Tutorial Feedback
Advice that I was given at my tutorial.
1.) I need to add a quote in my title
2.) I also need to add quotes in my introduction
3.) I need to incorporate a representation theory into my intro and say that all representations are constructed
4.) I need to talk more about stereotyping – what is a stereotype, how do they work, why are they used.
5.) I need to make specific links with my text and others (such as the firm which I have already researched)
6.) Alcohol statistics about hooliganism and how they sensationalize this. Talk about the relationship between violence and number of films produced.
7.) I need to elaborate on the issue of masculinity
8.) Mention the history of hooliganism and the violence genre as a whole. (Could refer to football factory)
9.) What conventions are being used here
10.) Talk about the genre theory and how it works. Repetition VS variation (Altman/Neale)
11.) Write in more detail and expression
12.) What the film offers (Escapism etc.)
13.) The firm – British social realism, if it links to green street immensely
Monday 28 January 2008
First Paragraph
"It's what we fucking live for!"
To what extent is the movie ‘Green Street’ (2005) an accurate representation of ‘football hooliganism’ in society?
Ever since the beginning of football hooliganism, society has associated it with violence, disruption and as a nuisance to the peace within the world we live in. Even though football hooliganism is a widespread phenomenon many people believe that it serves no purpose or function to the world except for creating disorder between communities due to the fierce rivalry between opposing firms incorporated into it. the Usually consisting of Caucasian male members from the age of eighteen and up, this violent form of expressive behaviour is not only about standing up for the football team that you support but for the credit and acknowledgement that is received when a particular firm is successful in a riot against another. As history says, football hooliganism is more about prestige and masculinity more than it is about trying to go against the system and cause chaos within society. It is also believed that football mad men who are unable to actually be on the pitch need to find another way to perform their part for the game as they see it as a duty of theirs to serve their football team in terms of defending it. Various TV shows and films have tried to portray football hooliganism in the way it is naturally perceived as disorderly, but only a few actually go into depth about the other side of a football hooligan’s life, such as family, work and commitment. In ‘Green Street’ (2005), the quote “It’s what we fucking live for!” reinforces the notion of dedication to the audience and they begin to recognise the commitment that these men have to their football teams. This quote however, may also bring false interpretations into the audiences mind as they may begin to see football hooliganism as the only commitment in the lives of these men when in fact there is much more to them in terms of family and earning a living. I will be looking into whether ‘Green Street’ is actually an accurate representation of football hooliganism or whether it is just created for entertainment purposes and to exaggerate elements to fit the action genre. As football hooliganism movies tend to have a higher amount of male characters than female characters there is also the portrayal of ‘voyeurism’ for the target audience (Mulvey) as the men in the audience would have a choice of characters to relate to. This may be one of the reasons why the maker of ‘Green Street’ (2005), Lexi Alexander has based her story on two very diverse characters. This gives the audience an opportunity to relate to either one of them and understand why they make the decisions they do in a society overflowing with football hooliganism. ‘Green Street’ instantly becomes an action movie as the topic on which it is based upon instantaneously brings the image of violent and antagonistic behaviour into the filmmaker’s mind. Alexander uses many elements that are seen as typical for the action genre, for example, the hero versus the villain (Propp) which is not only used in order to relate to the action genre but because it is in fact an accurate image of football hooliganism in society. The aim of my study will be to find out to what extent these elements and theories are relevant to portray an accurate image of football hooliganism in society or whether they are incorporated just for the sake of the action genre.
"It's what we fucking live for!"
To what extent is the movie ‘Green Street’ (2005) an accurate representation of ‘football hooliganism’ in society?
