Both representations outline certain areas of the culture of Britain in the 'Swinging Sixties', Representation A is the front cover CD album and Representation B is an article about 'Youth culture in Modern Britain Between 1920 and 1970'. Using these representations we can start to understand what the 1960's were like and a more complex depiction of that decade. Our present view of the sixties is very much influenced by modern films such as Austin Powers, or documentaries about Hippie culture. Therefore we have to use these representations produced in the 1960's to gather a proper portrayal of that decade.Representation 1 is the more visual bold representation out of the two sources showing a coloured CD album cover.
It is a collage of iconic images from the sixties that show the birth of British pop music and fashion. The cover shows images of new inventions or trends such as photography, the mono-record player, mini car and phones to imply how lively the youth of the sixties was.This representation definitely gives an optimistic feel across showing the decade as a start of a new beginning. It includes pictures of new products, cars and clothes. All of the images on the CD album show how style and fashion conscious the people how much style and fashion meant to people in that decade, they were suddenly extremely conscious of their appearance and the way they dressed.
The vibrant colours tells us that the youth of this decade was positive and it describes the era as one of irresponsible excess and flamboyance. The designer of the album art portrayed his views of the "Swinging Sixties" effectively and clearly yet simplistically.On the other hand, Representation 2, the extract from the book is more complex and talks about how the 60's were not how they seemed to be. The representation in contrast with Representation 1 goes into detail of specific music groups such as the "The Beatles" and "The Rolling Stones." It covers a broader range than the album cover mentioning the "Swinging London" and views of several band members including Mick Jagger. It contains many iconic clashes for example Mods verses Rockers, names of key places including Annabel's and Brighton Beach.
The Representation as a group of images without explanation is very limiting and circle one area of the decade, leaving out key features including contraception, drugs, politics, liberalisation and the economy although this is slightly touched on when as they show expensive items in such a way that it seems to the audience that people were readily buying them, implying a growth in economy. Furthermore as Representation 1 is the front cover of A CD album its purpose is to attract potential buyers and keep them happy. Therefore we must question the bias and accuracy of the representation.While Representation 1 gives us a fashionable, youthful and vibrant view of the 'Swinging Sixties' and backs up what we have come to believe due to the media and things that surround us, Representation 2 totally disagrees with it.
It challenges the stereotypical views of the era and makes us question where the decade of style, fashion and glory was really accessible to the standard teenager. It implies that items such as Representation 1 are created by the media as myths of a never existing time and say that the sixties were a celebration of the Social upper class and rich and famous, a time for Michael Caine, Twiggy and Jean Schripmton and Terence Stamp. Moreover we are less likely to question the bias of this article as it has no other purpose than to inform, it is not there to promote anything.Altogether Representation 2 is far better than Representation 1 as it provides a far more extensive and detailed account of a certain aspect of the sixties.
Whilst Representation 1 is limited in explanation, Representation 2has no such problem. Finally there is also the fact that we do not have to question Representation 2 as it is not a marketing tool and therefore removes any doubt about possible bias contained within making the Representation far more objective than Representation 1.
