One weekend in 1964 residents and holiday-makers in the seaside towns of Brighton, Bournemouth and Margate, were rocked by a sudden influx of young, cool gangs. They were Mods and Rockers, and the culture clash that occurred that weekend, described in the articles below in The Daily Sketch, Daily Mirror and others, has become iconic in the history of youth culture.
Mods and Rockers were easily identifiable by their distinctive clothing styles: the Mods wore Fred Perry and Ben Sherman designer suits, covered by a Parka jacket; while the Rockers wore leather biker jackets and jeans. Mods also rode European scooters like Lambrettas and Vespas and listened to a mix of Motown, ska and bands such as The Who.
The Rockers favoured motorbikes and listened to American rock and roll such as Eddie Cochrane and Elvis. Although the movements were short-lived, violent clashes between the two gangs were seized on by the media and used by moralists to exemplify the outrageous liberties enjoyed by Britain’s youths.
The seafront vandalism and violence described in the newspaper article was later made into the 1979 film Quadrophenia.
The video below shows how the media in the 1960s reported the clashes between mods and rockers and considers whether or not the media coverage exaggerated the scale of events leading to a 'moral panic' in relation to the behaviour of these youth subcultures.
This is evidence of historical creation of collective identity for British youth cultures.
This is evidence of historical creation of collective identity for British youth cultures.
Question
In what ways do the media texts referenced above create a representation of young people as being a danger to society?
Media has been a powerful medium in recent decades due to the multiple platforms available, as well as the easy of access. In this case, print media was much powerful in the 1960's and influenced UK residents with the information it possessed. As a result of the dominance of newspapers and books, whatever information that was included on them would be believed by audiences which would made print media even more high-powered.
In Daily Sketch, the tagline 'WILDEST ONES YET" in capital instantly shows a sense of emergency which will make people buy the magazine. Also, the word "yet" suggests that this event could be devastating for UK residents, which makes the people in question (Mods and Rockers) come across as wild and out-of-control. The subtitle "Beach crowds take cover from battling Mods and Rockers" also gives a bad image on young people as the phrase 'take cover' suggests that beach crowds were trying to escape the battling clans in order to stay alive. This almost gives the UK residents the impression that the Mods and Rockers are terrorists and are causing massive damage to the country, as demonstrated in the picture below.
This picture's heading says "'Wild Ones' invade seaside - 97 arrests". The high number of arrests will alert readers of the danger. Also, the verb 'invade' will make readers think that they will cause extreme chaos in the designated area, subsequently will qualify the trouble-makers as delinquents. The beginning of the article reveals that over 1,000 teenagers fought, drunk and rampaged in a seaside town. Also, the word 'desperate' suggests the gravity of the situation and immediately informs readers of the dangers that the people in question could cause to other people.
Moreover, the coverage of the Mods and Rockers' clashes on the media has deeply impacted on the depiction of teenagers in the media. Indeed, the exaggerated tag lines and headings (which must have helped sales) unfortunately helped establish all teenagers of all ages as trouble-makers. The negative depiction could have arguably helped (re-in)forcing stereotypes of teenagers. The common negative teen stereotypes today are rebellious, rude and disrespectful, which were often associated with Mods and Rockers.
Therefore, the print media has indeed created a representation of young people as being a danger to society due to the exaggerated tag lines and headings, the use of emotive language to warn the reader, the high numbers of arrests featured on the front pages as well as pictures showing arrests or even attacks which shocks readers but also reinforces stereotypes. Unfortunately, the negative depiction of teenagers during that period has highly influenced readers and made them almost prejudice against all of them.
In Daily Sketch, the tagline 'WILDEST ONES YET" in capital instantly shows a sense of emergency which will make people buy the magazine. Also, the word "yet" suggests that this event could be devastating for UK residents, which makes the people in question (Mods and Rockers) come across as wild and out-of-control. The subtitle "Beach crowds take cover from battling Mods and Rockers" also gives a bad image on young people as the phrase 'take cover' suggests that beach crowds were trying to escape the battling clans in order to stay alive. This almost gives the UK residents the impression that the Mods and Rockers are terrorists and are causing massive damage to the country, as demonstrated in the picture below.
This picture shows Mods carrying beach chairs and throwing them on Rockers.
This picture's heading says "'Wild Ones' invade seaside - 97 arrests". The high number of arrests will alert readers of the danger. Also, the verb 'invade' will make readers think that they will cause extreme chaos in the designated area, subsequently will qualify the trouble-makers as delinquents. The beginning of the article reveals that over 1,000 teenagers fought, drunk and rampaged in a seaside town. Also, the word 'desperate' suggests the gravity of the situation and immediately informs readers of the dangers that the people in question could cause to other people.
Moreover, the coverage of the Mods and Rockers' clashes on the media has deeply impacted on the depiction of teenagers in the media. Indeed, the exaggerated tag lines and headings (which must have helped sales) unfortunately helped establish all teenagers of all ages as trouble-makers. The negative depiction could have arguably helped (re-in)forcing stereotypes of teenagers. The common negative teen stereotypes today are rebellious, rude and disrespectful, which were often associated with Mods and Rockers.
Therefore, the print media has indeed created a representation of young people as being a danger to society due to the exaggerated tag lines and headings, the use of emotive language to warn the reader, the high numbers of arrests featured on the front pages as well as pictures showing arrests or even attacks which shocks readers but also reinforces stereotypes. Unfortunately, the negative depiction of teenagers during that period has highly influenced readers and made them almost prejudice against all of them.
No comments:
Post a Comment