Teacher feedback:
- Written expression needs to be improved, include institutional info, box office figures
- Include more theory
- Include more on comedy genre
Student feedback:
- More wider context needs to be added: historical context in particular
- Add more on moral panics
- Bigger conclusion
- Improve filmography section on bibliography
- Check spellings
For my next draft I aim to get a B grade
Words: 2198
“You’ve
had an eventful day - bunking off school, buying alcohol illegally, defacing
Carli's drive and insulting Neil's dad - have I missed anything?[1]”
How accurately is youth culture represented in
'The Inbetweeners'?
Youth culture helps young people to
make sense of their identity and develop a sense of belonging. The issues for
youth culture cultivate towards the issues of drinking, the seriousness towards
education and changing attitudes towards society norms. These issues are most
prominent in “The Inbetweeners” (2008) a film adaptation which reflects youth
culture with comedy purpose. The Inbetweeners takes a different comedic
approach were the sexual jokes are over-exaggerated for comedy purposes and comically
hints at current issues which should be made aware in today’s society in order
to create an almost accurate representation of today’s youth; this is evident
through the themes of partying and drinking. It’s strongly debatable whether
youth culture is a time for teenagers to “understand and navigate their way
through the world”[2]
and “The Inbetweeners” represents four independent male students through their
school journey facing a variety of situations which are not just humorous but
has a moral for the audience to learn from. The characters are seen to “occupy
that twilight zone between adolescence and maturity[3]”
whereby the two themes of “the innocence of childhood[4]”
and “the financial independence of adulthood[5]”
are made prominent. The Inbetweeners is the only franchise which accurately
presents how British teenagers are in terms of their attitudes towards studies,
work and taking on adult responsibilities and displays “the social awkwardness
of unreciprocated crushes and embarrassing drunken misdemeanours is something
which almost everyone can relate to.[6]”
The Inbetweeners is a British sitcom
that premiered in 2008 and the episodes involved
situations of “school bullying, broken family life, indifferent school staff, male bonding, and largely failed
sexual encounters.[7]”
There are many accurate representations as the characters could convey similar
lifestyles to British school boys, such as going to parties, pulling girls and
drinking, are all stereotypical acts of an average college boy, especially in
Britain. This relates to the Uses and Gratifications theory by Blumler and Katz
who created the idea of media texts helping the audience to relate or form
their personal identity. The Inbetweeners is the focal point of comedy for
British youth and this is demonstrated mainly through the sexual jokes and
awkward interventions.
Throughout the show, it’s notable “Situation Comedies are a sub-genre of
TV Comedy because their primary intention is to entertain the audience the
through humour but by utilising a set of recognisable codes and conventions
that are explored[8].”
This is evident through having a different representation of each character in
the friendship group, which is a typical convention. For instance: Neil is the gullible
one, Jay is the joker, Will is the nerd and Simon is the one who’s in love. The
Inbetweeners doesn’t use typical features of a sitcom, for example there is no
canned laughter which is usually the main trait of a sitcom, however the use of
not having it differentiates The Inbetweeners and is a serious aspect which
makes it more of a show were you can learn from the mistakes, such as what
happens when you drink too much, as well as laughing along with it. The characters
all have relatable traits which the audience admires, this links to Richard Dyer’s theory of Hegemony. This is most
prominent through the character of Jay, who is the joker of the group, his
qualities are admirable as he’s the popular one and the youth audience could
relate to this, especially the males who aspire to be popular in school. In
contrast, Neil is submissive and is usually the centre of many jokes, this
could relate to people who are bullied in school whereas The Inbetweeners show
bullying with a comedic effect. The characters are “all are essentially fairly
predictable ‘types,’[9]”
The Inbetweeners generates the idea of a patriarchal society as the cast
is mostly male-dominated. The theory for characterisation to be considered is
binary oppositions contrasting males and females. It is evident that “humour derives from
contrasting those values[10]”
and in
particular Carly, Simon’s crush, is “positioned so that they admire the male
lead for his actions, and adopt his romantic/erotic view of the women.[11]” Carly seems to make
Simon appear more passionate and infatuated with her. For instance, in the first
season, second episode, named “Bunk Off” Simon continuing obsession for Carly
is made noticeable and humorous as he comes over to her house to serenade her
with his love but instead ends up drinking too much and pukes on Carly’s little
brother, therefore this creates more humour because of the heightened
awkwardness. In general, the “adolescents and young adults, particularly
those of high school and college age, engage in social situations which
pressure participants to drink far more alcohol than they would ever choose
without that pressure.[12]” This is evident from the
scene as Simon drinks more than he can handle in order to impress Carly.
