Ben Drew

Independent Reading (Stretch Yourself)

If you want to watch a different perspective of the riots, watch the video Riot - Our Crime which can found by CLICKING HERE.

Independent Reading (Stretch Yourself A Bit More)

CLICK HERE to read an interesting article from The Independent concerning the media's portrayal of teenagers in the UK. 

Interestingly, this article is from 2009 - 2 years before the London Riots.

The use of the word 'demonise' is interesting in itself if we remember that Stan Cohen used the term 'folk devils' when reflecting on the portrayal of teenagers following the Clacton / Brighton fights in 1964. There seems a clear association between young people and language connoting evil.

Contemporary Perspective 2 : 'ill Manors'

We have looked at the ways in which the collective Identity of young British people could be affected by 2 different mediums of communication so far:

• Newspapers
• Television News

We are now going to move on to look at other forms of the media, namely film and music video.

'ill Manors' is a film directed by Ben Drew, also known as Plan B. The use of a lower case letter 'i' for the word 'ill' is a deliberate stylistic choice and not an error.

The film went into production in 2010 (just under a year before the London Riots) and was released in cinemas in the UK in June 2012 (just under a year after the London Riots.)

Here is the official trailer for the film.

"This is the true, dark reality."

Read the article from The Guardian newspaper's website with the above title by CLICKING HERE.

Once you have read it ask yourself what the preferred meaning was that he wanted people who watched the film to take away with them.

In 2012 Ben Drew made an impassioned speech at TEDxObserver, outlining society's failure to nurture its disadvantaged youth. 



Here are some of the key messages given by Ben Drew in the speech above:

"I'm working really hard at the minute trying to finish my directorial debut, Ill Manors, which is a hip-hop-based film. When people ask me what the film is about, I say it's about all the things we read in the newspaper; the despicable things that I don't think many of us agree with when we read them. The papers tell us that they happen but they never tell us why they happen. So Ill Manors is trying to get to the bottom of why we have these problems in society with our youth, why we constantly keep on reading negative things about our youth.

The reason I've done this is because I got kicked out of school in year 10 and no other schools would take me. I had to go to a pupil referral unit called the Tunmarsh Centre in Plaistow. I was there with other kids from a lot more dysfunctional families than me. They'd been through a lot more than me. And one thing we shared is we didn't have any respect for authority, whether it be teachers or police.

I think the reason why we didn't have respect for authority was that we felt that we were ignored by society, that we didn't belong to it. And so we wouldn't listen to anyone apart from our favourite rappers. We would let this music raise us and, though most of will never meet those artists in our lives, their words are what guided us.

Unfortunately, some of those words are negative. Within hip-hop there's some that romanticises street life and being a gangster and selling drugs. But there's also conscious hip-hop. I was a fan of conscious hip-hop. I was a fan of the hip-hop that was like poetry. It was like reading a book and it changed your life. Just one sentence could change your life. I realised that this was a powerful tool and I wanted to change things; I wanted to change the stuff that I read in the paper or the stuff that I came in direct contact with which I didn't agree with.

Damilola Taylor was 10 years old when he lost his life. He was stabbed by a kid who was maybe only five or six years older than him. This is a child killing another child. I didn't agree with that. I didn't agree with the mentality that a lot of these kids were going round with, but I understood why they were going round with it. I understood that they were from broken families. They had parents who were probably alcoholics, drug addicts, dysfunctional, who raised them up to believe they could never make anything of themselves because they as parents never made anything of themselves.

The great thing about Tunmarsh was it was a place where these kids could go and, for the first time in their life, be shown encouragement and motivation and be told that they can make something of their lives. They can come from a negative family environment [but] they only have to bump into one person that can plant one positive seed in their head and in their heart and it can change their life. Tunmarsh was full of these positive teachers. When I left there I went on this journey through hip-hop music and I decided to write an album that tried to reach out to these kids and I tried in some ways, I guess, to be a father figure to these kids because they were parentless.