Ever since the beginning of football hooliganism, society has associated it with violence, disruption and as a nuisance to the peace within the world we live in. Even though football hooliganism is a widespread phenomenon many people believe that it serves no purpose or function to the world except for creating disorder between communities due to the fierce rivalry between opposing firms incorporated into it. the Usually consisting of Caucasian male members from the age of eighteen and up, this violent form of expressive behaviour is not only about standing up for the football team that you support but for the credit and acknowledgement that is received when a particular firm is successful in a riot against another. As history says, football hooliganism is more about prestige and masculinity more than it is about trying to go against the system and cause chaos within society. It is also believed that football mad men who are unable to actually be on the pitch need to find another way to perform their part for the game as they see it as a duty of theirs to serve their football team in terms of defending it. Various TV shows and films have tried to portray football hooliganism in the way it is naturally perceived as disorderly, but only a few actually go into depth about the other side of a football hooligan’s life, such as family, work and commitment. In ‘Green Street’ (2005), the quote “It’s what we fucking live for!” reinforces the notion of dedication to the audience and they begin to recognise the commitment that these men have to their football teams. This quote however, may also bring false interpretations into the audiences mind as they may begin to see football hooliganism as the only commitment in the lives of these men when in fact there is much more to them in terms of family and earning a living. I will be looking into whether ‘Green Street’ is actually an accurate representation of football hooliganism or whether it is just created for entertainment purposes and to exaggerate elements to fit the action genre. As football hooliganism movies tend to have a higher amount of male characters than female characters there is also the portrayal of ‘voyeurism’ for the target audience (Mulvey) as the men in the audience would have a choice of characters to relate to. This may be one of the reasons why the maker of ‘Green Street’ (2005), Lexi Alexander has based her story on two very diverse characters. This gives the audience an opportunity to relate to either one of them and understand why they make the decisions they do in a society overflowing with football hooliganism. ‘Green Street’ instantly becomes an action movie as the topic on which it is based upon instantaneously brings the image of violent and antagonistic behaviour into the filmmaker’s mind. Alexander uses many elements that are seen as typical for the action genre, for example, the hero versus the villain (Propp) which is not only used in order to relate to the action genre but because it is in fact an accurate image of football hooliganism in society. The aim of my study will be to find out to what extent these elements and theories are relevant to portray an accurate image of football hooliganism in society or whether they are incorporated just for the sake of the action genre.
Thursday 3 January 2008
Detailed Essay Plan
To what extent is the movie ‘Green Street’ (2005) an accurate representation of ‘football hooliganism’ in society?
The purpose of my coursework is to explain how far the portrayal of football hooliganism in 'Green Street' (2005) reflects a true image of how it actually is in the real world.
INTRODUCTION - and also my first paragraph
Ever since the beginning society has associated football hooliganism with violence, disruption and as a nuisance to the peace within communities. History says that football hooliganism is about prestige and masculinity more than it is about trying to go against the system and cause chaos within society. Various TV shows and films have tried to portray football hooliganism in the way it is naturally perceived but only a few actually go into depth about the other side of football hooligan life such as family and work. In this way the maker (Lexi Alexander) of 'Green Street' (2005) has based her story on two very different characters in order to give the audience a chance to relate to either one and understand why they make the decisions they do. The film itself contains a lot of the elements we as an audience would expect from our action movies, such as the hero VS the villain (Propp) and 'voyeurism' for the hero that it's target audience of males would experience (Mulvey). The aim of my study will be to find out to what extent these elements and theories are relevant to portray an accurate image of football hooliganism in society or whether they are Incorporated just for the sake of the action genre.
'Representation' of Hooligans, males, men in the action 'genre' AND 'Audience' expectations...
First taking a look at how football hooligans are really portrayed and represented in society (from my research notes etc) and linking this to whether that perception has always been this way and why (linking to The Firm, 1988). It is important to talk about in detail what the generalisation about them is in society and the move on to how the media portrays them. Starting to look into 'Green Street' and talking about how the characters are represented and what they represent themselves, for example, the firms and their football teams etc...outlining the key concepts such as the representation of males and how accurate this portrayal is by looking through my research of men typically being linked to hooliganism this then takes me onto outlining each characters position in the firm to link to general film roles, such as the protagonist and antagonist and analyse how accurate these roles actually are in real life or whether they've just been put in because the director was trying to follow Propp's theory of film having a hero, villain, the wise person etc...
