Academic Books

Provenzo, E. (2009). Encyclopedia of the social and cultural foundations of education. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

 “Many Western definitions of youth culture present young people in terms of what they are not – they are not children, they are not adults, and they are not economic or social contributors to the wider society”

In reference to women to “reaffirms the standard of beauty” – this is most prominent through the character of Carly, who arguably is used as an object of affection.

“Youth culture challenges and sustains larger cultural norms and shapes young people’s identities”

“Today’s youth come to understand and navigate their way through the world” – the boys are seen as having more independence as they are now young adults. They have more responsibility- such as pressure to do well in order to go university and they have a lad’s holiday to mark their freedom.

Falk, G., & Falk, U. (2005). Youth culture and the generation gap. New York, N.Y.: Algora.

“Excessive drinking involves many dangers which are either ignored or downplayed by adolescents because the use of alcohol has a special meaning in the subculture of delinquency” – excessive drinking in shown in the movie, where they take a lad’s vacation to celebrate the fact they are going into university.

“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.” This is evident from the scene where Simon drinks too much and ends up puking on his crush’s little brother. This creates awkwardness, yet comedy at the same time.

Weight, R. (n.d.). Mod! From bebop to Britpop, Britain's biggest youth movement.

“’Youth’, as Oscar Wilde, famously observed, is a ’wasted on the young,”

“Youth culture lives on, across generations, not simply in commercially exploitative revivals or in smart ‘post-modern’ references to a digital archive of pop culture, but in the daily choices and interactions that people make.”

Vorhaus, J. (n.d.). The little book of sitcom.

 “Certain small number of characters” – a sitcom like The Inbetweeners doesn’t need an excessive amount of characters to create comedy, the banter between the boys is what creates humour.

“Choice of scenes is limited to your show’s standing sets and maybe one or two swing sets or outside locations” – most of the filming takes place in a high school, only in the movie there are multiple locations because they are on vacation.

Royle, E., & Ebrary, I. (n.d.). Modern Britain: A Social History, 1750-2010. (3rd ed.). New York: Bloomsbury Publishing;.

“Youth culture has been substituted for ‘working-class culture’ in the twenty-first century much of the language and perplexing nature of the modern alcohol problem would have been recognisable to reformers.” – drinking is part of youth culture, this theme is prominent through nearly every episode.

“Laddish culture” described through “sex, sport, fast cars” – the sex element is prominent for The Inbetweeners.

This generation of teenagers described as “having more freedom” and “appeared to have more money to spend” – this is evident as the boys have no restrictions and proves how youth culture in a modern day society allows teens to have more freedom.

Gauntlett, D. (2002). Media, gender, and identity: An introduction. London: Routledge.

Laura Mulvey and the male gaze: “females subject of their (males) desiring gaze” – Carly, Simon’s crush, is displayed as an object of affection. The fact she is white, has blond hair makes it more prominent that she is a standard female that is used as an object of affection.

“Women are denied a viewpoint” – the all-male cast proves this.

Women are “positioned so that they admire the male lead for his actions, and adopt his romantic/erotic view of the women.” – Carly seems to make Simon appear more passionate and almost obsessed with her.

Bignell, J. (2002). Media semiotics: An introduction (2nd ed.). Manchester: Manchester University Press :.

Narrative structures:

 Binary oppositions: male/female

“Humour derives from contrasting those values”

Difficult in sitcoms as they are too “excessive” to be “realistic” - males are seen as creating banter, feature of female characters, such as Carly as being too serious and temperamental.

“Sitcom narratives works by setting up oppositions and connections” – develops “compatibilities” and “incompatibilities”

“Audience pleasure partly derives from anticipation that these conflicts will be resolved satisfactorily”

“Facial expressions are important generic signs and narrative turning-points"

Warikoo, N. (2011). Balancing acts youth culture in the global city. Berkeley: University of California Press.

 “Youth around the world – including Britain – favour urban African American influences” – this is most evident when Jay has an N.W.A poster in his room. This shows how British cultures are influenced by American culture.

S, J. (1995). Youth culture in late modernity. London: Sage Publications.

 Youth describes as “signs of sings and transgression of modernity”

Behaviour described as “deviant” or “criminal”

“Culture of exploitation” – youth exposed for what they really get to. This relates to the majority of the target audience as they’d be faced with the same obstacles and complications/

Mallan, K. (2003). Youth cultures: Texts, images, and identities. Westport, Conn.: Praeger.

 “Youth and unemployment” – the teens are all unemployed.

Youth identity shaped by “family, peers, and pop culture” – ultimately, the lifestyles of the characters are impacted by social factors. Location is the prime aspect as this is what differentiates the characters.