Furthermore, it’s clear that Carly, is displayed as
an object of his affection. The fact she is white, has blond hair makes it more
prominent that she has traits of a typical attractive woman. Theorist Laura
Mulvey created the idea of the ‘male gaze’ and how “females are subject of
their (males) desiring gaze[13]”.
The Inbetweeners is a teen comedy, as it is
set mostly in a high school and involves adolescent sexual adventure
throughout. It also involves elements of a social comedy as it draws on social
realism, such as providing a reasonable representation of teenagers in Britian
and their liberality and ability to have freedom to take on adult
responsibilities and this is a main feature of British cinema.
Also, The
Inbetweeners uses a modern and social school environment mostly which makes it
suburban and more realistic. Throughout the show, lighting is always high key
which reflects the light heartedness and crude humour in the show. It also
promotes that the awkward events are something to be laughed at and anchors the
show in the comedy genre. This is appealing to the target audience, which consists
of young people aged 15-25, who use this show for entertainment and escapism,
which links to theorists Blumler and Katz who stated that audiences reach out
and enjoy certain texts to escape everyday routine. The Guardian states that
the comedy used is “undeniably rude, but often hilarious[14]”
as the comedy exaggerates the social and emotional situations the four boys
encounter. The Inbetweeners theme song “Gone Up In Flames” is an upbeat, urban
rock song which reflects how society is changing and the urban realism.
Furthermore,
the idea of the superiority theory, laughing at the misfortunes of
others, is the most notable theory used throughout the show. Many British
comedies embed this theory, such as The Office, Peep Show and The Inbetweeners.
The characters majorly embarrass themselves throughout and this is most
prominently presented in Series 3, where there’s a school fashion show taking
place and Simon yet again tries to impress Carly; during the finale Simon
suffers a major wardrobe malefaction exposing more than his confidence. The
audience tends to laugh at Simon’s mistake because of his self-ignorance and
the fact his genitals are shown heightens the comedy. It’s possible that “the "average" group of friends find
themselves in all sorts of awkward, embarrassing and often hilarious moments
which all of us would have probably encountered some time or another in our
teen years.[15]”
However, it could be
argued that the witty crude humour in The Inbetweeners gives a negative representation
of youth culture in the UK. It is evident that loads of foul language and
sexual jokes are made throughout, for instance in season one, episode four: the
boys are all bunking from school and decide to get drunk at Neil’s house; the
boys are always mocking Neil’s dad’s sexuality as they assume he is homosexual.
As Neil’s dad arrives home Will, the nerd of the group, who is intoxicated,
randomly yells out “bumbder” a mix of the words “bummer and bender” which are
part of British slang. The disrespect factor depicts how the youth are out of
control as typically it’s seen as wrong to disrespect somebody else’s parents.
The word “bumbder” is memorable and is hilarious in some aspects, but it makes
it seem as if British teenagers have no respect and it could be interpreted
that the “sexist jokes are damaging to society.[16]”
because they are overly explicit. Also, in today’s society is it noticed that slang is used more broadly,
compared to twenty years ago.
Also, it’s been
considered that The Inbetweeners doesn’t “represent young men in this country.[17]”
This is because the show is described as a “British rip-off of The Hangover 2[18]”
where the boys swear and get drunk as well as being able to “unaccountably
attract a quartet of physically attractive young women by doing so[19].”
