I have chosen to deconstruct the series 3 trailer for The Inbetweeners, as it is my favourite one - purely for being the most humourous, but the representation of young people in it is worth discussing.
The trailer starts off with a shot of the school building, young people dressed in uniform socialising and diegetic sounds of the general hubbub. the camera pans down to a shot of the school signpost; both of these shots appeal to a young audience, as we assume it is set in school or based on school life, things which young people can relate to.
Next, we see a student sitting on his own, eating out of a packed lunch, which suggests that he is a typical 'outcast' or 'loner'. He looks up, open-mouthed at an oncoming vehicle, and out step our four main characters. Immediately, Jay Z's "99 Problems" becomes our soundtrack, which, if we are aware of the song title and lyrics, tells us that the four characters have many problems in their lives, and may be to do with girls and socialising.
Each character steps out of the car, in slow motion, and we see a close up of each of their faces, one by one. They are all looking excited and eager about what may be the first day back at school. It shows all of them in a postitve light. The use of music and the fact that the pace is slowed down significantly, glorify our four characters. As they walk up to school, we see their faces one by ones again; Jay greets a girl, but she responds with a certain hand motion, connoting that she or Jay are sexually active. Simon says hi to a girl, also, but is blatantly ignored, and feels rejected. This somewhat throws the characters off their pedestals; it seems that they are not as important or popular as their entrance may have led us to believe. They seem more like rejects or outcasts, as no one beyond their small social group have greeted or acknowledged them. Towards the end of the trailer, Will is leading his friends to the school building, and this conveys that heymay have found popularity or leadership within his group, but he is hit on the head with a water balloon, bringing him back to reality, as a nerdy target for bullies.
All three trailers are similar as they are all based on the four main characters, and the way they are represented. From the first trailer, we see them in quite a negative light, as Will is having a hard time at home becuase of his parent's split, and a hard time at school, being the 'new kid on the block' and not being able to make many friends. The friends he does make, however, are also depicted in a bad way, as Jay is shown jumping on a car, Simon is throwing up after getting too drunk, and Neil manages to expose himself publicly. On the other hand, the second and third series show these four in a better light, and socialising. But, in a humourous way, as seen in the series 3 trailer, they are still the same socially inept characters we started off with.
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