From Kidulthood to Adulthood....

Adulthood and Kidulthood remain a favourite in the urban teenager's film collection. With it's gritty storylines and reflection on the realities of a teenager living in the modern urban world, it attracts young audiences to watch and idolise the fictional characters on the screen.

However, is it right for such young people to be looking up to the actions these characters are acting out?

After watching both films, I find it alarming and disturbing the violence and filth that is being shown to an audience who are as young as 15 (or possibly younger if they have managed to see the 15 certificate film).

The first film of the two remains to be the most distressing with violent bullying, prostitution, casual sex, drug dealing and most importantly knife crime.

Knives are produced throughout the film, with our first glimpse of one about 50 minutes into the film when one of the youths we follow throughout the film reveals it when him and his friends get into a brawl with two other youths they just happened to accidently bump into. And the worrying scene when 15 year old Trife's drug dealing uncle makes him carve into a man's face. Accompanying these attacks, there are also continuous reference to knives when one youth threatens another with the act of "shanking them up".



The sequel to Kidulthood, Adulthood, doesn't seem to pose any better. With the main character, Sam, being stabbed towards the beginning of the film telling it's audience that this film is going to be violent and troubling.



However, the teenagers and young adults watching both these films may not see it as a warning. They may see it as rebelious and attractive and strive to be like their idol in the film, copying what they do if they are confronted in a situation, or indeed create the situation themselves.

In the films, using a knife seems to be connotated as either a way out, revenge or just giving somebody what they believe they deserve. Knife use in the films are violent and show the gorey effects of it but never seize to show the reality of it. In Kidulthood, when Trife carves into the man's face, we never know what happens to the man in the end. Whilst it may seem that it isn't a fatal kind of knife attack, some situations can change that view and all knife attacks can prove to be fatal. In Adulthood, Sam get's stabbed in the shoulder towards the beginning of the film, however he still appears to have the strength to get up and kick his attacker onto the floor and then threaten him with the knife. The films may be applauded for reflecting the shabby facts of life for young people in urban ares, but it lacks the massive truth in the actions the characters are carrying out. That people can die from any stab wound.

This missing part of the truth causes a huge change in the behaviour of the youths around us as they are led to believe that a stab wound won't get them into big trouble and then they carry around a knife and use it when it pleases them.

I believe films and tv are the main culprits for the increase in knife crime amongst young people. These technologies are what are most popular in a teenager's life and when they are young and naive, they can be stupid and believe and copy anything they see and think may be 'wreckless fun'.

Films before Kidulthood and Adulthood involving knives and guns may have just been a gangster type film or action film but when these two British films arrived on the scene, it became a lot easier for young people to want to mirror what they see on the screen.