(How) Have representations of youth changed over time? Exam Question: How do contemporary representations compare to previous time periods?
What do you know?
A Clockwork Orange • 1962 dystopian British novel – Anthony Burgess – First person narration – Nasdat – invented youth language/ adolescent slang – Title was a metaphor: "...an organic entity, full of juice and sweetness and agreeable odour, being turned into an automaton."
A Clockwork Orange • 1971 – Film adaptation directed by Stanley Kubrick – “The story functions… on several levels, political, sociological, philosophical and, what’s most important, on a dreamlike psychological-symbolic level” - Kubrick – Themes: Morality; Youth; Psychology; The State and The Individual; Violence – Withdrawn by Kubrick in 1972 – Released in 2000 after Kubrick’s death (1999)
1. Does the film reinforce similar representations of youth/ themes of youth to contemporary media texts?
1. What would Maffesoli say about this film? – Tribes? – The power of Media? – The decline of family? – How do the droogs express their tribalism? – How is the youth culture (their clothing and culture) an example of bricolage?
1. What would Stanley Cohen say about this film and its reception in the media?
How is A Clockwork Orange of its time?
1971 Britain • The Modern World – Modernist buildings (Brutalist architecture) – Rise in Media – Synthetics (fabrics/ furniture/ lifestyles…)
1971 Britain • Post World War 2 – The violence and barbarism of humanity; – The value of youth (‘we fought for our children’); – Liberty; Freedom
1971 Britain • Cold War paranoia – Where is the threat coming from?
1971 Britain • New Britain – Post-Empire – weakened power – Changing relationships between the classes – Decline in industry
1971 Britain • Rise in Youth cultures – 1960s subcultures (Mod/ Rockers/ Hippies); – Rise in Media (esp music); – Generational divide; – The death of the hippy generation (‘Summer of Love’ = 1967)
How is A Clockwork Orange of its time? •
Post World War 2 – – –
•
Cold War paranoia –
•
Post-Empire – weakened power Changing relationships between the classes Decline in industry
Rise in Youth cultures – – – –
•
Where is the threat coming from?
New Britain – – –
•
The violence and barbarism of humanity; The value of youth (‘we fought for our children’); Liberty; Freedom
1960s subcultures (Mod/ Rockers/ Hippies); Rise in Media (esp music); Generational divide; The death of the hippy generation (‘Summer of Love’ = 1967)
Modernism/ The Modern World – – –
Modernist buildings (Brutalist architecture) Rise in Media Synthetics (fabrics/ furniture/ lifestyles…)