Human Traffic

1.      How can Human Traffic be considered a socialist realist film? You may wish to consider how the film makers technically communicate a social realism, what issues are raised and how they might affect the audience?

Human Traffic can be considered to be a social realism film, to a certain extent, because several of the aspects displayed in the film are reciprocated in todays society, as it was in the 1990's. Examples of this are that there is excessive drinking, excessive drug usage and general loutish behaviour. All this is stereotypical of today's youth and so therefore can be considered to be social realism. This means that the audience feels somewhat connected to the characters, and this is further enhanced by the fact that the characters all have jobs that can be related to and partake in activities that many of the audience themselves indulge in. This is particularly exemplified by Moff, who is part of a typical english middle class family and so more of the audience can relate to it.
2.      How does the youth culture depicted resist or subvert mainstream society? 

It's shown to somewhat resist mainstream society, in that most of society does not partake in drug abuse and heavy drinking, so therefore this is resitance to the mainstream society.

3.      How can you consider this film to be British?

I would consider this a British film, partly due to the fact that all the actors used are British, and all of the locations are British as well. However, I also consider it British because it pictures the British nation as one that drinks and dances, which is a very typical view of Britain, particularly in urban areas.

4.      To what extent are the characters in Human Traffic unable to express their identity?

Cultural hegemony has helped to restrict the characters from showing their true identity by forcing the ideas of mainstream society onto them. One of the ways that this has been done is to give the characters low paid, mundane jobs where they lack the chance to truly express their real identity. For example, Jip is working as a sales assistant in a clothing shop, which is completely contrasting to his real party self. 

This thus creates double identities for each of the characters. For instance, Koop works as a music salesman, being vocal and boisterous helps him to sell music, whereas his true identity is being a paranoid man. The same can be said of Lulu, where she works as an office worker, which is seen to be boring and mundane, whereas outside of work she is very energetic and likes to party.

5.      How is the social-realistic verisimilitude created in the text?

Social-realistic verisimilitude is shown right at the start with actual real footage of events that occured, and these are then re-created, in a realistic way, by the characters on screen. Also the whole actors looking into the camera thing creates a personal and real view of their lives. Also, the slang used is representative of the language used in the 90's. Also, we get a great insight into issues such as erectile dysfunction, menaing that it creates a realistic picture of the characters and their lives.

6.      What anxieties does each of the characters have? Where do these anxieties stem?

Jip - Sexual insecurities, stemming from previous 'experiences'. Also family issues, such as his mum being a prostitute.

Moff - Family despise his behaviour, and he is upset about the way he is living his life.

Koop - Paranoia, due to his girlfriend being too flirtatious.

Lulu - Low opinion of men, due to previous experiences.

Nina - Flirtatious

7.       In consideration of the effects and uses and gratifications model, does Human Traffic promote drug usage?

I believe that overall, Human Traffic does to a certain extent promote drug usage, because the characters are in their happiest place when they're on drugs, and they feel that the 'comedown' is justified by the experiences they have while on drugs. So, to an extent drug u

Theories

Hypodermic Syringe Model:  is a model of communications suggesting that an intended message is directly received and wholly accepted by the receiver. The model is rooted in 1930s behaviorism and is largely considered obsolete today.

The Two Step Flow Model: is a theory based on a 1940's study on social influence that states that media effects are indirectly established through the personal influence of opinion leaders. The majority of people receive much of their information and are influenced by the media secondhand, through the personal influence of opinion leaders.

Uses and Gratifications Theory: is a popular approach to understanding mass communication. The theory places more focus on the consumer, or audience, instead of the actual message itself by asking what people do with media rather than what media does to people. It assumes that members of the audience are not passive but take an active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives. The theory also holds that audiences are responsible for choosing media to meet their needs. The approach suggests that people use the media to fulfill specific gratifications. This theory would then imply that the media compete against other information sources for viewers' gratification.

Music Video Inspiration

Do people copy things they see throughout usage of media?

A French video game fanatic hunted down and stabbed a rival player who had killed his character in an online war game.

Julien Barreaux, 20, told police he wanted to see his rival player "wiped out" after his character in the game Counter-Strike died in a virtual knife fight.

A court in Cambrai, northern France, heard how Barreaux plotted revenge for seven months after the online "killing" last November.

He then located the victim, named only as Mikhael, several miles from his home.

When the man answered the door, he plunged a kitchen knife into his chest.

A police officer told the court that  "Barreaux was arrested within the hour and told us he had wanted to see his rival wiped out for killing off his character." He was jailed for two years for GBH and was ordered to undergo anger management therapy and psychiatric tests.

This happened just last year, but it's been a recurring problem since the late 90's, with reports of gamers copying moves or scenes from video games and doing them in real life. This link between video games and violence hasn't been categorically linked but it's clear that they play a part in these horrifying incidents. I believe that games are a factor in these incidents, however they are not solely to be blamed.

I predict it may get worse however, as addiction levels increase and game consumption also increases

Potential Location

Me and Jordan today discussed our location, and we decided that we would head down to the location at some point soon and take a camera and take some shots of the house and then explain the relevance of them on our blogs at a later date.