It could be argued that the typical lad culture presented in The Inbetweeners,
which is done through the use of British accents and British slang, doesn’t
entirely represent the youth in this country. Critic, James Buckely from The
Telegraph stated how “most young men, or the ones I
know, are quite nice and normal and good people.[20]”
The area for debate also
remains whether or not The Inbetweeners presents the social realism of British
society. In the secondary text, ‘Top Boy’ which is British
television crime drama displays the more surreal wider issues and concerns
about the youth: such as gangs, gun crime and selling drugs. This show
demonstrates the struggles of single-parent families and neglected children and
gives a more realistic view on what British youth is about due to the exploitations
of crime and the gritty truth of poverty in the UK. At this very moment, youth
unemployment is at 1.2 million and Top Boy demonstrates how “selling drugs is seen as a reliable income
to many youth[21].”
In addition, The Inbetweeners could be seen to create moral panics. This is because the show is primarily focussed on the young
males getting overly intoxicated and causing havoc which tends to land them in
trouble. Although it’s done for comedic purposes, this could
influence teenagers to be focussed on partying, rather than studying. The hyperreality of
society generates an image of a generation which is fragmented as priorities
lie high with alcohol and having a fun time, rather than preparing teenagers
for their future. Also, The Inbetweeners is “based around theme of sex” which ultimately
breaks “social taboos[22].”
In comparison, my historical text, American sitcom ‘Saved by the Bell’ helps
to highlight the differences in American culture vs British culture. Saved by the Bell is an American
television sitcom that aired on NBC from 1989 to 1993. The show is full of light-hearted comedic situations which sometimes
touches on social issues, i.e. drug use. The
Inbetweeners cast are all white, British males. In Saved by the Bell, there is
a variety of ethnicities and both male and female characters in the group. This
could demonstrate how the British culture are more of a patriarchal society,
whereas the American society are more relaxed and open-minded to both
genders. Saved by the Bell has a group of friends who are like a
"family" and this depicts how British comedy is more explicit and
this is evident in The Inbetweeners through the consistent swearing and the use
of sexual innuendos. American programmes are very traditional is terms of
embracing family values, British comedy is more scatological as people in
Britain are more unprejudiced and liberal.
Traditionally comedy
shows are seen as low-brow and this is due to the fact that comedy has been “relegated
to the inferior cultural position”[23] of the
usual “entertainment.” Many Medieval and early modern British comedies go
directly against the civility of society and embodies more of the physical, sexual, grotesque and obscene functions. This
inversion of social etiquette started in the Elizabethan era (1558–1603) and
demonstrates the loosening of social controls, linking to Barber’s
theory 1963 that there is no societal consensus. The best example are presented in the
works of Shakespeare. In plays such as Twelfth Night (1601), the plot centres
around the “release” from social norms experienced by characters during the
festive period, where “the energy normally occupied in maintaining inhibitions
is freed for celebration[24]”
(Barber, 1963: 7).
In today’s society
the youth are not as restricted and this is most evident as the boys have no
boundaries. This generation of teenagers described as “having more
freedom” and “appeared to have more money to spend[25]” and
this is evident as the boys have no restrictions and proves how youth culture
in a modern day society allows teens to have their own thought process without
their parents making decisions for the,. The Inbetweeners accurately
displays the idea of living in a “culture of exploitation[26]”
where the youth exposed for their misdemeanours, such as underage drinking.
This relates to the majority of the target audience as they’d be faced with the
same social issues. The Inbetweeners sitcom was a
success, gaining an 8.4/10 rating from IMDB and Bwark productions made two
movies out of the show. This is because “people
truly connect with it[27]”
and the obstacles the characters faced.
Bibliography
Works cited
Books:
Falk,
G., & Falk, U. (2005). Youth culture and the generation gap. New York,
N.Y.: Algora.
Gauntlett,
D. (2002). Media, gender, and identity: An introduction. London: Routledge.
Royle,
E., & Ebrary, I. (2012). Modern Britain: A Social History, 1750-2010. (3rd
ed.). New York: Bloomsbury Publishing;.
S, J. (1995).
Youth culture in late modernity. London: Sage Publications.
Steinberg,
S. (2005). Contemporary Youth Culture [2 volumes]: An International
Encyclopedia.
Stott,
A. M. (2005). Comedy. New York: Routledge.
Websites:
Amy
Croffey for Daily Mail Australia. (2014, August 14). 'I won't let them watch
it!' Inbetweeners star James Buckley thinks it'll be too embarrassing for his
boys and dreads to think about them ever turning out like Jay. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2724516/Inbetweeners-star-James-Buckley-thinks-itll-embarrassing-boys-dreads-think-turning-like-Jay.html
ATV.
