1. Media Theory
“Almost everything (info, values, news, role models) comes to
us through some media (TV, print, web, magazines, films) so
will undoubtedly colour/influence our view of life and
therefore our own self-definition.” (Thomas de Zengotita)

2. We need to consider: to what extent is our
identity constructed by media, to what extent do
we use media and to what extent does media
reflect identity.
To do this successfully and meet the criteria of
the specification we need to look at a couple of
theoretical perspectives
“Highly contemporary examples should be used and
discussed in theoretical contexts”
(Chief Examiner)

3. Past, Present & Future
“The children now love luxury; they have bad
manners, contempt for authority; they show
disrespect for elders and love chatter in place
of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the
servants of their households. They no longer
rise when elders enter the room. They
contradict their parents, chatter before
company, gobble up dainties at the table,
cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”
(Plato 428-348 BC)

4. Application
• So if we were to consider what Plato said all
those many moons ago what could we suggest
about Past and Present representations of
British Youth Culture?
• Let’s take a look at some past and present
media.

5. Past
• Here's a report on the hooligan riots from
1898
• 'They wore peaked caps, neck scarves, bell-
bottom trousers and a hairstyle cropped close
to the scalp. There were pitched battles
between rival gangs, armed with iron bars,
knives, powerful catapults and even guns.
They patrolled their neighbourhoods shouting
obscenities and pushing people down.'

6. 1970 Kids
Rule Comic

7. Write down 4 key terms
to describe how youth
culture was being
represented?

8. Present
Riot Scene from Harry Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U7rmjUG
Cfw

9. Future
Watch the Shank trailer which is predicting
London 2015.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfapOIPCRik

10. Comparison
• Are there any similarities between the
past/present/future?
• So was Plato pre-empting the future?
• So this demonisation of youth is nothing
particularly new. Also neither are the supposed
causes of the bad behaviour - poor education,
poverty, violence in the media, lack of
opportunities, absence of parental guidance

11. Making links to prior learning
• How could you apply what you’ve learned
about Stanley Cohen to our discussion of the
past/present & future?
“...society as presently structured will continue
to present problems for some of it’s
members” (Cohen, 1972)

12. Let’s take this theme of
demonisiation and issues
surrounding youth being let
down by the adult world (from
previous lessons) and discuss the
work of Judith Butler: the
construction of Identity.

13. Judith Butler's Performativity
• Whilst her theory is specifically about gender
identity – she makes points that can be
applied to our study of identity as a universal
concept.
• 'There is no gender identity behind the
expressions of gender; ... identity is
performatively constituted by the very
"expressions" that are said to be its results.‘
• What do you think she is suggesting?

14. Breaking Butler Down
• gender is a performance; it's what you do at
particular times, rather than a universal who you
are. The idea behind this is our identity
(specifically here gender identity) is not defined
by biology but is actually a performance learned
as we grow
• As media students we can apply to our study of
identity as many of these performances and
notions of identity will be learned from the media
and/or other life influences.

15. Michel Foucault
• Focault would agree with Butler about
Identity not being fixed.
• He says “It is a shifting, temporary
construction.”

16. Task
• In small groups create a collage of ideas,
which provides specific examples from the
texts we have looked at, so far in the unit, that
support the ideas of Butler and Foucault.
• Consider how a characters identity changed,
situation depending, in the films we have
looked at.