Week 10 Blog

Before I discuss the topic this week I will post the questions and answers from the under 20 year old I interviewed.

What are your favourite movies and why?

I enjoy arthouse movies, I like the visual and musical stimuli present in these. 

Due to my interest in music I think arthouse movies is a perfect compliment to both genres sometimes basically like watching a really cool music video.

Do you like to read? If so what do you like to read?

I like reading most genres, crime, thriller, and classical sci fi. Though the Game of Thrones series is a genre that is far above my normal readings, but due to the characters, and intricate writing I found myself drawn to it.

Do you play video games/what games do you like to play?

I am into a range of video game, from RPG to first person shooters. Games like Skyrim, Call of duty, Grand Theft Auto, Star Craft 2.

How do you think books/movies/games influence your life?

Not so much

Do you think music is just as important to you as books/movies/games?

Definitely no debating the effect of music. Music has a sense of reminding me of places and times in my life. Not all good and not all bad, but still a time period in my life. Whether that was in a particular place, or emotional state.

I think without music the world would be a very different place. movies, and games for the most part feature music, so it is equally as important in those areas of art.

What music do you like?

New bands in the 60's - 70's style e.g. the dandy warhols, the brian jonestown massacre, 

Early punk e.g. the ramones, the clash, joy division.

classics - the rolling stones, cream, jimi hendrix, the beatles 

I think the most interesting thing to take out of these answers is that none of the more popular texts or bands are mentioned. I think it is very easy to dismiss that not all young people will enjoy the same thing that everyone else enjoys. It is almost a given when discussing what adults like as it is understood people have varying tastes.

It is easy to discuss what younger people are engaging with in terms of Twilight and the Hunger Games because they genuinely are the most popular texts at the moment. There will always be exceptions to this however. I know that when I was in high school it was very hard to find friends who liked the same music as me; and even though I had friends who shared the same tastes in movies and TV, we were in the minority. 

I think therefore that when analysing how younger people engage with texts it is worth understanding that not all of them engage with the same things. This could help enormously in understanding youth culture as the reasons that the minority engages with the alternate texts could be different to the reasons they engage with the more popular ones. 

One thing I did find particularly interesting was that the interviewee did not think of any of the texts as influencing his life at all. It is taken for granted that popular texts shape youth popular culture but it is obvious that not all youths see it that way.