Quadrophenia (1979) dir. Franc Roddam Hebidge studied British youth subcultures in the late 1970s. Hebdige argues that youth subcultures ‘are a way for young people to express their opposition to society, and to challenge hegemony’. This is primarily expressed through style. Hebidge also argues that representations of young people are quite limited showing them as either fun or trouble. This suggests media representations of young people do not really relate to reality.

Quadrophenia is a 1979 film directed by Franc Roddam, which follows the lives of a

group of members of the subculture group the Mods and their rivalry with the

Rockers. The film mainly revolves around the character Jimmy and how he uses the

Mod gang to gain his identity. Jimmy is represented as wanting to be part of the Mod

gang, so he can gain group identity, which he sees as being very important to him.

When in the gang, Jimmy wants to be different and show off to impress him friends

and Steph, the girl who Jimmy likes. This is shown in the scene when the gang is

dancing in a nightclub in Brighton. He see’s Steph dancing with Ace, who is seen as a

popular Mod due to the scooter he drives and the clothes he wears. Jimmy tries to

impress her and gain her attention by jumping from the top of the club into a crowd of

people, but this results in him being thrown out of the club. This shows Jimmy wants

to be different and gain an identity with the gang, so he will be seen as cool and

popular. However, Jimmy’s identity is compromised at one point during the film. This

is compromised when Jimmy and his friends beat up Kevin, who is also one of

Jimmy’s friends but is a rocker. When Jimmy realizes that it is Kevin that he is

beating up, Jimmy stops and runs away, as if he doesn’t want to be part of the gang

anymore.

Kevin is a rocker who is from the same area as Jimmy. Kevin was formerly in the

army but left as he didn’t like being told what to do by other people, which is a

stereotypical attitude for teenagers.