Narrative Theory 3: Tim O'Sullivan

O'Sullivan believes all media texts tell some kind of story and all narratives have a common theme. Through meditation, media texts offer a way of telling stories about ourselves not always about ourselves but the story as a culture. The concept of his theory is that stories reflect our culture, they can reflect society at the time of filming dealing with various 'themes' and 'issues' present in the time period. 

Below is a chart showing how Tim O'Sullivan's theory works. 

Ideologies present rely on the choices institutions make as they decide what is important. Artists choose what interests them and their values. Ideology reflects their technology and culture. 

An example of this is Plan B's ill Manors song following the London Riots in 2011. It very much represents his ideas and values at the time based on the culture of the working class. Arguably people have labelled it one of the greatest protest songs of british history. Growing up in London Plan B (Ben Drew) describes his difficulties growing up, he states, "We weren't working class but we weren't middle class, we were in the void in-between. I've always felt like a social outcast." 

Therefore he will have experienced both working class ideologies and the middle class and seen how treatment varies on the classes. The song isn't promoting riots and deeming the behavior as acceptable. Its is more an attack on the government and its policies which fuel the reputation of council estate youths. The irony is that he is describing the stereotypes people have of people living on council estates however this is the image the government depicts of them. Based on some incidents they generalize the whole group.  People think of London as a glamorous city with opportunities when the matter of the fact is that it is sugar-coated and what is shown in the media, across the country council estates exist and they do in London too, however the government just show these as social problems, many of their policies is to highlight this and make other people believe all council estate youths are deviant and criminals. However there is no excuse for crime, Plan B is stating how youths of council estates are set up from the start of life to be failures. The government does not help this in anyway. 

Plan B on the song and the term 'Chav':

 "When you attack someone because of the way they talk, the way they dress, the music they listen to, or their lack of education, and you do it publicly and it's acceptable to do that, you make them feel alienated. They don't feel like a part of society … For every person who uses the word chav there is a less educated person ready to embrace it. They say, well, look, I'm never going to change the way you think of me so actually I'm going to play up to it and fuel the fire. In essence that's what Ill Manors is about."

This is essentially saying that by labelling people with the term 'chav' and 'criminal' they become isolated and therefore end up conforming to the label which is the process of the 'Self-Fulfilling Prophecy'. 

The use of a child in the video also shows how kids
are exposed to the violence and are effected by the state of the
government. Their policies effect childrens future.

 "Keep on believing what you read in the paper 

Council estate kids, scum of the earth"

These lyrics show how he is saying the media generate this image of what council estate youths are like, it is sarcastic as this is how they're presented but he's saying they're not all like this, upper class create the image of what they want us to believe.

Who closed down the community center?
I kill time there used to be a member
What will I do now 'til September?
Another example of how it is an attack on the government, many community centers were closed down by the Touries therefore it is insinuating that again their policies work against the working class.

The video sparked debates and conflict. These comments
show one example of how different people
 interpreted the video.

The effect of the video is so great because Plan B is a famous artist therefore when releasing the song initially fans will watch it. Many people will be interested in the song as of its release after the London Riots because it is relevant to what is happening in the society around them. The news present their viewpoint of the riots showing all who take part as 'criminals' however this video allows us to see the other perspective and it outlines the bigger issue in society, which Plan B believes is societies structure and the inequality of classes. We can see how this is reflecting the culture at the time of release and what he thought was social problems. Overall the video uses fast cuts, edits and ideologies of the working class and stereotypical 'deviants' from council estates to create an impact. The beat of the song works to make people 'feel' something, many may start to feel angry towards the system and agree with the message Plan B is trying to get across however others (many would argue the target of the video, upper class) may view it as offensive and rude.