What does the word chav mean? The term may have its origins in the Romany word "chavi", meaning child. My godfather used to call me chav, but it was affectionate. I used to enjoy it. So what does that word mean now? I believe it stands for "council house and violent". It's a word that is used to ridicule and label people who come from a less educated background than the rest of society. For me, it's no different from similar words used to be prejudiced towards race or sex. The difference is, in this country we openly say the word chav. The papers openly ridicule the poor and less unfortunate. If you did the same thing with race or sex, there'd be public uproar and rightly so. But why is it different with this word?

I believe that there is a demonisation of the youth throughout the media. And people are falling for it, because if you'd had no direct contact with the kids that I'm talking about how the hell can you judge them? Because you're only judging them based on something you read in a newspaper, aren't you?

See, this fuels the fire. If you call kids words that are derogatory to them just because they are unlucky enough to be born into a family that couldn't afford to give them the education that you had, they're going to hate you. Of course they're going to hate you and you're going to hate them because of their actions. And it's this vicious circle that goes round. By calling these kids these words you push them out of your society and they don't feel part of it. You beat them into apathy and in the end they just say: "Cool, I don't care. I don't want to be part of your society."

And then the riots happen, right? We've got a generation of youths out there on the streets. The weather is hot, it's nice. They ain't got nothing to do because all the community centres have been shut down. And all the money that was put into summer projects to keep these kids monitored and occupied [has gone]. Their parents ain't going to take them out of the country on holiday. You've got a whole generation of kids that do not feel that they're part of this society and they start rioting and looting. And taking the things that society has made them feel are the most important things. Sheldon Thomas [former gang member and mentor] said: "If you ask how we became a society where young people think it's OK to rob and loot, I respond how did we get to a society that cares more about shops and businesses than lives of young people." That's some strong words right there.

This guy, he's from Forest Gate, comes from a dysfunctional family background like myself, had a bad attitude but [he's] very talented. And I took him on the road with me and I showed him the opportunities that were out there for him. Andrew Curtis was trained by Vidal Sassoon. He was offered a very high-paying job. He said: "No, I don't want to take your job. I won't take your money." He said: "I want to go and start an academy where we teach underprivileged kids how to cut hair."

And so he did. Him and his girlfriend got this building and they set up this salon. They're living there and they're putting their hands in their pockets to pay for the things that these kids need in order to be trained. Because no one is giving them any funding. So he's got kids who without this would have criminal records, who would go to prison. They'd be going down that path. No one is funding him, no one is backing him to do this. He's doing this off his own back, just out of love.

Everyone knows one person out there they can help who's less fortunate than them. And I'm not talking about help financially. I'm talking about knowledge. Plant that seed. Find out what these kids are good at, or what they care about or what they like, and try and draw it out of them because it will change their lives.

There's a song by Jacob Miller called "Each One Teach One". It's a reggae song. You should listen to that song because that's all we've got to do."

'ill Manors' The Daily Mail's Response

Take a look at this article from The Mail online - the web-based presence of The Daily Mail newspaper. CLICK HERE

A 2014 YouGov survey identified certain characteristics of a reader of this newspaper which are pictorially shown below.

Stretch Yourself 

What do you think the response of The Daily Mail tells us? 

Think about Stuart Hall's Reception Theory - have The Daily Mail taken the director's preferred reading or have they taken an oppositional reading of the film? 

Think about Two Step Flow - are the readers of this (largely middle-aged people) going to be influenced by the opinions of the Mail Online?

'ill Manors' Music Video

Read through the lyrics to the title song to the album 'ill Manors' by Plan B. 

What representation of British youth does this give us? 

Look at the lines in red in particular.

