Media Theories

Gramsci (1971) - Cultural Hegemony

• Idea that one social class (usually m/c) is able to dominate a society by making their way of life and values appear normal, natural and common sense
• As a result, other social classes accept these values as the normal way of life
• The media uses cultural hegemony to fix the social classes
• The working classes are somewhat trapped in an illusion that they will benefit from society staying the same
• Media aim to distract individuals and promote the ideas of the ruling class
• Oppose
• Attack the Bloc
• Protests
• Made in Dagenham film
• Persuit of Happiness
• The Matrix
• V for Vendetta
• Promote
• London Riots - w/c rising up and destroying London - class status = lower
• Media tend to focus on violent protests - reinforce cultural hegemony
• Skins - know that they are w/c - not trying to aspire to aspire to something better
• Misfits - ""
• Eastenders/ Hollyoaks - based in a w/c environment - people are aspirin to do better but are prevented by the setting 
• Downton Abbey
• Gramsci sees hegemony as a site of constant struggle as societies are constantly debating what is and isn't acceptable
• You can relate this to more positive representations of w/c youth which challenge the perception of w/c as thugs

Cultural Hegemony and Harry Brown

• Cultural hegemony 
• One social class dominate a society by making their values appear normal
• Other social classes accept these values as the normal
• Media to promote the ideas of the ruling class
• How can we apply it to Harry Brown
• Todorov's theory of equlibrium,  disequlibrium and equlibrium
• Kinda opposite
• The films version of equlibium = thugs, violence etc, reflects cultural hegemony - represents them as vermin however, this isn't our actual culural hegemony
• Diseqlibrium = when HB friend dies and he seeks revenge through violence
• Fear
• Equlibrium restored when thugs are dead and the police voice over tells the audience that   crime has gone down as well 
• What else can we call equlibrium?
• State of calm =  dominant ideology - cultural hegemony
• What who threatens this equlibrium?
• Youths initially as they are the thugs, but then Harry Brown upsets it and creates disequlibrium by taking matters into his own hands and tries to restore the equlibrium this way 
• How does this fix social class outside the film?
• Being presented with the image of them as vermin 
• Fixes the idea that the police are there to help them - reasserts cultural hegemony by denying HB exists and that it was all the police - end scene

Cultural Hegemony and Eden Lake
The couple conform to cultural hegemony as they are polite and have a middle class accent making them seem normal because of this and the fact that in the opening sequence they are having fun because their values conform to the dominant ideology. However, the youths don't conform to this ideology - they're loud, rude and aggressive towards the couple to start with - they make the dog bark at the lady scaring her and then they steal the couple's bag, which isn't seen as acceptable behaviour in society. This is then reflected in the clip through the couple's facial expression - the woman looks scared when the dog comes up to her and the man's voice is very authorative towards they youths when asking for the keys and bag back. By using an authoritive tone of voice it suggests to the audience that these youths need to be controlled as their behaviour is wrong, thus reinforcing cultural hegemony. Furthermore, the fact that the man, using his authority, didn't deter the youths who were actually were more violent afterwards (they are seen chasing the couple through the woods; they tied them up; used fire) suggests that they are wild because they don't follow cultural hegemony and thus need to be stopped because of this.

Cultural Hegemony and Ill Mannors
In this video PLan B rips cultural hegemony apart as there's footage of politicians being violent and not being helpful in terms of making socierty better, suggesting that they and their cultural hegemony isn't as acceptable as the British youth subculture, thus challenging the dominant ideology.

Cultural Hegemony and Attack the Bloc
Todorov's theory of equlibrium,  disequlibrium and equlibrium
The equlibrium is disrupted at the beginning when the youths try to mug the lady, however this is portrayed as their equlibrium, which reflects cultural hegemony as they are seen as violent thugs with no respect for authority, so the actual equlibrium is disrupted when the alien comes down and attacks the youths. Equlibrium is then restored when Moses kills the aliens which contrasts and opposes Gramsci's view of cultural hegemony as it wasn't the police who reasserted order in society, it was the youth that caused deviance. This doesn't really fix social class outside of the film as they are still in the same position as before where they are being monitored by the police, however, it does suggest that by working together the working class can overthrow social class to some extent as the audiences opinion of Moses and the youths changed and saw them in a positive light at the end of the film.

