interested because movies/films like these opens there understanding about the issues concerning the youths or they could also be a parent that wants to learn more about their children.
City of God is an example of the way society structure teens.Its setting is in suburban-favelas/slum area. That in the 19th century, the first settlements were called barios africanos (African neighborhood),they were former slaves with no land ownership and no options for work. These is a reflection of what stuart hall said,'Not what's in our genes but of whats in our history'.
It is our mind that sets our ideologies about certain things and even about someone but it is our false consciousness that dictates of how to perceive them through history.
Teens will always be perceived by the ideologies of the majority either in a negative or positive way however, truth in media will always be questionable and undefined as media will always be influenced by one's point of view,according to how they perceive things.
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