Studying Representation: Age LO: To understand and be able to comment on how different age groups are represented within the media.

Studying Representation:

Age

LO: To understand and be able to comment on how different age groups are represented within the media

Representation of Age in TV Drama

Opinions….

• ‘I don’t like kids because they run all over the place screaming and breaking things and getting lost and falling down and hurting themselves. Plus they are massively expensive, emotionally demanding, can not be reasoned with and ungrateful to the extreme.’

Focus on typical ideologies about children British children are often depicted

in the British media in positive ways. Content analyses of media products suggest that eight stereotypes of children are frequently used by the media.

As victims of horrendous crimes – some critics of the media have suggested that white children who are victims of crime get more media attention than adults or children from ethnic minority backgrounds.

As cute – this is a common stereotype found in television commercials for baby products or toilet rolls.

As little devils – another common stereotype especially found in drama and comedy.

As brave little angels – suffering from a long-term terminal disease or disability.

As brilliant – perhaps as child prodigies or as heroes for saving the life of an adult.

As accessories – stories about celebrities such as Madonna, Angelina Jolie or the Beckhams may focus on how their children humanise them.

As modern – the media may focus on how children ‘these days’ know so much more ‘at their age’ than previous generations of children.

As active consumers – television commercials portray children as having a consumer appetite for toys and games. Some family sociologists note that this has led to the emergence of a new family pressure, ‘pester power’, the power of children to train or manipulate their parents to spend money on consumer goods that will increase the children’s status in the eyes of their peers.

SkinsHow are teenagers represented in the pilot episode of ‘Skins’?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm0onseM1Mw

Thinking about teenagers…

• “Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.”

• Who said it? None other than Socrates, just shows you that teens have had bad reputations for centuries.

Focus on typical ideologies about teenagers

There are generally two very broad ways in which young people have been targeted and portrayed by the media in Britain.

Dick Hebdige in his ‘Subcultures’ book (1979) identified these two representations:

Teenagers as ‘trouble’

Teenagers as ‘fun’

AgeYouth:•All youths believe that the police have it in for them•negative stereotypes as hoodie wearing criminals •Young people are portrayed by the media as alcoholics and drug abusers, criminals, bludgers, lazy, complaining and aggressive•A common misconception for parents is that every middle school kid of this generation is conceited, gossip-ridden, hormone-raging and naive. This is a stereotype. The irony of labelling children with stereotypes is not just hypocritical, but a huge overgeneralization.

Youth are often portrayed by news media as a social problem, as immoral or anti-authority and consequently constructed as part of a moral panic.

The majority of moral panics since the 1950s have been manufactured around concerns about young people’s behaviour, such as their membership of specific ‘deviant’ sub-cultures (e.g., teddy boys, hoodies) or because their behaviour (e.g., drug taking or binge drinking) has attracted the disapproval of those in authority.

Teenagers as ‘trouble’

Teenagers as ‘fun’

There is a whole media industry aimed at socially constructing youth in terms of lifestyle and identity. Magazines are produced specifically for young people. Record companies, Internet music download sites, mobile telephone companies and radio stations all specifically target and attempt to shape the musical tastes of young people. Networking sites on the Internet, such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, allow youth to project their identities around the world.

What about this positive

representation appeals to

society’s dominant

(hegemonic) ideology?

Why are teenagers represented positively?

• Teenagers have their own money to spend on their own interests. It makes sense to sell them positive representations to identify with, so they’ll spend their money on these aspirational items.• These positive representations could act as ‘role models’ to encourage teenagers to act in a more positive way.

‘Fun’ teens are often popular, intelligent, fit conventional ideas of beauty, and have some sort of talent, overcoming any ethnic or economic disadvantage to celebrate diversity. How do Disney films fit this ideology? Can you think of any other examples?

Middle Aged People

Hollyoaks • How does this clip reinforce or oppose the

stereotypes

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBB3f0L_-Sw

Opinions…

• ‘Sometimes old peeps have good stories and its funny when old couples fight.I often ask my grandpa to tell me about when he was young and how he and my grandma got married etc. He tells the cutest stories but she always yells at him to shut up and not annoy the grandkids with old people stories and tells him he's boring. They’re so old they can just say anything and get away with it. Its hilarious.’

The Elderly

• What words/stereotypes come to mind when you see this image?

Pensioners and the elderly:•Pensioners stereotyped as being grumpy•The elderly are stereotyped as being old, frail and lonely•They are not wanted and a burden to their family•The image of old people as childlike has been with us for a long time. there was a high level of agreement that old people are unproductive, have to go to bed early, need a nap every day, are in the "happiest" period of their lives, cannot manage their own affairs, and are in their second childhood. •Pensioners are fed up with being stereotyped on television as grumpy Victor Meldrews or sweet little old ladies, according to a study.

Sociological studies show that when the elderly do appear in the media, they tend to be portrayed in the following one-dimensional ways:

As grumpy – conservative, stubborn and resistant to social change.

As mentally challenged – suffering from declining mental functions.

As dependent – helpless and dependent on other younger members of the family or society.

As a burden – as an economic burden on society (in terms of the costs of pensions and health care to the younger generation) and/or as a physical and social burden on younger members of their families.

As enjoying a second childhood – as reliving their adolescence and engaging in activities that they have always longed to do before they die.Or just being a bit cheeky.

However, recent research suggests that media producers may be gradually reinventing how they deal with the elderly, especially as they realise that this group may have disposable incomes, i.e. extra money to spend on consumer goods.

Stereotypical Mise en Scene of Age• Old people- Viewed as cardigan wearing, not

very active, shuffling around in slippers. Tend to live in bungalows, and have Zimmer frames.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWxEUPrkwMc

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_XyFGFr29c

Dorli Rainey- Protester

• http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2012/jan/13/occupy-seattle-protester-dorli-rainey-video

• Does this alter your view of her?

Stereotypes Challenged?

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn6lE2gHiRs

• Off Their Rockers• http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xmr2NUwqpY

YOUTH OLD AGE

POSITIVES ActiveSociableInnocentStrongLong future aheadAdventurousFun

WiseAuthoritativeWell educatedFreedomWealthStability

NEGATIVES LazyRebelliousRudeHormonalVulnerableNaiiveDependent

WeakVulnerableFragileMentally incompetentNot in control of their own bodiesLonelyDependentBoringUnwilling to try new thingsDesperate

Studying Representation:

Age

LO: To identify and comment on use/effect of editing, camera shots, mise-en-scene and sound in the clipsTo discuss whether age stereotypes are reinforced or opposed

“Breaking Bad”

• Watch the pilot episode and consider how age is represented in media.

• Consider the representations of Jesse and Walter. Write down words that describe each character.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkHTPHQKFPo

Jesse

Skyler

Walter

Stereotypes Challenged?

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7301dUcrdE

“Breaking Bad”

• Discussion of how age is represented:• Do any aspects of the characters

support/reinforce age stereotypes?• Do any aspects of the characters challenge age

stereotypes?• What negative representations are there relating

to age?• What positive representations are their relating

to age?

“New Tricks”

Does this show reinforce stereotypes of old age or oppose them?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3pXWmQOACE&list=PLCE549D17B170F6E1&index=45&feature=plpp_video

Essay

How does the clip you have chosen reinforce or oppose the stereotypes of youth/old age? Refer to the following:• Camera shots, editing, sound and

mise-en-scene.