Let's all go on an urban safari
we might see some illegal migrants
Oi look there's a chav,
that means council housed and violent
He's got a hoodie on give him a hug,
on second thoughts don't you don't wanna get mugged
Oh shit too late that was kinda dumb
whose idea was that...stupid...
He's got some front, ain't we all,
be the joker, play the fool
What's politics, ain't it all
smoke and mirrors, April fools
All year round, all in all
just another brick in the wall
Get away with murder in the schools
use four letter swear words coz we're cool
We're all drinkers, drug takers
every single one of us buns the herb
Keep on believing what you read in the papers
council estate kids, scum of the earth
Think you know how life on a council estate is,
from everything you've ever read about it or heard,
Well it's all true, so stay where you're safest
there's no need to step foot out the burbs
Truth is here, we're all disturbed
we cheat and lie its so absurd
Feed the fear that's what we've learned
Fuel the fire,
Let it burn.

CHORUS

Oi! I said Oi!


What you looking at you little rich boy!
We're poor round here, run home and lock your door
don't come round here no more, you could get robbed for
Real (yeah) because my manors ill

My manors ill

For real

Yeah you know my manors ill, my manors ill!

You could get lost in this concrete jungle
new builds keep springing up outta nowhere
Take the wrong turn down a one way junction
find yourself in the hood nobody goes there
We got an eco friendly government,
they preserve our natural habitat
Built an entire Olympic village
around where we live without pulling down any flats
Give us free money and we don't pay any tax
NHS healthcare, yes please many thanks
People get stabbed round here there's many shanks
nice knowing someone's got our backs when we get attacked
Don't bloody give me that
I'll lose my temper
Who closed down the community centre?
I kill time there used to be a member,
what will I do now until September?
Schools out, rules out, get your bloody tools out
London's burning, I predict a riot
Fall in fall out
who knows what it's all about
What did that chief say? Something bout the kaisers
Kids on the street no they never miss a beat, never miss a cheap
thrill when it comes their way
Lets go looting
no not Luton,
the high street's closer cover your face
And if we see any rich kids on the way we'll make 'em wish they stayed inside
here's a charge for congestion, everybody's gotta pay
do what Boris does... rob them blind.

Oi! I said Oi!
What you looking at you little rich boy?
We're poor round here, run home and lock your door!
Don't come round here no more, you could get robbed for
real (yeah) because my manors ill

My manors ill

for real

yeah you know my manors ill , my manors ill!

Ben Drew Interviewed by Jonathan Ross

Audience Theories

The collective identity of young people is always affected by the ways in which audiences respond to information that is presented to them. This is a key concept in media studies called Audience Theory.

Here are some videos explaining different Audience Theories that have been put forward over time.


Hypodermic Needle Theory



Two Step Flow



Uses and Gratifications



Cultivation Theory



Reception Theory

1960s British Youth : An Alternative Representation

Let's go back in time to 1961, just 3 years before the media in Britain represented its youth as being violence driven hooligans who were a threat to the very fabric of society.

1961 saw the release of the film 'The Young Ones' starring, amongst others, Cliff Richard.

The story is about the youth club member and aspiring singer Nicky (Cliff Richard)  and his friends, who try to save their club in western London from the unscrupulous millionaire property developer Hamilton Black, who plans to tear it down to make room for a large office block. 

The members decide to put on a show to raise the money needed to buy a lease renewal. The twist in the story is that Nicky in reality is Hamilton Black's son, something he keeps keeps secret from his friends until some of them try to kidnap Black senior to prevent him from stopping the show. 

Although he is fighting his father over the future of the youth club, Nicky can't allow them to harm him, so he attacks the attackers and frees his father. In the meantime, Black senior has realised that his son is the mystery singer that all of London is talking about, after the youth club members have done some pirate broadcasts to promote their show. 

So, although he's just bought the theatre where the show is to take place, in order to be able to stop it, the proud father decides that the show must go one. At the end, he joins the youth club members on stage, dancing and singing, after having promised to build them a new youth club.

TASK

Here is the trailer for the film.

How is the representation of British Youth different here to what you have previously seen? 

