Thursday, 22 May 2014
Friday, 9 May 2014
ILL MANORS (SONG) ANALYSIS
The music video to Plan B's iconic song, 'Ill Manors', may be seen as controversial as it supports the stereotype given by the Media and the Government to the youth of today. These images, shown on the left, are screen-grabs taken from the music video, these images fuel the negative representations of youth and their collective identity youths find in gang culture. These images also support Dick Hebdige's theory because it is clear that the youths shown in the pictures are all associated through their clothing; track suits and hoodies, this again fuels the negative representation that the media 'give' to youths. The media create deviance amplification around the negative stereotypes of youths, supporting the theory of Stan Cohen. With creating a deviance amplification, the media areunknowingly creating a moral panic, again supporting Cohen's theory, which is reflected throughout print and broadcast news, striking fear into the public against modern day youths.
The lyrics do not challenge the negative stereotypes 'given' by the media, if anything the lyrics support their stereotype, for example, "He's got a hoodie on give him a hug, on second thoughts dont you dont wanna get mugged". I believe that Plan B's intentions of this song are to be sarcastic and have a dig at the government, in particular David Cameron. The message behind this song is meant for the government, by saying that if they keep getting stereotyped in such negative ways then they will act like there 'given' stereotype, rather than negotiate it, showing the government that it is in fact their fault that youths act this way, supported through the lyrics "Fuel the fire, let it burn". Plan B's other intention through this song is to, in the long run, make the government see what they are doing, to make them stop demoralising youths and create equality in the hegemonic control ladder.
This music video was created to challenge authority and hegemonic control. This is shown in the music video through the footage of the London riots used, this tells authoritative figures that if youths have overtaken their power once, they can do it again. This shows a possible future representation of youths in society if the government dont lay of the stereotypes. This song may be classed as a warning.
Thursday, 8 May 2014
ILL MANORS (FILM) ANALYSIS
The film 'Ill Manors' (2012) directed by Ben Drew, better known to us as Plan B, a famous and successful British rapper, is a film which follows the lives of four drug dealers, one user and two prostitutes in London. This film was made by Ben Drew to show society what life is like surviving on the streets of London, reflecting gang culture and clashes with the law. This film focuses on collective identity in youths and how it is portrayed through the likes of clothing and music, supporting the theory of Dick Hebdige.
Hebdige's theory of sub cultures, originating from the conflict between the Mods & Rockers (also reflected in Quadrophenia). This is shown in Ill Manors when Jake joins Marcell's gang and it is shown through a video recording on a phone, an example of social media, that they take Jake out shopping to 'fit in'. The clothes they come away with consists of black jogging bottoms and a black hoodie, this now shows Jake's identity reveals that he is a part of Marcell's gang. This proves that an element of style is important to youth sub culture. The more expensive clothing you wear, the higher your position is in the gang.
The theory of Antonio Gramsci relating to hegemonic control also appears in Ill Manors. This theory is shown clearly in Ill Manors because they lack status in a legitimate way so they are trying to find their own identity in another way to gain their own status and power, creating their own hegemonic control on the streets. In Ill Manors, Marcell's gang are on the top of the hegemonic ladder on the streets of London, having control over children etc. An example in the film of this is when a young boy called Jake approaches Marcell's to buy some drugs for him and his friend, in which Marcell forces Jake to beat up his friend if he wanted to be apart of the gang, this shows how much control gangs have on the streets.
Leading on from my previous paragraph regarding position and status, can also be shown in the film through the character, Chris. His position is low in society, he is portrayed to be a lonely child caught up in the drugs market with an addicted mother, he had no real upbringing. He was abused as a child and used by Kirby in his childhood years. This may scare audiences as this also reflects reality and some issues that people face everyday, issues that need to be tackled by the government, which i this is the main aim of this film, to make people more aware of everyday problems. As Chris grew up, on the gang riddled streets of London, built up on drugs and crime, Chris turned to this to make himself a leader of his own gang, to claim back that power and status he failed to gain in his youth.
Ill Manors is used to show the audience what life is like for the gang sub culture from their own perspective, rather from the perspective of the police. This film acts almost like a 'fly on the wall' point of view, as if the audience are actually there living this hell alongside the characters. There are many scenes which show victimisation by the police, showing that sometime the police are not what they are portrayed to be across the media, a bit like what this film is doing for gang subcultures, showing from another perspective. The scene which shows the most victimisation is the scene where the police stop Aaron without reasonable suspicion, for the simple fact he is a black youth dressed in a track suit and a cap. It is proven later in the scene that the police are judgmental, when the social worker tells Aaron to take is cap off so they might not stop him next time.
