10 Black People And The Criminal law - Braham, Peter - Rattansi, Ali - Racism and antiracism (1992) - London, SAGE Publications LtD.
"Discussions of the criminalization of black people in Britian"1
"Conspiracy charges were also used against the islington 18, black youths who were also arrested because of street fighting"
"Only 35% of those arrested in Brixton, south london were granted bail"
Robert Ferguson, First published in (1998) By Arnold (Hoddle Headline Group)
"Wars, murders, racist attackts are part of the seemingly endless flow of media representation of black british teens"
"Black British teens who in which later associate in gangs are often reported in the media as a modern issue"
Gifford, Clive - Gang (2006), London - Evans Brothers Limited.
"street crime occurs when gangs spend much of their time, energy disrespecting rival gangs and other teenagers that do not look familiar with them"
"I'm a black British teen and joining a gang is dangerous. violent conflict between gangs is common, and gang members are at least 60 times more likely to be killed than the rest of the population"
Wignall, Paul - Prejudice & Difference (2000) - Reed Educational and Professional Publishing LtD.
"Racism is what happens when ways of labelling and stereotyping people. Thats when gangs form these street crimes"
"White people using their power to exclude black or Asian people from opportunities for good health care, education and employment"
"Black people make up only 5% of the United Kingdom's population. however, over 50% of the prison population is black and 40% of the black population is unemployed".
Striniatic, Dominic - First published (1995) by Routledge
"The gangster film has a number of features which can usefully be explored by younger teenagers".
"The gangster film is about law, street crime and young black teenagers".
"Its not possible to know why black people are serving longer senteces than whites, other than that a high proportion of black people are convicted of offences involving drugs, street crime".
Race, And Unemployment - Donnellan, Craig - Published by Independence (2003)
"Young black teens out of jobs so they resort to violence and street crime. Whilst in this path they will be selling drugs"
"Whilst unemployment rates increase, young black hopefulls believe that they have no choice other than to join a gang"
"Overall black workers earn less white wokers"
Humpfry, Jay - Published by Heward Ellen - Black Culture (2000)
"Black teens resort to violence because of the role modles they have, this manily being in the music industry".
Edward, Price - Published by Ford Knewton - Gang Culture (2001)
"Gangs is a way of young teens to feel save so that they don't get targeted by others"
Luton, George - Published By Phil David - Representation on Race (1999)
"Young Teenagers resolve to crime because of the racial abuse that they might believe still exisits"
"Street crime invloves young and old teenagers that are involved in gangs"
Phil, Cane - Published by Paul Motson - Racism & Culture (2000)
"Some street crime and violence occurs when gangs are racial to one another"
"An increase of violence due to dislikes of other gangs"
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
Peter Pringle's America: Black defender of the Klan..
THE American Bill of Rights creates some strange bedfellows. A black lawyer named Anthony Griffin continues to cause a stir because he is defending the Ku Klux Klan. Given that the Klan's historic mission is to terrorise and subjugate blacks, many are wondering why on earth Mr Griffin, who is an ardent opponent of everything that the Klan members stand for, would bother to defend them.
The issue is this. The state of Texas is trying to force the Klan to make public a list of its members who are determined to stop blacks moving into mostly white public housing projects. Mr Griffin is defending the Klan's right to withhold the names on the basis of the First Amendment to the Constitution that guarantees freedom of expression and organisation.
The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, America's oldest and largest civil rights organisation, is outraged by Mr Griffin's action and has summarily dismissed him as general counsel to the Texas chapter of the NAACP, a post he had held for two years, citing a 'conflict of interest'. Since the NAACP works constantly against the Klan, Mr Griffin could not be on both sides of the fence at once, association leaders decreed.
Mr Griffin, 49, has mounted an eloquent defence of his actions, in so doing adding his name to the growing list of blacks who, in various ways, are rejecting the limited strategies of the Old Guard of African-American leaders. Wherever you look, there are convulsions in black politics.
Jesse Jackson has recently challenged the self-imposed code of silence among young blacks that protects the culture of violence. While other black leaders pretended - and some preached - that responsibility lay with the white-controlled media or the police, Mr Jackson has been telling black teenagers it is their fight; he urged them to sign a pledge card that they would tell the police if they saw other blacks with guns or drugs. Ratting on comrades could be good, he said.
On another front, the New York elections have stirred black leaders, including Mr Jackson, to intensify their drive to form a new party. More than 90 per cent of blacks voted for New York's Democratic black mayor, David Dinkins, and overwhelmingly supported his two white running mates seeking second positions in city government. Mr Dinkins was defeated, but the running mates were elected, sending blacks a gloomy message: blacks will support white Democrats, but white Democrats will not necessarily support blacks.
Fed up, Mr Jackson and other black leaders speak of giving up on the Democratic Party, which the majority of blacks have supported since they won the right to vote. They talk of forming a new party in time for the 1996 presidential elections.
The temptation for Mr Jackson is to try and revive his own Rainbow Coalition which was formed to advance all minority interests - and especially his own - but the danger is that a new party would dilute the political strength already gained by African-Americans. They could end up isolated on the outside throwing rocks, trying to get in. A frustrated few might throw bombs.
In this context the thoughtful, soft-spoken arguments of Mr Griffin, acknowledging the rights under the Constitution of even white supremacists to organise without government snooping, are a mature step that can only reflect well on the new generation of black professionals.
Mr Griffin recalls his school days in a segregated community in Texas and the words of the Pledge of Allegiance: '. . . with liberty and justice for all'. He began to listen to Martin Luther King, Stokely Carmichael, Dick Gregory and Angela Davis. And he read about Dred Scott, the slave who sued for his freedom after his master had moved him from the slave state of Missouri to the free state of Illinois, and then back to Missouri. An even application of constitutional doctrine would make him free, he claimed, but the US Supreme Court of the day justified the enslavement by proclaiming the black man had no rights that the white man must respect.
As readily as the next person, Mr Griffin acknowledges that the Klan is a hate group that has terrorised the black community. But he insists that the Klan, the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, 'or you and your garden party' all have a right to assemble, organise and advocate their respective positions, no matter how odious they might be. When the American Civil Liberties Union office in Texas called and asked if he would take the Klan case, he accepted. 'The failure to protect those we hate takes away my protection,' he says.
He notes that the NAACP in the late Fifties fought to retain its membership list in Alabama, and the Supreme Court upheld its right under the First Amendment.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/peter-pringles-america-black-defender-of-the-klan-1502936.html
The issue is this. The state of Texas is trying to force the Klan to make public a list of its members who are determined to stop blacks moving into mostly white public housing projects. Mr Griffin is defending the Klan's right to withhold the names on the basis of the First Amendment to the Constitution that guarantees freedom of expression and organisation.
The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, America's oldest and largest civil rights organisation, is outraged by Mr Griffin's action and has summarily dismissed him as general counsel to the Texas chapter of the NAACP, a post he had held for two years, citing a 'conflict of interest'. Since the NAACP works constantly against the Klan, Mr Griffin could not be on both sides of the fence at once, association leaders decreed.
Mr Griffin, 49, has mounted an eloquent defence of his actions, in so doing adding his name to the growing list of blacks who, in various ways, are rejecting the limited strategies of the Old Guard of African-American leaders. Wherever you look, there are convulsions in black politics.
Jesse Jackson has recently challenged the self-imposed code of silence among young blacks that protects the culture of violence. While other black leaders pretended - and some preached - that responsibility lay with the white-controlled media or the police, Mr Jackson has been telling black teenagers it is their fight; he urged them to sign a pledge card that they would tell the police if they saw other blacks with guns or drugs. Ratting on comrades could be good, he said.
On another front, the New York elections have stirred black leaders, including Mr Jackson, to intensify their drive to form a new party. More than 90 per cent of blacks voted for New York's Democratic black mayor, David Dinkins, and overwhelmingly supported his two white running mates seeking second positions in city government. Mr Dinkins was defeated, but the running mates were elected, sending blacks a gloomy message: blacks will support white Democrats, but white Democrats will not necessarily support blacks.
Fed up, Mr Jackson and other black leaders speak of giving up on the Democratic Party, which the majority of blacks have supported since they won the right to vote. They talk of forming a new party in time for the 1996 presidential elections.
The temptation for Mr Jackson is to try and revive his own Rainbow Coalition which was formed to advance all minority interests - and especially his own - but the danger is that a new party would dilute the political strength already gained by African-Americans. They could end up isolated on the outside throwing rocks, trying to get in. A frustrated few might throw bombs.
In this context the thoughtful, soft-spoken arguments of Mr Griffin, acknowledging the rights under the Constitution of even white supremacists to organise without government snooping, are a mature step that can only reflect well on the new generation of black professionals.
Mr Griffin recalls his school days in a segregated community in Texas and the words of the Pledge of Allegiance: '. . . with liberty and justice for all'. He began to listen to Martin Luther King, Stokely Carmichael, Dick Gregory and Angela Davis. And he read about Dred Scott, the slave who sued for his freedom after his master had moved him from the slave state of Missouri to the free state of Illinois, and then back to Missouri. An even application of constitutional doctrine would make him free, he claimed, but the US Supreme Court of the day justified the enslavement by proclaiming the black man had no rights that the white man must respect.
As readily as the next person, Mr Griffin acknowledges that the Klan is a hate group that has terrorised the black community. But he insists that the Klan, the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, 'or you and your garden party' all have a right to assemble, organise and advocate their respective positions, no matter how odious they might be. When the American Civil Liberties Union office in Texas called and asked if he would take the Klan case, he accepted. 'The failure to protect those we hate takes away my protection,' he says.
He notes that the NAACP in the late Fifties fought to retain its membership list in Alabama, and the Supreme Court upheld its right under the First Amendment.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/peter-pringles-america-black-defender-of-the-klan-1502936.html
Inspirational teenagers: Whoever said the youth of today are just a bunch of feckless layabouts?
