The main theme of 'Harry Brown' 2009, Daniel Barber is the representations of British youth in South London. The films presentation of British youth represents the attitudes of youths very negatively and they are seen as a threat to society, Cohen 1972 'Moral Panic'. This is shown when the youths set alight to Harry's friend and when the youths are seen abusing a couple and seen with guns. The British youths in 'Harry Brown' are firstly represented as if they have gained dominance over any other social group or class this representation could be shown because perhaps the director, Daniel Barber, believes that society has to be ruled or dominated by one particular group, Gramsci 'Cultural Hegemony'. Gramsci also believes films that represent youths in a negative way help to teach people right from wrong therefore the main theme of this film could be to represent youths in a negative way to teach youth that are watching the film what is right from wrong. However, throughout the film the cultural hegemony switches from the youths to Harry Brown who gains power over them.
The main theme represented in 'Quadrophenia' 1979, Franc Roddam is similar to those in 'Harry Brown', however, because of the time difference the actions the youths take in 'Harry Brown' seem much more extreme than in 'Quadrophenia'. Death and fighting with knives is in 'Harry Brown' whereas 'Quadrophenia' just shows fighting and rioting. This could be because of the explosion of technology, guns are now more accessible and perhaps now we have too much disposable income and perhaps the council supports this stereotype of youths too much and therefore gives them no insentive in life. Although the representations of youths in 'Quadrophenia' seem much less extreme in this day and age in 1979 the representations of youths would have been seen as a 'Moral Panic', Cohen 1972.
The ideologies of gangs in 'Harry Brown' are probably those similar to a prisoner because the homes they live in cell like, with thin walls so you can hear all noises and the rooms are so small with everyone close together, the environment they live in is poor and therefore more arguments are caused. In 'Harry Brown' the youths are living in flats which is a stereotypical view of 'bad' youths and this helps to portray the 'Moral Panic', Cohen because this group of people are percieved as a major threat to society. Youths in 'Harry Brown' rebel against society probably because they want to gain power and be recognised similar to Gramsci's theory 'Cultural Hegemony' where he believes that society can be ruled by one social group and in 'Harry Brown' the youths are trying to gain this.
The ideologies of gangs in 'Quadrophenia' are somewhat similar to those in 'Harry Brown' in that they want to rebel however in 'Quadrophenia' I think the reason why the youths feel the need to rebel is because it was post world was three and therefore they were free again because they had more freedom to do their own things and more money and technology was available so people went wild and did crazy things.
The parent role in 'Harry Brown' is very rarely shown this probably reflects the neglect the youths have been through and shows why they act in such a way because they have been ignored and not brought up learning right from wrong. However, the parent role (uncle) in 'Harry Brown' is shown to be just as bad as the youth and almost sticks up for his 'son' even though he has murdered someone. It is ironic that the 'parent' figure is not actually his parent and could suggest that broken families also are the result of violent youths. The mother shown in the film is shown crying after her son gets arrested this suggests her weakness and inability to look after her son which represents the stereotypical views of youths that live in these type of areas and suggests that the parents could be to blame for their behaviour.
The parent role in 'Quadrophenia' is extremely different to that in 'Harry Brown' because the parents are discussed with their sons actions and kicks him out the house, quite rightly so. I feel that parents in 'Harry Brown' arent shown to be angry with their children probably because this type of behaviour has become more common and known that the parents either think it is normal or are too scared to react in the way that they did in 'Quadrophenia'.
The representations of youths havent changed they are still negative views and the director seems to persue the youths to be bad people. However, the one representation that has strongly changed is of the parents, the 1979 film 'Quadrophenia' represents parents to be teaching their children right from wrong and to have more morals whereas the parent figures in the 2009 film 'Harry Brown' are represented almost as if they accept the way their children are because it is almost seen as the norm now. It is also shows that the parent figures are much less powerful.
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