TEEN TRIBES
Monday, March 24, BBC 2W, 11pm
It’s 20 years since stand-up comedian and BBC Radio Wales presenter Rhod Gilbert was a teenager. Today’s teenagers are a different breed, according to Rhod, and he’s keen to find out why.
In Teen Tribes (Monday, March 24, BBC 2W) Rhod goes in search of answers to his questions about teens: What is an Emo? How can you tell a Chav from a Scene kid? Why do so many boys and girls between 15 and 18 all look the same?
“When I was a kid I don’t remember my friends and I having any shared interests – surely we can’t have been that boring,” says Rhod, who grew up in Carmarthen. “I was so mainstream, and I’ve always felt maybe I missed out. Teens today seem to have something in common, they have strong group identities.”
By talking to groups of teens in Cardiff, Rhod soon discovers fundamental differences between the gangs. Scene kids wear bright clothes, Emos have very distinctive haircuts and Chavs seem to be the ones everyone else is scared of.
Rhod is tutored in the way of teen cultures by a pair of Emos, James Webley from Glyncoch and Charlie Williams from Abergavenny who are both students at Coleg Gwent in Ebbw Vale.
James explains why Chavs and Emos have a particularly troublesome relationship in the teen world.
“They don’t like anyone who looks different,” he says. “Because we look different we’re automatically alien and they don’t like it. Who are they to decide what normal is?”
Rhod’s journey into Emo culture involves a night at TJs in Newport sampling the creative fruits of Emo music and getting to grips with the internet activity that plays such a large part of Emo life.
“The kids on the whole are really, really nice,” admits Rhod. “I think before I didn’t really have a viewpoint on teenagers, but now I’ve seen a bit and it’s a fascinating world, there’s no doubt about it.
“As a teenager, I was never part of a subculture. Perhaps if the internet had been around when I was a kid, fostering diversity and creativity, maybe I would have.” |
03-15-2008
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