Giroux (1997)

• Giroux argues that in media representations youth becomes an 'empty category'
• Media representations of young people are constructed by adults. Because of this they reflect adults concerns, anxieties, and needs
• As a result of this media representations of young people do not necessarily reflect the reality of youth identity
• Skins - drugs, sex, violence

Giroux and Harry Brown

• Youth becomes an 'empty category' - media portraying hoodies badly and judging them as evil and violent before they even get to know them - stereotyping 
• Representation constructed by adults
• Reflect adults concerns, anxieties, and needs - their violence, use of drugs
• Representations do not necessarily reflect the reality of youth identity - small minority and the film is an 18 so only adults will see it - film is focused towards this audience - will exaggerate British youth
• Applying it to Harry Brown
• Who constructed the text?
• Adults - scared about these concerns in the film  - random violence - when they smash the car
• Who is it aimed at?
• M/C - reinforces stereotypes
• Does the text reflect adult anxieties or serve the purposes of adult society? (reinforcing hegemonic values)
• Yes as they all think that British youths are mad, wild, violent like in he film and this just reinforces this ideology 

Eden Lake
Youths are stereotyped as rude - even the lady in the cafe calls them 'little terrors' although this is ironic as she means it in a jokey way, but it's the truth. However, this label becomes the 'empty category' and thus they are portrayed in a stereotypical view throughout the trailer -  a view that reflects adults concerns, anxieties and needs as they are rude, for example, they play their music really loudly at the lake when the audience are first introduced to them and their behaviour continues to worsen as the trailer goes on as they become increasingly violent - boy uses a knife when the man confronts him again, then they tie the couple up and then chase the woman through the woods. The fact that you see their behaviour worsen throughout the trailer does reflect adults views and worries in society as it suggests that youths can not be stopped and they are monsters, like the lady in the cafe said.

Ill Mannors
The video is basically exaggerating the stereotypical view of British youths labelled by the the media causing them to be an 'empty category' that reflect adults concerns, anxieties, and needs. However, it's done ironically, stressing that the adults concerns are exaggerated and the politicians themselves are just as bad. The text is aimed at British youth as they listen to Plan B, however it could also be argued that it's aimed at the older generation as it conveys the message that they aren't the only bad ones, thus not reinforcing hegemonic values. 

Attack the Bloc

The youths do conform to the 'empty category' as they display similar characteristics to those in similar texts like Ill Mannors and Eden Lake initially, however when they fight the aliens they don't conform to the 'empty category' as they are using their violence to protect themselves and the world from these aliens. The fact that they do succeed but are still captured by the police contrasts with the stereotype as now the police are seen as the bad guys for locking the youths up after they saved the day.

Acland 1995

• Media representations of delinquent youths actually reinforce hegemony
• They do this by constructing an idea of 'normal adult and youth behaviour  and contrasting it with deviant youth behaviour which is shown to be unacceptable
• Media representations of young people out of control allows the state to have more control of them (e. media reports about delinquent youths led to ASBOs)
• 'Ideology of protection' - the idea that young people need constant surveillance and monitoring. This happens because youth is the time when young people learn about social roles and values, and allows the state to make sure they conform to hegemonic values

Deviant Youth (Acland 1995) and Harry Brown

• Representations of delinquent youths reinforce hegemony
• 'Normal adult and youth behaviour, contrasted with deviant youth behaviour
• Representations of young people out of control allows the state to have more control
• Ideology of protection - young people need constant surveillance and monitoring  State ensures that they conform o hegemonic values

Applying it to Harry Brown

• The extent to which the text shows young people as in need of control
• Attacking/ vandalising the car and then the people who tr to stop it
• Steal women handbag in tunnel
• killing Lenard 
• Does the text sow young people as behaving in an unacceptable way
• Yes - extremely violent
• does this identify what behavior society thinks is acceptable
• No - not acceptable
• How does the text show class youths to be deviant thus reinforcing m/c hegemony
• 
  
• The thugs themselves made a hierarchy with them at the top - their society - but when HB comes in they lose all of this

Eden Lake
Normal adult and youth behaviour is contrasted with deviant youth behaviour in the trailer as it opens with sunny and bright lighting, the eloquent couple laughing and having fun. This is seems as normal and dominant behaviour as the couple are well dressed and presented and they have a middle class accent which reflects cultural hegemony. The youths however, wear darker and stained clothes which could suggest that they don't have as good lifestyle as the couple, thus being seen by the audience as inferior. Also, after the youths are introduced the lighting used in the trailer darkens, connoting danger and darkness and even evil, therefore suggesting that the youths are the complete opposite of normal as they don't conform to societies dominant values, meaning that they should be controlled because of this, reinforcing hegemony.

