Plan B - Making a stand about the representation of young people

- Does the video fuel negative representations of youth collective identity? Or does the video and lyrics together attempt to challenge these negative views?
Although it first appears that the video fuels the negative representations of youths, all the references made are underpinned by the idea that it has resorted to such actions being taken. The strong clips tied with powerful lyrics attempts to challenge these negative views with the idea that youths are misrepresented and poorly understood by the public and authority.


- Can you offer textual examples of how young people are represented in the video?

The youth in the video are represented as violent and abusive in the video; tying in with what the media 'twist' to portray, a mindless sub-culture that lacks purpose and challenges authority. This stereotypical view is intentionally amplified in the video through car fire-bombing, mindless beatings and looting to highlight the misleading.


- Are there any instances in the video which show authority abusing their power?
A key example of this in the video is that of the police medic punching a peaceful protestor, which contradicts his role shows clear abuse of authority. The 'rounding up' of protestors using vans and riot police also shows a clamp-down by authority, especially if that part of the protest was fairly peaceful.


- What was Plan B trying to challenge through his lyrics and video for iLL Manors?

Plan B was trying to challenge the idea that the youth are just mindless 'thugs' with no justifications behind their actions, presenting the idea that its the overall society and politics that is brining such a representation on youths. He also expresses the idea that the media amplify the negative classification of youth, only focusing on the bad while leaving little room for the good.


- What does Plan B hope to achieve through his music and film?
Plan B hopes to change the social outlook on youths and their sub-culture, generating change in politics and society that could in turn drastically improve the lives of the young.