Task Seven..

Collective Identity on Prezi

1. What links all the media texts together?

All of the media texts are delving into Black culture within Britain. The texts are based from areas all over Britain this helps in broadening the opinions. They all portray realism and this is what bounds them so strongly together. That they all connote the lives and settings of real people in a real Britain. They all mainly focus on the lives of the working class and most of the media texts mass audiences are teenagers. They show how young peoples hobbies and passions can pull them from their neighbourhoods and take them on to bigger and brighter things. However all of the media texts show a rather current issue of how the Black culture in Britain can be perceived, all of the texts show a realistic and saddening portrayal of how violence, drugs and danger can play a huge destructive position in their lives. Of course some of the media texts are from America but they are highly relevant to British culture.

2. How are the media texts representative of the changing landscape of black Britain? (past, present and future)

The media texts span through generations showing the pivotal points to black Britain and how even today some of the issues of the past have not really changed but merely take on new shapes. As for example the film "Baldwins Nigger" divulges "The Windrush Years (1948-1998), which is a massive time gap. Yet it shows how little things can change in a country that is suppose to be forward thinking. The other media texts whether film or music orientated delve in to the culture itself and how the society really works in correlation to media texts. Such as Film the film industry in Britain may not be on a vast scale but their are plenty of Black British films in the 21st century. Of course in the past their were not many but in the present we can see successful stars such as Noel Clarke (Actor/Director/Screenwriter) doing great things for the British Film industry. Such as music whether RNB, Hip Hop, Blues or Grime, they shows a historical change in Britain's landscape. Blues is a traditional form of black cultured music that derives from the "slave trade" and particularly from America. Yet we can see in Britain today how Blues can now be seen in these different musical Genres such as HipHop, Grime and RNB. The Blues was a form of talking about troubles within the black culture, a form of therapeutic release. This shows how Britain is changing as current rap artists such as Tinie Tempah, Dizzee Rascal, Wretch 32 and chipmunk are taking the mainstream music charts in Britain by storm. This shows are vast difference in the British landscape in Black Britain as music like the blues in a far older Britain was not accepted. Whereas today's Britain sees absolutely no need to single it out and teenagers especially couldn't picture a Britain without this black British musical culture. I will admit this is unfortunately only a recent event as even in the 90's black music was not completely everywhere. Yet in the last twenty years black British culture within the media text of music has come a far way. Not only do these black British rap stars have massive success in award ceremonies such as "The Brits" but also British festivals as Dizzee Rascal and Tinie Tempah both had vastly amazing performances and crowd reception at this years "V Festival". Professor Green, Plan B, Example and Devlin both white British rap artists are paving the way in to showing the massive acceptance of black culture in Britain. The MOBOs (Music of Black Origin) is even further proof of this, it is an awards ceremony that celebrates the black British music culture. With viewing rates of 368,000 for the JLS MOBO Awards win alone. It shows how far Britain has come and how the landscape of Black Britain is becoming even more defined and stronger within the whole of British society.