Ill Mannors
Representations of delinquent youths in this video reinforce hegemony as they are out of control - they steal, set fire to cars, fight among each other. However the 'normal adult and youth behaviour', contrasted with deviant youth behaviour is actually similar to the deviant youths behaviour - there's a politician who hits a member of a crowd when an egg is thrown at him and David Cameron looks stupid when he hands out 'free money', suggesting that the state are just as bad as the deviant youths. Also, in the lyrics 
                                        "We’ve had it with you politicians
                                         You bloody rich kids never listen
                                     There’s no such thing as broken Britain
                                         We’re just bloody broke in Britain
                                          What needs fixing is the system
                                        Not shop windows down in Brixton
                                               Riots on the television
                                           You can’t put us all in prison!"

it suggests that the state shouldn't have more control as they are just as bad, so something else should be done instead of the ideology of protection as even the state aren't conforming to hegemonic values.

Attack the Bloc
Media representations of delinquent youths in Attack the Bloc initially reinforce hegemony as in the opening scene we see the youths attempting to mug a vulnerable lady which is unnaceptable behaviour and thus needs to be controlled by the police, which they try and do when they bring the lady along with them in the hope of finding her attackers creating the image that the police have more control and reinforcing the ideology of protection. However, when the aliens attack the police officers this view changes as now it's the aliens that need to controlled and monitored - not the youths. Also, it's the youths, not the police who do this which goes against hegemony as it shows that they don't need to be constantly monitored and that the British police force are actually useless.

Cohen (1972)

• Societies appear to be subject, every now and then, to periods of moral panic
• A condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests
• Its nature is presented in a stylized and stereotypical fashion by the mass media
• The effect of a moral panic is to reassert hegemony by allowing a society to make clear what values it does not accept
• Cohen first discussed this with regards to mods and rockers 
• However these days there are still moral panics in regards to youth
• Chavs and hoodies
• Media texts
• London Riots
• Harry Brown - how out of control and violent they are
• Daily news - hear of mugging and stabbing
• Stonehenge - when people went to celebrate summer solstice
• High school shooting in America
• Video nasties

Moral Panics - Cohen 1972

• A person or a group of persons become defined as a threat to societal values
• Presented in a stylized and stereotypical fashion
• Reasserts hegemony by allowing society to define what values it does not accept

Applying it to Harry Brown

• Who is creating moral panics
• The writers who are adults
• In the gangs themselves
• Seeing it through Harry Browns eyes - pov, eyeline match shots 
• Is the panic justified
• Yes as there is a rise, but the media tend to exaggerate stories to sell and grab peoples attention, so there may be a problem, but not as much as they want to make out 
• Is the panic resolved and how?
• Yes by Harry Brown - then the police say that rime has gone down on the estate
• Still rioting at the end though
• We as an audience are feeling better about society and slightly resolved it, but not completely - there's going to be more, the police are bad + we need a Harry Brown
• Still scared about 

Eden Lake
The youths are defined as a threat to the couple early on in the trailer as they set the dog on the woman and they blare Dizzee Rascal from their speakers at the lake. The use of Dizzee Rascal   conforms to youth stereotypes of chavs as he is an iconic rap artist that that particular British youth group listen to. Their behaviour in the clip reinforces societies views and panic because of the way in which they are portrayed: they are rude, aggressive and violent and grow increasingly so throughout the trailer, suggesting that today's society believes that it's a growing problem.  The panic my be exaggerated however as it is a movie trailer and thus edited to intrigue audiences into watching it at the cinema so their behaviour could be exaggerated because of this.

Ill Mannors

"Feed the fear that’s what we've learned" - suggests that the media have blown the situation out of proportion and they're not all like that
The video uses a lot of footage from the London riots as well as dramatised scenes to support it. One reason behind this is because the London Riots in 2012 was a moral panic that was caused by British youths. However, instead of justifying the panic literally, Plan B does it ironically through the stereotypical scenes to 'feed the fear', suggesting that this isn't the real, true image of British Youth - it's one created by middle class politicians like David Cameron. Although the video clearly displays acts of violence and forms of behaviour that aren't acceptable to society it also casts the politicians who are considers respectable members of society in a negative light as they too are violent so the video doesn't reassert hegemony in this sense as it suggests that they are just as bad as the youths they're trying to stereotype and condemn. The panic isn't resolved at the end of the video as they are still throwing petrol bombs and being violent causing the audience to still follow this moral panic despite the fact that Plan B is being ironic.

