How are young people represented in contempary British film?

I will analyse 3 contemporary British films to look at how they present British youth.

Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)

The main protagonist of the film, Eggsy is a perfect example of a stereotypical British youth. He is presented as a 'chavy' looking character, with his cockney accent and typical attire of a tracksuit. The way that the films makers portray Eggsy and his friends at the start of the film is very contradictory to the British youth stereotype, as his is straight away seen as a smart character, as he knows when to back away from a fight, as is seen when another group of youths initiate a fight with Eggsy. When the other group returns later on in the film, they become more aggressive, another stereotype of British youth. As the other group stand over Eggsy and Galahad, the camera looks up towards the other group, making them see, bigger than they actually are, this also shows how the youths 'look down' on Eggsy and Galahad as if they were not important at all. The dialect also used widely to represent youth as all of the aggressive youths, Eggsy included have a very broad cockney accent and continue to degrade the older generation, especially when the so called leader of the aggressive youths refers to Galahad as 'granddad'. Throughout most of the film, where youth are shown on screen, the youth tend to look either angry or strong in their facial expressions. This is evident when Eggsy's rival glares at both Eggsy and Galahad, looking to try and intimidate them both, and seems happy with himself by laughing and smiling when Galahad gets up to leave. When the film looks at London, it shows a very urban, almost run down area of London, and this would be used to further back the idea that the youth of the area would have a tough upbringing, and therefore, stereotypically, would be harsh, aggressive people. The two major locations used in London, are a cheap, rough- looking estate, where Eggsy has always lived, and a local pub, where the aggressive youths are usually found. The stereotype of aggressive British youths is presented perfectly within the pub, when all of the aggressive youths attempt to fight Galahad, as they use knives and even a gun to try and take him down. This creates the idea that all youths are criminals and are not afraid to seriously harm someone. When Eggsy and his friends steal a car near the beginning of the film, the song played is Bonkers, which is an Urban/ Hip- Hop song. The 'hip hop' genre is typically associated with British youth. Both the song choice and the act of stealing a car, reinforce the stereotypes about British youth presented within Kingsman: The Secret Service.

The Riot Club (2014)

In comparison to the rough setting of urban London in Kingsman, The Riot Club focuses more on the more 'well- off', wealthier youths, who attend Oxford University. So just from that alone, it is easy to tell that the stereotypes about these British youths will be very different, despite both being set in London. On the topic of camera, it is very rare that in the Riot Club, the camera focuses on just one of the characters, it almost always shows the youths in a group, representing them as a collective. This is a way for the film makers to represent how many youths need each other and, could go along with the stereotype that youth mainly travel in large groups, most commonly referred to now, as gangs. Also, the camera cuts used are not very fast, they show how laid back many youth can be, however, this could just be seen as another stereotype towards wealthier youth. All the characters who attend 'The Riot Club', and Oxford University, portrayed in the film, speak in a very posh accent, or 'The Queens English'. Straight away, this is a stereotype towards the wealthy and those who live an 'upper- class' lifestyle, however, it could go against the overall stereotype of British youth, this is because one main theme for The Riot Club is that not everyone is who they say they are. For example, the stereotype for 'upper- class' people is a very laid back attitude with not much involvement with crime, anarchy or chaos, however, the Riot Club disproves that stereotype. The attire used for the members of the Riot Club are very old fashioned, formal attires. With the majority of the clothes being suits, either classic, retro or modern. I think that the choice of attire for the cast is a clear representation of the type of rich, stuck- up youth that the film makers wanted to present in their film. However, like the attitude, the choice of attire for the cast is also a disproval of the typical British youth stereotype. In the film, the members of the Riot Club usually have the camera at an angle which looks up at the cast, this, along with other things, such as the cast having their heads held high, help to portray the youth as believing that they are better than everyone else. This does follow the typical stereotype of British youth, as the camera angle helps to show how the characters within the film would want the viewer to look up to them in some importance. I believe that the film helps to serve its purpose, to provide another vantage point on the stereotypes of British youth, and how different backgrounds and up bringing's can change the personality of anyone, especially the British youth. The film also helps to show that stereotypes are not always true, which is usually the case.

The Inbetweeners Movie (2011)

The Inbetweeners movie shows a unique standing on the lives and antics of the British youth, as it is very middle class based, as apposed to the very rough upbringings that are shown within Kingsman the Secret Service, and the almost spoon- fed, upper class attitudes presented in The Riot Club. It is appealing as it is very easy for a teenage audience to empathise with the four main characters, and therefore can see how stereotypes are presented, and how British youth are represented as a whole in the modern day. The Inbetweeners movie also is unique as it shows how the culture shared by British youth is received by a foreign country. A lot of the camera shots used in the film are long shots, with a few close ups being used, this could be used to represent the fact that despite how confident the characters feel in a foreign place, they are in a 'whole new world' and that they don't feel comfortable at all in Greece. This helps to represent a stereotype of many Brits, including youth, only really feel comfortable in a familiar environment. The costumes are very typical and stereotypical for 18 years old Brits, for example, the character of Jay wears an old England football shirt for the majority of the film. This shows two things, one, that Jay is a 'stereotypical' British youth who loves football, and has lots of national pride, and secondly, that some characters, such as Jay are not as 'well-off' as others, hence, the old, retro football shirt. As well as clothing, the facial expressions and reactions of the four British characters, and their foreign counterparts play a big part in the whole representation of British youth. One huge stereotype of not only youths, but British people in general, is that most Brits tend to be described as 'boring' or 'simple', and the faces of the characters help to present this perfectly, as often, when something dynamic, or out of the ordinary appears in front of the characters, a face can be seen on them that almost resembles disgust or complete confusion. Another way that the creators of the Inbetweeners movie decided to represent the whole stereotypical British youth is the content, mainly the conversations that the main characters have both with each other and when interacting with other characters. One main example of this is most conversations involving Jay, as one small detail that is, sadly, typically associated with British youth in the present day, is sex. The face that Jay and the other characters are almost always talk about sex, represents them, and British youth as a whole, as rebellious as well as wanting to be, or believing that they are older than they actually are, which is a true statistic for most 18 years old Brits, therefore, making it a fairly accurate stereotype represented within the Inbetweeners movie.