How can you apply key theories of Althusser and Adorno to Harry Brown

• Althusser, a French Marxist, constructed the theory of Ideological State Apparatus and Interpellation - ISA. Through all forms of networks of communication the communications ISA communicates the dominant Ideology about Capitalism and our roles in relation to the division of labour, in order to enable Capitalism to work: good and bad rich and poor and old and young. The products of the communications ISA can be seen to fundamentally entertain or inform - to provide the public with pleasure, whilst all the time, still reinforcing their ideas - this can be through film, television drama, theatre productions etc.

- Althusser's theory is demonstrated in Harry Brown as this film uses a form of entertainment to reinforce the misconstrued idea held by the dominant ideology that teenagers are deviant, uncontrollable and something to be feared, into the minds of the wider public audience. Harry Brown demonstrates a real conflict between the old and the young, and shows the young people as constantly using unnecessary violence (like at the very beginning of the film shooting at, and eventually shooting dead an innocent mother int he park with her child) and showing the up-most disrespect to authority from the onset. It presents them as murderers who cause havoc throughout the estate to innocent bystanders and others in the neighborhood. The film also shows Harry Brown using violence, however his use of violence is represented in a completely different way - due to his age, and how he is represented within the movie, his level of violence is justified despite it being just as horrific and extreme as the violence used by the young people.

• Adorno's stated that producers guideline is for the illusion that the outside world is the straightforward continuation of the presented on screen - that real life is becoming indistinguishable. He stated how producers are products of 'cultural commodities' and their goal is to make money: the products are used to entertain the masses, pure entertainment and reinforcement of the dominant viewpoint. The products are formulaic and repeat the same ideas and values regardless of their form.

-     Adorno's theory is also demonstrated in Harry Brown in a similar way to Althusser's, as through the form of entertainment that is film, the dominant viewpoint if reinforced that young people are disrespectful, rude, dangerous and deviant. The idea of prodcers creating an illusion that the outside world is a straightforward continuation of what is presented on screen can also be seen demonstrated in Harry Brown as the creators of the film havr constructed the film in a certain way that indirectly but effectively blurs the distinction between  the fictional and non-fictional. The film uses 'normal' looking characters as opposed to glamourised film stars, all the characters you see within the film look like people you may ordinarily see on  the street which adds the realistic and feeling of continuation of whats presented on screen into real life.

Fiske's theories to The Inbetweeners

Fiske & Inbetweeners

The Inbetweeners - Fiske Theory

Fiske Idea 1: Plot development – Representation lives beyond the end of the episodes. The plot usually runs over multiple episodes. Examples: S1E3 - The end of the episodes leaves us to question whether or not Simon will get his car fixed, which in later episodes we see that he gets the door replaced with a red one. S3E2 - In this episode we see the beginning of Simon's and Tara's relationship and this carries on in another episode.

Fiske Idea 2: Repetition of characters makes them appear to live in the same time scale as us. Characters have a past, present and future. Examples: S1E3 - In this episode we learn that Neil used to work at Asda and that Will cried on the ghost train when he was 5. S3E2 - Simon mentions that his mother took him to a take that concert and Tara mentions the incident that Will had in his exam. This was in the last episode of the second season.

Fiske Idea 3: Characters representation are constructed by the writers and producers of the show. The representations are portrayed through the characters physical appearance, characteristics and social values. Example: S1E3 - Will is seen as the responsible one out of the four main characters and this is represented through his clothing. He is the only one wearing his full school uniform (his tie done properly and he is wearing his blazer instead of a jumper). This makes him look like an adult compared to the other guys who have their shirts un-tucked.

Fiske Idea 4: Polysemic reading - Audiences are diverse and so how they read a representation of a character will depend on their own experiences. The audience will also imagine how they would have behaved in the characters situation. Example: S1E3 - Towards the end of the episode we see Will swearing at the disable people for sitting at the front of the ride when him and his friends have been waiting in line for the front row seats. Some people may find this funny and understand his frustration because he waiting the extra half an hour for the front seat and they argue that he didn't know that they were disabled. Whereas others will criticise him for being inconsiderate and disgraceful for speaking to them like that.

