Monday, 12 March 2012

Quadrophenia

1) Discuss the representation and ideological values of Jimmy, Steph and Kevin 
in Quadrophenia. Use textual examples to back up your point made.
Jimmy:
Group identity important to Jimmy as he likes to be part of a gang. Jimmy 

wants to be different and more alternative to all the other mods.
Scenes with Jimmy and his dad and at work show how he is stereotyped 
and shows a divide between middles class and working class.
There is also a divide between youths and adults, Jimmy and his dad- '
got to be part of a gang, haven't you got a mind of your own!'
All of these reinforce the representations of youth and the binary oppositions in the film.

2) What examples of mise en scene reinforce the idea of youth culture?
The misuse of drugs within the film as Jimmy and the mods constantly have bags 

of amphetamine pills, known as 'blues'.
The noisy mopeds are a contributing factor reinforcing the idea of youth culture in 
Quadrophenia as the mods all drive around on a moped. The noisiness of them shows 
the rowdiness of the gang of mods that drive the mopeds.
The clothing of the mods is also a factor as Jimmys dad asks 'why are you dressing 
like a freak?'the mods believe their clothing is a way to separate themselves from 
the rest of society and make them different to the rockers.

3) What ideologies are present within the film?
Sub cultural ideaology
Living for the here and now
Dominant ideology of being in a gang
Them and us - (mods Vs rockers and soceity) - binary oppositions 

(my generation - young V old)

4) How can Stan Cohen's theory be related to this film?
In Quadrophenia british youths are represented using Cohens 1972's theory of 

moral panic. Cohens theory of moral panic consists of an episode in a period of time when 
a group or a person alone emerges to become defined as a threat to society. In Quadrophenia 
this is shown by the two conflicting groups in the 1960s, these groups were the mods and the rockers. 
The disputes between these two groups usually took place over the overlapping of territories.

In Quadrophenia, the youths are shown in two seperate groups, the mods and the rockers, 

and they are shown rebelling against eachother. This is for them to rebel against their parents, 
against the law and against themselves in some ways. In Quadrophenia, radicalism is shown 
in the way that the youths are reacting against the post war conditions, now the war is over they 
are more free to conform to social groups and more able to be more self expressionate.

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