attack the block analysis 2

Representation of Contemporary British Youth

• There has been an emergence of British horror films whereby youth are presented as ‘monsters’. This representation is bleeding into social realist texts too.

• They appear to threaten normality – civilised middle class values and ideologies

Formula of horror films

• Robin Wood argues that the basic formula of a horror film is where ‘normality’ is threatened by the monster.

• By normality he means the ‘dominant social norms’ of society.

The Monster as a visual metaphor• Could we argue that the alien

monster is a visual metaphor for how society has stereotyped British Youth?

• “They're all the things that the press and people call those kids…………People call these kids monsters, they call them feral, they call them animalistic, they say they've got no morals or values and all they care about is territory and competitiveness” (Joe Cornish (director), 2011)

Opening Sequence Analysis• Watch the opening sequence of Attack the

Block, Eden Lake and Harry Brown.

• Using evidence from the 3 films how are the middles classes represented and how is this juxtaposed with British youth?

Applying Cohen & Wood

• How can we apply Stanley Cohen’s and Robin wood’s theory to these contemporary texts?

• Write a detailed paragraph, incorporating examples from the opening sequences and applying the theory of Cohen and Wood, to suggest how British youth are constructed as monsters who threaten the civilised values of society.