Dick Hebdige is a British sociologist and Media Theorist. He is most notably associated with the idea of subcultures. A subculture is a culture within a larger culture. These cultures often rebel against social norms. In his book, Subculture: The Meaning of Style, Hebdige argues that youth subcultures are symbolic forms of resistance. He claims that the styles of Britain's post-war youth subcultures (mainly those in the working-class) usually challenge the ideology of social norms and the hegemony enforced. The media has given subcultures of the working-class usually negative reviews, sensationalising their views and actions, creating fear among people and claiming they are more radical than they usually are. The most known post-war British subcultures include Teddy bears, Mods, Rockers, Punks, Emos and Chavs.
Stan Cohen shares similar views with Dick Hebdige when it comes to subcultures and their representation. Cohen is known for spawning the term "moral panic" when discussing the negative social reaction that was garnered in the 1960s because of the "radical" subcultures, The Mods and THe Rockers. Cohen refers to these deviant subcultures as "folk devils."Cohen believes the media overreact to an aspect of behaviour by the subcultures which see them challenging social norms, being deviant from society.
Quadrophenia is a 1979 British film, directed by Franc Roddam. The film follows the lives of young people in a subculture known as 'Mods' and their fierce but reasonless rivalry with other subculture, 'The Rockers.' The film's main character, Jimmy, is part of the Mod clique, where he feels accepted and part of something different, rather than the disillusionment lifestyle of living with his parents and having a mailing job for an advertising firm. Jimmy wants to rebel against every social norm and live a free life, until he realises what he is fighting for, is an illusionary world.
As discussed in the previous paragraph, Jimmy is part of the mod clique because he wants to feel accepted, he wants to have an identity. He wants to be part of the group identity of the mods, but ironically because he wants to show off his claimed individual identity to his friends and Steph, the girl he likes. An example of Jimmy wanting to be noticed for his identity is at the beginning of the film where he is at a house party with his friends. There is easy listening music playing and people slow-dancing. Jimmy decides to switch records and play The Who's "My Generation." He starts dancing like at a club and starts dancing. Though some at the party are unimpressed by his switch, his friends and Steph dance and ing along with Jimmy. This scene suggests that Jimmy wants to be known for having a different identity, making people sure they know who he is by playing The Who.
Jimmy also wants to be cool and positively accepted into the mods, so he can be popular. He mainly wants Steph to notice his identity, and wants her to think he is cool and individual. He tries on several occasions to get Steph's attention. One example of when Jimmy wants Steph (and others) to notice him is when the mods are at a club in Brighton and noticing Steph and the other girls are surrounding Ace while dancing, Jimmy decides to climb and dance at the top of the club to get her attention. He furthers his notability to everyone in the club when he jumps off the balcony and landing in the crowd. This demonstrates how desperate Jimmy is to get noticed by Steph and his gang, that he would go as far as to jump off a balcony and land on to several people, illustrates his need for popularity and identity within the gang.
half-way through the film however, there is a moment where Jimmy's identity was compromised and eventually put on hold. When The Rockers attack Spider when he is alone, the Mods try to hunt down those responsible. After noticing two Rockers minding their own business, Jimmy and the Mods chase down the Rockers on their scooters and jump them. While the Mods beat up a rocker, Jimmy notices they are beating up his childhood friend, Kevin. When Kevin shouts for Jimmy, he gets on his scooter and drives away frantically.
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