Tuesday 17 April 2012

The Films we are studying for this module


As you make your way through this blog you will need to watch La Haine (Kassovitz, 1995) and City of God (Meirelles, 2002) and you should have made plenty of notes on characters, genre, narrative and messages and values. We will be examining:
  • Cultures and subcultures
  • Power, Poverty and Conflict
  • Characters
  • Key Scenes
  • Messages and Values
  • Social and Historical Contexts

Monday 16 April 2012

Key Terms to use when studying Urban Stories

Ideology – A person’s or society’s set of beliefs and values, or overall way of looking at the world.

Culture – The way in which forms of human activity and interaction are socially transmitted. The way of life of a particular human community living at a specific time and in a particular place.

Subculture – Cultures subordinate to the dominant culture.

Counter-culture – Cultures that are actively opposed to the dominant culture.

Power – The various forms of control some individuals and groups within society have over other individuals and groups.

Representation – The variety of ways in which individuals and groups are displayed to audiences within the media and other cultural texts.

Les banlieues – Satellite towns – housing estates for the poor away from the middle classes.

Urban deprivation – built up areas that are run down

Social segregation – The upper and middle classes live separately from the working classes.

Fascist and Fascism – Far right groups, racist- often blame unemployment on immigration.