1. Historical Case Study Notes
Quadrophenia (1979) Dir. Frank Roddam
1. Discuss the representation and ideological values of Jimmy, Steph and
Kevin. Use textual examples to back up points made.
Jimmy feels that being a mod is his main identity as he tries to convert every
aspect of his life to it eg. Clothing, lifestyle, motorbike, drugs… He feels that to
have a unique identity he has to become part of a group - which is quite ironic.
Although he has a job and a family he neglects his ties with them to live his
life the way he thinks is right. He looks up to Ace and admires him for how
strong his identity is but Jimmy‟s ideological beliefs are shattered when he
sees that Ace is just a Bell Boy with a normal lifestyle, and he saves his mod
identity for his spare time. Jimmy tries to be „the‟ mod by dancing and
attracting attention to himself in the club, he also feels that by having the most
„blues‟ and giving them around he is like a leader of the gang and not just a
„somebody‟ following the others around. However Steph seems to put him in
his place by knocking him down a few notches whenever she ends up leading
him on and going off with other boys. She makes Jimmy realise that he‟s on
his own with his beliefs as to her and everyone else „it was just a bit of a
laugh‟, he thought Brighton and what happened there was where he fitted in,
he had the girl and the lifestyle, but Steph brought it home to him that it was
unrealistic to live like that as she is just an average girl who seems to exploit
all the boys within the mod groups to get in with them. She uses her sexuality
to get her in with the „it‟ crowd but her day to day life is in keeping with the rest
of the world. Kevin‟s beliefs are fairly similar to Jimmy‟s, but he realised
sooner than Jimmy that it was almost impossible to be totally unique as he
joined the army to be individual but saw that there were thousands of people
just like him so dropped out and decided to be a rocker as his part-time
identity. Kevin seems to have the right sort of attitude towards the whole
situation, he knows when to be himself and when it‟s acceptable to put on a
character/image.
2. What examples of mise en scene reinforce the idea of youth culture?
Jimmy and his friends are always at parties, this is one way teenagers are
portrayed as always partying. They also take drugs a lot, again associated
with partying and having fun. They all ride around on their motorbikes in
gangs and intimidate other people- this is often how adults see youngsters.
They often have fights with the rockers and cause trouble in shops and bars,
this is linked with how youths are always portrayed to be troublesome. When
Jimmy and his friends break into the pharmacy they don‟t see it as serious,
they just think it‟s a laugh. These example show how youths are portrayed as
selfish, violent and uncontrollable- always trying to cause trouble or just
thinking about themselves.
3. “Identity is complicated” – How can this quote be applied to the
character of Jimmy? Jimmy is portrayed as having multiple
personalities as he is expected to behave in certain ways depending on
who he‟s with and where he is. He tries to fit in as being a mod and the
identity clashes with the other roles he is supposed to play eg. At home

2. his parents don‟t understand him and don‟t think he‟s „normal‟ and at
work his boss isn‟t happy when he misses work and comes in hung-
over as it is unprofessional. The mod identity is taking over all aspects
of his personality. Jimmy sees himself as a mod and that it‟s a full lime
lifestyle but everyone else sees it as a part time thing. The way he sees
himself isn‟t the way everyone else sees him and vice versa.
4. Can you draw any similarities between the youth representation of the
past compared to youth representation today? Both then and now
youths have always been portrayed as violent and obtrusive in their
manners, values and lifestyle. They are considered to be an underclass
and sometimes like the „filth‟ of society. Older people always seem to
think of youngsters as wild and that they have no self control, as if they
are some sort of animals- another species. The media always make a
point to exaggerate the antisocial behavior of youths, and often ignore
the good things they do, making sure that they‟re represented the way
the media want e.g. Through headlines, certain words in articles, and
certain pictures.
5. Discuss how Stan Cohen‟s theory can be related to this film.Folk Devils
relate to a group of people who create moral panic through there
actions of social disruption, the media label them as deviant or
dangerous. This causes others (who aren‟t grouped in with that youth)
to fear them due to their bad light in the press. Cohen based this term
on the mods and rockers like the ones in Quadrophenia. Cohen talks
about how the media sensationalizes events as a form of control
culture so outsiders only see or hear about the situation from a certain
angle or viewpoint.