Historical Case Study Notes

1.)Discuss the representation and ideological values of Jimmy, Steph and Kevin. Use textual examples to back up points made.

Jimmy

Jimmy character relies heavily on the 'Collective identity' for his own identity. This is symbolized , as Jimmy’s downward spiral is the personification of a mod. Jimmy strong connection to the mod culture is clearly shown in the opening scene. Jimmy buys a large amount 'Blueys' for the dealer outside the club. As the movie progresses 'Blueys' are integral to Mod Culture. His need to be wanted and needed is further personified by the images on the wall of Jimmy room. Mod culture also represents the majority of his ideological values. Like much of the youth of the time his had a dead end job, and had a strong distaste for the older generation. Jimmy need for the Mod Culture is clearly shown in the conversation with his unlikely Kevin. “That's why I'm a Mod see, because I don't want to be like everyone else.” Throughout the movie Jimmy ideologies are tried and broken through the course of the movie. The most prominent is the truth about his mentor 'Ace Face' which leads him to almost commit suicide.

Steph

Steph values can be seen as lacks or non-existence throughout the movie. Even though she 'hangs' around with the Mod the culture does not dictate her life, unlike her cohort Jimmy. Her promiscuous nature maybe a representation of her strength (It was the 70s Ladies strong WHAT!) thus her detached view of the Mods. Unlike Jimmy who need and want to be accepted is all his life is. Personally I find her the most grounded character in the cast, unlike many of the other she is not searching for anything she is just living her life, perhaps a little to loosely than acceptable. Or it could be just my soft spot and me for promiscuous blondes who love bikes.  

Kevin

Kevin is Jimmy's old friend from his past; he joined the army to subvert the norm and that failed. Now he is a 'Rocker'. The opposition of Jimmy's gang of Mods, this does make their friendship tenuous at best. But when they first meet in a public bathhouse they are friendly and nice. This is due to their lack of attire this soon changes when they meet for some 'Grub'. 'What you dressed like that for?' Jimmy questions Kevin. Unlike Jimmy, Kevin believes that everyone is the same underneath "We are  just the same Jimmy" Kevin implores Jimmy to reconsider. Kevin ideology is to live life for fun, not to the extent of Steph and not for a group of people, Jimmy; but for him. When he is attacked by the Mods and sees Jimmy there he screams and shouts for him to stop them. This shows his belief of there friendship is strong when is reality it is dwarfed in comparison to Jimmy need and want to be Mod.   

2.) What examples of Mise en scene reinforce the idea of youth culture?

The Mise-en Scene was imperative for the representation of the two 'gangs' in the movie. The Mods ha there tightly fitted suits, parker coats, Lambretta scooters and a strange need for 'Blueys'. In almost direct opposition the rockers worn huge leather jackets and big combat boots and ride around on huge loud motorcycles. They identify with the older 50s rock generation whilst the Mods love the contemporary indie music. An important scene is when Jimmy meets Kevin at the diner their renounced friendship quickly deteriorates as they notice they’re different attire “What you dressed like that for?” Jimmy asks Kevin. This divide is personified by clothes. The clothes also refer to the ‘Stickiness of labels’ Jimmy was arrested for just were similar clothes. He was rioting but at the time of his arrest his was innocent, damn you Police. Their mode of transportation becomes more and more important as the film progresses, as it becomes the symbol of Mod culture. The building of this symbolism is needed as the end scene shows Jimmy shredding his Mod restraints as the bike goes over the edge.

Jimmy parents see him as strange and anti-social and waiting for something bad to happen with him. This links with the attire as the clothes Jimmy wears gets a reaction from his parents. When he wears skinny jeans that you have to put on wet, his Dad calls him an abundance of names. In the same scene Jimmy is also mocked for his taste in music. The recurrence of distasteful names is that Jimmy isn’t ‘Normal’ or not ‘Right’. This allows us to see were his hatred of the older generation, stems from.   

3.)“Identity is complicated” – How can this quote be applied to the character of Jimmy?

