1. MEDIA THEORIES
LO: To apply theories on the representations of
youth, cultural identities and society to Harry Brown

2. GRAMSIC (1971)
 Cultural Hegemony: This is the idea that one
social class (usually the middle class) 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.

3. CULTURAL HEGEMONY
 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.
 Can anyone think of any examples that promote or
oppose this idea?

4. CULTURAL HEGEMONY CONT…
 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 this to more positive
representations of working class youth which
challenge the perception of working class as thugs.

5. CULTURAL HEGEMONY (GRAMSIC
1971) AND
HARRY BROWN
 Cultural Hegemony:  How can we apply this
one social class theory to Harry Brown?
dominate a society by
 Think about:
making their values
appear normal  Todorov‟s theory of
equilibrium, disequilibrium
and equilibrium.
 Other social classes  What else can we call
accept these values as equilibrium?
the normal
 What/who threatens this
equilibrium?
 Media to promote the
ideas of the ruling  How does this fix social
class. class outside of the film?

6. 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.
 Can you think of any examples of this?

7. EMPTY CATEGORY (GIROUX 1997)
AND HARRY BROWN
 Youth becomes an  How can we apply this
‘empty category’ theory to Harry Brown?
 Representations  Think about:
constructed by adults.
 Who constructed the text?
 Reflect adults concerns,  Who it is aimed at?
anxieties, and needs.
 Does the text reflect adult
 Representations do not anxieties or serve the
necessarily reflect the purposes of adult society?
(reinforcing hegemonic
reality of youth identity. values).

8. 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.g. 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.

9. DEVIANT YOUTH (ACLAND 1995)
AND HARRY BROWN
 Representations of delinquent  Apply this theory to Harry
youths reinforce hegemony. Brown.
 Think about:
 „Normal‟ adult and youth  The extent to which the text
shows young people as in
behaviour, contrasted with need of control.
deviant youth behaviour
 Does the text show young
people as behaving in an
 Representations of young unacceptable way?
people out of control allows the
state to have more control  If so does this identify what
behaviour society thinks is
acceptable? (i.e. hegemonic)
 Ideology of Protection: young  How does the text show class
people need constant youths to be deviant thus
surveillance and monitoring. reinforcing middle class
hegemony.
State ensures that they
conform to hegemonic values.

10. 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.

11. MORAL PANICS (COHEN 1972)
 Cohen first discussed this with regards to mods and
rockers (very old stuff I know)
 However these days there are still morals panics
with regards to youth.
 For example the idea of “chavs” and “hoodies” may
be considered a moral panic.
 How would this theory
explain this?

12. MORAL PANICS (COHEN 1972)
AND HARRY BROWN
 Moral Panic:  How can we apply this to
Harry Brown?
 A person or group of
persons become defined  Think about:
as a threat to societal
values  Who is creating the „Moral
Panic‟?
 Presented in a stylized  Is the panic justified?
and stereotypical fashion
 Is the panic resolved?
 Reasserts hegemony by  How?
allowing society to define
what values it does not
accept.

13. MCROBBIE (2004)
 Contemporary British TV often contains ‘symbolic
violence’ against the working class,
 These representations emphasise middle class
dominance and depict the working class in very
negative ways

14. SYMBOLIC VIOLENCE
(MCROBBIE 2004)
AND HARRY BROWN
 ‘Symbolic Violence’  How can we apply this
against the working to Harry Brown?
class emphasises
middle class  Think about:
dominance
 Who is the protagonist
and antagonist in the
text?
 How are the issues in
the text resolved?

15. GERBNER (1986)
 Gerbner studied the effect of television on people‟s
perception of crime.
 He found that people who watched a lot of television
tended to overestimate the levels of crime. He called
this ‘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. This is called
‘cultivation theory’
 The repetitive pattern of television‟s mass-produced
message and images influences people‟s understanding
of the world

16. MEAN WORLD SYNDROME (GERBNER
1986) AND HARRY
BROWN
 Mean World Syndrome:  How can we apply this to
People exposed to large Harry Brown?
amounts of media tend to
overestimate the levels of  Think about:
crime.
 If this text supports or
 Cultivation Theory: opposes „mean world
exposure to negative syndrome‟
representations
influences peoples  The message overall
perception of the world contained in the text?
 If this message can be
applied to „cultivation
theory‟

17. APPLYING THEORY
HOMEWORK
 Write up each of the theories we have covered in your
own words.
 Gramsci (1971), Cultural Hegemony
 Giroux (1997), Empty Category
 Acland (1995), Deviant Youth, Ideology of Protection
 Cohen (1972), Moral Panic
 McRobbie (2004), Symbolic Violence
 Gerbner (1986), Mean World Syndrome, Cultivation Theory
 Apply these theories to the other texts we have studied
 Eden Lake
 Ill Manors
 Attack the Block

18. Support for Homework
Theorist Year Concepts Your explanation
Giroux 1997 Youth as „Empty Category‟
Acland 1995 Deviant Youth,
Ideology of protection
Gramsci 1971 Cultural hegemony
Cohen 1972 Moral Panic
McRobbie 2004 Symbolic Violence
Gerbner 1986 Mean World Syndrome,
Cultivation Theory

19. ESSAY QUESTION:
How are young people represented
in contemporary media?
LO: To write a plan for this essay using the texts we have studied.

20. ESSAY QUESTION
How are young people represented in
contemporary media?
 Introduction:  Paragraph 2:
 Main Text
 State argument (link to  Examples
theory)  Link to theory
 Identify texts
 Continue paragraphs as
necessary…
 Paragraph 1:
 Main text  Conclusion:
 Summary of key points in
 Examples P1, P2 etc…
 Link to theory  Summary of overall
argument