During this trailer the representation of the youths in completely different to the previous representation that we looked at of the mods and rockers. 'The Young Ones' all come together to try and save their youth club. This has a positive effect on the community as they are all friendly to each other and not showing any danger to society. During the trailer you don't see any sign of fighting or violence. The only time you will see 'The Young Ones' in an argument is when Nicky's dad says that he is cancelling their show. However, the mods and rockers were enemies and were partaking in criminal activities causing trouble most of the time. The mods and the rockers are totally different to 'The young Ones' as the mods and the rockers didn't get along with one another whereas 'The Young Ones' got on with everyone and there wasn't a divide between anything.

In this representation 'The Young Ones' are show as Middle or upper class. This is shown by Nick's dad being a wealthy man, you can tell this by the way that Nick's dad speaks to others in a polite way and the way that he dresses is in a smart manner, for example he wears a suit.

Historical Perspective

We are starting our exam preparation by considering a historical perspective in relation to the construction of a collective identity for British youth.

This will be based around the ways in which the media reported on events on the South coast of England in 1964.

We will read through and watch the text(s) below and then answer the question that follows in bold print....

Historical Context

The 1960s saw the birth of the teenager and life was never the same again. It was the start of a social and sexual revolution in Britain.

This revolution was partly a reaction to the austerity of the post war years, increased prosperity and spending power, and advances in technology and science.

Young people woke up to the idea that that they could have an identity and lifestyle different from their parents.

Teenagers started to break free from the traditions and rules of previous generations in fashion, lifestyle and sexual behaviour. They wanted their own music, clothes and freedom to do their own thing.

The Teenage Boom

In the early 19th century teenagers were treated as 'big children' or 'little adults' but this was to change from the 1950s and 60s.

The 1960s saw young people liberated from Victorian and post-war taboos, limitations and inhibitions.

It was the age of the contraceptive pill, drug culture and the permissive society.

Music provided the soundtrack for a generation with groups like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Kinks topping the charts.

Fashion Revolution

The fashion revolution had its roots in the 1950s when Mary Quant opened her first shop, Bazaar, on Kings Road Chelsea in 1955.

But it was the Sixties that were to be the fashion decade with models like Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton hitting the headlines.

London's Carnaby Street was the height of fashion whilst boutiques sprung up across the country selling affordable versions of the latest fashion gear.

Even the boys weren't left out with the new mods and rockers snapping up fashions to create their own tribes.

Hemlines went up and down with the mini, the midi and maxi skirt enjoying success with trendy shoppers. Then there were hot pants which caused a fashion sensation in the late 60s and early 70s.

Mods vs Rockers : 1964

One weekend in 1964 residents and holiday-makers in the seaside towns of Brighton, Bournemouth and Margate, were rocked by a sudden influx of young, cool gangs. They were Mods and Rockers, and the culture clash that occurred that weekend, described in the articles below in The Daily Sketch, Daily Mirror and others, has become iconic in the history of youth culture. 

Mods and Rockers were easily identifiable by their distinctive clothing styles: the Mods wore Fred Perry and Ben Sherman clothing covered by a Parka jacket; while the Rockers wore leather biker jackets and jeans. Mods also rode European scooters like Lambrettas and Vespas and listened to a mix of Motown and Ska.

The Rockers favoured motorbikes and listened to American rock and roll such as Eddie Cochrane and Elvis. 

The violent clashes between the two gangs were seized on by the media and used by moralists to exemplify the outrageous liberties enjoyed by British youth. 

CLICK HERE to read journalist Jon Savahe's account of the fighting that took place in 1964 on the south coast of England.

Here is an interesting section from the full article:

"On the Whitsun weekend of the 16-18 May 1964, the youth of Britain went mad. If you believed the newspapers, that is, who went with screaming headlines like ‘Battle of Brighton’, and ‘Wild Ones 'Beat Up' Margate’ . Editorials fulminated with predictions of national collapse, referring to the youths as 'those vermin' and 'mutated locusts wreaking untold havoc on the land'.