Another social aspect that builds up identity within the subculture is the language they use. Terms such as 'bruv' creates solidarity within youth culture, however it also creates the divide between the subculture and the rest of society. This links well with the theory by David Buckingham that "Identity is not given, but is constructed and negotiated". This is shown through the youths part of the gang subculture have constructed their identity around drugs and crime, which unfortunately support the identity "given" to them through the media. However, the character Aaron, almost attempts to subvert his stereotype at several points in the film, for example when the baby is left on the train, he attempts to track down the woman to return her child, but in the meantime looks after the baby, which is not a feature of young people often shown in the media.
The highlighted issue reflected in the film comes back to the representation of 'Broken Britain' which is the idea of youths in society becoming more lawless and uncontrollable by the hegemonic monarchy; Media, Government and Law. This film may strike the fear of realism into an audience however it may also make the government see from the perspective of the gang subculture, possibly making us one step further to making a 'Better Britain'.
Hebdige's theory of sub cultures, originating from the conflict between the Mods & Rockers (also reflected in Quadrophenia). This is shown in Ill Manors when Jake joins Marcell's gang and it is shown through a video recording on a phone, an example of social media, that they take Jake out shopping to 'fit in'. The clothes they come away with consists of black jogging bottoms and a black hoodie, this now shows Jake's identity reveals that he is a part of Marcell's gang. This proves that an element of style is important to youth sub culture. The more expensive clothing you wear, the higher your position is in the gang.
The theory of Antonio Gramsci relating to hegemonic control also appears in Ill Manors. This theory is shown clearly in Ill Manors because they lack status in a legitimate way so they are trying to find their own identity in another way to gain their own status and power, creating their own hegemonic control on the streets. In Ill Manors, Marcell's gang are on the top of the hegemonic ladder on the streets of London, having control over children etc. An example in the film of this is when a young boy called Jake approaches Marcell's to buy some drugs for him and his friend, in which Marcell forces Jake to beat up his friend if he wanted to be apart of the gang, this shows how much control gangs have on the streets.
Leading on from my previous paragraph regarding position and status, can also be shown in the film through the character, Chris. His position is low in society, he is portrayed to be a lonely child caught up in the drugs market with an addicted mother, he had no real upbringing. He was abused as a child and used by Kirby in his childhood years. This may scare audiences as this also reflects reality and some issues that people face everyday, issues that need to be tackled by the government, which i this is the main aim of this film, to make people more aware of everyday problems. As Chris grew up, on the gang riddled streets of London, built up on drugs and crime, Chris turned to this to make himself a leader of his own gang, to claim back that power and status he failed to gain in his youth.
Ill Manors is used to show the audience what life is like for the gang sub culture from their own perspective, rather from the perspective of the police. This film acts almost like a 'fly on the wall' point of view, as if the audience are actually there living this hell alongside the characters. There are many scenes which show victimisation by the police, showing that sometime the police are not what they are portrayed to be across the media, a bit like what this film is doing for gang subcultures, showing from another perspective. The scene which shows the most victimisation is the scene where the police stop Aaron without reasonable suspicion, for the simple fact he is a black youth dressed in a track suit and a cap. It is proven later in the scene that the police are judgmental, when the social worker tells Aaron to take is cap off so they might not stop him next time.
Another social aspect that builds up identity within the subculture is the language they use. Terms such as 'bruv' creates solidarity within youth culture, however it also creates the divide between the subculture and the rest of society. This links well with the theory by David Buckingham that "Identity is not given, but is constructed and negotiated". This is shown through the youths part of the gang subculture have constructed their identity around drugs and crime, which unfortunately support the identity "given" to them through the media. However, the character Aaron, almost attempts to subvert his stereotype at several points in the film, for example when the baby is left on the train, he attempts to track down the woman to return her child, but in the meantime looks after the baby, which is not a feature of young people often shown in the media.
The highlighted issue reflected in the film comes back to the representation of 'Broken Britain' which is the idea of youths in society becoming more lawless and uncontrollable by the hegemonic monarchy; Media, Government and Law. This film may strike the fear of realism into an audience however it may also make the government see from the perspective of the gang subculture, possibly making us one step further to making a 'Better Britain'.
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