Youth Culture

How is Youth Culture Represented?Misfits follows five outsiders on community service who get struck by a flash storm and

lumbered with special powers.

Hard as nails Kelly (Lauren Socha) can suddenly hear people’s thoughts, shamed sporting hero Curtis (Nathan Stewart Jarrett) discovers he has the ability to turn back time when he regrets something, and party girl Alisha (Antonia Thomas) can send people into a sexual

frenzy when they touch her skin. Even painfully shy Simon (Iwan Rheon) can make himself invisible when he feels he’s being ignored, which makes it all the more hard to swallow for smart aleck Nathan (Robert Sheehan), who seems to have been unaffected, much to his

dismay.

Unlike their more conventional counterparts, our misfits don’t swap their ankle tags and mobile phones for capes and tights. Instead, they discover what a pain in the arse life can

be when you’re stuck with a super power you didn’t want.

Youth culture is represented quite negatively in Misfits. It is following the lives of teenagers who have committed a number of different crimes and have got themselves arrested and

are doing community service. The Guardian stated that the programme was aimed to show us "real people" rather than the stereotype of the "ASBO teenager". However through the show we begin to relate to the characters and understand how they got into trouble in the

first place, understanding that they are good people, just need to be given attention.

Character: KellyKelly is represented as the ‘Chav’, she wears a lot of jewellery and makeup; has her hair slicked back and in a high ponytail, and is seen to be quite lower class. The situation she got her self arrested for enforces her stereotype as she is doing community service due to assaulting someone. This is deemed the sort of behaviour expected from someone of her social status and class. She uses slag language, has a very common accent and swears a lot.

This photo identifies Kelly to what I have descried her as, her high ponytail, lots of jewellery and make up. Her facial expression is shown to be very moody and she is shown to be unwilling to cooperate. Her body language shows that she feels she is in control and has a bad attitude towards the others and the community service itself.

Character: SimonSimon is shown as different to the other characters, he does not fit a specific stereotype and is shown as the outcast giving off a sinister persona. He is not interested in socialising with the others and doesn’t worry about attracting people. His appearance is based on the job to be done and nothing more. This image shows Simon having flat, neat hair which is not styled like other people of his age group would have, He has an intense star and is focusing right on the camera, almost like he is threatening the audience.

He is smartly dressed compared to the others and does not style his overalls; they are simply done up to the top with his collar folded down, maybe shown as typically ‘geeky’. His stance is casual, he is not trying to impress people or give off an impression that he is in charge like Kelly does. He is doing community service due to attempted arson.

How do they talk to each other?

The characters talk to each other in a very informal way. At first they don’t appreciate each other as are complete strangers in a new environment. They ‘dig’ at each other and make smart remarks about each others appearance and why they might be there.

Nathan is shown as the ‘joker’ of the group and is constantly winding the others up, especially Kelly. Through the series we see the group starting to bond and respect each others thoughts and feelings; Curtis and Alisha even form a relationship.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODl-kAhVsXY&feature=related

What do they wear?As you can see in the pictures on the previous slides all the teenagers are wearing a orange overall; this will make them feel part of a team and feel like the are under authority as are all wearing the same. Some of the characters alter what they are wearing to match their personality. For example Curtis doesn’t always do his up showing his athlete figure and Alisha has her undone at the top revealing her chest.

Storylines involved: In the first episode, the Misfits are attacked by their probation officer who acquired strange evil powers in the electrical storm, and accidentally kill him in self defence. The main plot of the first series is the five trying to stop anyone else finding out about the murder. Tony's replacement Sally, is revealed to be Tony's fiancee, and she suspects that the gang know more than they claim to. Sally's suspicion grows and she forms a relationship with Simon, secretly pretending to like him in order to get information from him about Tony's disappearance. She steals his cell phone, which has the video of Nathan saying they killed Tony, sees it, and tries to convince Simon to go to the police. When she tries to get away, Simon turns invisible, freaks her out a little, then accidentally kills her in the struggle for his cell phone. Other sub-plots of the series involve Nathan being made homeless after his mother kicks him out, beginning to live in the community center, Alisha and Curtis becoming involved in a relationship, Curtis accidentally changing time so he never split up from his ex-girlfriend Sam, and Simon's sense of loneliness and isolation from the rest of the group. There are also side-plots that only last for one episode, including the first series' finale in which a cult-like group begins to brainwash youths into adopting ultra-conservative behavior. The episode ends with Nathan's death after a struggle with the cult's leader. As his friends mourn, Nathan's power is finally revealed in the final scene as he awakens unharmed in his coffin.