Whitsun 1964 has become famous as the peak of the Mods and Rockers riots, as large groups of teenagers committed mayhem on the rain-swept streets of southern resorts like Margate, Brighton, Clacton and Bournemouth. Extensively photographed and publicised at the time, these disturbances have entered pop folklore: proudly emblazoned on sites about Mod culture and expensively recreated in the 1979 film Quadrophenia.

Yet, as ever when you're dealing with tabloid newspapers, things are not quite what they seemed. What was trumpeted as a vicious exercise in national degeneration was to some extent, pre-hyped by the press. It was also not as all-encompassing as the headlines suggested: although an estimated 1,000 youths were involved in the Brighton disturbances, there were only 76 arrests. In Margate, there were an estimated 400 youths involved, with 64 arrests. While unpleasant and oppressive, this was hardly a teen take-over."

The Media's Response 

The main conduit for 'news' in the early 1960s was newspapers - these had a much higher circulation than today and were, effectively, the dominant media of the time.

Why do you think this was the case?

Let's take a look at some of the newspaper reports relating to these events.

The video below shows how the media in the 1960s reported the clashes between mods and rockers and considers whether or not the media coverage exaggerated the scale of events leading to a 'moral panic' in relation to the behaviour of these youth subcultures.

This is evidence of historical creation of collective identity for British youth cultures.

Question

In what ways do the media texts referenced above create a representation of young people as being a danger to society?

The media used many ways in to create representation of young people being a danger to society by using military language. They used words in article titles to show that the youth were at war. The use of repetition is mainly shown in headlines and front covers of the papers. The media used titles 'Wild Ones' this is due to the film The Wild One which sees two rival gangs that come together and causes a terror to a small town. I believe that the media used this title from the film because the two events are similar with Mods and Rockers coming together with there Scooters and motorbikes. 

The media used images on front covers of papers to show people what is happening, but they only seem to show the bad parts. There is one picture of a police officer with his dog talking to a youth. This picture indicates to us that the boy is getting told off by the police officer, but he could actually just be having a conversation with him. This picture in is in the Daily Mirror paper and the title 'Wild Ones' Invade seaside - 97 arrested, this shows us that the boys are in trouble. 

Exam ; Collective Identity

In A Nutshell

The purpose of the exam is to assess your knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and critical debates, through your understanding of one contemporary media issue and your ability to evaluate your own practical work in reflective and theoretical ways.

Logistics

The examination is two hours.

You will be required to answer two compulsory questions on your own production work, and one question from a choice of six topic areas.

The unit is marked out of a total of 100, with the two questions on production work marked out of 25 each, and the media theory question marked out of 50.

Section A : Theoretical Evaluation of production

Section B : Contemporary Media Issues (Media and Collective Identity)

Completion of Work

Your first task is to create your A2 Exam Blog.

Your blog will be your place of work. This will be a vital part of your preparation for the exam and essential for future revision. Take pride in it. Be proud and keep up to date.

What Is Collective Identity?

Collective Identity is constructed for different social groups as a result of the ways in which they are represented in the media.

We will be focussing on the ways in which the media represent the identity of British Youth.

The representation of British Youth in the media helps to construct a Collective Identity for this social group.

How Will We Prepare For The Exam?

We will explore the representation of 'British Youth' across at least 2 different mediums of communication and will develop a critically informed point of view on how a collective identity for British Youth is constructed.

In order to be fully prepared for the specific requirements of the question, we must cover these three elements:

Historical – the development of collective identity of British Youth.

Contemporary – examples from no more than five years before the examination. That is, in our case, from no earlier than 2010.

Future – personal engagement with debates about the future of the media forms / issues in relation to the concept of 'British Youth'.

Rules For The Exam

The majority of examples you refer to in the exam should be contemporary. However, theories and approaches may be drawn from any time period. 

If you refer to only one media area in your answer, the mark scheme clearly indicates that marks will be restricted to a maximum of the top of level 1.

If you fail to provide or infer historical references and / or future projections, marks will be restricted to a maximum of the top of level 3 for use of examples only.