“We’re all sinners in here”

How is deviant youth represented in the British media in texts such as 'Offender'?

This question fits perfectly with the main text ‘Offender’. This question also allows the investigation to explore other texts than the main text ‘Offender’. The main text is going to discuss the film ‘Offender’. This film was released on 8^th August 2012. This film was also distributed by Revolver Entertainment. They are known for distributing films such as ILL Manors and making sure that low budget films are recognized. The YouTube trailer has revived 599,051 views. This is great as the film is a low budget film and it is receiving recognising. This institution was founded in London, England 1997. This institution has been successful ever since they’ve opened. Also the films ratings from IMDb were 6.1/10. Moving on, the main section is going to be looking at the way the deviant youth in Britain are being represented by the media and in the British film industry. This allows us to look at various debates such as a politician’s side of the debate and the youth’s side. The main representation of the youth that has been created since 1960 is moral panic ‘Cohen’. This shows us that this concern has been occurring for 50+ years.

The film ‘Offender’ is a prison based film and we would be expecting violent scenes such as people fighting. The youth of this film are represented as uneducated and have no use in making the world a better place. This links to the modern day society and it is showing us how the youths are actually being treated in prison and sending them there wouldn’t make them difference. This film allows us to have an insight of prison life. “In this case, a London teenager infiltrates a young offenders' institution to track down the gang who violently assaulted his pregnant girlfriend to prevent her giving evidence in a murder trial.”[1] This quote shows us the representation of the youth in London as a gang attacks a probation officers to prevent her giving evidence. The main character had lost his unborn child and he wasn’t about to let the ‘thugs’ that assaulted her walk away without justice being served.

The following is going to discuss how the main character was introduced to the audiences at the very start of the film. The use of cinematography and mise en scène helped the audiences to understand what to expect as the opening scene started out unusually. The main character is walking through an alleyway. The camera shots used to show this are long shot, medium shot and a close up. This was effect due to the editing as we couldn’t recognize the characters face as he walked towards the camera. The edit used to make this effective was cut shots as he was walking at the start of the alleyway the cut effect allowed us to visualize the character. The medium close up allows the audiences to analyse his facial expression as he faced was then revealed to the audience. The sound used at the start was a non-diegetic. The music playing built up tension as the police siren got louder. The way they've introduced the main character is interesting as he was made out to be the villain at the start of the film. Also the character seemed pleased with him assaulting the police officer. We know this as he smiled whist getting sentenced. This is an unusual way of starting a film as it started off with violence. Generally the audiences are meant to gain information so that they build that connection with the main character or they could start profiling the main character. The introduction of this film hasn’t done that but as it is a thriller genre and the title of the film is ‘Offender’ the violence and the opening is shocking but the audiences sort of expected that in a prison based film.

In addition, the music industry has made it hard as the youth are trying to set trends over YouTube by starting rapping about drugs, money and gangs. This has also reinforced the stereotype that has been created on the youth. The youth are promotion their illegal activities. This effects the views made on other youths as the youth aren’t trusted due to the lyrics they promote. This has become more common due to new technology and the internet has become more easily access to viewers. The American music has had a big impact on the youth as people tend to listen to trending music and the lyrics they promote isn’t suitable for the youth as the youth are tend to copy. Also the London youth listen to YouTube channels such as SBTV, GRM and Link up TV to receive music as these channels receive millions of videos and have hundreds of thousands YouTube subscribers. YouTube artists like 67 are based around Brixton and they promotion gun and knife violence and make it seem to carry it as it is illegal. They had received millions of views on couple of their videos released. They promote gang violence as they have rivals and each gang goes on YouTube and disses the other gang. The viewers are young and it’s harder for the youth to become better if there’s music promoting and encouraging them to become like them.

“76% of reporting of young people is negative.”[2] The public only remember statistics like this as it high and it fits the representation created. However, this suggests that the public turn a blind eye to actual statistic “Only 12% of crime is committed by young people.”[3] This shows us a small percentage of the youth commit crime. The other 64% to make that 76% are misguided this is due to the social media. This representation has been created and this is one of the reasons why people are afraid of the youth as a large amount of the youth are considered as criminals. The reason why the percentage may be high is due to people calling the police reporting mysterious behavior as the youth are dressed mysterious at night and are generally in groups.

