WJEC Media AS Representation of Age Case Studies - Riots and Harry Brown

1. MEDIA THEORIES
LO: To apply theories on the representations of youth,
cultural identities and society to Harry Brown and in
the news

2. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.
IDEOLOGY
 Media texts convey ideological messages:
 Ideology is a system of ideas, values and beliefs
promoted by dominant groups to reinforce their
power (e.g: governments, state institutions,
corporations).

3. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.
THEORIST - KARL MARX
 Developed the concept of ideology in 1900s.
 Analysed the way those in power protected their
interests by representing their privileged position as
being natural.
 As a media student you should consider how
dominant ideologies are reinforced/challenged by
media texts.

4. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.
TEENAGERS/YOUTH
IN
HARRY BROWN

5. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.

6. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.

7. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.

8. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.

9. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.

10. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.

11. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.

12. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.

13. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.

14. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.
THE TEENAGER
Is this Representation unique
to Harry Brown?
Where else might we see this
stereotype being used?

15. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.
EVERYWHERE!!!
 News
 Advertising
 Music Industry
 Film Industry
 TV Drama
 Comedy
 What type of ‘panic’ does this create?
 Who is the theorist?

16. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.
• Most common words used to describe young
people in British newspapers in 2008-10 were yobs,
thugs, sick, feral, hoodie, louts, evil, frightening,
scum.
• Over half the newspaper stories about teenage
boys relate to crime.
• Representations of young people in films such as
‘Harry Brown’, ‘Eden Lake’, and ‘Fish Tank’, as well
as TV programmes such as ‘Skins’ and ‘Misfits’
need to be understood in this context.

17. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.
BACKGROUND READING
 Read through one of the articles on London Riots
 What points are made about the representation of
young people?
 Why might the writer have this perspective?
 Identify useful quotes from the article.
 Do you see any similarities between these
representations and the representations in Harry
Brown?

18. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.
GRAMSCI (1971)
 Cultural Hegemony: This is the idea that one
social class (usually the middle class) is able to
dominate a society by making their way of life and
values appear normal, natural, and common sense.
 As a result other social classes accept these values
as the normal way of life.

19. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.

20. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.
CULTURAL HEGEMONY (GRAMSIC
1971) AND
HARRY BROWN
 Cultural Hegemony:
one social class
dominate a society by
making their values
appear normal
 Other social classes
accept these values as
the normal
 Media to promote the
ideas of the ruling
class.
 How can we apply this theory
to Harry Brown?
 Think about:
 Todorov’s narrative structure.
 What else can we call
equilibrium?
 What/who threatens this
equilibrium?
 How does this fix social class
outside of the film?

21. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.
• Almost all teenage characters in representations
are clearly working class.
• Main adult characters tend to be middle class.
• Representations may be said to reflect middle class
anxiety at threat of working class to their
hegemonic dominance.
• Is one of the functions of these representations to
maintain hegemony?
• Who produces this representations? Why?

22. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.
MCROBBIE (2004)
 Contemporary British TV often contains ‘symbolic
violence’ against the working class,
 These representations emphasise middle class
dominance and depict the working class in very
negative ways

23. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.
SYMBOLIC VIOLENCE
(MCROBBIE 2004)
AND HARRY BROWN
 ‘Symbolic Violence’
against the working
class emphasises
middle class
dominance
 How can we apply this
to Harry Brown?
 Think about:
 Who is the protagonist
and antagonist in the
text?
 How are the issues in
the text resolved?

24. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.
GIROUX (1997)
 Giroux argues that in media representations youth
becomes an ‘empty category’
 Media representations of young people are
constructed by adults. Because of this they reflect
adults concerns, anxieties, and needs.
 As a result of this media representations of young
people do not necessarily reflect the reality of youth
identity.
 Can you think of any examples of this?

25. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.
EMPTY CATEGORY (GIROUX 1997)
AND HARRY BROWN
 Youth becomes an
‘empty category’
 Representations
constructed by adults.
 Reflect adults concerns,
anxieties, and needs.
 Representations do not
necessarily reflect the
reality of youth identity.
 How can we apply this
theory to Harry Brown?
 Think about:
 Who constructed the text?
 Who it is aimed at?
 Does the text reflect adult
anxieties or serve the
purposes of adult society?
(reinforcing hegemonic
values).

26. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.
ACLAND (1995)
 Media representations of delinquent
youths actually reinforce hegemony.
 They do this by constructing an idea of ‘normal’ adult and
youth behaviour, and contrasting it with deviant youth
behaviour which is shown to be unacceptable.
 Media representations of young people out of control allows
the state to have more control of them (e.g. media reports
about delinquent youths led to ASBOs).
 ‘Ideology of protection’ – the idea that young people need
constant surveillance and monitoring. This happens because
youth is the time when young people learn about social roles
and values, and allows the state to make sure they conform to
hegemonic values.

27. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.
DEVIANT YOUTH (ACLAND 1995)
AND HARRY BROWN
 Representations of delinquent
youths reinforce hegemony.
 ‘Normal’ adult and youth
behaviour, contrasted with
deviant youth behaviour
 Representations of young
people out of control allows the
state to have more control
 Ideology of Protection: young
people need constant
surveillance and monitoring.
State ensures that they
conform to hegemonic values.
 Apply this theory to Harry
Brown.
 Think about:
 The extent to which the text
shows young people as in
need of control.
 Does the text show young
people as behaving in an
unacceptable way?
 If so does this identify what
behaviour society thinks is
acceptable? (i.e. hegemonic)
 How does the text show class
youths to be deviant thus
reinforcing middle class
hegemony.

28. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.
GERBNER (1986)
 Gerbner studied the effect of television on
people’s perception of crime.
 He found that people who watched a lot of
television tended to overestimate the levels of
crime. He called this ‘mean world syndrome’
 Because news reports, TV dramas, films,
contain lots of representations of crime over
time this influenced people’s perceptions of the
world. This is called ‘cultivation theory’
 The repetitive pattern of television’s mass-
produced message and images influences
people’s understanding of the world

29. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.
MEAN WORLD SYNDROME (GERBNER
1986) AND HARRY
BROWN
 Mean World Syndrome:
People exposed to large
amounts of media tend to
overestimate the levels of
crime.
 Cultivation Theory:
exposure to negative
representations
influences peoples
perception of the world
 How can we apply this to
Harry Brown?
 Think about:
 If this text supports or
opposes ‘mean world
syndrome’
 The message overall
contained in the text?
 If this message can be
applied to ‘cultivation
theory’

30. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.
APPLYING THEORY
HOMEWORK
 Write up each of the theories we have covered in
your own words.
 Gramsci (1971), Cultural Hegemony
 McRobbie (2004), Symbolic Violence
 Giroux (1997), Empty Category
 Acland (1995), Deviant Youth, Ideology of Protection
 Gerbner (1986), Mean World Syndrome, Cultivation
Theory
 Apply these theories to the other texts we have
studied
 Harry Brown and any of the three newspaper articles

31. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.
Theorist Year Concepts Your explanation
Gramsci 1971 Cultural hegemony
McRobbie 2004 Symbolic Violence
Giroux 1997 Youth as ‘Empty Category’
Acland 1995 Deviant Youth,
Ideology of protection
Gerbner 1986 Mean World Syndrome,
Cultivation Theory
Support for Homework

32. ESSAY QUESTION:
How are young people represented
in contemporary media?
LO: To write a plan for this essay using the texts we have studied.

33. AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and
critical debates.
ESSAY QUESTION
 Introduction:
 State argument (link to
theory)
 Identify texts
 Paragraph 1:
 Main text
 Examples
 Link to theory
 Paragraph 2:
 Main Text
 Examples
 Link to theory
 Continue paragraphs as
necessary…
 Conclusion:
 Summary of key points in
P1, P2 etc…
 Summary of overall
argument
How are young people represented in
contemporary media?