Men are usually seen a physically stronger than women and therefore tend to be given the leading roles in action movies. Michael Messener (1990) says that the body is an 'object of social practice', meaning that the male body takes on the masculine roles because it is so obviously there and it is so physical so therefore a male tends to have a natural masculinity that the audience themselves look for because they expect this from the film. The audience also believe in the 'gender system' which means that they rely on the film to give them both male and female characters in completely different ways. The 'sameness' of an action hero to a feminine character would ruin the storyline. I will therefore try to see if this is what creates the clear exclusion of women from the key storyline and leaves them to typical female roles (housewife, mother, girlfriend etc.) This would then lead me into thinking about the target audience (males) of the text to see whether this is the key factor that causes them to be more attracted to the film then a female audience would be as highly 'annihilates women' from the text. The male hero in in classical Hollywood cinema is usually recognised as powerful. He signifies omnipotence, mastering the narrative, being in control, sadistic rather than masochistic. It is important for me to look into the level of creative treatment that has actually been contained in the movie. By comparing what I view in the film and what I have gathered in my research I will be able to see the extent to which the movie has been changed and been distanced from reality in order to help me see exactly how real the representation of the people who perform these crimes is... (Grierson - Creative treatment of actuality.)
'Media Language' and as opposed to Reality...
'Green Street' incorporates dark colours in it's dark settings to portray an urban area where football hooligans tend to live. The hooligans are usually dressed in casual outerwear which often makes their characters look the opposite of what society sees as acceptable male attire (suits, smart clothes.) The characters are only ever once shown wearing work clothes and that therefore under represents their commitment to work and making a living. By making them wear their hooligan clothes throughout the whole film they exclude the other side of their lives which in reality many hooligans do have. The reason for annihilating this element of reality from the storyline is because the audience is then faced with the question of whether this is what is causing them to be led into football hooliganism, for example, George Orwell once wrote: "The genuinely popular culture of England is something that goes on beneath the surface, unofficially and more or less frowned on by the authorities. One thing one notices if one looks directly at the common people, especially in the big towns, is that they are not puritanical. They are inveterate gamblers, drink as much beer as their wages will permit, are devoted to bawdy jokes, and use probably the foulest language in the world." This sums up the England supporter, who is a million miles away from the conservative English gentleman our tourist board would rather promote.This statement links to why England's popular culture is in fact apparent in 'Green Street' over many of the real life elements that would give the characters more depth over just being violent males. The character of Matt Buckner is supposed to be an outsider at first from a completely different part of the world, so therefore this whole idea of the tourist board trying to cover up these truths from outsiders can be seen in 'Green Street' as nothing is hidden and we see the movie from Matt's point of view. The music and dialogue is also very significant to popular English culture that surrounds football hooligans. We can see from the changes in the music Matt listens to and what the hooligans listen to and sing themselves in the pub. I will then look into how this differs or relates from 'The Firm' (1988), to see how over time these values have changed for people and movie makers and how vividly the underlying message is actually presented to the audience. 'The Firm' incorporates more of the 'working man' imagery and shows the man at his typical role of 'breadwinner' and the wife of being 'home-maker'. I will move onto how and why these roles are less represented in the same way in 'Green Street' and also (slightly) talk about in what way women's roles have changed and what in society may have reconstructed this view of them in the filmmakers mind.
The 'Ideologies'...Violence...Typical scenes in the film that link to real life...
