Has E4 cracked the formula for successful Teen TV?

Modern TV for Teens lesson:

Case Studies:
Skins, The Inbetweeners and Misfits

Task 1:

Research:
(a) Factual information for each show- dates, production team, audience figures, reception/awards etc.

(b) What seems to be the winning formula for each show? Use the following links within your research.

http://www.%20has%20e4%20cracked%20the%20formula%20for%20successful%20teen%20tv/?.co.uk/lifestyle/article-23793472-teenage-kicks-how-e4-captured-the-teen-tv-market.do

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/teen-dramas-down-with-the-kids-424525.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/teenage-kicks-its-sex-drugs-and-double-maths-as-skins-returns-1379938.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/is-the-inbetweeners-all-its-cracked-up-to-be-2083304.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2010/nov/14/misfits-asbo-superhero-television



Task 2:

Identify the main areas of concern and the corresponding arguments FOR and AGAINST the US version of ‘Skins’.

Evaluate whether the concerns seem to be audience, age, social/c ultural. Explain your answer in detail.

http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/01/21/too-hot-for-america-the-tv-show-skins/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1349022/MTV-executives-order-new-U-S-version-Skins-tone-child-pornography-fears.html


http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jan/17/shameless-skins-being-human


http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/taco-bell-pulls-ads-mtv-74037  (the comments beneath are the most informative)

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/20/business/media/20mtv.html?_r=1


Task 3:

List the stereotypes that seem to exist in programmes for Teens?

What is their function and in your opinion how ‘real’ are these?

Categories for behaviour

Romantics: Be true to oneself at all costs

Practical people: Be sensible: sometimes you have to go along to get along. Don’t make waves. Be a team player.

Cynics: Everybody has a price. Don’t be a sucker.

Fatalists: There’s nothing one person can do to change anything, so why try?

Moralists: One has a duty to others; one can’t just run off and do as one pleases.

Anthony Giddens - Structuration

Giddens explores the extent to which society is shaped by social structure or individual.  He argues that individual human agency and social structure are in a relationship with each other, and it is the repetition of acts by individuals which reinforces the structure.  There is a social structure which shapes our lives (traditions, institutions, moral codes, established ways of doing things), but it relies on individuals following these structures.  When they act differently the social structure can change.  Structuration is the process in which human agency and social structure are in a constant relationship – the social structure is reproduced by the repetition of acts by individual people (and can therefore change).

Social Order and Social Reproduction – Giddens argues that the ‘rules’ of the social order may only be in our heads but people are often shocked when seemingly minor social expectations are not adhered to.

People’s everyday actions reinforce and reproduce a set of expectations – and it is this set of other people’s expectations which make up the social forces that maintain the social order.

Post-traditional society – Giddens argues that in traditional societies individual actions and identities do not have to be thought about as much as choices are determined by tradition and custom.  In post-traditional times we are less concerned about following tradition.  As a result we have to think more about how to behave in society.  In modern societies (‘societies where modernity is well-developed’) self-identity becomes an issue we are all aware of.  Earlier societies with a social order based firmly in tradition would provide individuals with more clearly defined roles.  In post-traditional society we have to work out our roles for ourselves.

‘What to do?  How to act?  Who to be?  These are focal questions for everyone living in circumstances of late modernity – and ones which, on some level or another, all of us answer’.

The reflexive project of the self – Giddens argues that the self is ‘made’ by the individual, self-identity becomes a reflexive project (something we are actively aware of).  Self-identity is a person’s own reflexive understanding of their biography, but is not an objective description of that person.  The self is not something we are born with, and it is not fixed.  The self is reflexively made – thoughtfully constructed by the individual.  We all choose a lifestyle – consumerism is one of the ways in which project and develop our lifestyle.  Just as the self has become changeable, so too has the body.

The 1990s

The 1990s youth

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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Emerson was a great believer in self reliance, he believed in individualism and warned against the way in which society sought to socialise its members, stating:

For nonconformity, the world   whips you with its displeasure.

Ephebiphobia

The irrational fear of youth is called ephebiphobia. First coined as the "fear and loathing of teenagers," today the phenomenon is recognized as the "inaccurate, exaggerated and sensational characterization of young people" in a variety of settings around the world.

Battle Royale - Kinji Fukasaku

The prologue title card reads:

"At the dawn of the millennium, the nation collapsed. At fifteen percent unemployment, ten million were out of work. 800,000 students boycotted school. The adults lost confidence and, fearing the youth, eventually passed the Millennium Educational Reform Act, AKA the BR Act...."

The BR Act simply involves leaving students on an Island... the students must kill each other until only one is left. One class from the country per year is selected to participate in the program. If after three days a winner is not declared, the explosive collars attached to each student's neck will be detonated. The collars also prevent the students entering certain areas of the field of participation, the "danger zones," with the intention of forcing the students to encounter one another.


This short video explains the rules

The film was labeled "crude and tasteless" by members of Japanese parliament and other government officials after the film was screened for them before its general release.^[12] The film created a debate over government action on media violence. Many conservative politicians used the film to blame popular culture for a youth crime wave. Ilya Garger of TIME magazine said that Battle Royale received "free publicity" and received "box-office success usually reserved for cartoons and TV-drama spin-offs."

Critics note its relation to the increasingly extreme trend in Asian cinema and its similarity to reality television.^[14]

In 2009, Quentin Tarantino listed the film as his favorite film released since 1992. Empire ranked Battle Royale #235 and #82 on their lists of "The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time" and "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" respectively.^[17][18]

Despite rumors to the contrary, the film is not banned in the United States. Rather, there has never been a distribution agreement for the film.^[5]

It has been exhibited at film festivals in North America. Nonetheless, bootleg copies of the film imported from China, South Korea, and Hong Kong have widespread availability on the continent, and a Special Edition DVD of the film was carried to a limited extent by retailers such as HMV and Starstruck Entertainment in Canada and Tower Records in the United States; the legal status of this edition is not clear. Also, the film's UK distributor, Tartan Films, released an all-region NTSC DVD version of the film that is available in North America from specialty outlets. One widely available Hong Kong import is a special edition without English subtitles that contains both Battle Royale and its sequel. Both Battle Royale and its sequel are available on NetFlix, a major home-entertainment distributor in the United States.

KIDS - Larry Clark

Kids is a 1995 drama film written by Harmony Korine and directed by Larry Clark. If you think "A Clockwork Orange" is a tad controversial wait till you see "Kids"

We won't be watching this in class because, to quote wikipedia, "of its unexpurgated subject matter centering on relatively young teenagers, Kids has been controversial. The film includes much explicit sexual dialogue and depicts scenes of date rape, physical violence, drug dealing, alcohol abuse, theft, seduction of barely post-pubescent minors, and (non-explicit) teenage sexual displays, as well as (apparently) adolescent actors/actresses in near but not quite explicit exposure. The original version of the film was rated NC-17 in the US.^[3] It was later released without a rating."

Also "The film received mixed reviews, with 55% of critics giving it a positive rating at Rotten Tomatoes.^[9] Film critic Janet Maslin of the New York Times called the film a "wake-up call to the modern world" about the nature of present day youth in urban life.^[10] Meanwhile, other critics have labeled it exploitative (in the lascivious sense) as borderline "child pornography".^[11] Korine attributes the negative reaction to Kids to the expectation on the part of audiences that the film would explicitly make moral judgments on the actions of the characters when Korine gave the film no such moral compass.^[12]"

^{The film itself does end with a fairly clear moral message with many of the characters end up potentially contracting HIV after a series of unprotected sexual encounters (some consensual others not). The film makes Skins look like the Waltons.}