Attack the Bloc
Initially, they are portrayed as a group of people  defined as a threat to societal values as they are presented in a stylized and stereotypical fashion when they attempt to mug the woman, which initially reasserts hegemony by allowing society to define what values it does not accept. However, when the alien attacks and they have to find away to prevent the earth from being invaded this view is changed as they are the only people that can stop them. Also, the fact that they do succeed portrays them in a positive light that contrasts with the image of the moral panic.

McRobbie (2004)

• Contemporary British TV often contains 'symbolic violence' against the w/c
• These representations empathize m/c dominance and depict the w/c in very negative ways
• If a teenage w/c  girl is pregnant it's hidden not celebrated
• In Harry Brown
• Who is the protagonist?
• Harry Brown
• Antagonist
• The youths
• How are the issues in the text resolved?
• Harry Brown using his m/c ideology to kill them
• The fact that we're seeing it from his m/c viewpoint it shows the audience that what they're doing is wrong 

Eden Lake
It uses 'symbolic violence' against the working class youths in the trailer that depicts them in very negative ways such as the youths initially being rude and anti-social at the beach, then they steal the couples car and later on they harm and tie the couple up. The audience doesn't see how the text is resolved as it is a trailer and thus has been edited to intrigue the audience, however, it suggests that the woman is responsible for resolving the issues as she has to run and get help, thus empathising middle class dominance as the middle class have to control this violent working class. 

Ill Mannors
The music video does depict British youth in a negative way, for example there are a group of youths in an abandoned car park beating someone up and a girl filming it, then she joins in; footage of a group of them vandalising a car; footage of the riots; them stealing things; fighting amongst themselves for the stolen tv;  but it also depicts the middle class negatively as well. For example, when a politician assaults a member of the crowd when an egg is thrown at him 
inferring that the dominant middle class are hypocrites. The issue of their violence isn't resolved in the text, however we do see footage of the police and authority trying and failing to deal with them. Also, the video is from Plan B's view not the dominant middle class but he's still displaying symbolic violence of the working class; this could be done ironically to show that they have the wrong idea.

Attack the Bloc

Again, the youths are initially violent when mugging the lady and there are other scenes where symbolic violence is used, such as the drug dealer using the gun, however as the film goes on it is clear that the youths are using violence to protect themselves and their bloc, thus creating a positive image that needs to be celebrated as the police (a figure of authority) are ineffective.

Gerbner (1986)

• Studied the effect of television on people's perceptions of crime
• Found that people who watched a lot of tv tended to overestimate the levels of crime - 'mean world syndrome'
• Because news reports, TV dramas, films, contain lots of representations of crime over time this influenced people's perceptions of the world - 'cultivation theory'
• The repetitive pattern of TV's mass produced message and images influences people's understanding of the world

Applying Gerbner's theory to Harry Brown

• If this text supports/ opposes 'mean world syndrome'
• It supports it - everyone has a weapon - form of defence - against what?
• Cultivation theory
• People will think it's true - they don't live on the estate - have to go on these representations so will believe it - may even go out with guns to protect themselves
• The message overall contained in the text?
• W/c are evil
• Portrays the message that you need to protect yourself against them

Eden Lake
Eden Lake supports 'mean world syndrome' as the youths are introduced playing loud music and having dogs which is a familiar image on and off screens and thus because the text contains this and growing levels of violence as the trailer goes on it will influence people's perceptions of the world and thus British youths as violent.

Ill Mannors
The music video also supports 'mean world syndrome' but there is a sense of irony as he's listing the stereotypes as he raps which suggests that it may not actually be true because of this. However, the images of the groups of youths in housing estates, abandoned car parks along with the real footage of the riots does reinforce cultivation theory as it reinforces the images the audience sees in the news. Also, there is another message that the politicians and authority figures are as bad as British youths as you see them punching random people, which suggests that the only reason British youth are this way is because of the middle class, which is the opposite message to what texts like Harry Brown and Eden Lake convey.

Attack the Bloc
There is an element of 'mean world syndrome' - especially at the beginning and then when the drug dealer appears, however the image of this 'mean world' is distorted and changes meaning when the aliens invade as the youths are no longer seen as the reason for this 'mean world'. This also impacts on cultivation theory as the youths violence is now seen as a result of protection against the aliens. However, there are still aspects of their delenquent subculture throughout the film which reinforced the typical view of cultivation theory as they still use the fireworks, still have a knife or a gun.