The scene where all the firm members gather together in a pub for regular meetings is something that links to reality. Police in the past have had to raid pubs where riots have been taking place and vandalism usually occurs there too. At the end of 'Green Street', the sequence of when the opposing firm vandalise and light the GSE pub hangout on fire was seen by many as a typical thing to happen but in the film it was 'overproduced' and 'exaggerated' (Grierson - Creative Treatment if Actuality.) In the same way violence and vandalism occurs in 'The Firm', such as the time when the opposing firm vandalises the leader of the other firm's car and spray paints it. Also it will be highly useful to write about the ways in which the lives and commitments made by football hooligans to their firm's effects their family lives. Such as in 'Green Street' Pete's actions influence Matt and therefore Matt ends up following in his footsteps which doesn't go down well with Matt's sister who is Pete's sister-in-law. This causes rifts and arguments within the family and disruptions begin when confrontation occurs. In the same way 'The Firm' portrays the arguments and controversy that occurs within the home of the protagonist. The wives in the film feel let down when their husbands commit to these duties and don't like how their husbands actions effect them and their children. In real life football hooligans have actually been known to mix their life as a hooligan with their family commitments - “Many individuals, particularly males, in English society have regarded it as critical to their lives”.
How football hooliganism effects society...
Moral Panic - Public feel a threat by the behaviours shown on screen.The topic of football hooliganism is very threatening to the audience it occurs in reality and will help me to look further into this.
Prejudice - Judging and having views on certain characteristics of people.In reality people assume negative things about hooligans but I will look into why these prejudices are.
Society has always found football hooliganism very disruptive as it causes noise, damage, death and confrontation between people. Some see football hooliganism as a waste of time and petty because there really is no use for it in society because it doesn't offer anything constructive to the world in which we live in. This isn't however emphasized very much in 'Green Street' even though the damage incurred is expensive and damaging. There are scenes when the firms are rioting and causing high damage but the after effects of this isn't really emphasized. This therefore under-represents the role of society in speaking up about football hooliganism as it occurs a lot in real life. This may have been kept out because it wasn't relevant to the film. The portrayal of the effects on society in 'The Firm' are more apparent than in 'Green Street' which could connote that it has become in a way more accepted as a norm for men of a certain type to be part of. This will be useful to outline in my study...
Political & Economic views on hooliganism...
Over the years these football fights have spread all around the world. From Croatia to Serbia it there have been brawls between firms. In England these firms have done severe damage to public property, such as smashing phone boxes and breaking park benches meaning that it has cost a lot of money in repairing these things. Businesses have also been effected by football hooliganism, for example, In the 2000s, English football hooligans often wear either clothing styles that are stereotypically associated with the thuggish chav subculture, such as those from the labels Prada, Lacoste, Le Shark and Burberry. This has encouraged Prada and Burberry two companies to withdraw certain garments over fears that their brands are becoming linked with hooliganism. In 'Green Street' and 'The Firm' there is no apparent link to any label. I will look into why the director chose to ignore this even though it is a general occurance. Political - The number of arrests rose by 19 per cent to 4,793 in 2002 in domestic games in England and Wales, European cup competitions and international matches.The number of banning orders imposed for football-related offences increased by more than half from 1,149 in 2001/2 to 1,794 last year.There were 267 arrests at international games last year, with nearly half of those made during the England v Turkey Euro 2004 qualifier game in Sunderland in June. The government is trying to take serious action towards football hooliganism by increasing the amount of police protection in suspicious areas even though this isn't helping in the way expected. These are some inportant things for me to incorporate into my study because they outline other effects on society etc...
The hooliganism history and the ways in which it is dealt with in the film and in reality...