Dennis Gyamfi , social activistAge: 19
Dennis Gyamfi was raised by his grandparents in Ghana: "I would have to walk for miles carrying water on my head as a child," he recalls. "From an early age I had to go out to work to support my family." When he was 10 years old, Gyamfi joined his mother and father at their small council flat in Brixton, and his life change dramatically. "In London, my parents were working all day and night; there was no one to look after me and my siblings. I started hanging out in gangs on the streets around my estate, getting in trouble." Until a chance encounter set him on a different path.
At the age of 15, Gyamfi met a man called Soloman who worked for X-it, a programme set up by people who have successfully escaped gang life and which offers inner-city kids and teenagers an alternative to the street. Within a year of becoming involved with X-it, Gyamfi himself had become a mentor, and won a public service award for his efforts. "If it hadn't been for that meeting," Gyamfi recalls, "my life might have turned out very differently."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/inspirational-teenagers-whoever-said-the-youth-of-today-are-just-a-bunch-of-feckless-layabouts-1799804.html
Dennis Gyamfi was raised by his grandparents in Ghana: "I would have to walk for miles carrying water on my head as a child," he recalls. "From an early age I had to go out to work to support my family." When he was 10 years old, Gyamfi joined his mother and father at their small council flat in Brixton, and his life change dramatically. "In London, my parents were working all day and night; there was no one to look after me and my siblings. I started hanging out in gangs on the streets around my estate, getting in trouble." Until a chance encounter set him on a different path.
At the age of 15, Gyamfi met a man called Soloman who worked for X-it, a programme set up by people who have successfully escaped gang life and which offers inner-city kids and teenagers an alternative to the street. Within a year of becoming involved with X-it, Gyamfi himself had become a mentor, and won a public service award for his efforts. "If it hadn't been for that meeting," Gyamfi recalls, "my life might have turned out very differently."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/inspirational-teenagers-whoever-said-the-youth-of-today-are-just-a-bunch-of-feckless-layabouts-1799804.html
Independent Articles..Hoodie UK: A new film about teenagers is set to shock every parent in Middle England
It promises to be the most controversial British film of the year. The Sun has already called for it to be banned and The Times has accused it of pandering to middle-class voyeurism in its portrayal of crime, bullying and sexual abuse. Set among a group of white and black teenagers in west London, from working-class and middle-class families, and based entirely on true stories, Kidulthood claims to be the first feature film to accurately reflect what life is like for urban kids.
There are graphic scenes of drug-taking, violence, casual sex and organised crime. The characters are all 15. The film opens with a middle-class schoolgirl being horrifically bullied in a classroom. When her preoccupied businessman father picks up her from school, he fails to spot the bruises. Ten minutes later, she has hanged herself. In another sequence two girls trade sexual favours with older men for pocket money to spend at Topshop. A young black boy cuts a man's throat to impress his drug-dealer uncle. Running parallel, however, are story- lines about coping with bad skin and how to choose your friends wisely.
Not surprising then that the film, out in two weeks, has divided critics. But is it an unflinching portrayal of teenage life, or a manipulative assault on the paranoid anxieties of Middle England? For one thing is sure - this film is certain to put the fear of God into parents everywhere.
"This is an essential film for all parents to see," says Sandra White, a youth and development manager with the Metropolitan Black Police Association. "You have to shock adults and young people out of apathy, and into action. We can be quite a desensitised society. Every child could be at risk because of all the influences they face, whatever their background."
Noel Clarke, who wrote the screenplay, insists it is the essential truth of his work that makes the film so controversial. "It touches a raw nerve," he says. "It's on the pulse of what's happening in society right now. Kids these days are growing up too fast."
Clarke, 30, best known for playing Billie Piper's boyfriend in Dr Who, is sure of his material. He grew up in the Ladbroke Grove and Harrow Road area of London where the film is set. His childhood bedroom is used in one scene. For a year he collected newspaper articles about teenagers in trouble, then condensed them into a 90-minute storyline, seen from their point of view.
With a cast that includes Clarke, Jamie Winstone - the teenage daughter of Ray Winstone - and Rafe Spall, son of Timothy Spall, and a "hip-hop and grime" soundtrack by Dizzee Rascal, The Streets and Lady Sovereign, Kidulthood is seriously hip. It also looks fantastic: the director of photography, Brian Tufano, shot Trainspotting and Quadrophenia. Some are predicting it will join the ranks of cult films such as City of God and La Haine. But the film-makers are adamant that style shouldn't get in the way of substance.
"You have a bullying storyline, young people coming up against issues of sex for the first time, taking drugs, dealing with teenage pregnancy," says Hannah Jolliffe of the youth website www.TheSite.org, which gives advice to young people on everything from drugs to sexual health. "What is impressive is it doesn't try to moralise."
The highly multicultural film shows that in the new Britain, all kids face the same temptations.
"The good thing about street culture is that it brings a lot of black, white and Asian people together," says White. "Unfortunately they're impressed by a very Americanised, hip-hop take on culture, full of fast cars and women who dress provocatively."
It is the middle-class parents - portrayed as work-obsessed or naively liberal - who come out worst. In one darkly comic moment, a trendy mother stands outside her 15-year-old daughter's bedroom door, blithely reminding her to "use a condom, sweetheart", unaware her daughter is being sexually harassed by a teenage boy on the other side.
In its shocking portrait of "girl-women" selling their bodies for drugs and clothes, the film points a finger squarely at our over-sexualised culture. How are teenagers to think any differently when they see stars such as Britney Spears and Paris Hilton posing as jail-bait?
Films that tackle teen gangs or cliques (Heathers, Thirteen, Kids, City of God) are the backbone of modern independent cinema. The best examples of the genre communicate with teenaged audiences in a language that they identify with, while also reminding adults what it was like. They are also a wake-up call to conservative adults.
We may not like the fact that the 11-year-old protagonist of Welcome to the Dollhouse has an under-age affair, or that the two girls in Thirteen embark on a spree of shoplifting and drug-taking, but we can see why it happens. People with nothing to lose - alienated, marginalised - do scary things.
"Bullying, happy-slapping ...whatever you name it, it is happening already," insists Clarke. "The film is highlighting that, not promoting it. It's saying, 'This is going on. Deal with it.'"
"If parents aren't aware what's going on, it's very hard to help their children go through it," agrees Jolliffe. "Films like this which promote communication can only be a good thing."
White thinks it will help adults understand the way kids think. "Many parents do not have a clue what their children are up to." The film closes with a huge teenage party in one of those chichi, double-fronted Victorian London houses we're more used to seeing in Notting Hill. Desperate to impress his peers while his parents are away, well-heeled Blake invites the whole school. In they stream, aping drunken, sexed-up adult behaviour. Violence rapidly ensues.
But for all the scenes of hedonism, Kidulthood can be surprisingly moral. Essentially it's a film about bullying: black kids bully white kids, white kids bully black kids, girls bully girls. The final message is that bullying is always unacceptable.
"Bullies are bastards aren't they?" says Winstone with feeling. "If this film makes a couple of parents go, 'Maybe I should sit down and talk to my son or my daughter more', then I think it's done its job."
'Kidulthood' is released on 3 March
Rough guide: 'I grew up here. I know what it's like'
Saadeya Sham, 21, grew up on the estate in west London where 'Kidulthood' is set
Gun crime, street violence, drug dealing, prostitution, petty theft. This is the real Notting Hill, not the fairytale version Richard Curtis presented. Growing up on a council estate at the top of Golborne Road, I know you're just as likely to brush shoulders with a crackhead stumbling down Portobello Market as a supermodel.
Kidulthood is a deeply shocking film. It reminded me of my childhood in a lot of ways. There were fights in our morning assemblies almost daily. My brother's best friend was suspended for beating up the headmistress's husband. The previous headmaster left within two years of joining. His background was in the Salvation Army but this was one social challenge too far. And this was primary school.
I was lucky that I had both my parents to keep me grounded, but most of my friends were from single-parent families. I remember a friend's mum coming into her room, picking her new jeans out of the wardrobe and hawking them door to door to tide them over the bank holiday weekend. My father's friend owns a local newsagent's and is always having stuff nicked by the same kids. The police don't seem able to do anything.
I moved to another area of London in my teens, but I kept in touch and I hear terrible stories. Friends who became drug dealers. The friend I made at an evening class who confided that he pimped teenage girls in flats near the Tube station. Friends of friends who were stabbed. The plot of Kidulthood may be exaggerated but the heart of it rings true.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/hoodie-uk-a-new-film-about-teenagers-is-set-to-shock-every-parent-in-middle-england-525982.html
There are graphic scenes of drug-taking, violence, casual sex and organised crime. The characters are all 15. The film opens with a middle-class schoolgirl being horrifically bullied in a classroom. When her preoccupied businessman father picks up her from school, he fails to spot the bruises. Ten minutes later, she has hanged herself. In another sequence two girls trade sexual favours with older men for pocket money to spend at Topshop. A young black boy cuts a man's throat to impress his drug-dealer uncle. Running parallel, however, are story- lines about coping with bad skin and how to choose your friends wisely.
Not surprising then that the film, out in two weeks, has divided critics. But is it an unflinching portrayal of teenage life, or a manipulative assault on the paranoid anxieties of Middle England? For one thing is sure - this film is certain to put the fear of God into parents everywhere.
"This is an essential film for all parents to see," says Sandra White, a youth and development manager with the Metropolitan Black Police Association. "You have to shock adults and young people out of apathy, and into action. We can be quite a desensitised society. Every child could be at risk because of all the influences they face, whatever their background."
Noel Clarke, who wrote the screenplay, insists it is the essential truth of his work that makes the film so controversial. "It touches a raw nerve," he says. "It's on the pulse of what's happening in society right now. Kids these days are growing up too fast."