In the second series, as the gang are approaching the end of their community service, they are stalked by a mysterious masked man who assists them through dangerous situations and is seemingly aware of events that take place before they happen, Alisha discovers the identity of the masked man after being knocked out from falling down a flight of stairs, to be a time-travelling, future Simon, who she falls in love with and learns she is to fall in love with the 'present' Simon. Future Simon both warns of an unspecified, upcoming crisis and shows that the superpowers will soon become public knowledge – which occurs in the sixth episode, only for that timeline to be erased (leaving what happens next unclear). Throughout the series, sub-plots include Nathan and Kelly's abortive attempt at a relationship, Curtis and Alisha breaking up, Simon slowly becoming more assertive and comfortable with himself, and Curtis starting a relationship with a girl named Nikki, who obtained her teleportation power from the heart transplant of a guy named Ollie, who originally had the power.

Through the Series…

As I said through the series, we start to understand and relate to the characters. They are shown to improve which shows community service works and is a

positive aspect.

Nathan: Nathan's defining personality trait is his outspoken, mischievous nature and propensity for insulting those around him, regardless of whether he actually cares for them or not. Early in the series, this results in him being kicked out of his home by his mother and abandoned by the majority of his friends. With nowhere else to go, he breaks into the community centre and takes up residence there, sleeping on the floor and stealing food and drinks from the concession areas. At the end of the series we start to see Nathan respecting his friends more and sees him look out for Simon more (the outcast of the group).

Simon: Simon is depicted as the smartest individual of the group; he devises a plan to permanently 'hide' the corpses of the Misfits' dead probation worker and their former colleague Gary. He initially has no real friends within or outside the ASBO group, but soon grows closer with the other Misfits, despite his shy personality, and professes it to be only place where he feels like he belongs.

Kelly: Kelly is initially portrayed simply as a stereotypical chav, given community service for getting into a fight at an Argos store. The first to discover a power, she has telepathy and can hear the thoughts of others, including infants and animals.She is aggressive but worries about what others think of her; it was she who killed the rampaging Tony—in self-defence—and initiated the Argos fight after a girl named Jodi called her a slag. With her telepathic ability and a habit of speaking before thinking, Kelly often exposes her fellow Misfits' secrets unintentionally. She is also shown to have a sensitive side, showing concern for the other members of the group and being genuinely hurt by her fiancé leaving her.

Curtis: Curtis was once a rising running star, who aimed to compete in the 2012 Olympics. However, his career was left in tatters after being caught in possession of cocaine. Due to his high profile he was publicly shamed, being made an example under the eyes of the law. After the storm, Curtis gained the power of time manipulation; whenever he regrets something, he is able to rewind and replay past events to affect their outcome — an ability over which he had little control. Curtis is shown to be able to replay events multiple times, but he can only activate this ability when dealing with something that he genuinely wants to change, requiring him to have some emotional investment in whatever he is trying to rewind. As a result, he was able to undo the death of the group's third probation worker because he wanted to save his friends from further trouble from killing someone by accident, but he couldn't save the recently murdered sixth member of their community service group after he was shot in the head in front of them because he had no emotional connection to the other boy.He is the first Misfit to use his power for the benefit of someone else, being inspired by a meeting with his just released from prison, more-or-less former girlfriend Sam to undo the drug charges that led to their arrest.

Alisha: Alisha is the party girl of the Misfits, gaining an ASBO for constant drink-driving and her behaviour towards the policeman who arrested her. Her ability made those who make bare contact with her skin go into a sexual frenzy towards her, causing them to describe their desires aloud and in graphic detail; however, those affected have no recollection of their behavior while under the influence of her power or connection to her afterwards. Like Nathan, Alisha also starts to form a relationship with Simon, who at the beginning is an outcast. Simon jumps in front of a bullet for her, and when dying in her arms she tells him she loves him, with them later becoming a couple. She also learns respect for others such as policemen.