In addition, the word ‘chav’ is being used more commonly to represent the youth in Britain. British rapper Plan B formally known as ‘Ben Drew’ has disapproved the label ‘chav’ for being an insulting expression no different to the ones regarding race or sex. However some dispute being a 'chav' is to do with attitude and behaviour, sex, not race, class or education. This is shows the representation of the word ‘chav’ “The typical representation of contemporary young people in Britain is the iconic image of the 'chav'. The chav has become a symbol of David Cameron's 'broken Britain' and a cultural movement of young people that is easy to recognise.”[4] The representation of modern young people comes from the upper class and middle class. They are the ones labelling people socially beneath them. The youths that are been called ‘chavs’ have no choice to alter the representation that has been created and act in the way the media represents them. They could be the ones showing ‘the people with power’ that they are wrong to call the youths ‘chavs’. Also the quote above says that “The chav has become a symbol of David Cameron's 'broken Britain'”[5] This shows that even their leader has lost hope and placing the youths of today in a position where they’re limited in life. Also it suggests that the ‘chav’ have become a symbol and no one’s doing anything to better them as they are labelled and people tend to stay away as they don’t want to be placed in the same category. "More than half of the city's children live in poverty."[6] We could debate on this as the youth can take action and make something of their lives and try to gets themselves out of poverty and others can say that the youth are seen as troubled and are stereotyped by classes higher than them. The quote tells us more than half of the city's children live in poverty and when they grow up to become teenagers and young adults they're seen to be dangerous and educated. The people can help as from an early age it is easier to change and learn new things.

The public doesn’t categorise the youth it placed them under one branded name. If the youth come from a difficult social class background such as D and E they’re seen as not having a future as they may live in poverty and only know how to commit crime to survive.

Another film that’s similar to my main text is the film ‘Scum’. The film ‘Scum’ was released in 1979. The film is presenting the hard and awful story of life in Britain Borstal for young offenders. The film was formerly made as a BBC play but it was banned before it was shown. ‘Alan Clark’ & ‘Roy Minton’ had the play re-made as a film. The representation of the youth then hasn’t changed really much now. The way the film is similar to my main text 'offender' as the main characters in both films take down the ‘top dogs’ and make a name for themselves, they have different reasons of doing so. The film ‘Scum’ released in 1979 and the film ‘Offender’ was released in 2012 and a similar film have been crated after decades since release. The problems that occurred then are the same problems that we’re facing now.

The 2011 London riots had made headline news over the globe as viewers watched from their devices and kept tabs on what was occurring on the streets of London. An example of this is “In South Africa, the Afrikaans daily Beeld led with the headline 'Anarchy Grows' above a huge picture of a burning street in the capital.”[7] The prime mister David Cameron delivers a speech shortly after the 2011 riots describing it a “wake-up call”[8] as the riots was address as “the causes of 'broken Britain'”[9]. This shows us that the actions that the youth chosen to participate in the riots has made them look like the villains as a percentage of the youth participated not knowing the main reason why the riots has started. This was shown when majority of the people rioting were asked why have they contributed in the riots they didn’t have a sold answer as they had no clue why the riots began. The youth of Britain are being described as dangerous and reckless and the fear of them becoming much more is growing. This quote gives us an idea of what the public is thing and “Anthony Daniels, a retired prison doctor and psychiatrist who has worked in some of the hardest-hit areas on the planet, said the British were now in great fear of their own arrogant, knife-wielding children”[10] This quote shows us the negative stereotype created because of the 2011 riots. This quote is also creating panic as it says “British were now in great fear of their own arrogant, knife-wielding children”[11] it creates panic as the public see this already happening due to the increase of knife violence in the UK. The BBC has stated this “Police recorded 26,370 offences in 2014/15, up from 25,974 the previous year - breaking a downward trend since 2010/11.”[12] This is because if your found with a knife for the first time you’ll get a warning and the youth carry a knife to protect themselves or to commit crime. Also “Young offenders, aged 16 and 17, will face a minimum four month detention and training order.”[13] The youth are more likely to carry a knife as they have a minor consequence. If they get sentence they used that a as a ‘street rep’.

