Outnumbered

Outnumbered: S05E01 - Jake Get's a Tattoo.

This text I think overall represents a teen in a negative way.
This text follows the form of identity, and what it means to be individual. Gauntlett and Buckingham have many theories about subculture and the reinforcement of collective identity.
In this sequence we see Jake admit to having a tattoo to his parents, who are disguested and disappointed in him, he backs himself up by saying his friends were there too and it was an impulse thing, he also said that he did it as a 'fashion choice', this suggests that he did it to fit in with his friends and a teenage subculture, so he is conforming to the stereotype that adults have about teens. This is also backed up by the dad, Pete, who talks about how he sees so many tattoo's and that when they all grow up he'll be surrounded by people with tattoo's and how thats a negative thing, calling people 'human billboards' and talking about being the most 'unattractive nation on the planet' this shows a negative towards tattoo's from the dominant ideology, because Pete is a middle aged white man.
Another representation of identity, is his need to be older and do that he wants, which is a common teen rebellion trait, he shows this by saying he is 17 and he can do what he wants, this shows us how he actually isnt an adult and still has to follow his parents rules but he wants to be older and feels like he doesnt need his parents permission, this is negative in the eyes of the dominant ideology because it means that the teens are being independent instead of conforming to their rules.

At the end of the sequence we see Jake storm off which is a stereotypical teenage action, and behaviour therefore he is doing the same as every other teenager is and creating that collective identity of unruly teenagers who get tattoo's and rebel.



Fiske also applies to this media text, the idea of polysemic reading is quite apparent, this is because as a teenager watching this you admire Jake's tattoo and don't necesarilly see it as a bad thing, all teenagers have a different opinion about the tattoo and they relate it back to themselves and what they would do in the same situation or what tattoo they would get. However, the dominant ideology see's it as a negative thing and really stands with this viewpoint, both the mum and dad see it as a horrible thing and they dont like it. But, when Jake's brother enters the room he isnt phased by the tattoo and actually praises it and compliments it, this suggests that for teenagers this kind of sight or behaviour is normal, but for the dominant ideology it isnt. This helps the audience to interpret and rebel against the dominant ideology because they view this form of identification in different ways.