Critical Investigation Task #3

Historical text analysis and research

Research a historical text that you can use to compare with your contemporary, primary text. 

By 'historical' we mean anything pre-2000 but the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s or even 80s might be more fruitful because they pre-date many of the important changes that have occurred more recently (such as the gains for women as a result of feminism; or greater equality for ethnic minorities now that we are - arguably - a more inclusive and multi-cultural society; or the ground-breaking developments in new media/digital technology). 

The purpose here is to be able to demonstrate...

• how society and the issue you are investigating has changedover the years and how these changes are reflected in different media texts, or - to put it another way...
• how popular culture reflects the 'spirit of the age' or zeitgeist

Ideally, you will watch at least one film/TV programme/video game/music video from the past, make notes on it and research it in Media/Film Studies textbooks and on the internet. The best option is to watch/play the whole text on DVD/online or otherwise you might be able to see extracts on YouTube. Answer the following questions:

• How is it similar/different to your main text?
• How does this show how the genre/society/issue has changed?

Through this you will become aware of developments in the genre you are researching. This task is designed to make sure you have a range of texts to refer to in your critical investigation essay (you'll need at least five including your main text and the historical text you analyse in this task). Remember: you should be able to link them to the wider contextsthat were/are present at the time. It's also worth noting that you will be rewarded for considering your topic across different platforms.

This text is similar to my main text as the youth of Brixton started the 1981 riots. 1943 stop and searches in four days and those were predominately young, black men - fought police, attacked buildings and set fire to vehicles. This is similar to my text as they had a riot scene and the youth of London acted in the same way as they were breaking and entering and damaging properties. The way it links to my text is that the youth take control and act in their own way to express their feeling. Another similarity between both texts are that the police hold power our the youth as they are attached behind closed doors. An ex police officer told us that they used to plant evidence so that people had no chance of proving that they're innocent. This happens in the 21st century but people fight back (legally) due to modern day technology and equal right. 

The differences between this text and my main text is that the youth had an option to choose their pathways in life but in 1981 the 'black youth' had very little options  as they were harassed by police and were limited to do life changing opportunities. They believed that police had something against them "institutional racism" this had an impact between the public and the police as none of them trusted each other. The issue hasn't changed since 1981 riots as they are acting the same way. The 1981 riots and the 2011 riots in London are similar as black youth are the ones starting it. This connects my text and the 1981 riots as the youth were uneducated, unemployed and live in poverty. The changes since then are that the youth have changes to make difference as we now live in an equal society. 

The Best Scene From Scum (1979)

The way the character was introduced in this scene was by him walking into the games area. He had his hands in his pocket and looked like he didn't fit in with the other inmates. He then walks up to two inmates playing pool and takes two balls and puts them inside a sock. This is known for injuring other inmates as they can't get hold of other weapons without getting caught. The camera angles used that lead to this scene was medium shot. This is effective as the audience mainly focuses on the main character. He then moved to a room where the inmates were sitting down. We as the audience din't know his intention but we knew that he was going to do something. He then attacked another character which played out as the 'top dog'. The reason why he done this was to claim the 'top dog' status as we find out later on when he assaulted another inmate. This links top my main text 'offender' this film was also a prison based film and the main character also attacked the 'top dog' in their wing. Both main characters have different reasons for attacking other inmates. The differences are that the inmates in the film scum are that majority of the characters are white males whereas the film offender has a diverse prison.