Fish Tank Essay

Fish Tank

‘Fish Tank’ is a short film focused on the character of a teenage girl. One could assume that the target audience of this film may be young people, due to the fact that they may be able to relate to the characters and situations.

In the film, one can observe six key stereotypes. One of these stereotypes depicts youths as being rather violent. This stereotype is showed in the short film firstly when the main character starts a fight with some girls dancing in the park for virtually no reason whatsoever, and also when she shouts and swears at her friends dad. This could be seen as a somewhat negative and biased depiction of youth, as in reality only a proportion of young people are as violent as the film would suggest.

Another stereotype that can be observed in this film is that all youth are self-destructive. An example of this from the short film could be when the main character can be seen sitting in her bedroom drinking vodka by herself. This stereotype can, in some instances, prove rather true, as a large proportion of youth nowadays drink or smoke – but often not by themselves or on a regular basis.

A third stereotype that is evident in this short film is that youth are very sexual. An example of this from the film could be when the group of teenage girls are dancing in a sexual manner whilst wearing little clothing in the local park. This stereotype is, in my opinion, neither positive nor negative, although I do think it is a rather biased interpretation, as most youth nowadays wouldn’t partake in an activity like that publicly.

Another stereotype that is widely focused on in this short film is that youth are rebellious. This can be seen in the film when the main character breaks into private property and attempts to free a horse, and also when she goes out when her mother has told her to stay indoors. This could be seen as a negative stereotype, but is also rather fair in my opinion, as most teenagers go through rebellious phases as a part of growing up.

 

Nihilism is another stereotype that can be observed in this film. An example of this could be when the main character steals money off of her mum’s friend, which is a blatant disregard for the law as theft is illegal. This stereotype of nihilistic attitude amongst youth could be described as biased and negative, as although certain groups of young people do partake in illegal activities such as the consummation of drugs and shoplifting, it is not as common as the short film might suggest to its audience.

A final stereotype that can be observed in the short film could be “Artificial Tribe”. This term refers to large subcultures, and examples of such subcultures in this film could be the gangs on the estate, and the people that live in the caravans. This stereotype is rather fair, as youths do tend to separate into certain groups, however these groups are not always as violent as they are perceived to be in the short film.