Do Kidulthood and Fishtank provide a realistic representation of youth?

The representation of youth in Britain has changed significantly in the last four decades, youth representation is more extreme and they are constantly the lime light of headlines and social discussions. The contemporary view of youths is mostly negative due to the representation proposed by the media this is evident in the film ‘Kidulthood’ as there is a representation of youths living in an urban deprived area in London, they all use slang to communicate with each other this is part of their collective identity which relates to post modernism in the sense that this movie gives an explicit and realistic portrayal of the social lifestyles of teenagers. There is a mixture of teenagers each from different ethnic backgrounds and sustained cultural views which illustrates diversity and how this has evolved throughout the 21^st century. This is different to Rebel without a cause as there is one dominant race in the movie, who is white middle class people. Theorist David Gauntlet said that ‘identity is complicated, everybody thinks they’ve got one’ this is evident in 'Kidulthood' as there is a variation of characters that each has their own identity.

In Fishtank the main character is battling to free her identity the horse is used as a symbolism of her trying to liberate herself, she wears urbanised clothing and dresses like a ‘chav’ David gauntlets theory of identity is complicated everybody thinks they have got one can be applied to Fishtank as the main character tries to express her identity through dance and her appearance. Similarly in ‘Kidulthood’ all the characters where hoodies, trainers and hats which represents there sub culture, However these items of clothing have now become the stereotype and dominant label of youths in modern society youths are negatively labelled as trouble if seen wearing hoodies, hats and trainers. Even though this view point is in somewhat unfair it is an unchangeable stereotype that has existed for many years and is constantly being manipulated by youths exploring new trends.

Youth are presented as a group that interact together in order to find ones personal identity which relates to Richard Jenkins social identity theory this perception is evident In ‘Kidulthood’ as characters partake in sex, drugs and easy illegal money making to find their individual identities. These explicit activities create a bold heightened fear of the rise of STI’s, the increase of young offenders and also teenage pregnancy within the UK. As a contrast in Fishtank the main character tries to construct her identity through constraints such as alcohol, love and dance in relation to dance she watches videos and copies relevant dance moves. Lacans theory of the mirror stage can be referred to this as she mirrors what she sees and mediates what she sees in order to build her identity. This is significant as many youths today look upon media portrayals and use them as a guide and inspiration even if they are negative representations.

The representation of youths in Fishtank and Kidulthood are highly realistic as they show the negative elements in society and how youths are disfuntioned in many ways. In relation to Fishtank the main character is an example of 1 in a thousand youths in Britain that have hidden talents that are not recognised due to their lack of opportunities such as living in a deprived area. This issue continues in London and youths are constantly rebelling and trying to change this, the London riots and student protests are just 2 of the things being done to change this. However the question still remains, is there really any hope for youths in the future?