Representation of Youth in the 1960s: A Different Reconstruction

Let's go back in time to 1961, just 3 years before the media in Britain represented its youth as being violence driven hooligans who were a threat to the very fabric of society.

1961 saw the release of the film 'The Young Ones' starring, amongst others, Cliff Richard.

The story is about the youth club member and aspiring singer Nicky (Cliff Richard)  and his friends, who try to save their club in western London from the unscrupulous millionaire property developer Hamilton Black, who plans to tear it down to make room for a large office block. 

The members decide to put on a show to raise the money needed to buy a lease renewal. The twist in the story is that Nicky in reality is Hamilton Black's son, something he keeps keeps secret from his friends until some of them try to kidnap Black senior to prevent him from stopping the show. 

Although he is fighting his father over the future of the youth club, Nicky can't allow them to harm him, so he attacks the attackers and frees his father. In the meantime, Black senior has realised that his son is the mystery singer that all of London is talking about, after the youth club members have done some pirate broadcasts to promote their show. 

So, although he's just bought the theatre where the show is to take place, in order to be able to stop it, the proud father decides that the show must go one. At the end, he joins the youth club members on stage, dancing and singing, after having promised to build them a new youth club.

Here is the trailer for the film - how is the representation of British Youth different here to what you have previously seen?



The trailer for the film 'The Young Ones' paints a very different picture of youth compared to what I have previously seen through my research.

During reports on the conflict between the Mods and Rockers that took place over a bank holiday weekend, the mass media quickly began to dehumanise the youth sub - cultures and refer to them in animalistic terms - they were labelled the 'wild ones'. However, the title of the film advertised in the trailer is called 'The Young Ones' which has much more positive connotations - being young is commonly associated with innocence and purity, which is clearly being demonstrated of the youths in the trailer. As opposed to behaving wildly and causing chaos, the characters seem to be having harmless and innocent fun, as depicted in the upbeat musical numbers and scenes on the beach. They are also portrayed as being very civilised, as they approach the authoritative adult in a polite and respectful manner - this contradicts reports from the media, once again from the bank holiday weekend incidents involving the Mods and the Rockers. The older generation were said to be scared by the action and demeanour of the youths, but the trailer shows the adult and teenagers actually performing together on stage, suggesting there was more harmony and peace between the two than the media reported. Plus, there seemed to be a greater sense of unity and community within the youth in general, as the media in the 1960s exaggerated the extent of the rivalry and animosity between the Mods and Rockers - the depiction of the relationship between the younger generation appeared supportive and collaborative as opposed to detrimental.