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

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