This Identity that Jimmy carefully constructed his life around is a lie. He joined the Mods to ‘Belong’ and to be different from others, ‘to find himself’. But by doing so he is conforming to the culture he so disparately despises. The title Quadrophenia refers to the fallacy that schizophrenia is having or hearing two personalities, Quadrophenia is a play on that concept as the lead protagonist has four different personalities as he is trying to find himself. He is a Son, Mod, Worker, and friend. He is trying to discover who he really is. And what he finds isn’t pretty. The most ambiguous of the four personalities is the ‘Friend’; this refers to the friendship he shares with the rocker Kevin. His struggle to keep the Mod culture at bay whilst around Kevin tests Jimmy friendship with his other friends. His resolve is broken when he and other Mod go out with the intention of hurting some rockers, as they attacked one of his friends. Once they find one, it is Kevin; Jimmy breaks down and doesn’t know what to do and just runs away. The climax of the movie a dark and unnerving ideology is presented that the four personalities he is trying to mediate don’t exist. (Purely metaphorical). He is not a son because his parent are ashamed of him and don’t understand him. He is not a Mod as the Leader ‘Ace Face’ is liar and his ideology is shattered by that ‘Bombshell’. He is not a worker not only because was fired but he didn’t make an impact or connect wit his dead end job; and finally he is not a friend to Kevin as he helped with the brutal beating of him. This Jimmy has with nothing he is no one by the end scene. His ‘coming of age story’ has lead him to discover he is nothing. His life a fallacy, fortunately he decides not to ride of cliff and end it all. (Being a cliché is bad for the soul).             

  

 

4.) Can you draw any similarities between the youth representation of the past compared to youth representation today? 5.) Discuss how Stan Cohen’s theory can be related to this film.

        

Cohen’s theory of Moral panic and the demonization of youths in the media holds strong in the film. The Moral Panic of the mass media can be seen in the headlines that Jimmy places on the wall of his bedroom. But the most prominent example is the huge gang fights at Brighton; Jimmy was arrested for just being there. This is a societal commentary that youths must be guilty, if present. This is a clear link to the London riots many people were arrested for simply being there. This not to detract from the clear evidence of huge number of people being involved. The arresting procedure at first glance consisted of a check list of one thing ‘young’ you check that box and your in the nick. This pessimistic view of youth culture and the affect it could have on the youth of today can be summed up is a simple quote from the dark TV program ‘Wire in the Blood’ “Don’t you think is you tell a little girl that she is evil, over and over again, she might start to believe it?”. Could the ‘Moral panic of social have a more harmful effect on the youth than any ‘Gang or Mob Culture’.       

Clockwork Orange

2.How was the film reported by the press and how did the youths of the time relate to
the film?

The was reports of ‘Clockwork Gangs’ committing crimes after watching the movie. This is narrow minded view of the human psyche watch something violent and become violent. Silly. If anything being exposed to violence will allow you to view it in real life with a slightly detached apathy that can allow you to process the distasteful scenes easier any with less lasting damage. But back to Clockwork. Despite the media portraying the film is vulgar and promoting violence. The youths said it did the opposite it is a representation of the unemployment and hooliganism in 1970s Britain. And detests violence as it is seen in negative light. This can show two things; the extent the mass media will resort to evoke ‘Moral Panic’ or how well the youth of today can lie. The effect of the movie on the youth cannot be imperially measured or tested so we can only theorize what the movie could have or has done to the youth culture. What we do know is that the director Stanley Kubrick removed the film from distributers saying he cannot live with the guilty of any one being harmed because of the movie. This shows the extent of the public reaction to Kubrick’s Masterpiece. But we can measure the so called ‘Moral Panic’ the Mass media evoked during the film short release. The Newspaper headline such as ‘Clockwork Orange Gang kill defenseless homeless man’, this can be described as sensationalizing headline, as it evokes an overly emphasized version of events. The news outlet made an arbitrary connection between this unfortunate death and a scene from Kubrick’s ‘Clockwork Orange’. There was no solid proof of an explicit connection. This quick jump to a connection has been seen in a more contemporary context, the London Riots rocked Britain’s foundations on August 4^th they continued for many days spanning multiple cities. The Media coverage as the riots started to intensify focused on the Youth and their role in the events. This specific focus only narrowed as the riots continued, reaching its peak when the ‘Mass Media’ accused the Youth of being the main driving force or even the sole perpetrator of the Riots. Weeks after the riots statistics were published by The Guardian showing the demographics of those arrested during the riots. Surprising the number of ‘Youth’ (A loose term, in this context will refer to those under the age of 18) arrested was under 50%. So the accurate media coverage wasn’t so accurate after all.                       
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3.How can Stan Cohen’s theory be related to this film?

Alex and his droogs can be seen, as the embodiment of ‘Folk Devils’ Cohen loves so much. They subvert the norms of the society, as ‘they always up for some ultra-violence’. This positions Alex and his droogs as a content culture as they reject the rule of society and live by their own. This links to Stan Cohen’s ‘Social Deviants’ they are marginalized by society; this is not explicitly highlighted in the movie, but the younger audience stated there was similarities between the movie and the level of unemployment at the time of its release.