As I am trying to measure the accuracy it will be important for me to look into the historical issues that link to hooliganism from my research, for example what happened at the Birmingham City and Leeds United match in 1985 and the relate this to 'The Firm' as it was made in the same decade (1988) and also refer to societies view in the past about hooliganism e.g, Walvin (1994) reported that 'In 1829, a French man who saw a football match in Derby asked "If this is what they call football, then what do they call fighting?".then link this to what has happened in the present day through other parts of my research and views from a more recent time. The behaviour of the hooligans seems to be aimed at gaining prestige. The ability to fight, group solidarity and loyalty, plus the aggressive defence of culturally defined areas, are all elements of a satisfying masculine identity. Fighting at football is largely about young males testing out their own reputations for manliness against those of other similarly motivated young men. I will take elements from the the film I am studying and will look into them to see whether these elements are true of whether they've just been Incorporated for the storyline etc, for example, in 'Green Street ' it is apparent that for each and every firm there is a leader who all the rest look up to and idolize, but I want to find out whether this is in fact true in real life and who is usually to blame for what happens. Over the years, it has become increasingly clear that the police cannot and should not deal with hooliganism on its own and that an integrated approach is called for, involving all parties.In practice, measures tend to focus on the way in which hooliganism manifests itself, in part because the rivalry between supporters is a factor that is hard to influence. Changes in the infrastructure of stadia (fences, cameras, all-seater stadia) make surveillance and separation of fans easier, as do ticketing arrangements. However, a one-sided focus on security measures may be detrimental to an atmosphere of friendliness.Well-trained stewards may contribute significantly to hospitality and an early signalling of potential trouble inside stadia. The behaviour of players, coaches and club-officials also influences fan behaviour. I want to look at this from a more political approach and see what the society thinks about the ways in which hooliganism is tackled and then how in 'Green Street' this is mirrored. ''Football hooliganism has always had a bad reputation among English royalty. Not just for its extreme violence but also because of the excessive noise made by the spectators. King Edward III banned the game, not only because of its violence and noise but for military reasons too.''
Some references
Hammerton, Sir John (...) : Practical Knowledge For All (Fifty Educational Courses). The Waverley Book Co. Limited
Frosdick, Steve and Marsh, Peter (2005): Football Hooliganism. Willian Publishing, USA, Canada
Fetzer, Scott (1991) : My World Book. World Book, Inc, Chicago, USA
Gall, Caroline (2005) : Zulus: A Football Hooligan Gang, Milo Books, England
Nelmes, Jill (2003) : An Introduction to Film Studies. Routledge, England
Pennant, Cass (2002) : Want Some Aggro?. Blake Publishing, England
To what extent is the movie ‘Green Street’ (2005) an accurate representation of ‘football hooliganism’ in society?
The purpose of my coursework is to explain how far the portrayal of football hooliganism in 'Green Street' (2005) reflects a true image of how it actually is in the real world.
INTRODUCTION - and also my first paragraph
Ever since the beginning society has associated football hooliganism with violence, disruption and as a nuisance to the peace within communities. History says that football hooliganism is about prestige and masculinity more than it is about trying to go against the system and cause chaos within society. Various TV shows and films have tried to portray football hooliganism in the way it is naturally perceived but only a few actually go into depth about the other side of football hooligan life such as family and work. In this way the maker (Lexi Alexander) of 'Green Street' (2005) has based her story on two very different characters in order to give the audience a chance to relate to either one and understand why they make the decisions they do. The film itself contains a lot of the elements we as an audience would expect from our action movies, such as the hero VS the villain (Propp) and 'voyeurism' for the hero that it's target audience of males would experience (Mulvey). The aim of my study will be to find out to what extent these elements and theories are relevant to portray an accurate image of football hooliganism in society or whether they are Incorporated just for the sake of the action genre.
'Representation' of Hooligans, males, men in the action 'genre' AND 'Audience' expectations...
First taking a look at how football hooligans are really portrayed and represented in society (from my research notes etc) and linking this to whether that perception has always been this way and why (linking to The Firm, 1988). It is important to talk about in detail what the generalisation about them is in society and the move on to how the media portrays them. Starting to look into 'Green Street' and talking about how the characters are represented and what they represent themselves, for example, the firms and their football teams etc...outlining the key concepts such as the representation of males and how accurate this portrayal is by looking through my research of men typically being linked to hooliganism this then takes me onto outlining each characters position in the firm to link to general film roles, such as the protagonist and antagonist and analyse how accurate these roles actually are in real life or whether they've just been put in because the director was trying to follow Propp's theory of film having a hero, villain, the wise person etc...