Representation of young people in the Inbetweeners

Fiske Idea 1- 
The representation within television drama is different to film and news due to 'formal conventions'.
During a series a representation lives beyond the end of the episode unlike a film which has an overall 'finale'.
The camera tends to focus on individuals and the performance of the actors which contributes to the plot development.
The Inbetweeners relation 'The Gig and the Girlfriend'- within this episode they attend a gig in which all of them decide to take drugs, this is originally so simon can impress a girl. However when it comes to the actual drug taking they all become very nervous and unsure defeating the stereotype, the episode finishes with Will being taken to hospital and jay running off leaving room for 'what will happen next'? This then allows the characters to live beyond that episode and allowing a emotional connection with the viewer.
Fiske Idea 2-
The relationship with characters is unique compared to other media forms.
Constant repetition of the character means they live in a similar time scale to us (they have a past,present and future). We develop different relationships with that characters from a series then those within a film.
The Inbetweeners relation-Within this episode we learn that Will cried on a ghost train when he was 5, along with 'shitting' himself during an exam. Again this reflects Fiskes idea of presenting the characters with a 'past'.
Fiske Idea 3- 
constructed representations by the writers and producers. The representations are portrayed through appearance, interests, characteristics. Within this episode and throughout the series Will is portrayed as being the responsible one of the group, through the use of his formal clothing (correct uniform)  and standard English. His actions and body language and also quite adult.
Fiske Idea 4-Polysemic reading 
TV drama can be interpreted in many different ways. How us the audience would behave if we were in their shoes. The viewer is less of a subject of dominant ideology and more in control of the process of identification through his/her meanings. Audience judge characters on how they appear.

Fiske and The Inbetweeners:

Idea 1 – Formal Conventions.

In episode 2 – The Gig and the Girlfriend, we get a lot of representation about it being a series, this means that the characters within it live beyond the episode as opposed to a film where we don't have such an emotional connection to the characters because once it's over the character is over too. The constant showing of the characters and actors together make us think of them as the same person in real life, because they're playing the role over and over again. For example the actor playing Simon also appears in 'Fresh Meat', however, I still see him as Simon from The Inbetweeners and I cant shake that identity from him.

The idea of camera shots showing relationships from the characters positions is very strong in this episode as we constantly see the four boys huddled together tightly and fit into one frame often, this shows how close they are to each other and almost makes them into one person.

Idea 2 – Audience relationship with the text

Within both episodes we notice a repetition of character, it's all about the same group of boys and recurring extras who have a relationship to them, such as parents and school mates. This creates a sense of 'real-time' and allows us as the audience to follow the plot and the characters, which also makes it seem like they're growing with us, this gives us a bond towards them and makes us like them more and care about them. The idea of past, present and future is very apparent in all episodes of the show, this is evident when we get a character mentioning Will's events in the first series of the show, in which he excretes himself in an exam, this creates a past for the character which even the audience can identify with because most likely they would've seen it. This also makes us know the character more and have a bonding to them. We are also invited to relate to them as the target audience are teenagers the same age as the characters, this puts them in situations the audience would be in and allows us to think about what we would do in the same situation, it also lets us feel for the characters because we know what they're going through and can laugh at their horrible mistakes. The example of doing drugs, in The Gig and the Girlfriend, at this age is very good, because it shows that they are trying them for the first time which would be the same for many teens their age therefore we can relate to them in the sense of starting in the same place.

Idea 3 – Writers and Producers

Idea 4 – Polysemic Reading

With TV shows it's hard to target at one person because the viewers are so diverse and have different viewpoints, this is dealt with by having four very different characters in terms of personality, but keeping them all neutrally important within the show. This makes the viewers be able to relate to at least one of them whether it being similar personal traits or of that of a friends. It also allows us to imagine ourselves in the same positions as the characters if we feel like we're the same as them.

The audience for TV shows judge characters by how real they seem because we want a connection to them and we want to be a part of their world and story seeming as we're following along it every week. This realism is very important to keep the viewers engaged with the story and character development. In the episode 'Thorpe Park' we get a good sense of realism because the basic school trip or activity for teens is to go to a theme park and go on roller coasters. As the viewers watch this and the characters actions they create their own viewpoint of them and what’s going on, therefore they aren’t being a subject to the dominant ideology because they interpret the message in their own way.