Clarke, 30, best known for playing Billie Piper's boyfriend in Dr Who, is sure of his material. He grew up in the Ladbroke Grove and Harrow Road area of London where the film is set. His childhood bedroom is used in one scene. For a year he collected newspaper articles about teenagers in trouble, then condensed them into a 90-minute storyline, seen from their point of view.
With a cast that includes Clarke, Jamie Winstone - the teenage daughter of Ray Winstone - and Rafe Spall, son of Timothy Spall, and a "hip-hop and grime" soundtrack by Dizzee Rascal, The Streets and Lady Sovereign, Kidulthood is seriously hip. It also looks fantastic: the director of photography, Brian Tufano, shot Trainspotting and Quadrophenia. Some are predicting it will join the ranks of cult films such as City of God and La Haine. But the film-makers are adamant that style shouldn't get in the way of substance.
"You have a bullying storyline, young people coming up against issues of sex for the first time, taking drugs, dealing with teenage pregnancy," says Hannah Jolliffe of the youth website www.TheSite.org, which gives advice to young people on everything from drugs to sexual health. "What is impressive is it doesn't try to moralise."
The highly multicultural film shows that in the new Britain, all kids face the same temptations.
"The good thing about street culture is that it brings a lot of black, white and Asian people together," says White. "Unfortunately they're impressed by a very Americanised, hip-hop take on culture, full of fast cars and women who dress provocatively."
It is the middle-class parents - portrayed as work-obsessed or naively liberal - who come out worst. In one darkly comic moment, a trendy mother stands outside her 15-year-old daughter's bedroom door, blithely reminding her to "use a condom, sweetheart", unaware her daughter is being sexually harassed by a teenage boy on the other side.
In its shocking portrait of "girl-women" selling their bodies for drugs and clothes, the film points a finger squarely at our over-sexualised culture. How are teenagers to think any differently when they see stars such as Britney Spears and Paris Hilton posing as jail-bait?
Films that tackle teen gangs or cliques (Heathers, Thirteen, Kids, City of God) are the backbone of modern independent cinema. The best examples of the genre communicate with teenaged audiences in a language that they identify with, while also reminding adults what it was like. They are also a wake-up call to conservative adults.
We may not like the fact that the 11-year-old protagonist of Welcome to the Dollhouse has an under-age affair, or that the two girls in Thirteen embark on a spree of shoplifting and drug-taking, but we can see why it happens. People with nothing to lose - alienated, marginalised - do scary things.
"Bullying, happy-slapping ...whatever you name it, it is happening already," insists Clarke. "The film is highlighting that, not promoting it. It's saying, 'This is going on. Deal with it.'"
"If parents aren't aware what's going on, it's very hard to help their children go through it," agrees Jolliffe. "Films like this which promote communication can only be a good thing."
White thinks it will help adults understand the way kids think. "Many parents do not have a clue what their children are up to." The film closes with a huge teenage party in one of those chichi, double-fronted Victorian London houses we're more used to seeing in Notting Hill. Desperate to impress his peers while his parents are away, well-heeled Blake invites the whole school. In they stream, aping drunken, sexed-up adult behaviour. Violence rapidly ensues.
But for all the scenes of hedonism, Kidulthood can be surprisingly moral. Essentially it's a film about bullying: black kids bully white kids, white kids bully black kids, girls bully girls. The final message is that bullying is always unacceptable.
"Bullies are bastards aren't they?" says Winstone with feeling. "If this film makes a couple of parents go, 'Maybe I should sit down and talk to my son or my daughter more', then I think it's done its job."
'Kidulthood' is released on 3 March
Rough guide: 'I grew up here. I know what it's like'
Saadeya Sham, 21, grew up on the estate in west London where 'Kidulthood' is set
Gun crime, street violence, drug dealing, prostitution, petty theft. This is the real Notting Hill, not the fairytale version Richard Curtis presented. Growing up on a council estate at the top of Golborne Road, I know you're just as likely to brush shoulders with a crackhead stumbling down Portobello Market as a supermodel.
Kidulthood is a deeply shocking film. It reminded me of my childhood in a lot of ways. There were fights in our morning assemblies almost daily. My brother's best friend was suspended for beating up the headmistress's husband. The previous headmaster left within two years of joining. His background was in the Salvation Army but this was one social challenge too far. And this was primary school.
I was lucky that I had both my parents to keep me grounded, but most of my friends were from single-parent families. I remember a friend's mum coming into her room, picking her new jeans out of the wardrobe and hawking them door to door to tide them over the bank holiday weekend. My father's friend owns a local newsagent's and is always having stuff nicked by the same kids. The police don't seem able to do anything.
I moved to another area of London in my teens, but I kept in touch and I hear terrible stories. Friends who became drug dealers. The friend I made at an evening class who confided that he pimped teenage girls in flats near the Tube station. Friends of friends who were stabbed. The plot of Kidulthood may be exaggerated but the heart of it rings true.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/hoodie-uk-a-new-film-about-teenagers-is-set-to-shock-every-parent-in-middle-england-525982.html
Selina stokes a diversity debate that needs addressing..
It will come as a surprise to few but a delight to many that Selina Scott is suing Five over ageism in its refusal to hire her for a maternity cover role and choice of younger presenters instead. It is a delight not because Five is worse than anyone else in this respect, but because it stokes a debate which urgently needs to be taken more seriously. Casual sexism, ageism and racism are the collective dirty secret of the vast majority of media institutions, and they represent as much of an industrial challenge as they do a moral one.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission's Report on Sex and Power, published last week, drew a depressing picture for women in the workplace. In general the progression of women at the highest level in the workplace is pitiful and the media are no exception: only 13.6% of national newspaper editors (including the Herald and Western Mail) are women; only 10% of media FTSE's 350 companies have women at the helm; and at the BBC, which has often been held as an exemplar of diversity, women make up less than 30% of most senior management positions. It puts into context Jeremy Paxman's deranged rant about the white male in television. Ethnic minority representation is even worse.
A couple of weeks ago Pat Younge, former BBC head of sports programmes and planning who left to work for Discovery in the US, caused a stir at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International TV Festival by saying that diversity targets should be like financial targets - you don't hit them, you get fired. I have to say that as board champion for diversity at Guardian News and Media I would currently be firing myself and most of the board for some missed targets. But Younge is right - because diversity targets are not just a feelgood add-on, they are vital to the health of any media business. The temptation to hire in one's own image for most managers is as irresistible as it is subliminal - which is why there are a lot of opinionated women working in digital management at the Guardian, and why we all need targets to remind us to look beyond the mirror.
On screen, any number of unconventional-looking ageing blokes (Jeremy Clarkson, Jonathan Ross, Chris Moyles, Alan Sugar, Adrian Chiles, Jeremy Paxman, Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan) are paid at a top rate for the talent they possess beyond their appearance. For women it is an altogether different story - appearance and age are clearly factors in choosing female presenters in a way that they aren't for men.
The media should be deeply concerned about this un-diversity - not because it represents moral turpitude on our part, but because it represents bloody awful business sense. What is happening to the UK population at the moment? It is ethnically diversifying, and it is ageing. It is also the case that it is, as of the 2001 Census, marginally more female than it is male. And we live longer - so older women, and non-white potential audiences are on the rise. In London, the major urban conurbation and key market for so many media brands, the population is around 37% ethnically diverse, yet this is nowhere near reflected in the management structures of media companies. Or indeed in their on-screen or in-paper representation.
How though, can you hope to address audiences for which you have no instinctive feel, and towards which you show casual discrimination? We are all in danger of becoming irrelevant to the changing demographics of our target audience at a time when holding any kind of audience is key to survival. If white men are so good at solving business problems - and given that they represent well over 80% of FTSE 100 directors we can speculate that this is a skill they must possess in measure - then I'm surprised they haven't grasped this one already.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/sep/08/channelfive.television
The Equality and Human Rights Commission's Report on Sex and Power, published last week, drew a depressing picture for women in the workplace. In general the progression of women at the highest level in the workplace is pitiful and the media are no exception: only 13.6% of national newspaper editors (including the Herald and Western Mail) are women; only 10% of media FTSE's 350 companies have women at the helm; and at the BBC, which has often been held as an exemplar of diversity, women make up less than 30% of most senior management positions. It puts into context Jeremy Paxman's deranged rant about the white male in television. Ethnic minority representation is even worse.
A couple of weeks ago Pat Younge, former BBC head of sports programmes and planning who left to work for Discovery in the US, caused a stir at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International TV Festival by saying that diversity targets should be like financial targets - you don't hit them, you get fired. I have to say that as board champion for diversity at Guardian News and Media I would currently be firing myself and most of the board for some missed targets. But Younge is right - because diversity targets are not just a feelgood add-on, they are vital to the health of any media business. The temptation to hire in one's own image for most managers is as irresistible as it is subliminal - which is why there are a lot of opinionated women working in digital management at the Guardian, and why we all need targets to remind us to look beyond the mirror.
On screen, any number of unconventional-looking ageing blokes (Jeremy Clarkson, Jonathan Ross, Chris Moyles, Alan Sugar, Adrian Chiles, Jeremy Paxman, Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan) are paid at a top rate for the talent they possess beyond their appearance. For women it is an altogether different story - appearance and age are clearly factors in choosing female presenters in a way that they aren't for men.
The media should be deeply concerned about this un-diversity - not because it represents moral turpitude on our part, but because it represents bloody awful business sense. What is happening to the UK population at the moment? It is ethnically diversifying, and it is ageing. It is also the case that it is, as of the 2001 Census, marginally more female than it is male. And we live longer - so older women, and non-white potential audiences are on the rise. In London, the major urban conurbation and key market for so many media brands, the population is around 37% ethnically diverse, yet this is nowhere near reflected in the management structures of media companies. Or indeed in their on-screen or in-paper representation.