(2015). Over 11,300 fans sign campaign for more of The Inbetweeners. Retrieved
February 13, 2016, from http://www.atvtoday.co.uk/67336-e4/
Chris
Tookey. (2011). A triumph for Britain's yob culture. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/reviews/article-2030224/The-Inbetweeners-Movie-A-triumph-Britains-yob-culture.html
IMDB.
(2009). The Inbetweeners Reviews. Retrieved from
Jeff
Wayne's Musical Verson of the War of the Worlds - West End. (n.d.). Retrieved
February 13, 2016, from http://www.shadowlocked.com/201101201315/lists/top-10-inbetweeners-quotes.html
Pierce,
C. (2014, August 22). How the Inbetweeners came of age and conquered culture.
Retrieved December 4, 2015, from http://yearofthewolf.com/2014/08/22/how-the-inbetweeners-came-of-age-and-conquered-culture/
S.
F. (2009, July). The Changing Field Of British Comedy. Retrieved from http://www.socialpolicy.ed.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/55911/WP39SamFriedman.pdf
Situation
Comedy Genre. (n.d.). Retrieved December 28, 2015, from http://media.edusites.co.uk/article/situation-comedy-genre/
Top
Boy - the gritty truth of London gang culture - South West Londoner. (2011,
November 26). Retrieved from http://www.swlondoner.co.uk/top-boy-the-gritty-truth-of-london-gang-culture/
The
Guardian (2009).The Inbetweeners is more realistic than Skins: http://www.theguardian.com/culture/tvandradioblog/2009/apr/03/inbetweeners-skins-teen-realism
Wikipedia.
(n.d.). The Inbetweeners: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Inbetweeners
Works consulted:
Academic Books:
Bignell,
J. (2002). Media semiotics: An introduction (2nd ed.). Manchester: Manchester
University Press :.
Mallan,
K. (2003). Youth cultures: Texts, images, and identities. Westport, Conn.:
Praeger.
Provenzo,
E. (2009). Encyclopedia of the social and cultural foundations of education.
Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Weight,
R. (2013). Mod! From bebop to Britpop, Britain's biggest youth movement: Bodley
Head
Warikoo,
N. (2011). Balancing acts youth culture in the global city. Berkeley:
University of California Press.
Vorhaus,
J. (2012). The little book of sitcom: CreateSpace Independent Publishing
Platform
Websites:
Alice
Vincent: The Inbetweeners: 'Lad culture doesn’t represent young men in this
country' (2014,). Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/11253840/The-Inbetweeners-Lad-culture-doesnt-represent-young-men-in-this-country.html
Flanagan,
K. (2013). Top Boy, Season 1. Retrieved from http://www.literarylondon.org/london-journal/spring2014/flanagan2.pdf
Haurdhan,
M. (2011, November 26). Top Boy - the gritty truth of London gang culture -
South West Londoner. Retrieved December 4, 2015, from http://www.swlondoner.co.uk/top-boy-the-gritty-truth-of-london-gang-culture/
Lucas,
J. (2013). Channel 4's Top Boy slammed for reinforcing hood stereotypes.
Retrieved from http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/channel-4’s-top-boy-slammed-reinforcing-hood-stereotypes
Porter,
K. (2008). Underage drinking in Britain 'among worst in the world' Retrieved
from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/2140278/Underage-drinking-in-Britain-among-worst-in-the-world.html
Shelly.
(2013, August 20). Gangs, guns and drug dealers: Was Top Boy's portrayal of
life in Hackney too hackneyed and American? Or a harrowing insight into the
youth of today ? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2398443/Gangs-guns-drug-dealer-Top-Boys-portrayal-life-Hackney-hackneyed-American-harrowing-insight-youth-today.html#ixzz3oXxgH17d
The
Guardian (2011). Top Boy gets a mixed reception from Hackney's youth - http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/oct/30/top-boy-reviewed-by-hackney-residents-panel
Tim
Oglethorpe. (2011). It's Britain's biggest grossing out comedy -and it's REALLY
gross. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2030234/The-Inbetweeners-movie-Britains-biggest-grossing-comedy-REALLY-gross.html
Wikipedia.
