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Janet Adebiyi-Ojo
How are teenage protagonists represented in Kidulthood (2006) and Freedom
Writers (2007)?
I will be exploring how the use of micro techniques effects the representation of
teenage protagonists in the films Kidulthood (2006) and Freedom Writers (2007).
Kidulthood is a crime/drama film directed by Menhaj Huda, with BBFC
certification 15. The narrative follows the lives of several teenage boys and girls
in a mixed-income area of inner West London. Kidulthood consists of a linear
narrative structure, as the events contained within the narrative unfold in a
chronological order. The teenage protagonists in Kidulthood are widely shown to
be irresponsible and antisocial, who behave in a violent and unruly manner,
committing crimes that include serious acts of violence and petty theft. The
second film I will be focusing on is Freedom Writers directed by Richard
LaGravenese and has the BBFC certification 12. Based on the book The Freedom
Writers Diary, the film shows how teenage students are affected by racial
tension and gang violence in Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach,
California.
Throughout Kidulthood, there are numerous representations of protagonist
characters. The opening scene is set in the school playground, with flyers being
handed by two boys who will be having a house party. Instantly, the audience get
a sense that these teenagers are irresponsible and cannot be trusted on their
own when their parents leave the house. The students are seen hanging around
in the playground before they are due to go into class. When the school bell
rings, the students are very
hesitant about going back to
class and seem in no hurry to
do so. This shows their lack of
interest in their education and
future prospects. The use of
dull
colours such as grey and black
and
low-key lighting reinforces it is a
lowincome school in a low-income
area, and could also give the
impression that the student may
not be happy in that school. The film opens with a close-up shot of feet playing
football, covered in mud and dirt all over their trainers and school trousers, which
elicits a common stereotypical costume of a schoolboy. The majority of the
students look untidy with their costume, for example their shirts not tucked in
and tie hanging loose, as well as the males wearing hoodies, baggy trousers and
trainers. The teenagers have chosen to disregard the school uniform rules
without any fear that there will be a consequence for this, giving the impression
that they are defiant of the school rules and choose to do as they wish. The
students stand around chatting to one another, on their phones and smoking in
the playground, gossiping and laughing around a clear representation of
everyday life for teenagers of that age. This is a representation of anti-social
behaviour, reinforcing the idea that they are troublemakers and rebellious in
school.
In the beginning scene of Freedom Writers, the audience see the students sitting
at their desks. The teenagers are represented as disorderly and rebellious. This is
evident through the body language the characters portray for example; some of

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the students are sitting with their
heads on their desks, whilst others
are sitting with their backs turned.
This gives a negative connotation
of the students do not care about
the school rules and do not respect
the teacher is standing in front of
them. The costume that the
characters wear differs in terms of
gang affiliation, representing their
personalities and cultures, and can
also be a sign of conflict between the students. In this scene, the students
portray their emotions through their body language and facial expressions.
Initially, the audience see that collectively, the students feel uneasy about
sensitive subjects Mrs Gruwell asks them about - eg. How many of them are
involved in gangs or how many of them have ever been shot at. This is shown
through a wide panning shot of all the students in the classroom accompanied
with non-diegetic sound during the camera movement where the music is deep
and passive. The audience see that they become more comfortable with one
another, as they begin to have a mutual understanding and realisation they do in
fact have a lot in common with one another despite the difference in ethnic
backgrounds.
In addition to that, a series of close-up shots are used effectively to create a
suspicious mood during the opening scene of Kidulthood. During the first few
minutes of the film, the transition between shots are cut together in a rapid and
jiggered manner. The main protagonist Trevor is revealed using an extreme
close-up shot, where the audience can only see his eyes and hands. The use of
this shot emphasises the dramatic
importance of the scene, making it
stand out within the film as a whole.
This can be supported with Barthes
Enigma Code Narrative Theory; in
particular
the
hermeneutic
and
proairetic codes, which work as a pair
to develop the storys tensions and
keep the audience intrigued, as it is
not very fully clear to see exactly what
the protagonist is doing. A close up
shot is also used where the audience see Trevor carefully placing an object
wrapped in a carrier bag into a secret location. The audience are deliberately
unable to see what the object is, reinforcing a sense of mystery about why Trife
is hiding this object. The camera pans across the playground, focusing on certain
individuals, for instance when two boys are giving out invitations to a party,
which highlights the significance of this event. Wide shots of the surroundings
the characters are in are shown which help to establish the scene showing where
the characters are being filmed, for example council estates and schools, making
it more accurate to real-life locations in the less developed sides of West London.
In Freedom Writers, prior to the action of the film even starting, the audience
hear the diegetic sound of hip-hop and rap music which sets the fast pace nature
of the sequence as well as providing an early indication of the urban setting to
the film. The diegetic sound of anxious news reporters is overlaps the rap music,
creating more panic to the already fearful mood. The anxiousness of the