How though, can you hope to address audiences for which you have no instinctive feel, and towards which you show casual discrimination? We are all in danger of becoming irrelevant to the changing demographics of our target audience at a time when holding any kind of audience is key to survival. If white men are so good at solving business problems - and given that they represent well over 80% of FTSE 100 directors we can speculate that this is a skill they must possess in measure - then I'm surprised they haven't grasped this one already.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/sep/08/channelfive.television
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
ASA raps 'racist' poster for kids' charityKids Company's advert showing black teenagers harassing a white man reinforced negative stereotypes, watchdo
A poster ad for a children's charity that showed two black teenagers harassing a white man reinforced negative stereotypes and was therefore "racist", the advertising watchdog has ruled.
The Advertising Standards Authority also found that another billboard ad for the Kids Company charity that stated "You are right – kids who can kill really are wrong in the head" beneath a picture of four black teenagers was likely to cause offence.
In addition, this ad made misleading claims about a supposed link between emotional development, brain size and violent behaviour, the ASA said.
Both ads were judged to be in breach of the ASA's code on decency, with the one featuring the claims about brain size also falling foul of clauses on truthfulness and substantiation.
The ASA conceded that Kids Company meant to raise awareness about the children it sought to help, but nevertheless ordered the charity not to re-use the ads, two out of five used in a poster campaign.
In its defence, the charity said the campaign as a whole had used a cross-section of local children from different backgrounds in and around Kilburn, north London.
According to Kids Company, the racial mix was representative of the children from the youth clubs in that area, with 80% of the children that came to it for help from Afro-Caribbean backgrounds, a proportion that was again reflected by the ads.
The Outdoor Advertising Association said it had cleared the ads as they contained both black and white children and were spread as evenly as possible across nine different stations.
Kids Company's ads were designed to "confront superficial judgments and prejudices" and challenged the viewer to reject stereotypes, the charity added.
The charity said the ad showing the black teenagers harassing the white man opposed the viewer's presumption – spelled out in the headline "How do you get inside the head of a 16-year-old knife-wielding thug?" – with the charity's point of view, written in italics: "First get inside the head of a 16-year-old bed-wetting boy."
However, the ASA found that this ad "focused on a negative image of black teenagers that was likely to reinforce negative stereotypes and was therefore racist".
The watchdog also said the ad linking violent teenagers to emotional underdevelopment "was likely to cause serious offence because it featured only black teenagers".
Kids Company said two images of the brain it used in this ad – one, larger brain was labelled "normal", while a smaller one was marked "extreme neglect" – had been taken from a US study on child trauma and brain development that demonstrated the effect of sensory deprivation on brain size.
However, the ASA said its interpretation of the study suggested it was referring to factors such as nutrition and children being raised in cages in dark rooms, not just to emotional development.
Moreover, the regulator rejected the idea that there was evidence that brain size had an impact on violent behaviour, as it found the ad had implied.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/aug/26/asa-kids-company
The Advertising Standards Authority also found that another billboard ad for the Kids Company charity that stated "You are right – kids who can kill really are wrong in the head" beneath a picture of four black teenagers was likely to cause offence.
In addition, this ad made misleading claims about a supposed link between emotional development, brain size and violent behaviour, the ASA said.
Both ads were judged to be in breach of the ASA's code on decency, with the one featuring the claims about brain size also falling foul of clauses on truthfulness and substantiation.
The ASA conceded that Kids Company meant to raise awareness about the children it sought to help, but nevertheless ordered the charity not to re-use the ads, two out of five used in a poster campaign.
In its defence, the charity said the campaign as a whole had used a cross-section of local children from different backgrounds in and around Kilburn, north London.
According to Kids Company, the racial mix was representative of the children from the youth clubs in that area, with 80% of the children that came to it for help from Afro-Caribbean backgrounds, a proportion that was again reflected by the ads.
The Outdoor Advertising Association said it had cleared the ads as they contained both black and white children and were spread as evenly as possible across nine different stations.
Kids Company's ads were designed to "confront superficial judgments and prejudices" and challenged the viewer to reject stereotypes, the charity added.
The charity said the ad showing the black teenagers harassing the white man opposed the viewer's presumption – spelled out in the headline "How do you get inside the head of a 16-year-old knife-wielding thug?" – with the charity's point of view, written in italics: "First get inside the head of a 16-year-old bed-wetting boy."
However, the ASA found that this ad "focused on a negative image of black teenagers that was likely to reinforce negative stereotypes and was therefore racist".
The watchdog also said the ad linking violent teenagers to emotional underdevelopment "was likely to cause serious offence because it featured only black teenagers".
Kids Company said two images of the brain it used in this ad – one, larger brain was labelled "normal", while a smaller one was marked "extreme neglect" – had been taken from a US study on child trauma and brain development that demonstrated the effect of sensory deprivation on brain size.
However, the ASA said its interpretation of the study suggested it was referring to factors such as nutrition and children being raised in cages in dark rooms, not just to emotional development.
Moreover, the regulator rejected the idea that there was evidence that brain size had an impact on violent behaviour, as it found the ad had implied.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/aug/26/asa-kids-company
The ordinary brilliance of black youths
When it comes to imagery surrounding black youngsters, I'm used to the relentlessly negative – knife crime, underachievement, family breakdown, we've all seen it.
I've just had an evening, though, which was the exact opposite – unremittingly positive. The occasion was the London Schools and the Black Child awards ceremony, organised by the MP Diane Abbott and held at the House of Commons.
It highlighted the academic achievements of black youngsters at GCSE, A-Level and degree level. This wasn't an evening celebrating mediocrity – the plague of the burgeoning awards industry – but a roll call of excellence and dedication. And it wasn't about just one or two exceptional cases (more often than not being subliminally interpreted as "the exception which proves the rule" by those who continue to see black people in entirely negative terms).
The power of the occasion was that we heard one story after another of young people defying the stereotypes, overcoming the odds – and, in many cases, giving back to their community too. Altogether, 24 tales of great achievement. And, even more significant, there were just as many boys represented as girls.
Youngsters such as Keli Dusu, who gained 5 As at A-level but has still found time to work as a volunteer for the Salvation Army Youth Club, and also to coach a group of autistic children. Or Rochelle Balach, who, without parental support, had to work to fund herself through sixth-form college, yet still emerged with three A-grades. Or Hannah Kendall, who has just qualified with a first-class degree from the Royal College of Music, had her compositions performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall, and who volunteers at schools in Lambeth. And the story of Lawrence Price, diagnosed with learning difficulties and ADHD as a child, who rejected the extra help he was offered, and who has just graduated with a first in history from Oxford.
We also heard a touching and personal talk from Hollywood actor Naomie Harris about her own mother's drive to get a degree and eventually become a successful TV scriptwriter despite having Naomie when still a teenager.
The significance of all these stories was that, by hearing so many, it made the exceptional appear ordinary, and achievable. As I looked out over the Thames, though, I thought: how do we get these uplifting messages out there, beyond this House of Commons room – where they can challenge the relentless gangsta-rap videos, or negative news coverage? Where teenagers are given the message that blackness is about violence and aggression, and that to show any sign of academic interest is to be some kind of race sellout.
"You're in the media: will you be writing about this?" asked one person of me after the ceremony. And I thought: if a fight had broken out, or if one person had drawn a knife, the event would be front-page news. Such are the news values of my honourable profession.
Ultimately, this is a battle: between the multibillion music and media industries, and people like Abbott, who get on with schemes like this because it's the right thing to do. Waiting for these industries to change will take a very long time. In the meantime, though, it should surely be possible, for example, to circulate a DVD of this event in urban classrooms around the country, where it could have an immediate and positive impact. Can a sponsor can be found to fund such a thing?
For the record: I was outraged when Abbott sent her child to private school; but I have to say that organising an event like this far outweighs her ideologically off-message moment. One day, I hope, Abbott's message will get through; but in the meantime as least she has the pleasure of working with some bright, keen and enthusiastic young hopefuls and giving them huge inspiration.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/05/london-black-children-awards
I've just had an evening, though, which was the exact opposite – unremittingly positive. The occasion was the London Schools and the Black Child awards ceremony, organised by the MP Diane Abbott and held at the House of Commons.
It highlighted the academic achievements of black youngsters at GCSE, A-Level and degree level. This wasn't an evening celebrating mediocrity – the plague of the burgeoning awards industry – but a roll call of excellence and dedication. And it wasn't about just one or two exceptional cases (more often than not being subliminally interpreted as "the exception which proves the rule" by those who continue to see black people in entirely negative terms).
The power of the occasion was that we heard one story after another of young people defying the stereotypes, overcoming the odds – and, in many cases, giving back to their community too. Altogether, 24 tales of great achievement. And, even more significant, there were just as many boys represented as girls.
Youngsters such as Keli Dusu, who gained 5 As at A-level but has still found time to work as a volunteer for the Salvation Army Youth Club, and also to coach a group of autistic children. Or Rochelle Balach, who, without parental support, had to work to fund herself through sixth-form college, yet still emerged with three A-grades. Or Hannah Kendall, who has just qualified with a first-class degree from the Royal College of Music, had her compositions performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall, and who volunteers at schools in Lambeth. And the story of Lawrence Price, diagnosed with learning difficulties and ADHD as a child, who rejected the extra help he was offered, and who has just graduated with a first in history from Oxford.
We also heard a touching and personal talk from Hollywood actor Naomie Harris about her own mother's drive to get a degree and eventually become a successful TV scriptwriter despite having Naomie when still a teenager.
The significance of all these stories was that, by hearing so many, it made the exceptional appear ordinary, and achievable. As I looked out over the Thames, though, I thought: how do we get these uplifting messages out there, beyond this House of Commons room – where they can challenge the relentless gangsta-rap videos, or negative news coverage? Where teenagers are given the message that blackness is about violence and aggression, and that to show any sign of academic interest is to be some kind of race sellout.