Men are usually seen a physically stronger than women and therefore tend to be given the leading roles in action movies. Michael Messener (1990) says that the body is an 'object of social practice', meaning that the male body takes on the masculine roles because it is so obviously there and it is so physical so therefore a male tends to have a natural masculinity that the audience themselves look for because they expect this from the film. The audience also believe in the 'gender system' which means that they rely on the film to give them both male and female characters in completely different ways. The 'sameness' of an action hero to a feminine character would ruin the storyline. I will therefore try to see if this is what creates the clear exclusion of women from the key storyline and leaves them to typical female roles (housewife, mother, girlfriend etc.) This would then lead me into thinking about the target audience (males) of the text to see whether this is the key factor that causes them to be more attracted to the film then a female audience would be as highly 'annihilates women' from the text. The male hero in in classical Hollywood cinema is usually recognised as powerful. He signifies omnipotence, mastering the narrative, being in control, sadistic rather than masochistic. It is important for me to look into the level of creative treatment that has actually been contained in the movie. By comparing what I view in the film and what I have gathered in my research I will be able to see the extent to which the movie has been changed and been distanced from reality in order to help me see exactly how real the representation of the people who perform these crimes is... (Grierson - Creative treatment of actuality.)
'Media Language' and as opposed to Reality...
'Green Street' incorporates dark colours in it's dark settings to portray an urban area where football hooligans tend to live. The hooligans are usually dressed in casual outerwear which often makes their characters look the opposite of what society sees as acceptable male attire (suits, smart clothes.) The characters are only ever once shown wearing work clothes and that therefore under represents their commitment to work and making a living. By making them wear their hooligan clothes throughout the whole film they exclude the other side of their lives which in reality many hooligans do have. The reason for annihilating this element of reality from the storyline is because the audience is then faced with the question of whether this is what is causing them to be led into football hooliganism, for example, George Orwell once wrote: "The genuinely popular culture of England is something that goes on beneath the surface, unofficially and more or less frowned on by the authorities. One thing one notices if one looks directly at the common people, especially in the big towns, is that they are not puritanical. They are inveterate gamblers, drink as much beer as their wages will permit, are devoted to bawdy jokes, and use probably the foulest language in the world." This sums up the England supporter, who is a million miles away from the conservative English gentleman our tourist board would rather promote.This statement links to why England's popular culture is in fact apparent in 'Green Street' over many of the real life elements that would give the characters more depth over just being violent males. The character of Matt Buckner is supposed to be an outsider at first from a completely different part of the world, so therefore this whole idea of the tourist board trying to cover up these truths from outsiders can be seen in 'Green Street' as nothing is hidden and we see the movie from Matt's point of view. The music and dialogue is also very significant to popular English culture that surrounds football hooligans. We can see from the changes in the music Matt listens to and what the hooligans listen to and sing themselves in the pub. I will then look into how this differs or relates from 'The Firm' (1988), to see how over time these values have changed for people and movie makers and how vividly the underlying message is actually presented to the audience. 'The Firm' incorporates more of the 'working man' imagery and shows the man at his typical role of 'breadwinner' and the wife of being 'home-maker'. I will move onto how and why these roles are less represented in the same way in 'Green Street' and also (slightly) talk about in what way women's roles have changed and what in society may have reconstructed this view of them in the filmmakers mind.
The 'Ideologies'...Violence...Typical scenes in the film that link to real life...
The scene where all the firm members gather together in a pub for regular meetings is something that links to reality. Police in the past have had to raid pubs where riots have been taking place and vandalism usually occurs there too. At the end of 'Green Street', the sequence of when the opposing firm vandalise and light the GSE pub hangout on fire was seen by many as a typical thing to happen but in the film it was 'overproduced' and 'exaggerated' (Grierson - Creative Treatment if Actuality.) In the same way violence and vandalism occurs in 'The Firm', such as the time when the opposing firm vandalises the leader of the other firm's car and spray paints it. Also it will be highly useful to write about the ways in which the lives and commitments made by football hooligans to their firm's effects their family lives. Such as in 'Green Street' Pete's actions influence Matt and therefore Matt ends up following in his footsteps which doesn't go down well with Matt's sister who is Pete's sister-in-law. This causes rifts and arguments within the family and disruptions begin when confrontation occurs. In the same way 'The Firm' portrays the arguments and controversy that occurs within the home of the protagonist. The wives in the film feel let down when their husbands commit to these duties and don't like how their husbands actions effect them and their children. In real life football hooligans have actually been known to mix their life as a hooligan with their family commitments - “Many individuals, particularly males, in English society have regarded it as critical to their lives”.
