Representation of Age in the media today

Learning objectives: To consider the representation of age within texts.

Key words: Representation, stereotypes, Identify, children, teenagers, 20’s-30’s, 
middle aged, elderly, positive, negative.

Starter: 
Identify the visual / technical codes evident in this image from Waterloo Road.
Write in orange books, bullet points, work in pairs.

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STEREOTYPING

Stereotype - dictionary definition:

A standardised, often simplified, mental picture or attitude that is held in common by members of a group about other groups, individuals, places or events.
For example: Americans, Paris, funerals.

A stereotype can be a simplification that the media use to make sense of a real person or group which is much more complicated. 

German stereotype

In reality, there are many different kinds of Germans who are all individuals, but it is much easier to fool ourselves into believing that all Germans drink beer, cheat with beach towels and eat strange sausages. 
The example that I have just given may seem harmless, but in fact it would be offensive to many people.

Stereotypes are potentially dangerous but stereo-typing and generalising itself is impossible to avoid — it is a natural function of the human mind 
— something that we all do in order to survive mentally in the confusing world around us. 

Representation — How we stereotype:

The fact that we naturally see the world in this kind of shorthand way, with connections between different character traits, allows the media to create simplistic representations which we find believable and eventually accept as the truth.

Stereotypes are often assumed to be negative as:

1 The judgement making the basis of the stereotype is usually (but not always) a negative one.

2 They do not allow for individual characteristics to exist in members of the group.

3 They are created by those outside the stereotyped group and are often seen to be an exertion of power – the stereotyped group often has no way to answer back.

4 The stereotype gives a ‘complete picture’ about the group and implies that a knowledge and understanding that can be applied to all members of the group.

All of this distortion happens naturally in our minds before the media have had their chance to simplify and distort. We do a lot of the business of stereotyping ourselves. It is almost as if we conspire with the media to misunderstand the world.

How can the media construct a stereotype?

 With any group of people, there will obviously be an enormous number of things that can be used in a stereotype, but because stereotyping is a form of simplification, normally the most obvious things are used. These are:

1. Appearance — this can include, physical appearance and clothing as well as the sound of the voice. e.g. “all teachers wear dreadful old clothes”

2. Behaviour — typical things that people in this group might do. “Grannies like to knit”

These first two features of media stereotypes are the same when we make our own stereotypes. They simply involve us thinking of something that may be true of some of the group in question and applying it to everyone in the group.

The third feature of media stereotyping is peculiar to the media:

3. The stereotype is constructed in ways that fit the particular medium.

This is more difficult to understand but it is crucial for you to look for it. 

If you watch the feature film Silence of the Lambs and then look at the tabloid coverage of Fred West, you are seeing the same stereotype (the typical Serial Killer) being used, but there are obviously big differences which will depend on the specifics of the media used:

The film will use close ups of the killer’s leering face, soundtrack music and reaction shots of terrified victims to create their version of the stereotype.

Hannibal Lecter

The newspaper will use emotive headlines, blurred pictures of victims and police mug-shots of the killer along with shocking text and interviews with survivors.

Fred West

In each case the text will create a stereotype which it’s audience will find familiar, but it will do it in very different ways.

4 There will always be a comparison whether real or imaginary with “normal” behaviour.

The features which make up a stereotype are always those which seem somehow different from everyday behaviour. In fact you could almost start any stereotyped description by saying: “this group are different because they...”

Of course the idea of what is normal in any society is an absurdity and therefore in order to make it clear to us that the stereotyped characters in the text are not behaving “normally” there will frequently be “normal” people used to act as a contrast to them.

An 'ideal' life

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TASK 2: Using handout 1.

Create your own chart of stereotypes based on those that you have encountered in different media (for example, television, newspapers or games). Work in pairs.

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Stereotype                                   Appearance          Behaviour        Media examples

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Teenagers (age)
Old people (age)
Scottish people (nationality)

Women (gender)

Mentally disabled (disability)
Scousers (regionality)
Wimbledon (events)

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Representation of age in the media

The representation of people of different ages has changed massively over the years.  Up until the 1950’s, there were really only two age groups shown in films and television (adult and child).  This was because that most children left school at a young age and went straight to work and became adults.  

In the 1950’s more young people started staying in education and began leading very different lives from both children and adults and so developed the idea of the “teenager”.

There are still some stereotypes associated with different ages:

·     Children – often shown as being young, innocent, naive, pure, sweet, helpless, powerless.

Childhood
British children are often depicted in the British media in positive ways. Content
analyses of media products suggest that eight stereotypes of children are
frequently used by the media.

• As victims of horrendous crimes – some critics of the media have suggested that white children who are victims of crime get more media attention than adults or children from ethnic minority backgrounds.
• As cute – this is a common stereotype found in television commercials for baby products or toilet rolls.
• As little devils – another common stereotype especially found in drama and comedy, e.g. Bart Simpson.
• As brilliant – perhaps as child prodigies or as heroes for saving the life of an adult.
• As brave little angels – suffering from a long-term terminal disease or disability.
• As accessories – stories about celebrities such as Madonna, Angelina Jolie or the Beckhams may focus on how their children humanise them or make them seem to have family values.
• As modern – the media may focus on how children ‘these days’ know so much more ‘at their age’ than previous generations of children.
• As active consumers – television commercials portray children as having a consumer appetite for toys and games. Some family sociologists note that this has led to the emergence of a new family pressure, ‘pester power’, the power of children to train or manipulate their parents to spend money on consumer goods that will increase the children’s status in the eyes of their peers.

Task 2: Indicate the particular use of children's stereotype on the handout provided.

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·    Elderly – often shown as being unattractive, slow, weak, ill, confused, pathetic, powerless, not important, dependent on others.

Sociological studies show that when the elderly do appear in the media, they tend to be portrayed in the following ways.

• As grumpy – conservative, stubborn and resistant to social change.
• As mentally challenged – suffering from declining mental functions.
• As dependent – helpless and dependent on other younger members of the family or society.
• As a burden – as an economic burden on society (in terms of the costs of pensions and health care to the younger generation) and/or as a physical and social burden on younger members of their families (who have to worry about or care for them).
• As enjoying a second childhood – as reliving their adolescence and engaging in activities that they have always longed to do before they die.

When considering age in a text, you should be thinking about the following things:

• ·       Can I identify what approximate age the characters are?
• ·      Are people from different age groups shown as having different interests, personalities,      attitudes, behaviours?  If so, how?
• ·      Is their age represented as being important in their life?
• ·      Are people from particular age groups portrayed as being better, more powerful, than others?
• ·      Are people from particular age groups portrayed as being abnormal /weaker/ more pathetic than others? 
• ·      How do other characters in the clip treat the characters from different age groups?
• ·      What is the message the clip is trying to portray about age?
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      Task 3: -

      How are young people and elderly people represented in this clip of the film Harry Brown?

      Do they challenge or conform to stereotypes?

      What do you think the reaction of the audience would be to the clip?

      Write your answers in your orange books using properly constructed sentences.

     Homework: Use the handout provided to identify age representation in the media.

                        Submit Thursday July 9th.