Ill Manors: Ted X lecture

What are Plan B's beliefs/politics? What are his Values/ideologies?

 Plan B's beliefs are that the disrespect for authority in youth today is based on the fact that society has ignored the youth of today, so they are not bothered to listen to the authority, and rather they would listen to their favourite artists and listen to the lyrics of songs. There were different types of rappers, but the one he listened to was conscious hip hop. He believed this was poetry, like reading a book, and ended up changing his life. He states 'just one sentence could change your life'. Furthermore, he believes that the teenagers in urban areas are led in to a life of drugs and crime because of their parent’s conditions, for example drinking and being drug addicts, and ends up neglecting their children. Also he believes that in the modern era there are many different stereotypes of teenagers. The media is known for exaggerating stories and being biased (against the poor and less fortunate). His ideology is to bring out the side of the story that the media leaves out and show the true and good natured side of the teenagers in an attempt to change the perception of teenagers in society.

Who is the target audience of the TEDx lecture? Demographics? Psychographics? How do you know? How does this compare to the audience of his music/film?

The target audience for the TEDx lecture are people who have believed in the stereotypes that the media have created on teenagers. Also, the group of people that are interested in Plan B’s productions and also the types of characters he will be portraying in Ill Manors. The psychographic group that can be identified is reformers as they believe in freedom. This relates to his target audience as they can identify themselves with the characters and they can seek freedom from the rigid stereotypes that have been created. Also along with his film his music has an essence of reality in it and the target audience can also identify themselves with the situation. The demographic group that this would appeal to are the groups A, B and C. This is because the intention of Plan B is to break the teenagers away from the stereotypes and portraying them to the higher, wealthier classes who are willing to believe anything the media say. This film and music is medium, which can assist the teenagers to show their side of their story.

What does Plan B say about the media? Explain how this can be linked to Cohen’s media theory of moral panics?

Plan B states that the media ‘demonises’ teenagers and has a very negative perspective of them. This is due to the fact that he states the media is the root of all the negative and brutal stereotypes that young people are put into. The media has presented them as untrustworthy, deficient criminals. This leads the young people to feel like outsiders and rejected from society, this cause them to react in the manner they are being presented in stereotypes and rebel. They detest authority, like the government. This creates a cycle of hate between the youth and media. Cohen’s theory of moral panic states that when the dominant view is challenged then it becomes a concern for society. This links to the theory as the view of young people is being challenged by Plan B’s film. This will cause society to go in to a moral panic as the positive side of young people is being portrayed.