How football hooliganism effects society...
Moral Panic - Public feel a threat by the behaviours shown on screen.The topic of football hooliganism is very threatening to the audience it occurs in reality and will help me to look further into this.
Prejudice - Judging and having views on certain characteristics of people.In reality people assume negative things about hooligans but I will look into why these prejudices are.
Society has always found football hooliganism very disruptive as it causes noise, damage, death and confrontation between people. Some see football hooliganism as a waste of time and petty because there really is no use for it in society because it doesn't offer anything constructive to the world in which we live in. This isn't however emphasized very much in 'Green Street' even though the damage incurred is expensive and damaging. There are scenes when the firms are rioting and causing high damage but the after effects of this isn't really emphasized. This therefore under-represents the role of society in speaking up about football hooliganism as it occurs a lot in real life. This may have been kept out because it wasn't relevant to the film. The portrayal of the effects on society in 'The Firm' are more apparent than in 'Green Street' which could connote that it has become in a way more accepted as a norm for men of a certain type to be part of. This will be useful to outline in my study...
Political & Economic views on hooliganism...
Over the years these football fights have spread all around the world. From Croatia to Serbia it there have been brawls between firms. In England these firms have done severe damage to public property, such as smashing phone boxes and breaking park benches meaning that it has cost a lot of money in repairing these things. Businesses have also been effected by football hooliganism, for example, In the 2000s, English football hooligans often wear either clothing styles that are stereotypically associated with the thuggish chav subculture, such as those from the labels Prada, Lacoste, Le Shark and Burberry. This has encouraged Prada and Burberry two companies to withdraw certain garments over fears that their brands are becoming linked with hooliganism. In 'Green Street' and 'The Firm' there is no apparent link to any label. I will look into why the director chose to ignore this even though it is a general occurance. Political - The number of arrests rose by 19 per cent to 4,793 in 2002 in domestic games in England and Wales, European cup competitions and international matches.The number of banning orders imposed for football-related offences increased by more than half from 1,149 in 2001/2 to 1,794 last year.There were 267 arrests at international games last year, with nearly half of those made during the England v Turkey Euro 2004 qualifier game in Sunderland in June. The government is trying to take serious action towards football hooliganism by increasing the amount of police protection in suspicious areas even though this isn't helping in the way expected. These are some inportant things for me to incorporate into my study because they outline other effects on society etc...
The hooliganism history and the ways in which it is dealt with in the film and in reality...
As I am trying to measure the accuracy it will be important for me to look into the historical issues that link to hooliganism from my research, for example what happened at the Birmingham City and Leeds United match in 1985 and the relate this to 'The Firm' as it was made in the same decade (1988) and also refer to societies view in the past about hooliganism e.g, Walvin (1994) reported that 'In 1829, a French man who saw a football match in Derby asked "If this is what they call football, then what do they call fighting?".then link this to what has happened in the present day through other parts of my research and views from a more recent time. The behaviour of the hooligans seems to be aimed at gaining prestige. The ability to fight, group solidarity and loyalty, plus the aggressive defence of culturally defined areas, are all elements of a satisfying masculine identity. Fighting at football is largely about young males testing out their own reputations for manliness against those of other similarly motivated young men. I will take elements from the the film I am studying and will look into them to see whether these elements are true of whether they've just been Incorporated for the storyline etc, for example, in 'Green Street ' it is apparent that for each and every firm there is a leader who all the rest look up to and idolize, but I want to find out whether this is in fact true in real life and who is usually to blame for what happens. Over the years, it has become increasingly clear that the police cannot and should not deal with hooliganism on its own and that an integrated approach is called for, involving all parties.In practice, measures tend to focus on the way in which hooliganism manifests itself, in part because the rivalry between supporters is a factor that is hard to influence. Changes in the infrastructure of stadia (fences, cameras, all-seater stadia) make surveillance and separation of fans easier, as do ticketing arrangements. However, a one-sided focus on security measures may be detrimental to an atmosphere of friendliness.Well-trained stewards may contribute significantly to hospitality and an early signalling of potential trouble inside stadia. The behaviour of players, coaches and club-officials also influences fan behaviour. I want to look at this from a more political approach and see what the society thinks about the ways in which hooliganism is tackled and then how in 'Green Street' this is mirrored. ''Football hooliganism has always had a bad reputation among English royalty. Not just for its extreme violence but also because of the excessive noise made by the spectators. King Edward III banned the game, not only because of its violence and noise but for military reasons too.''