"You're in the media: will you be writing about this?" asked one person of me after the ceremony. And I thought: if a fight had broken out, or if one person had drawn a knife, the event would be front-page news. Such are the news values of my honourable profession.
Ultimately, this is a battle: between the multibillion music and media industries, and people like Abbott, who get on with schemes like this because it's the right thing to do. Waiting for these industries to change will take a very long time. In the meantime, though, it should surely be possible, for example, to circulate a DVD of this event in urban classrooms around the country, where it could have an immediate and positive impact. Can a sponsor can be found to fund such a thing?
For the record: I was outraged when Abbott sent her child to private school; but I have to say that organising an event like this far outweighs her ideologically off-message moment. One day, I hope, Abbott's message will get through; but in the meantime as least she has the pleasure of working with some bright, keen and enthusiastic young hopefuls and giving them huge inspiration.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/05/london-black-children-awards
Practical Production..
A documentary opening following male teens involved in street crime. (working with Ardit).
Final Decision For Critical Investigation..
An Investigation into how black British teens that become involved in street crime are represented in print media.
Friday, 20 November 2009
The right ethnic mix.. Eastenders..
The director shouts "Cut!" - and wardrobe, props and make-up people swarm the set. One of the principal actors beckons me over and asks: "Can you pronounce it for us again?" As I say "Alhumdulillah" (praise to God) the rest of the cast repeat it over and over until they are satisfied it sounds right. In the meantime, I am pulled into a discussion about the Indian sweets on set: are they the right ones; by tradition, which character would give them to whom?
I am not on the set of a British Asian film, but rather at the studios of EastEnders. For six months I have been working as one of a group of occasional consultants: looking over scripts, sometimes being on set, and advising on aspects of British Asian culture relating to the Masoods.
Playing unsafe
Albert Square's previous Asian family, the Ferreiras, were criticised as boring and unrealistic - their first names were a mixture of Muslim and Hindu, their surname was Portuguese. "We admittedly came under the spotlight with the Ferreiras," says John Yorke, the BBC's controller of drama production. "We played safe with them and ultimately didn't give them good story lines. We're certainly not doing that with the Masoods, but the devil is in the detail and now pretty much everything we write for them that has a cultural or religious aspect is checked."
While the Ferreiras were "safe", the Masoods' current story line is at the other end of the scale - with the elder son, Syed, embarking on a gay affair. "Part of the reason we chose the Masoods is that it does present us with a whole new set of taboos," admits Yorke. However, he says merely being able to feature such an issue is a positive sign. "Post 9/11, Muslim characters in drama became either saint or terrorist - there was no middle ground. But the fact that we can now actually do a gay Muslim story line is testament to exactly how much we've moved on."
EastEnders is the third most popular series among ethnic minorities, according to Barb, the audience ratings body, behind The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent: on average 43% of the non-white TV viewing audience watch the programme. It also has a long history of featuring black and Asian characters: the first episode included a Turkish cafe owner.
And although cliched roles in soaps and primetime dramas also still exist, ethnic minority representation in drama has advanced across the board over the last decade or so with dramas such as the recent Moses Jones, which focused on issues in London's Ugandan community, and characters such as Anwar in Skins.
But Coronation Street's key Asian character, Dev, is rarely seen through the prism of his religion, and Channel 4's Hollyoaks takes a similar approach with its black and Asian characters. Does that make characters less realistic? Lucy Allan, series producer on Hollyoaks, says the show is keen not to hammer home ethnicity. "We recently had a skin bleaching story line around one of our female Asian characters, and obviously that is a culturally specific issue and it had a big reaction; some viewers were shocked, others identified with it. But as a rule we don't look at any of our ethnic minority characters in terms of just their ethnicity, and if the online viewer forums are anything to go by, we've got it right."
Research and consultation are employed by most broadcasters when it comes to black and Asian characters. But while this is a short cut to accuracy, it would perhaps not be necessary if there were more off-screen talent diversity.
Ade Rawcliffe, diversity and talent manager for Channel 4, believes there is still not enough representation behind the camera. "We're trying hard to make it easier to get in, to make it not about who your dad is, but there is still a way to go. There is no shortage of people from minorities looking to get into the industry, but finding and nurturing that talent is key."
Black Doctor Who
For Ben Stephenson, the BBC's controller of drama commissioning, on-screen representation is potentially even more important than off-screen in terms of attracting minorities to the industry. "The more on-screen we can do with minorities, the more those groups will feel like television is a realistic part of their experience and therefore a career option for them."
Stephenson insists that desire for more minority representation was not behind the casting of a black actor as Friar Tuck in Robin Hood. "Obviously you wouldn't cast a black actress in the role of, say, Margaret Thatcher but in a fantasy series like Robin Hood you've got leeway to play around with the characters. Similarly with Doctor Who - it's the least of our concerns whether the Doctor is black or white, it really is just about who is right for the part."
Yorke agrees that on-screen portrayal has improved, but acknowledges that diversity in the off-screen teams is still an issue. "We're working hard to rectify that, and what we really need is a long-term strategic investment in talent."
Things are changing - but given that one writer recently asked me "exactly how this praying five times a day works", there is some way to go before the industry can be sure that a lack of off-screen diversity is no longer an issue.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jun/22/masoods-eastenders-bbc
I am not on the set of a British Asian film, but rather at the studios of EastEnders. For six months I have been working as one of a group of occasional consultants: looking over scripts, sometimes being on set, and advising on aspects of British Asian culture relating to the Masoods.
Playing unsafe
Albert Square's previous Asian family, the Ferreiras, were criticised as boring and unrealistic - their first names were a mixture of Muslim and Hindu, their surname was Portuguese. "We admittedly came under the spotlight with the Ferreiras," says John Yorke, the BBC's controller of drama production. "We played safe with them and ultimately didn't give them good story lines. We're certainly not doing that with the Masoods, but the devil is in the detail and now pretty much everything we write for them that has a cultural or religious aspect is checked."
While the Ferreiras were "safe", the Masoods' current story line is at the other end of the scale - with the elder son, Syed, embarking on a gay affair. "Part of the reason we chose the Masoods is that it does present us with a whole new set of taboos," admits Yorke. However, he says merely being able to feature such an issue is a positive sign. "Post 9/11, Muslim characters in drama became either saint or terrorist - there was no middle ground. But the fact that we can now actually do a gay Muslim story line is testament to exactly how much we've moved on."
EastEnders is the third most popular series among ethnic minorities, according to Barb, the audience ratings body, behind The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent: on average 43% of the non-white TV viewing audience watch the programme. It also has a long history of featuring black and Asian characters: the first episode included a Turkish cafe owner.
And although cliched roles in soaps and primetime dramas also still exist, ethnic minority representation in drama has advanced across the board over the last decade or so with dramas such as the recent Moses Jones, which focused on issues in London's Ugandan community, and characters such as Anwar in Skins.
But Coronation Street's key Asian character, Dev, is rarely seen through the prism of his religion, and Channel 4's Hollyoaks takes a similar approach with its black and Asian characters. Does that make characters less realistic? Lucy Allan, series producer on Hollyoaks, says the show is keen not to hammer home ethnicity. "We recently had a skin bleaching story line around one of our female Asian characters, and obviously that is a culturally specific issue and it had a big reaction; some viewers were shocked, others identified with it. But as a rule we don't look at any of our ethnic minority characters in terms of just their ethnicity, and if the online viewer forums are anything to go by, we've got it right."
Research and consultation are employed by most broadcasters when it comes to black and Asian characters. But while this is a short cut to accuracy, it would perhaps not be necessary if there were more off-screen talent diversity.
Ade Rawcliffe, diversity and talent manager for Channel 4, believes there is still not enough representation behind the camera. "We're trying hard to make it easier to get in, to make it not about who your dad is, but there is still a way to go. There is no shortage of people from minorities looking to get into the industry, but finding and nurturing that talent is key."
Black Doctor Who
For Ben Stephenson, the BBC's controller of drama commissioning, on-screen representation is potentially even more important than off-screen in terms of attracting minorities to the industry. "The more on-screen we can do with minorities, the more those groups will feel like television is a realistic part of their experience and therefore a career option for them."
Stephenson insists that desire for more minority representation was not behind the casting of a black actor as Friar Tuck in Robin Hood. "Obviously you wouldn't cast a black actress in the role of, say, Margaret Thatcher but in a fantasy series like Robin Hood you've got leeway to play around with the characters. Similarly with Doctor Who - it's the least of our concerns whether the Doctor is black or white, it really is just about who is right for the part."
Yorke agrees that on-screen portrayal has improved, but acknowledges that diversity in the off-screen teams is still an issue. "We're working hard to rectify that, and what we really need is a long-term strategic investment in talent."
Things are changing - but given that one writer recently asked me "exactly how this praying five times a day works", there is some way to go before the industry can be sure that a lack of off-screen diversity is no longer an issue.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jun/22/masoods-eastenders-bbc
Strictly Come Dancing: Anton Du Beke apologises over racist term..
Strictly Come Dancing was at the centre of a race row after it emerged that Anton Du Beke called his dancing partner a "Paki".
The dancer issued an apology after the News of the World revealed he had used the offensive term to describe the actor Laila Rouass, his partner on the BBC show.
Du Beke reportedly said Rouass, who is mixed race, "looked like a Paki" after she turned up to a rehearsal with a spray tan. Rouass is said to have stormed out of the rehearsal two weeks ago.
Du Beke said: "I must say immediately and categorically that I am not a racist and that I do not use racist language. "During the course of rehearsals Laila and I have exchanged a great deal of banter entirely in jest, and two weeks ago there was an occasion when this term was used between the two of us.
"There was no racist intent whatsoever but I accept that it is a term which causes offence and I regret my use of it, which was done without thought or consideration of how others would react.
"I apologise unreservedly for any offence my actions might have caused."
Rouass, who has an Indian mother and Moroccan father, accepted his apology.