Fiske Assessment

Fiske’s Theory & The Inbetweeners

Fiske’s Theory & The Inbetweeners from Genie MacDon

Fiske Theories on The Inbetweeners

Harry Brown Key Theories

Harry Brown was produced by Matthew Vaughn a well known British actor, and was produced for a fairly small audience. The movie was made by a white middle class middle aged man, and distributed to an audience of white middle class people. Althusser's theory shows that the ISA is using superstructure like the media to distract us from our exploitation .The character Harry Brown goes against the dominant ideology as he is seen as the Hero, and in doing so belittles the police as they seem almost useless throughout the film. The teenagers however represents the out of control monsters that need to stopped, Using stereotypes such as the  teenagers in the film wearing Hoodie's, smoking, taking drugs and stabbing people, reinforces the representation on teenagers as a collective group as we are only shown a very simple representation of teenagers as throughout the whole movie we see it from Harry's point of view. The film showed that the teenagers couldn't be stopped by the police and should be avoided at all costs, this is shown when harry walks past the underpass multiple times during the film when it was faster to walk through it, even when his wife was dying. Even as an old man Harry is shown as the dominant ideology, somewhat mocking the police as an old age pensioner cleaned up the streets when they had failed to do so, in the end of the film during the press conference the police claimed to have done all of Harry's as the audience knows this isn't true this goes against the ideology of the ruling class that the police are good.

In the very beginning of the film the producers made a sense of moral panic as the teenagers were driving around on the first floor of the estate block, then they decided to drive around a women with a baby and fire at her 3 times shooting her in the head and proceed to get run over straight away by a lorry. This is very extreme but shows Stanley Cohen's theory about moral panic and folk devils. In the opening sequence teenagers are as a group rising up against the social structure, rebelling against the police and doing illegal activities, the film then pits every single teenager together during the film even the ones that are outside of the circle of teenagers at the underpass are shown to be doing drugs. By doing this they have created a folk devil in the teenagers that have repress the  police shown during the riot scene when they were throwing bricks and bombs at them. Harry Brown then comes to the rescue and kills the main antagonist, saves the princess and order returns to the social system soon after.

Harry Brown - Key Theories

Adorno & Althusser

In the film Harry Brown, Adorno's theory of repetition of realism and sameness is represented throughout the film in many different ways. An example of this is the locations used; Regents Canal and Aylesbury Estate as they are real location in London, which makes the film feel real and recognisable to the audience. In reality the estate doesn't really have a good representation and is known for negative behaviour, youth crime and violence, and the behaviour found in the estates is mirrored in the film. This was also portrayed through the riot scene near the estate and it was reinforced through real life, as the riots coverage in London was the exact same incident. Even though these two incidents were nowhere near each other in terms of time and one is fictional and the other is real life, the two riots were practically the same in terms of the violent acts the young people were doing (setting cars and buildings on fire, throwing glass bottles and bombs at the police, and the police guarding themselves with their transparent shields). Also the camera angles that were used, as we were never on the side of the rioters and the audience was always on the side of the police; making it look like the young people are attacking us, again reinforcing the dominant ideology. The role of the producer is to ensure that the audience believes that the characters and situations represented are the same as those in our everyday life. This makes is harder for the audience to distinguish the representations of young people in the film to how individual young people behave in real life; especially because the representation appear to be like real life in the film in terms of the way they are dressed, look like and speak. The film tends to rely on certain stereotypes for the collective identity of young people such as antisocial behaviour and violence.

Althussers theory was also presented throughout the film as Harry Brown represents the dominant ideology as we see several sequences of violence through his eyes. For example when the young teenagers are beating up the girl and guy by the underpass; also when they are beating up the car owner. The audience are at a high angle with Harry, looking down onto the scene, which encourages us to side with Harry and take his viewpoint. We are never on the level of the young people when these acts are happening. However in turn, Harry's violent actions (killing teenagers and blowing up buildings) is justified within the film as the violence is contextualised as self defence. He doesn’t go to prison because if he did it would make the teenagers look like victims. Harry done the police a big favour by killing Plan B, and even at the press conference when the police knew the situation, they still took control and never said anything about Harry. The target audience for this film is adults, hence why we are always on Harry's side and the dominant ideology is constantly reinforced throughout the film.