Some references
http://www.newstatesman.com/200111260043
http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/page4359.asp
http://www.sirc.org/publik/fvmedia.html
Benton, William (1768) : Encyclopedia Britannica (Volume 18). Scotland, Society of Gentlemen in Scotland
Hammerton, Sir John (...) : Practical Knowledge For All (Fifty Educational Courses). The Waverley Book Co. Limited
Frosdick, Steve and Marsh, Peter (2005): Football Hooliganism. Willian Publishing, USA, Canada
Fetzer, Scott (1991) : My World Book. World Book, Inc, Chicago, USA
Gall, Caroline (2005) : Zulus: A Football Hooligan Gang, Milo Books, England
Nelmes, Jill (2003) : An Introduction to Film Studies. Routledge, England
Pennant, Cass (2002) : Want Some Aggro?. Blake Publishing, England
Wednesday 2 January 2008
Historical Texts
Text: The Firm
Made: 1988
Text: The Firm
Made: 1988
While watching 'The Firm' I found that it was similar in some areas to 'Green Street' but there were some aspects that were presented very differently. I found that the is was based around males more than females, proving that football and hooliganism is still very male-dominated. However, in ‘The Firm’ women have a more active role as their characters are more developed than the female characters in Green Street. The females however are represented as sexual objects for the men or otherwise as housewives, taking care of the children. In green street, women aren't represented as sex objects as significantly as they are in ‘The Firm’, the one main female in the movie is portrayed as a housewife but she is more sophisticated than the wives in ‘The Firm’. this difference is also linked to the fact that in ‘The Firm’ the characters a are mainly from a working class whereas in green street the protagonist is from an upper class family. Also in ‘The Firm’ both Black, Asian and White males play football together and are part of the same firm, there is less racism portrayed, whereas in green street they are all in separate firms and at one point in Green street the whites refer to the opposing firm consisting of black males as 'Zulus'. Similarities of both text relate to the tunes that the firm members sing while at the pub which is their main hang out. In ‘The Firm’ the degrading line said by the men in the pub to the female strippers is ‘Get your tits out for the boys’ the same tune is used in green street but for lines such as 'Get some drinks in!', which shows that the males in ‘The Firm’ cheer about very different things to those in green street, linking to their ideologies which is different.
In ‘The Firm’, the men are shown at work more than those in green street. The protagonist is usually in his for suit which shows that he does have a job and isn't a layabout whereas in green street the protagonist does have a respectable job as a teacher, but dresses as though he is unemployed (very casual). the firm also shows men more into their families and discuss their actions with their wives whereas in green street things are kept secret from the wives and girlfriends.
In ‘The Firm’ the firms are not very serious before a major planned fight. They pose in funny ways taking pictures and are hyper about what is to come whereas in green street the firm members leave their homes as if they know they may not return again. This is a big difference because it outlines how important and serious the firms have become over the years. The members choose to vandalise more than they choose to fight face to face as they enjoy taunting in ‘The Firm’ whereas in green street they have a high adrenaline rush that they just want to let out and therefore fight face to face rather than vandalising each others property.
http://www.chokingonpopcorn.com/popcorn/index.php?p=527
http://www.cinematicreflections.com/TheFirm.html
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