"It was a situation which happened that we have moved on from and I accept his apology," she said.
"I'm really enjoying the show and dancing with Anton and hope we can go as far as possible in the competition."
A spokesman for the BBC said: "The BBC does not condone offensive language in the workplace."
Du Beke is one of the best known dancers on Strictly Come Dancing and also fronts the BBC game show Hole in the Wall.
The incident echoes the row that led to the BBC dropping Carol Thatcher from The One Show, after she used the word "golliwog" in a private conversation in the show's green room.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/oct/05/strictly-come-dancing-race
The dancer issued an apology after the News of the World revealed he had used the offensive term to describe the actor Laila Rouass, his partner on the BBC show.
Du Beke reportedly said Rouass, who is mixed race, "looked like a Paki" after she turned up to a rehearsal with a spray tan. Rouass is said to have stormed out of the rehearsal two weeks ago.
Du Beke said: "I must say immediately and categorically that I am not a racist and that I do not use racist language. "During the course of rehearsals Laila and I have exchanged a great deal of banter entirely in jest, and two weeks ago there was an occasion when this term was used between the two of us.
"There was no racist intent whatsoever but I accept that it is a term which causes offence and I regret my use of it, which was done without thought or consideration of how others would react.
"I apologise unreservedly for any offence my actions might have caused."
Rouass, who has an Indian mother and Moroccan father, accepted his apology.
"It was a situation which happened that we have moved on from and I accept his apology," she said.
"I'm really enjoying the show and dancing with Anton and hope we can go as far as possible in the competition."
A spokesman for the BBC said: "The BBC does not condone offensive language in the workplace."
Du Beke is one of the best known dancers on Strictly Come Dancing and also fronts the BBC game show Hole in the Wall.
The incident echoes the row that led to the BBC dropping Carol Thatcher from The One Show, after she used the word "golliwog" in a private conversation in the show's green room.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/oct/05/strictly-come-dancing-race
Media Guardian: Race Religion Index..Rupert Murdoch doesn't think Barack Obama racist, says spokesman..
Rupert Murdoch has been forced to deny he believes Barack Obama is a racist, after appearing to back the controversial Fox News presenter Glenn Beck's comments about the US president.
The chairman and chief executive of News Corporation said in an interview earlier this week that Obama had made "a very racist comment" and that Beck's views were "right".
"He does not at all, for a minute, think the president is a racist," a News Corp spokesman told the US website Politico.
In the interview with Sky News Australia, Murdoch was asked about the views expressed by contributors to Fox News, including Beck's view that Obama was a racist.
"He [Obama] did make a very racist comment about blacks and whites and so on, which he said in his campaign he would be completely above," Murdoch said.
"That was something which perhaps should not have been said about the president but if you actually look at what he [Beck] was talking about, he was right."
Beck caused uproar in July when he described Obama had "a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture".
His remarks were made during a discussion of Obama's reaction to the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr, an African-American Harvard academic.
Murdoch also said in the interview he thought the Obama presidency was going "badly", citing the defection of independent voters in recent elections in Virginia and New Jersey.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/nov/11/rupert-murdoch-barack-obama
The chairman and chief executive of News Corporation said in an interview earlier this week that Obama had made "a very racist comment" and that Beck's views were "right".
"He does not at all, for a minute, think the president is a racist," a News Corp spokesman told the US website Politico.
In the interview with Sky News Australia, Murdoch was asked about the views expressed by contributors to Fox News, including Beck's view that Obama was a racist.
"He [Obama] did make a very racist comment about blacks and whites and so on, which he said in his campaign he would be completely above," Murdoch said.
"That was something which perhaps should not have been said about the president but if you actually look at what he [Beck] was talking about, he was right."
Beck caused uproar in July when he described Obama had "a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture".
His remarks were made during a discussion of Obama's reaction to the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr, an African-American Harvard academic.
Murdoch also said in the interview he thought the Obama presidency was going "badly", citing the defection of independent voters in recent elections in Virginia and New Jersey.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/nov/11/rupert-murdoch-barack-obama
The BBC will only survive by understanding its diverse consumers..
A snail could crawl the entire length of the Great Wall of China in just slightly more time than the 200 years it will take for women to be equally represented in parliament. That was just one of a series of striking statistics from the Equality and Human Rights Commission in their Sex and Power report published last week.
It added that women hold just 11% of FTSE directorships, with the judiciary and others also strongly criticised. At the BBC, the figures are a bit better - almost 38% of all senior managers are women - but it does bring into sharp focus the challenge the whole media industry is facing to improve diversity among its workforce.
Tomorrow's Guardian Ethnic Media Summit is a chance to debate what is arguably our most pressing diversity issue - ensuring more talent from ethnic minority communities reaches the upper echelons of broadcasting. The growth particularly of young ethnic minority audiences, is soaring - way above the population average - making them a critical cultural and business challenge for everyone in our sector.
Things are definitely changing but still not quickly enough. The whole media industry needs to look afresh at what more can be done.
So why does a white, middle-aged bloke like me feel compelled to write about this? As the BBC's chief creative officer, overseeing our programme production made in-house, I believe passionately that only by drawing on the talents of every part of society can we best reflect the lives and concerns of our diverse audiences on screen.
We must do more and the BBC is certainly redoubling its efforts. And though ethnicity is very important, it is only one part of this story. We must also think in terms of age, disability, gender, social class and regional difference.
That is why I think the historic changes to move a significant proportion of BBC network production out of London to places such as Glasgow or North West England over the next decade might be key to all this.
We will transfer large numbers of staff from London but we will also recruit many new faces - a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to add something substantially new to our gene pool of talent, to change the BBC's DNA a little.
We seem to be moving in the right direction, increasing opportunities for people from ethnic minority backgrounds at most levels.
The proportion of our staff from ethnic minorities is 11.5% - again comparing very well with both public and private sector organisations including the civil service, health service and the police. But as the Edinburgh Television Festival heard, still not enough people make it into senior management roles, particularly as controllers and commissioners.
The BBC has looked closely at the barriers to progress and announced new schemes to tackle them - costing £3m over three years.
Firstly, we need to change the way we recruit. We are dramatically increasing the outreach work we do - in community groups, colleges, schools and through open sessions across the UK - to encourage under-represented groups to apply to the BBC. I recently worked with an energetic bunch of young students, mainly from ethnic minority backgrounds, who were introduced to the BBC by the University of Central Lancashire - from the former mill towns of Blackburn and Preston, not places we'd traditionally think to look for the next generation.
Then we need to be better at retaining talented individuals and supporting them in reaching their full potential and moving into senior roles. Our new mentoring and development programme, which offers greater one-to-one and intensive personalised support, is so important. In addition, our new trainee production scheme, which has just kicked off, and our journalism trainee schemes, have a strong diversity focus, so we are providing clearer pathways into all parts of the BBC.
On screen, we must constantly strive to reflect as accurately as possible the rich cultural mix of the UK.
Earlier this year BBC non-executive director Samir Shah criticised what he called "inauthentic representation" of ethnic minority communities, citing the Ferreira family in EastEnders.
It is unfair to highlight one five-year-old example from a drama series that remains the most popular programme on television among ethnic minority audiences. This example fails to reflect many other aspects of our work, particularly our in-house drama output. Our continuing drama series, including Holby City and Casualty, have led the way in casting diverse talent, in leading roles as well. Though we do not always get it right, overall we have much to be proud of.
The BBC set up the Writers' Academy, under John Yorke, four years ago, increasing the number of writers from diverse backgrounds working on our biggest programmes, including some of our continuing drama series.
In addition, programmes such as Criminal Justice, No1 Ladies Detective Agency, Life Is Not All Ha Ha Hee Hee, Shoot the Messenger, the entertainment series Last Choir Standing and a lot of our children's output have also been praised for the way they have represented diversity or addressed issues faced by communities from different backgrounds.
Part of this is ensuring we get closer to audiences when making programmes. For example, White Girl - part of BBC2's groundbreaking White Season - told the story of a white family relocating from Leeds to a predominantly Asian community in Bradford. Here the production team worked very closely with the community to ensure a sensitive and accurate portrayal.
In an increasingly globalised creative economy where competition will intensify, it is only by understanding our diverse consumers that we can stay relevant and survive. The BBC prides itself on keeping in touch with its audiences - to do so successfully we'll need to keep making changes, and fast.
It added that women hold just 11% of FTSE directorships, with the judiciary and others also strongly criticised. At the BBC, the figures are a bit better - almost 38% of all senior managers are women - but it does bring into sharp focus the challenge the whole media industry is facing to improve diversity among its workforce.
Tomorrow's Guardian Ethnic Media Summit is a chance to debate what is arguably our most pressing diversity issue - ensuring more talent from ethnic minority communities reaches the upper echelons of broadcasting. The growth particularly of young ethnic minority audiences, is soaring - way above the population average - making them a critical cultural and business challenge for everyone in our sector.
Things are definitely changing but still not quickly enough. The whole media industry needs to look afresh at what more can be done.
So why does a white, middle-aged bloke like me feel compelled to write about this? As the BBC's chief creative officer, overseeing our programme production made in-house, I believe passionately that only by drawing on the talents of every part of society can we best reflect the lives and concerns of our diverse audiences on screen.
We must do more and the BBC is certainly redoubling its efforts. And though ethnicity is very important, it is only one part of this story. We must also think in terms of age, disability, gender, social class and regional difference.
That is why I think the historic changes to move a significant proportion of BBC network production out of London to places such as Glasgow or North West England over the next decade might be key to all this.
We will transfer large numbers of staff from London but we will also recruit many new faces - a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to add something substantially new to our gene pool of talent, to change the BBC's DNA a little.
We seem to be moving in the right direction, increasing opportunities for people from ethnic minority backgrounds at most levels.