Harry Brown Key Theories

Harry Brown explores the ideology of wider society throughout. The ideas conveyed within the film are portrayed by the media and by those in power to create a power status and allow the teenage community to be oppressed. Althusser's theory investigates the ISA and Interpellation. Throughout the media we see in the news, TV, radio etc we are given a one sided, or the dominant sided ideology of what teenagers actually are. We are forced to convey to these opinions that a higher status have of teenagers because the majority of the press young adults get is bad, the media becomes a mediator for this vision to get across. The dominant ideology is that teenagers should be fear, that they cause the mass destruction of society and that they need to be kept under control by the authorities such as the police. The police are reported in a controlled way to maintain order, but fail to do so, which is something we feel it is accurate in real life society today.  Harry represents the dominant ideology in several sequences through the camera angles such as when he is looking out of his apartment to the under passage, we are shown through his eyes, and the camera moves as he would move his eyes to allow the audience to side with him and become allied with him instead of the teens.

Adorno's theory of Realism and Sameness is also explore vastly. The materialistic imagery we have within the film stays the same and stays attached to the young adults throughout, we never switch from a well dressed teen to then comparing with a hooded teen, this is where the negative stereotypes are portrayed, as we are shown that young adults cannot dress in a sophisticated manner or can not even conform to a well dressed idea. The infamous hoodie is also seen throughout the film, acting as a weapon of disguise for the teens that do not want to be identified.

Harry Brown - Theories

How can you apply the key theories of Adorno and Stanley Cohen to Harry Brown?

Adorno

Adorno, a German Marxist believed that in a capitalist society all forms of entertainment were owned by the people in control within a capitalist consumer culture, purely to make money, they were also used to entertain the masses but at the same time reinforce the dominant ideology and patterns of production and work. There are many ways in which Adorno's ideas can be applied to Harry Brown. Firstly, Adorno argues that the producer needs to make sure that the audience believe that the characters and situations represented are the same as those in our everyday life, the way Harry Brown illustrates this illusion is by making the characters in the film who are teenagers conform to the everyday stereotypes and labels they are faced with, for example, the way they dress throughout the film; track-suits, hoodies and hats, teenagers who dress in this way are usually labelled as violent and troublemakers. The film takes elements from real life and then uses these elements to construct a plot, for example, the use of real locations such as Aylesbury Estate in Walworth and Regents Cannel in Islington, the use of these real locations tries to make us as an audience think this is real and this is how these teenagers would behave in real life around these kind of areas which are real in the world. Adorno also argues that "real life is becoming indistinguishable from the movies" the audience can't tell film apart from real life therefore we believe that they are real. Another example is the way the characters speak and the kind of language they use, teenagers are represented as disrespectful in the way they speak by swearing and shouting and having their own language e.g. slang in which they can only understand each other and exclude the rest of society from this language. Some people may believe this is how most teenagers speak and therefore be lead to believe the film is real because it is the kind of language used in the film.

Stanley Cohen

In Cohen's view a moral panic occurs when a condition, episode, person or group of people emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests. Throughout Harry Brown there are many scenes which could have created a moral panic, for example, the ending of the film which is the riot scene, this scene illustrates immense violence and danger from the teenagers, the police are portrayed as powerless  and the teenagers seem to be in complete control, this will create a sense of fright and panic amongst many members in society, but the old people in particular because the media is their biggest influence. Another example in the film which could create a moral panic is the scene of the teenagers constantly staying at the underpass, throughout the film they were the only ones seen in this part of the area, which suggests it is sort of their territory. This will suggest that these kind of areas are dangerous and the kind of people who stay here are violent, it will create a moral panic because people will be too afraid to pass through these particular areas because they may feel threatened or intimidated.   

Harry Brown - Theories

Key Theories - Harry Brown

How can you apply the key theories of Cohen, Adorno, Hedbidge and Althusser to Harry Brown? 

