This document provides notes and analysis on the 1979 film Quadrophenia. It discusses: 1) The characters of Jimmy, Steph, and Kevin and how they represent the mod and rocker subcultures of 1960s London youth culture. 2) Examples of mise-en-scene in the film that reinforce ideas of youth culture, such as posters on Jimmy's wall and fashion. 3) How the quote "Identity is complicated" can be applied to Jimmy's character development over the course of the film. 4) Similarities between representations of youth culture in the past and today, including the role of cliques and media portrayals.

1. Historical Case Study Notes
Quadrophenia (1979) Dir. Frank Roddam
1. Discuss the representation and ideological values of Jimmy, Steph and
Kevin. Use textual examples to back up points made.
. Jimmy –Throughout the film Jimmy is portrayed as a person who is
proud of his mod culture identity. He feels as though he needs to be
part of a gang to be somebody and that this what he needs to be a
success in life. This is shown in the scene on Brighton beach in which
he is shown as part of a collective who are all chanting „We are the
mods‟. He doesn‟t question his identity until the scene in which his
friend Kevin (a rocker) is being attacked by a group of mods. This puts
him in a bad position as he doesn‟t know whether to help his friend due
to their opposed cultures so he leaves.
. Steph – In the film Steph is portrayed as a promiscuous character.
This is shown by the fact that she has a fling with Jimmy during the
Brighton Beach sequence and then shortly after when Jimmy returns to
London after paying his bail she has already moved onto one of
Jimmy‟s friends. The mod culture doesn‟t mean as much to Steph as it
does to Jimmy as she is settled into a job and aims to be more
successful in life whereas most of the mods tend to just life in the
current moment and not think much about the future.
. Kevin – Kevin is Jimmy‟s rocker friend who has recently left the army.
Though he has the appearance of a rocker (portrayed through his
clothing and taste in music) he doesn‟t seem to be affected by the
social conventions of his subculture. He doesn‟t seem to e as bothered
by the war between the Mods and the Rockers and sees all people as
equals. This is shown in the scene in which him and Jimmy are in in
Jimmy‟s back garden trying to fix his scooter and he questions Jimmy
on his mod views. Jimmy says that you need to be in a gang to be
somebody and then Kevin says that no matter who you are, there will
always be somebody more powerful to tell you what to do.
2. What examples of mise en scene reinforce the idea of youth culture?
. There are many uses of Mise en scene within the film to show the
youth culture. One example is the posters and images that Jimmy
keeps on his wall. They depict bands and musicians that were
referenced with the youth at the time. Also the use of fashion within the
film shows identity and youth culture. This is because in all generations
younger people tend to dress differently from their elders and this can
allow people to be stereotyped with certain cliques and groups of the
current younger generation.
3. “Identity is complicated” – How can this quote be applied to the
character of Jimmy?

2. . This can be applied to Jimmy in the sense that in the start of
„Quadrophenia‟ he is proud of who he is and he is proud to call himself
a mod as this seems to give he life meaning and direction as he strives
to be known within the mod world. Towards the end of the film,
especially after the Brighton Beach riot scene, his life starts to fall apart
and he realizes that even the people that he looked up to in the mod
world aren‟t what they appear to be. A character called „Ace‟ shows
this. In the film he appears to be high up in the mod hierarchy as he
has many people, including Jimmy, that respect and idolize him. At the
end of the film when Jimmy returns to Brighton after having an identity
crisis he discover that Ace is nothing more than a bellboy for a hotel.
4. Can you draw any similarities between the youth representation of the
past compared to youth representation today?
. There similarities within today‟s youth culture and the youth culture
back then. This is because in both eras there were cliques. These
allow us to identify and stereotype people to certain groups and also
enforce the fact that identity can‟t possibly be individual as almost all
young people seem to be part of some sort of clique which share the
same collective identity. This can be said for the Mods and Rockers of
back then and the same for maybe Chavs and Indie people of today.
All younger people were given the same bleak image by the media
back then and today in some way or another. Back then it was the case
of the Brighton Beach riots which made people fearful of Mods and
Rockers and the gang violence between them. In modern times it was
the London riots which showed younger people as being deviant and
aggressive. The media showed all younger people just rioting and
looting shops for the sake of something to do. This created a moral
panic.
5. Discuss how Stan Cohen‟s theory can be related to this film.
. Stan Cohen‟s theory describes young people as „Folk Devils‟. By this
he means that all young people are represented as evil and deviants.
This is related to the film because this is the way that the young people
are represented, especially with themes such as sex, violence and
drugs. The theory of moral panic also applies within this film as there is
a scene in the film that shows Jimmy pinning a newspaper article to his
wall of riots between mods and rockers. This shows that the mass
media were reporting the incidents in a way the society that could raise
awareness of these „Folk Devils‟ and create a moral panic.