The proportion of our staff from ethnic minorities is 11.5% - again comparing very well with both public and private sector organisations including the civil service, health service and the police. But as the Edinburgh Television Festival heard, still not enough people make it into senior management roles, particularly as controllers and commissioners.
The BBC has looked closely at the barriers to progress and announced new schemes to tackle them - costing £3m over three years.
Firstly, we need to change the way we recruit. We are dramatically increasing the outreach work we do - in community groups, colleges, schools and through open sessions across the UK - to encourage under-represented groups to apply to the BBC. I recently worked with an energetic bunch of young students, mainly from ethnic minority backgrounds, who were introduced to the BBC by the University of Central Lancashire - from the former mill towns of Blackburn and Preston, not places we'd traditionally think to look for the next generation.
Then we need to be better at retaining talented individuals and supporting them in reaching their full potential and moving into senior roles. Our new mentoring and development programme, which offers greater one-to-one and intensive personalised support, is so important. In addition, our new trainee production scheme, which has just kicked off, and our journalism trainee schemes, have a strong diversity focus, so we are providing clearer pathways into all parts of the BBC.
On screen, we must constantly strive to reflect as accurately as possible the rich cultural mix of the UK.
Earlier this year BBC non-executive director Samir Shah criticised what he called "inauthentic representation" of ethnic minority communities, citing the Ferreira family in EastEnders.
It is unfair to highlight one five-year-old example from a drama series that remains the most popular programme on television among ethnic minority audiences. This example fails to reflect many other aspects of our work, particularly our in-house drama output. Our continuing drama series, including Holby City and Casualty, have led the way in casting diverse talent, in leading roles as well. Though we do not always get it right, overall we have much to be proud of.
The BBC set up the Writers' Academy, under John Yorke, four years ago, increasing the number of writers from diverse backgrounds working on our biggest programmes, including some of our continuing drama series.
In addition, programmes such as Criminal Justice, No1 Ladies Detective Agency, Life Is Not All Ha Ha Hee Hee, Shoot the Messenger, the entertainment series Last Choir Standing and a lot of our children's output have also been praised for the way they have represented diversity or addressed issues faced by communities from different backgrounds.
Part of this is ensuring we get closer to audiences when making programmes. For example, White Girl - part of BBC2's groundbreaking White Season - told the story of a white family relocating from Leeds to a predominantly Asian community in Bradford. Here the production team worked very closely with the community to ensure a sensitive and accurate portrayal.
In an increasingly globalised creative economy where competition will intensify, it is only by understanding our diverse consumers that we can stay relevant and survive. The BBC prides itself on keeping in touch with its audiences - to do so successfully we'll need to keep making changes, and fast.
Off and On screen representation..
On and off screen representations would have an impact on my critical investigation as it affects the representations of the people and also the audiences that receive it. on and off representation would also have an impact on my critical investigation because my topic is all about how the black ethnic is represented in the print media format and this would have an impact based on the on and off screen representation.
I believe that from this we can see the representation of the black ethnic group is created by the people off screen in this particular situation. So if the off screen makers agreed with the stereotypes of the black ethnic group, then they would represent religious in this way in the print media text which would mean that black ethnic groups are always causing trouble and in this case other ethnic groups could be perceived as their role models if you like.
From this we can identify the off screen producers represent the black ethnic group and would therefore be shown in this way to the viewing public at home. And this would bring assumptions not only to the other producers but also to those consumers who are viewing or hearing about the views and stereotypes from a print institution.
I believe that from this we can see the representation of the black ethnic group is created by the people off screen in this particular situation. So if the off screen makers agreed with the stereotypes of the black ethnic group, then they would represent religious in this way in the print media text which would mean that black ethnic groups are always causing trouble and in this case other ethnic groups could be perceived as their role models if you like.
From this we can identify the off screen producers represent the black ethnic group and would therefore be shown in this way to the viewing public at home. And this would bring assumptions not only to the other producers but also to those consumers who are viewing or hearing about the views and stereotypes from a print institution.
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
Half Term HomeWork..
Critical Investigation..
For my critical investigation I will be looking at the representation of male teengaers in the media. To be specific, I will also be looking at those teenagers who are involved in gangs and street crime. This this will hopefully allow me to explore any wider concepts that I will need to cover.
Linked Production..
As a linked production to this investigation my other group member and I will be creating a short documentary on teenagers that are involved in gangs. we have come up with a number of locations for this which we feel will help our documentary a lot. This documentary will look in to how and why teenagers comit these crimes and why they associate with gangs.
Migrain Analysis..
Media Language..
The use of the camera angles will be a factor as i will be analysing teenage movies such as "kidulthood" and "adulthood" which will hopefully help me when we are doing our documentary. Sound will also be playing a role in our documentary as this will help the target audience identify the genre easier. Finally, the use of the lighting will have an influence in our documentary whether it is high or low key lighting I believe that it would be important as it would show the importance of that particular person or group.
Institution..
I will be researching if there are any institutions that may have produced a documentary on teenagers particularly those that are invloved in gangs or street crime and the sort of patterns they follow in order to make it as successful one.
Genre..
For both of my critical investigation and linked production I will be looking at the movies of kidulthood and adulthood as our documentary will have the same themes from this. I believe that these types of movies can really help us portray the type of genre it would be and the types of target audience we will be targeting.
Representation..
I will be looking at the stereotypes of teenagers (males in particular) from the two movies that i have mensioned above which will further our ideas for our documentary. I will also be looking at whether teenage males are stereotyped accurately from other aspects of the media or if its just in British Uk movies.
Audience..
For my critical investigation I will be looking at the representation of male teengaers in the media. To be specific, I will also be looking at those teenagers who are involved in gangs and street crime. This this will hopefully allow me to explore any wider concepts that I will need to cover.
Linked Production..
As a linked production to this investigation my other group member and I will be creating a short documentary on teenagers that are involved in gangs. we have come up with a number of locations for this which we feel will help our documentary a lot. This documentary will look in to how and why teenagers comit these crimes and why they associate with gangs.
Migrain Analysis..
Media Language..
The use of the camera angles will be a factor as i will be analysing teenage movies such as "kidulthood" and "adulthood" which will hopefully help me when we are doing our documentary. Sound will also be playing a role in our documentary as this will help the target audience identify the genre easier. Finally, the use of the lighting will have an influence in our documentary whether it is high or low key lighting I believe that it would be important as it would show the importance of that particular person or group.
Institution..
I will be researching if there are any institutions that may have produced a documentary on teenagers particularly those that are invloved in gangs or street crime and the sort of patterns they follow in order to make it as successful one.
Genre..
For both of my critical investigation and linked production I will be looking at the movies of kidulthood and adulthood as our documentary will have the same themes from this. I believe that these types of movies can really help us portray the type of genre it would be and the types of target audience we will be targeting.
Representation..
I will be looking at the stereotypes of teenagers (males in particular) from the two movies that i have mensioned above which will further our ideas for our documentary. I will also be looking at whether teenage males are stereotyped accurately from other aspects of the media or if its just in British Uk movies.
Audience..
As far as the audience is concerned we will be trying to have an active audience view which means that we will be becoming more and more passive in order for the target audience to be active viewers. Even though we will be interacting with the audience our aim is to send out a message to them regarding male teenagers and the representations of them. in the critical investigation i will be looking at both primary and secondary audience as they will want to know if the stereotypes are true or false ones and for the primary audience teenagers would want to watch it as they will be the protagonsits of this documentary.
Ideology..
I will be looking at a certain instition from a written media and their articles on teenagers and seeing how their view could have an impact on other teenagers. I will also be looking at how male teenagers tend to have that final say if you like over either the opposite sex or even the same sex. This is known as patriarchal society which is a dominant ideology which could be advertised through other British documentaries.
Narrative..
For both of my critical investigation and linked production i will be trying to answer a lot of these questions that might have been raised during the making of my documentary. To the build of this you could say that their might be some enigma codes in terms of why are there sort of negative stereotypes of teenagers especially those that are invloved in gangs. I will be also trying to find the differences between those teenagers involved in gangs and those that are not. you could say that this could be binary opposistion by trying to retrieve as much information as you can to those that do not relate in gangs and to those that are in gangs.
Current Issues And Debates..
Throughout my linked production and my critical investigation I will be looking at the raise of moral panics. this will not just involve those that partiscipate in gangs and street crimes but also those that actually don't. To define Moral Panic, Moral Panic is a term which is used to describe a problem which is widely reported in the media. my critical investigation part will be focusing on the representation of male teenagers along with the gangs and street crimes that involve in this and if this really reflects on todays society. the theorists of news values which are Gultang and ruge will be taken into account as their theory is all about the news values. there might be certain stories or debates in the movies such as kidulthood and adulthood which teenagers have negative stereotypes of them.
Media Theories..
I believe that media theories are important when looking into the representation of teenagers whether they are male or female in movies or documentaries. I will also be looking into with greater detail the uses of gratification theory. another media theory that i will be looking at is gender theory. As this involves looking into feminism, post feminism and also male gaze that teenagers who walk around in gangs causing street crime will attract a lot of people.
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
HomeWork
Critical Investigation - The representation of both women and men in a American Gangster film.
Linked Production - A brand new all American action film trailer with the typical representations of men and women.
Patriarchal Society - Is when people assume that men are above women in anything they do whether it is professional or has a hobby. A prime example of this would be the glass ceiling where the men are above the glass and the women are below so allowing to see what the men are up to but at the same time failing to achieve it. this would relate with my critical investigation as i will be looking at patriarchal society in an typical American gangster film.
Feminism - It is a term described as challenges values which favour in men. during my critical investigation i will be looking at the different feminsim in the typical american gangster film.
Male Gaze - This is a term used when women in movies are set out to attract the opposite sex. by doing this the camera movements will be focused on the women and the way that they move. in the critical investigation i will be looking at how male gaze is used particularly in american gangster films.