(2009). The Inbetweeners. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Inbetweeners#Critical_reception
Filmography/ moving image:
·
The Inbetweeners (TV series), E4, 1 May 2008 –
18 October 2010, UK
“Bunk Off” – season 1, episode 2,
“The Fashion Show” – season 3, episode 1
·
Top Boy, Channel 4, 31 October to 3 November
2011
·
Saved By The Bell, NBC, 1989 – 1993, U.S.
[1]
Review: Jeff Wayne's Musical Verson of the War of the Worlds - West End.
(n.d.). Retrieved February 13, 2016, from
http://www.shadowlocked.com/201101201315/lists/top-10-inbetweeners-quotes.html
[2]
Steinberg, S. (2005). Contemporary Youth Culture [2 volumes]: An International
Encyclopedia. pg.25
[3] How the
Inbetweeners came of age and conquered culture. (2014, August 22). Retrieved
from
http://yearofthewolf.com/2014/08/22/how-the-inbetweeners-came-of-age-and-conquered-culture/
[4] ibid
[5] Ibid
[6]
Ibid
[7] Over
11,300 fans sign campaign for more of The Inbetweeners. (2015). Retrieved
February 13, 2016, from http://www.atvtoday.co.uk/67336-e4/
[8]
Situation Comedy Genre. (n.d.). Retrieved December 28, 2015, from
http://media.edusites.co.uk/article/situation-comedy-genre/
[9]
How
the Inbetweeners came of age and conquered culture. (2014, August 22).
Retrieved from
http://yearofthewolf.com/2014/08/22/how-the-inbetweeners-came-of-age-and-conquered-culture/
[10]
Bignell, J. (2002). Media semiotics: An introduction (2nd ed.). Manchester:
Manchester University Press
[11]
Gauntlett, D. (2002). Media, gender, and identity: An introduction. London:
Routledge. Pg. 39
[12]
Falk, G., & Falk, U. (2005). Youth culture and the generation gap. New
York, N.Y.: Algora. Pg. 42
[13]
Gauntlett, D. (2002). Media, gender, and identity: An introduction. London:
Routledge. Pg. 38
[14]
The Guardian (2009).The Inbetweeners is more realistic than Skins http://www.theguardian.com/culture/tvandradioblog/2009/apr/03/inbetweeners-skins-teen-realism
[15]
IMDB. (2009). The Inbetweeners Reviews. Retrieved from
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1220617/?ref_=nv_sr_2
[16]
Media Magazine – April 2010 – MM32
[17]
Chris Tookey. (2011). A triumph for Britain's yob culture. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/reviews/article-2030224/The-Inbetweeners-Movie-A-triumph-Britains-yob-culture.html
[18]
Ibid
[19]
Ibid
[20]
Amy Croffey for Daily Mail Australia. (2014, August 14). 'I won't let them
watch it!' Inbetweeners star James Buckley thinks it'll be too embarrassing for
his boys and dreads to think about them ever turning out like Jay.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2724516/Inbetweeners-star-James-Buckley-thinks-itll-embarrassing-boys-dreads-think-turning-like-Jay.html
[21]
Top Boy - the gritty truth of London gang culture - South West Londoner. (2011,
November 26). Retrieved from
http://www.swlondoner.co.uk/top-boy-the-gritty-truth-of-london-gang-culture/
[22]
Media Magazine – April 2010 – MM32
[23]
S. F. (2009, July). The Changing Field Of British Comedy. Retrieved from
http://www.socialpolicy.ed.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/55911/WP39SamFriedman.pdf
[24]
Stott, A. M. (2005). Comedy. New York: Routledge.
[25]
Royle, E., & Ebrary, I. (2012). Modern Britain:
A Social History, 1750-2010. (3rd ed.). New York: Bloomsbury Publishing;. Pg.
334
[26]
S, J. (1995). Youth culture in late modernity. London: Sage Publications.
Pg. 42
[27]
How
the Inbetweeners came of age and conquered culture. (2014, August 22).
Retrieved from http://yearofthewolf.com/2014/08/22/how-the-inbetweeners-came-of-age-and-conquered-culture/
