Ghost Town - representation and postmodernism Flashcards
Who was in government at the time and what problems were they creating? What tensions did this then lead to?
Margaret Thatcher and the Conservatives were making lots of social changes, such as the stop and search programme, leading to the Brixton Riots and privatization, causing mass unemployment. The mass unemployment then led to tensions between different races as immigrants were blamed for the lack of jobs
Where were the band initially from and what was happening there?
They were initially from Coventry where a huge recession was occurring, due to the collapse of the car industry
What % of black men were unemployed when the video came out?
50%
Why is the togetherness of the band unusual?
They are mixed race, which is unusual for people to be so close together or different races. Works to eliminate myth that its not comfortable to be around black people. Also looks to shift the blame away from immigrants and towards the government
Who is two tone?
An independent record label that released music loosely related to Ska; it was politically left leaning and anti racist. It’s based in Coventry: being decentralized from London became part of its brand identity
How can David Gauntlett’s theory be shown in the video?
the video offers a sense of collective male identity and shares the experience of trying to negotiate identity. This enables the male audience to see their problems being played out and perhaps compare them to their own life of economic deprivation when traditional masculine jobs were disappearing
How can Judith Butler’s theory be analysed through this video?
The musicians seem to be ‘performing’ the structures of the patriarchy, which include brotherhood, camaraderie and male solidarity
The total absence of women is significant as feminist theories may argue the video eclipses women’s own feelings of hopelessness
How does the video reflect postcolonialism?
The video challenges notions of in-groups and out-groups by mixing ethnicities and focusing more on social class and the bonding potential of music.
Post colonialists such as Gilroy would argue there is double consciousness here. This term refers to the experience of being a part of a black culture in a predominantly white society, seeing black representations being constructed from the outside. Black band members in the UK were often controlled by the white majority and were often side lined in bands that are multi ethnic
Who does the video attempt to blame for the problems in society
It attempts to blame the government policies instead of immigrants: “government leaving the youth on the shelf”
What do the binary opposition of lighting in the middle scene suggest?
The people are in the back of the car celebrating to show they are looking back to the good old days of the Boomtown. This colour is a major contrast to the black and white of the rest of the video
“Do you remember the good old days of the ghost town?”
What does zeitgeist mean?
Defining the mood of the era
What does Mark Fisher say?
‘the sensation of eerie occurs either when there is something present where there should be nothing or there is nothing present when there should be something’
What lyrics reflect the economic situation in the country at the time?
‘no job to be found in this country’
What lyrics shows all the youth have turned against each other and racial tensions existed at the time?
‘too much fighting on the dance floor’
How can Gilroy be applied?
Looks to defy the separation between white people and a Black Atlantic culture and instead looks to mix the two together. This is shown through the squashing of the band into the car as well as the hybrid genre which looks to blend punk and reggae together
Black people at the time were blamed for the large levels of unemployment because they are an out-group seen as ‘other’, but the video tries to shift the blame onto the government