"According to David Cameron, the English 'rioter' and 'looter' are of the same breed; namely of the feral underclass type. These people, as Cameron would have it, are foreign to the hard-working, regular citizen and it is through poor life choices and like of meritocratic initiative that they find themselves clinging to the margin of society."[14] This quote shows us what our prime minister ‘David Cameron’ thinks of the 2011 riots as he claimed “‘rioters’ and ‘looters’ are of the same breed; namely of the feral underclass type”[15]. This suggests that the rioters were unemployed and are not in education and they fit the underclass category ‘D and E’. A “These people, as Cameron would have it, are foreign to the hard-working, regular citizen and it is through poor life choices”[16] this tells us that the rioters aren’t used to the working for what they desire and choose the easy way out. This is done by committing petty crime due to poor life choices made as a teenager.

The stereotype of the youth hasn’t changed for more than a decade. An example of this is the 1981 riots in Brixton. The 1943 stop and searches in four days and those were predominately young, black men - fought police, attacked buildings and set fire to vehicles. This links to the 2011 riots in London as the youth are looting the streets of London and the large percentage of the youth were to be black and under the age of 21. This is similar to the main text ‘Offender’ as they had a riot scene replicating the 2011 London riots. The youth in the scene were attacking police officers and bystanders as they looted down each street breaking and entering and damaging properties. The way it links to the main text is that the youth take control and act in a sane way to express their feeling. "An ethnographic research tradition originating at University of Chicago became famous for its attempts to explain deviant activities such as drug taking, petty crime and gang membership as collective normative behaviour associated with distinct urban social regions”[17] An ethnographic researcher is programmed to explore cultural phenomena where the examiner observes culture from the point of view of the subject of the study in this case the youth. This quote shows us that the study is trying to explain why ‘deviant activities such as drug taking, petty crime and gang membership as collective normative behaviour’ are more common and what triggers a person to go down this route. “The ONS said 1.85 million people were unemployed in the March-to-May period, an increase of 15,000 from the previous quarter, with the jobless rate at 5.6%.”[18] The 1.85 million statistics include people aged 16 and above. That’s when the youth aren’t legally entitled to education as they can tither carry on studies or find a job. The youth are finding it difficult to learn due to some individuals and the area the schools based. Also they’ll find it hard to maintain staff for a long period of time as if the schools located in a gang area and the crime rate is considerably high teachers come and go as public schools are attended by students that live near the school.

“The idea that Britain and other late capitalist societies are witnessing the rise of an ‘underclass’ of people at the bottom of the social heap, structurally separate and culturally distinct from traditional patterns of ‘decent’ working-class life, has become increasingly popular over the past ten years”[19] This quote also links to the paragraph above about unemployment as there has been an increase of unemployment level and the youth are struggling more as the completion level has increased due to new technology and the volume of applicants. Moreover, the youth of today are caught up on social media and music as they’re up-to-date with what’s most trending and are sucked into to that lifestyle that they forget reality. Social media is the cause of why the youth are in that ‘underclass status’ as they’re too busy interacting with their friends and less time studying.

Footnotes:

[1] http://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/aug/12/offender-film-review

2 http://www.ukyouth.org/resources/youth-statistics/item/379-young_people_in_the_media#.VinjpvmrTIU

3 Ibid

16872

5 Ibid. fn 4.

6 Jones, O. (2011). P 73.

7 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2024486/UK-RIOTS-2011-British-youths-unpleasant-violent-world.html

8 http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/aug/15/david-cameron-riots-broken-society

9 Ibid. fn 8.

10 Ibid. fn 7.

11 Ibid. fn 7.

12 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33547806

13 Ibid. fn 12

14 . Briggs, D. (2012). P 11.

15 Ibid. p 11

16 Ibid. p 11

17 Hodkinson, P. (2007). P3.

18 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33535114

19 MacDonald, R. (1997).

Academic Books:

Sited:

ü Briggs, D. (2012). The English riots of 2011 a summer of discontent. Hook, UK: Waterside Press.

ü Hodkinson, P. (2007). Youth cultures: Scenes, subcultures and tribes. New York: Routledge.

ü Jones, O. (2011). Chavs: The demonization of the working class. London: Verso.