Stanley Cohen

Stanley Cohen's theory about moral panic and folk devils states that when someone or a group of people rise up against something that can be seen as a threat against society and the interests and values that come along with it. The media plays a key role in this society by creating the illusion that the normal, everyday people are living a normal civil life, whilst alienating the people that rise up against that. They do this by isolating the groups through the newspapers, TV, radio e.c.t. and more often that not, over dramatising what the people are doing.
The media also have an agenda. Even if some news programs state to be neutral, there is an audience and the people controlling the news lean towards the police and giving the audience a sense of safety by knowing that the police have the situation under control
In Harry Brown, we see this kind of uprising from the people in one of the penultimate scenes, when the estate is on fire and the people have taken charge against the police. As the camera is behind the police, we see the group from their point of view, and have the wide shot of the group throwing bricks and fire bombs against the riot police. This specific shot emphasises the power that the group has and how outnumbered the police are. As the police fall back it goes against what the media portray, as the people have the power in the estate, not the police.

Althusser

 Althusser's theory touched upon the fact that he believed the media helped construct people's identities in a slow, subtle way so that the people are unaware of it happening and it can be slowly filtered into society and spread across the cities. He also believed that the people are being controlled by the ruling class (middle age, middle class white bloke). Because of this slow movement of media construction, Althusser believed that society becomes divided, and a lot of this can be seen from scenes in Harry Brown.
For example, the teenagers in Harry Brown are being portrayed as hard core criminals that run wild on the estate and are mean to old people. This view not only represents what people think of teenagers, but also that the elderly are innocent old victims. This film twists that theory by making Harry Brown (Michael Caine) a killer that murders teenagers, however, this film was predominantly targeted at older people (and a strong possibility just men) so the target audience are going to side with Harry as they view teenagers/young people exactly how they appear on screen.
We also see a glimpse of the media when the police hold a press conference and take credit for Harry's actions the night of the riots. Although the audience know the police did literally nothing, we watch as they lie and claim they got it all under control. This somewhat mocks the police force for being weak against the real people on the streets, as well as exposing the knowledge the police force have over the media, and are aware that the media hold control over what the public think about the police.

Harry Brown Theories

In the film Harry Brown, we see Adorno’s theory of repetition of realism and sameness illustrated many times throughout the film. A key example of the realism in the film is the real life locations used such as the Aylesbury Estate and Regent’s Canal in London. Filming in these locations which would be recognisable to the audience makes the film seem more realistic and gritty. The young people in the film are presented through their clothing, manner and speech to be stereotypical troublesome teenagers that the audience would recognise from real life. Presenting the fictional young people in this way makes it harder for the audience to distinguish the representation of young people in the film from young people in real life. The riot scenes found in Harry Brown were later reinforced through the real life coverage on the London riots. Despite the riots in Harry Brown being fictional and several years before the real London riots, a number of parallels can be drawn between the ways the two riots were presented on screen to audiences. For example, the acts of young people seemingly out of control wearing hoodies, setting cars on fire and throwing glass and fire at the police as well as the whole riot sequence being shown to us from the point of view of the dominant ideology (the police/Harry Brown himself).

Cohen’s theory of folk devils is also shown throughout the film primarily through the representation of young people. In the opening sequence, an extreme scene in which a group of young people are shown taking drugs then speeding around on bikes in a park before killing an innocent mother by shooting her in the head, young people are clearly established as the folk devils. The young people are seen as the villains in this film and everything is blamed on them, despite the police doing nothing for a long time and no one taking responsibility for why the young people are like that in the first place. The extreme acts of violence and crime that the young people commit all throughout the film makes them easy to blame, once the young people are killed the estate that Harry lives on is seen to be a safe place again. This shows that the films central idea is that young people are what is wrong with society and that without them everything would be ok. While this is obviously untrue, the representation of young people in this film does provide strong evidence for Cohen’s theory of folk devils.

Harry Brown - Althusser & Adorno

In the film Harry Brown, there are many theories that apply to the whole film. For example, Adorno's theory of the repition of realism and sameness is clear in the film. The estate, which is the location we see the most of in Harry Brown, is a well known estate in South London. The estate in real life is quite run down, and it is shown the same way in the film. For this film, the crew could have decided to film on a fake set, but to make the film seem more real, they used a huge well known estate, so the audience could relate to where it was. The canal scenes are also shot on a real place. Although it is on the other side of London, people watching will definitely identify Regents Canal almost instantly, as somewhere they know or live. This could also make people who walk along the canal a bit more worried about walking around their late at night. What the teenagers were wearing throughout the whole film became a sort of uniform, and they didn't change their style of clothes within the film. The most common item of clothing associated with the youths were their 'hoodies'. The hoodies are usually seen when talking about youths/teenagers in any type of media today, and the film simply reminded audiences that they should be cautious when they see any teenagers wearing them.

