Week 10 - Interview with a "young" person

This week's task is to do an interview with a "young" person to see what's current. As I'm over the age of 20 and I don't have a school to relate to I contacted my cousins through Facebook to see if they'd be interested. Three of my cousins responded: Rosie (19), Elise (16) and Georgina (14) responded and these are the following answers to their questions.
1.What is your favourite TV show?

R: Girls
E: Sherlock
G: Dance Academy

Girls Logo (HBO)

Sherlock (BBC) 

Dance Academy (ABC Kids)

2. What is your favourite character on that show and why?

R: Sharna - she's everyones conscience

E:Sherlock, because i admire how different and smart he is.

G: Tara, because she has similar embarrassing life problems. 3.Do you think that watching this show has influenced you in some way?

R: Made me more conscious of not having to have it 'all worked out for ages

E: Yes

G: A bit, in making me want to be able to dance when I clearly can't.

4.What’s your favourite movie? Why?

R: Billy Elliot - its different, it broke boundaries and made a big difference to the dance world

E:'10 Things I Hate About You', because it is a movie about high school so i find it relate able.

G: Ella Enchanted. It's my favourite movie because it makes me laugh and is easy to follow. 5.Do you like reading novels? Why/Why not?

R: yes, they transport you to a different world

E:Yes, because they seem more personal as you are able to connect with characters better.

G:Yes I love reading novels. This is because I am a good reader and I love to escape to other people's lifes and adventures. 6.Are you reading a novel at the moment? if yes what is it?

R: Yes, Midnight in Peking by Paul French (I went to China in the holidays)

E: Yes, Princess by Jean Sasson

G: Yes I am, but I've already read it once. Its Spellcaster by Claudia Gray. 7.Is there a book that made an impact to your life/ spoken to you?

R: The 5 people you meet in heaven by Mitch Albom

E:The Harry Potter series

G: Yes, that would be a trilogy called The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare. It is set in the 1800s and it really spoke to me, I've read it multiple times and I still love it. 8.Do you prefer magazines to books? Why/Why not?

R: Don't ask hard questions... I like both, they're different mediums

E:No, i like books better because they are more entertaining

G: No, because they don't have a story or anything and I just love books. I do like magazines though. 9.Do you read eBooks? If yes do you prefer it over a physical book? Why/Why Not?

R: Yes, but i prefer real books. the smell and you know where you're up to, you can quantify it

E: No

G: Yes, I have a kindle of my own that I got for my birthday last year. I don't prefer over a physical book though, because I love the smell of books and the feel of the pages. Although, my kindle is really useful for travelling. 10.What music are you listening to at the moment?

R: grace potter and the nocturnal stars

E:I listen to mainly pop.

G: I listen to a lot of different music, basically everything but country. A lot of pop and rock at the moment. 11.Do you like keeping up with what’s popular or do you do your own thing?

R: Bit of both

E:Yes and no. I listen to what is popular and to songs that aren't as popular, for example i like korean pop.

G: I do like to every now and then see what's popular, so that I don't wear something totally ridiculous and I like to keep up with the music trends but I don't care about celebrities. 12.Do you have Facebook/Twitter/Tumblr/Instagram accounts? How often do you use them?

R: yes, all of the above but twitter is just for uni - and i wish not to incriminate myself

E: Only Facebook and i check it rarely.

G: 12. I have a Facebook and Instagram account. I check Facebook all the time - its usual for social interaction and asking my friends about assignments and homework or just chatting. I used to go on Instagram a lot, but now I don't use it anymore. 13. Do you play video games? If yes, what is your favourite game and why? How much time do you spend playing it?

R: Just games on my phone: flow/boardroom tycoon/candy crush - I don't know

E: No

G:I do play the occasional mario kart and just dance but not very often. Just Dance and Mario Kart are my favourites 14. Do you thing that popular culture is making you smarter?

R: I think pop culture makes you more aware of the world around you. mostly its just like fashions and flings and whatnot but sometimes it clues you in on real issues like kony 2012

E: No

G: No I don't. The music doesn't have a good message - with the drinking, alcohol, smoking, drugs. And the activities that the 'cool kids' in my grade engage in is not good.

15. Do you read the book before seeing the movie adaption?

R: I try to

E: If i have time before it comes out i do

G: Yes I do. I read the book for the recent movie City of Bones back in 2011 and I've read the rest of the books in that series that have come out thus far.

What I see out of these interviews - I expected the younger my interview subject the more into popular culture they would be and more 'with it' about what's considered cool but that wasn't the case. Rosie was more aware about popular culture and how it relates to The Sleeper Curve (see my week 2 overview for more details). I expected Elise's age group to be heavily involved in social media - this wasn't the case as Rosie actually spent the most amount of time engaged in these forums. From talking with Elise and Georgina the 'cool kids' are more aptly named the troublesome kids who engage in dangerous behaviours that aren't seen as cool by their peers. Reading novels is something that is still done, all of them mentioned escapism in some way and they aren't jumping to eBooks like drowned rats off a ship. I asked the movie adaption question because I have heard sweeping statements from some people about how teenagers will only watch the movies if given the option, boycotting the books. I was relieved to find out that this isn't the case.

Featured Pictures

Image 1: Girls Loge; wc licensed (Wikimedia Commons) by Beao
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Girls_logo.png (HBO, 2013)

Image 2: Sherlock; wc licensed (Wikimedia Commons) by RanZag http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Benedict_Cumberbatch_filming_Sherlock_cropped.jpg

Image 3: Dance Academy (cc by NC2.0) http://www.newvideo.com/flatiron-film-company/dance-academy-season-2-volume-2/ (New Media Group,2013)