How are youth represented in British cinema?

Youth in British cinema are often portrayed as rebelling against the cultural hegemony that is imposed upon them by the ruling class. In the following answer I will be assessing to the extent at which this done, and if so how.

One of the ways shown in Human Traffic is through Jip’s relationship with his mother. In the fist scene that we see of Jip and his mum, there is a high angle shot looking from his mum’s point of view at Jip. This portrays that his mum is in power, and so immediately in control of the situation. Jip is also seen listening to loud rap music when he arrives at his mum’s house – connotations that he is rebellious to mainstream society. Before Jip enters the house, he says he’ll be in and out in 5 minutes; however as we later discover he isn’t – showing once again that his mum is in control. Throughout the house scene Jip’s body language is always anxious, showing that he is fearful at his mum’s power. His mums power and Jips weakness are once again highlighted when we see in his fantasy Jip challenging his mum’s job, whereas in real life he never would. However, a part in this scene contrasts with the idea that British cinema represents youth in a negative light. Cultural hegemony teaches that people in society should have well respected jobs, however Jip’s mum doesn’t as she works as a prostitute. If British cinema were to portray youth in a negative light they would have shown Jip as having a negative job, not his mother.

There is then a scene with Jip and his boss, in which in another one of Jip’s delusions he is seen to be getting raped by his boss. The connotation of this is that society, and more importantly cultural hegemony is abusing Jip.

Moff is then featured in a later scene, where he is seen to be arguing with his dad over jobs. Moff’s dad is wearing a police uniform, and so is figuratively seen to be the epitome of society’s cultural views.

The television programme Spaced however is different, with the characters seen to be either trying to achieve the goals that cultural hegemony has shown, or abusing the power when the goal has been reached. Tim is seen to want to get a job, conforming to the application of cultural hegemony, “make the best out of this situation”. Mike however is seen to be abusing his power, scaring school children as they walk past him (his job is a lollipop man).

In the loneliness of a long distance runner, the adults are seen to be very authoritarian. One of the ways this is done is by them being called sir, whilst the boys are called by last names. The adults are also wearing more respective clothing, such as suits, compared to the boy’s shorts and t-shirts. Jazz music also features within the shot of ‘smith’ running, and so can be seen as smith, and more importantly youth, as still be rebellious. Smiths body language is also far more relaxed and he looks to be enjoying himself when running, showing youths playful nature at heart. However, there is always a sense of authority looking over him as he is running, this is shown by the many featured shots of trees seen to be towering over smith.