Bootleg - This is a term used to describe an illegal copy of a movie. an example of this would be pirate dvds being pre recorded from the cinema to be sold in a dvd format for a cheaper price.
Stereotype - This term is used in a lot of american gangster movies where people stereotype other people usually to take advantage of their weakness.
Linked Production - A brand new all American action film trailer with the typical representations of men and women.
Patriarchal Society - Is when people assume that men are above women in anything they do whether it is professional or has a hobby. A prime example of this would be the glass ceiling where the men are above the glass and the women are below so allowing to see what the men are up to but at the same time failing to achieve it. this would relate with my critical investigation as i will be looking at patriarchal society in an typical American gangster film.
Feminism - It is a term described as challenges values which favour in men. during my critical investigation i will be looking at the different feminsim in the typical american gangster film.
Male Gaze - This is a term used when women in movies are set out to attract the opposite sex. by doing this the camera movements will be focused on the women and the way that they move. in the critical investigation i will be looking at how male gaze is used particularly in american gangster films.
Bootleg - This is a term used to describe an illegal copy of a movie. an example of this would be pirate dvds being pre recorded from the cinema to be sold in a dvd format for a cheaper price.
Stereotype - This term is used in a lot of american gangster movies where people stereotype other people usually to take advantage of their weakness.
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Self Evaluation
During the summer holidays I was asked to choose a film text that was less than 5 years old and at the same time I had to choose one that I thoroughly enjoyed. I was specifically asked to do a migrain anaysis on the film text and to answer some questions that was set for us. I also had to prepare a 5 minute powerpoint presentation that I will be then be presenting it back to the class. I ended up choosing "Taken" which is a film I really enjoyed watching and would recommend to everyone. Having completed my migrain analysis on my chosen film text I had to concentrate on the powerpoint presentaion that I was going to present back to the class.
When I returned to school I had to present to the class by powerpoint presentation that I did on my chosen film text. The class was then asked to rate each others presentation in terms of their significance, structure, simplicity and rehersal. 1 being the best and 5 being the worst. I felt that when presenting back to the class I was a bit nervous at the start but however as time went on I felt more comfortable and was confident on my knowledge of text.
Having completed my presentation to the class, they decided to rate me in the manner I performed. In addition, the class gave me 3 for each category but was generously given a 2 for significance by Mr Bush. All in all the class felt that I had very good knowledge about the film text that I was watching and they felt convinced that it was a fantastic film. In some of my slides I had full sentences and some where short and sharpe. I felt that in order to achieve the higher marks I was requested by the class that I should have used more media concepts and relate the genre to any theorists.
Overall, I felt that the class enjoyed my powerpoint presentation and had relevant feedback from them. Everyone was asked to give 1 compliment and 1 criticisim which allowed me to be more wary of any future presentation I do. Mr Bush felt that I could have used more theorists into my powerpoint and also more media concepts along with media languag. He felt that what I used was good but If I wanted to push for those high marks that I attempted to talk more about any theorists, media language and media concepts.
When I returned to school I had to present to the class by powerpoint presentation that I did on my chosen film text. The class was then asked to rate each others presentation in terms of their significance, structure, simplicity and rehersal. 1 being the best and 5 being the worst. I felt that when presenting back to the class I was a bit nervous at the start but however as time went on I felt more comfortable and was confident on my knowledge of text.
Having completed my presentation to the class, they decided to rate me in the manner I performed. In addition, the class gave me 3 for each category but was generously given a 2 for significance by Mr Bush. All in all the class felt that I had very good knowledge about the film text that I was watching and they felt convinced that it was a fantastic film. In some of my slides I had full sentences and some where short and sharpe. I felt that in order to achieve the higher marks I was requested by the class that I should have used more media concepts and relate the genre to any theorists.
Overall, I felt that the class enjoyed my powerpoint presentation and had relevant feedback from them. Everyone was asked to give 1 compliment and 1 criticisim which allowed me to be more wary of any future presentation I do. Mr Bush felt that I could have used more theorists into my powerpoint and also more media concepts along with media languag. He felt that what I used was good but If I wanted to push for those high marks that I attempted to talk more about any theorists, media language and media concepts.
Friday, 18 September 2009
Monday, 7 September 2009
Summer Research on Taken
Taken is a 2008 action thriller movie starring the likes of Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen and of course Maggie Grace who is the kidnapped teenager. Taken is based on a script by Luc Besson and was directed by Pierre Morel. Liam Neeson plays the role of a former central intelligence agency operative who sets about tracking down his teenage daughter back after she was kidnapped by slave traders while traveling in Europe.
In this movie the kidnapped teenager is represented as “the object” when she is taken away by the slave traders. As far as the kidnappers are concerned (Maggie Grace) who is the kidnapped daughter of Liam Neeson is just another victim that has been targeted. The slave traders are Albanian Mafias, and they are part of a gang dealing largely in sex slaves.
Personally, I don’t believe that the subject that is being represented is neither fair nor accurate. The reason being is because when the teenage daughter is being targeted she is being seen as just another person to be turned into an addictive drug user and a whore. The connotations of this are extremely powerful in terms of what she is being forced to do.
Narrative..
Liam Neeson is a retired CIA agent who buys a karaoke machine for his seventeen year old daughter. Finally, when Liam Neeson gets to his ex wife’s house which his daughter lives at gives her present but is out staged by his daughters step father who buys her a horse. Having left the party, three of his friends arrive at his house for meal at his house that was forgotten by him. As they leave, Liam Neeson who is also known as Bryan is convinced by his friend Sam to take up a job with him: working as bodyguards for the famous singer Holly Valance.
When the concert ends Liam Neeson escorts Holly Valance out of the venue and manages to fend off an attacker. The next day, he has lunch with his daughter, only to find that Lenore (Famke Janssen) has accompanied her so they can persuade Bryan to sign a parental consent form allowing Kim to go to Paris with her 19-year-old friend, Amanda (Katie Cassidy). Bryan agrees on the condition that Kim calls him immediately once she lands.
When they arrive, Kim and Amanda meet Peter who persuades the two to share a taxi. When they arrive where the girls are staying, he tells the girls that his friend is having a party and offers to pick them up, obtaining their apartment number. As he leaves, he opens his cell phone and gives information about the girls to an unknown person.
While on the phone with Bryan, Kim witnesses Amanda being abducted. Bryan informs her that she will be taken as well, and gives her instructions. As Kim is being taken, she shouts out as much about her kidnapper as she can before she is knocked out. One of the kidnappers takes the phone and listens to a threat from Bryan before smashing the phone. Bryan made a recording of the call, and Sam analyzes it. Sam tells Bryan that the kidnappers are the Albanian Mafia, and they are part of a gang dealing largely in sex slaves. Bryan contacts Stuart to secure a private plane, and travels immediately to Paris.
In Paris, Bryan tracks down Peter, who is hit by a bus after trying to escape, and then Bryan tracks down Kim just as she is being sold in a darkened room but is knocked out before he can stage a rescue. After regaining consciousness and liberating himself from his captors, Bryan finds Saint-Clair and kills him, but not before finding out where Kim was taken. Bryan tracks down the yacht belonging to the Arab sheikh that bought Kim. Bryan boards the yacht and kills all the guards on board. He then kills the sheikh and frees his daughter. Bryan comforts Kim and takes her back to the United States. At the L.A. airport, Kim is reunited with Lenore and Stuart. A couple days later, Bryan takes his daughter Kim to Holly Valances house and she helps Kim improve her singing.
Media representation..
The two prime characters that are being displayed in this movie are Maggie Grace who is the kidnapped daughter and wannabe singer, and the father Liam Neeson who is an ex CIA agent who still has a set particular skills. The film clearly illustrates crime, thriller as well as action to redeem his daughter from the Albanian mafias. Close to the start of the movie the ex CIA agent and the father of the teenage daughter Liam Neeson shows off his deadly skills when he is taking on the mafias. Towards the end of the film it clearly shows us that the mother of the kidnapped daughter as well the daughter herself more aware of what they are getting themselves into when they go abroad.
When in the hunt to retrieve his kidnapped daughter Liam Neeson who is the biological father quickly rushes to his ex wife’s place and starts to ask questions just minutes after the kidnapping to try and get as much information as possible. In the process of doing so the teenage daughter’s stepfather tries to give minimum amount of information as he can so he can turn out as the hero and to safe the girl himself. By doing this so he has given Liam nelson extra determination to get back his daughter himself.
Media languages and Forms..
Because the genre of this movie is crime, thriller and action packed the clothing and the facial expressions are crucial because this gives the sense of when to expect action and when not to. As the audience you are able to identify the facial expression of a particular scene. For instance, when Maggie Grace is hiding underneath the bed in the bedroom and her biological father tells her on the phone that she’s about to be taken her facial expression then shows shock scared and angry as she is constantly crying for help.
In some stages of this film you are able to witness some horrific images and could make you as the audience really upset. You can easily pinpoint these occasions through the actors or actresses body language and secondly through their facial expressions. As the target audience I believe that understanding the level of emotion that is being portrayed in the movie can be established not only by their body language but by the use of soundtrack.
At the mise en scene of the house when the teenage girl is being kidnapped I believe that it is ideal to have the kidnapping scene as its more intense and would entice the audience more. With the moving from room to room this raises enigma codes in terms of which room she will end up in. The use of the different soundtracks when filming a scene is important so the audience can identify which part of the scene this is. For instance, when Liam Neeson agrees to let his daughter go to France the sound track for that scene is light and calming. On the other hand, when he soon discovers that his daughter has been kidnapped, the audience immediately realises the hard and loud banging drums that anticipates the audience.
Media Institution..
The twentieth century fox corporation is one of the six major American film studios which are located in the centre city of LA. 20th century fox is known for its outstanding movies and is well established across the world. Producing movies such as Taken, Avatar and All about Steve have proven big hits under the help of 20th century fox.
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