ü MacDonald, R. (1997). Youth, the 'underclass' and social exclusion. London: Routledge.

Consulted:

1. Bloom, C. (2012). Riot city: Protest and rebellion in the capital. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

2. Briggs, D. (2012). The English riots of 2011 a summer of discontent. Hook, UK: Waterside Press.

3. Casey, B. (2002). Television studies: The key concepts. London: Routledge.

4. Ferguson, R. (1998). Representing "race": Ideology, identity, and the media. London: Arnold.

5. Hodkinson, P. (2007). Youth cultures: Scenes, subcultures and tribes. New York: Routledge.

6. Jones, O. (2011). Chavs: The demonization of the working class. London: Verso.

7. Lacey, N. (1998). Image and representation: Key concepts in media studies. New York: St. Martin's Press.

8. MacDonald, R. (1997). Youth, the 'underclass' and social exclusion. London: Routledge.

9. Malik, S. (2002). Representing Black Britain: A history of Black and Asian images on British television (1. publ. ed.). London [u.a.: Sage Publ.

10. Wheatley, S. (2010). Don't call me urban: The time of grime. Newcastle upon Tyne: Northumbria University Press.

Websites:

1. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://www.theguardian.com/society/2009/apr/15/stereotypes-young-people

2. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/aug/18/england-rioters-young-poor-unemployed

3. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/sep/13/these-things-are-universal-new-film-examines-story-of-mark-duggan-killing

4. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/hoodies-louts-scum-how-media-demonises-teenagers-1643964.html

5. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26230410

6. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/aug/09/offender-review

7. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/aug/12/offender-film-review

8. (1981, November 25). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/25/newsid_2546000/2546233.stm

8. Film Review: Offender. (2012, July 14). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://londonist.com/2012/07/film-review-offender

9. Generation Boris. (2013, June 1). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://www.economist.com/news/britain/21578666-britains-youth-are-not-just-more-liberal-their-elders-they-are-also-more-liberal-any

10. How the Police Have Obliterated British Youth Cultures | VICE | United Kingdom. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/police-vs-british-subcultures-302

11. John, C. (2006, April 5). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4854556.stm

12. Moran, L. (n.d.). British youths are 'the most unpleasant and violent in the world': Damning verdict of writer as globe reacts to riots. Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2024486/UK-RIOTS-2011-British-youths-unpleasant-violent-world.html

13. Offender. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://www.timeout.com/london/film/offender

14. Resources. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://www.ukyouth.org/resources/youth-statistics/item/379-young_people_in_the_media#.VinjpvmrTIU

15. Top Boy, Channel 4, review. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/tv-and-radio-reviews/10255727/Top-Boy-Channel-4-review.html

16. What is wrong with British youth? (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/yourview/1558584/What-is-wrong-with-British-youth.html

[1] http://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/aug/12/offender-film-review

[2] http://www.ukyouth.org/resources/youth-statistics/item/379-young_people_in_the_media#.VinjpvmrTIU

[3] Ibid

[4] https://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/media-magazine/articles/16872

[5] Ibid. fn 4.

[6] Jones, O. (2011). P 73.

[7] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2024486/UK-RIOTS-2011-British-youths-unpleasant-violent-world.html

[8] http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/aug/15/david-cameron-riots-broken-society

[9] Ibid. fn 8.

[10] Ibid. fn 7.

[11] Ibid. fn 7.

[12] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33547806

[13] Ibid. fn 12

[14] . Briggs, D. (2012). P 11.

[15] Ibid. p 11

[16] Ibid. p 11

[17] Hodkinson, P. (2007). P3.

[18] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33535114

[19] MacDonald, R. (1997).

Length of shot	Shot	Description	Done
3 sec	Medium shot	Two characters walking
4 sec	Medium shot	The main characters see someone
10sec	Medium shot	All three characters are walking
4sec	Medium shot/over the shoulder shot	The characters facing each other and are talking
8sec	Over the shoulder shot	Both the main characters are talking to the other characters
4sec	Medium shot/pan right	Both the main characters walk away from the other character
3sec	Pan left	The other character walks away from the scene

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4 https://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/media-magazine/articles/16872

[4] https://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/media-magazine/articles/16872