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reporters implies immediate danger, which suggests that the audience will get a
better understanding of it all as the film progresses. The use of statistics,
captions and real footage in the scene gives the audience a further indication of
the realness of the film. The representation created here is that the teenage
protagonists are involved in various criminal behaviours, and in a sense it has
become a part of their everyday life.
Eva Benitez (April Hernandez) is a
central character in Freedom Writers
and a brief overview of her childhood
is shown during the beginning scene
of the film. In the beginning, Eva
lived a happy life and was just like
any other young girl. The shots cut
between a close-up of Evas face and
her point-of-view shots of the
princess dolls, suggesting that she
dreams to be a princess one day. This fantasy is quickly cut short as her father
calls her over to him, eagerly handing her a pair of boxing gloves. The gloves act
as a symbol of the danger ahead and the need to fight to survive. This
manifests itself in different ways as the film progresses, for example when an
opposing gang member attempted to fight her.
Furthermore, Kidulthood follows the typical Todorovian narrative, with Katies
suicide as the point of disequilibrium. During the scene of Katie committing
suicide, the sounds of the scene allow the audience to get an immediate sense of
the feeling in film, with non-diegetic sound playing a significant part. Stay
Positive by The Streets is used to show the adversity of the different characters
at that point in time, which creates a sombre atmosphere (mainly the oppression
of Katie, who is constantly bullied
in school and then ends up
committing
suicide).
This
represents how young people,
especially females, are sensitive
and can feel helpless due to
bullying.
The scene is then
followed by shot cuts of the
protagonists
which
form
a
montage, showing their different
activities at the same time for
instance: Alisha is taking a pregnancy test, Trife is smoking, Jay is getting a
haircut, Becky is flirting with boys and Moony is playing a game. The protagonist
Trife and his friends are represented as people that come from a working class
background in a multi-cultural society. This is evident from diegetic dialogue that
the teenage protagonists use in their daily conversations with each other as well
as people older than them. Kidulthood represents youths, especially those from
ethnic minorities whom are often unrepresented positively in the media, due to
the negative stereotypes associated with them. It is very specific to both the
region and generation, with language that includes allow it man, bruv, and
blud. This language is understood and appreciated by a teenage audience but
not understood easily by people that are outside of Londons youth culture. The
protagonists terminology also becomes a means of identification as the
characters signal their belonging to a particular social group through their
dialogue.

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As the film progresses in Freedom Writers, the protagonists are represented as
teenagers who are part of gangs and are loyal to one another. The audience have
a clear understanding that hostility is present between the different ethnic
groups, with acts of violence frequently breaking out within areas of the school
including the classroom. We learn that everyone is attached to a gang according
to their race; segregation is exists
in the playground, classroom and
lunch hall with different ethnicities
sitting in different areas. From the
beginning scenes of the film, the
audience quickly learned from
previous scenes that each time
there is any form of racial attack
to anyone, a revenge attack is
always to be expected. Grant Rice
(Armand Jones) is seen crossing
the Latinos territory during the
school day which causes uproar and chaos as the day goes on. The music quickly
changes giving the impression that something bad is about to happen with the
pace and volume gradually increasing. Grant Rice, the teenager who was
responsible for the attack, is made recognisable and easy to remember on
screen by wearing a bright orange hooded jumper for his costume. This enabled
the audience to recall the initial cause of what happened and who was involved.
This scene in particular deepened the audiences understanding of the fact that
racism breeds violence in society for the protagonists, and at the same time
issues such as truth and respect plays a big part in gang culture and their rivalry
between one another.
In conclusion, I believe that teenage protagonists in both Kidulthood and
Freedom Writers are negatively represented. Both directors of the films use the
microelements to create representations such as anti-social and uneducated
teenage protagonists where some parts may be seen as exaggerated. When
comparing Kidulthood and Freedom Writers with one another, impressions of the
young people are somewhat stereotypical. Themes such as sex, drugs and
violence are prevalent, juxtaposed to scenes of youths not being understood by
the older generation. The target audience for both films (young adults growing
up in urban environments) are inclined to find these themes familiar, and they
may therefore identify with some of the characters in the film.
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