Althusser's theory of the ISA (dominant ideology) was also seen in Harry Brown. Harry is a vehicle for the target audience of the film, and he 'gets rid' of the youths in the film in the same way that the audience would. By cleverly giving all of the teenagers what they deserved, plus being a hero and saving someone, and getting away with everything, he is just what the target audience would want to see, and still, the police, who are also a dominant part of society, get the credit at the end of the movie. All the camera work and various scenes encouraged the audience to side with Harry and take his side throughout.

Harry Brown: Adorno and Cohen

In the film Harry Brown, we see many areas which apply to different theories.
Firstly, Adorno's theory about realism and sameness uses real things in order to make the audience believe that what they are seeing is true and really happens to that extent. The use of the Aylesbury Estate is really important as it is a place known for being violent and quite dodgy, therefore the setting of it there makes the actions a lot more realistic and believable, almost as if it's based on real events. Also, Regents Canal in Islington played a big part for the exact same reason, it also becomes something that the viewers can identify with because they know the place therefore they create this connection with it, it's placed there so that when they pass the area they remember the film and feel scared or shaken by the area because they subconsciously believe that what happened in the film is what happens in real life. This creates a view about teenagers by the people who watch this, which are adult males statistically, this also gets carried on into other forms of media by the dominant ideology because they think of it to be true. This reflects negatively on the young people of today.

Secondly, Cohen's theories about Moral Panic and Folk Devils.
In the ending sequences we see a lot of rioting by the young people, it is very violent and dangerous, we also see the police squad struggling to keep control, this creates a sense fo moral panic to the viewers as they think that teenagers are out of control criminals who can attack them at any moment, and the police will be too weak to protect them, this is really bad as it suggests that the teens need to be stopped and controlled. however, this behaviour was set up from the beginning scene of the film in which a group of teens go out and shoot an innocent mother as a fun joke. This sets the teens up in the film as Folk Devils, it also creates a normal behaviour for the youths which we then expect to see from them throughout the film, this also allows Harry Brown's character to look humane and like a hero even though he is doing violent things, because he's doing them for a reason and the teens were not.

You're a Wizard 'Arry Brown.

How can you apply the key theories of Cohen and Hebdige to Harry Brown?

Stanley Cohen- Moral Panic and Folk Devils

A moral panic is an intense feeling about an issue that appears to threaten the social order. Within the film Harry Brown their are various scenes as to what could have easily created a Moral Panic.  The most obvious and typical one was the riot scene, within this scene the police appear very vulnerable in which at this point the teenagers seem to have all the control. This creates a sense of fear for particularly older people who only have an idea of what is happening through the media. Another scene which could be used as an example is the underpass. Throughout the film the only people we see using the underpass is teenagers, all older people take the longer way round regardless of the situation (when Harrys wife was dying in hospital). It appeared the underpass was out of bounds for others, that is until Harry eradicates the estate of vermin (the teenagers) until it is safe.

A folk devil is a person/group of people portrayed within the media as being deviant, they are usually blamed for crimes and other social problems. Within the film the youths act as a collective group and do in fact threaten social order. For example right at the beginning an innocent by stander with her baby is shot. Throughout the film adults have this preconceived idea about the behaviour of youths within the film, this is partly due to some of the scenes which set the youth up as being folk devils, they generally have a lack of understanding behind their behaviour.

Richard Hebdige- Youth Sub- Culture

A youth subculture is a group of people in which share distinct interests, style and behaviour.  Youth subcultures generally offer participants an identity outside of ascribed institutions, such as school,family and the home.  Within the film Harry Brown, there is only one way in which teenagers are represented which is violent,disrespectful rude etc. The youth subculture within the film all share the same sense of interests style and behaviour. For example they all wear a Hoodie and continue to use slang throughout the film. The teenagers are always shot as a collective group, they are always together and rarely do we see them individually. In terms of the youth using slang, this enabled the members of the subculture to understand what they were saying. However made it difficult for the adults. The use of swearing is also popular among the youths where as not once to the adults within the film swear, this gives the impression the youth are the villains. 

Key Theories on Harry Brown