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Did you ever see the film ‘Divergent’? Quick synopsis… society forced the younger generation to choose a section, in which they would exist. It was only socially acceptable to interact with your own section, however if you didn’t pick, you were set aside as an outcast…someone who didn’t belong. Is that what were doing? I mean, I wouldn’t say were doing the exact same, in the film she got tracked down by a whole militant army who were trying to kill her because she fit more than one section. I wouldn’t say our society is going to such extremes but there are some similarities to say the least! Or… does your life resemble more of a ‘Mean girls’ script? I’m pretty sure to any male or female reader; I do not need to run a synopsis on Mean girls. So are you an “unfriendly black hotty? Varsity Jock... A girl who eats her feelings… Or worse…. BEWARE OF THE PLASTICS” So who are you? Do you know? New Channel 4 documentary (airing 5^th February 8pm) may be able to tell you. The documentary talks about the issues relating such a cruel reality of the effects of Stereotyping and the negative effect it can have on such youthful minds.

We spoke to the Editor and Director, Emily Hollis, to find out why she felt this was such a crucial topic to discuss in her new documentary.

 Hello Emily, nice to meet you, you must be so excited about the release of your new documentary, what made you so keen to produce a documentary discussing this subject?

Hello, it’s so nice to be here! It is safe to say that I have a strong connection with this topic. I was bullied as a child and was seen as a bit of an outcast. I was into rock music and liked to wear a lot of black, but I feel, as though, looking back, it wasn’t really my choice to be like that. I felt like I had to be, as other groups wouldn’t accept me.  Then through secondary school I had a lot of friends that I didn’t necessarily involve myself with but felt I had no one else. I never felt as though I belonged.

How awful! So would you say that it was society that you acted that way or your own choice?

Society definitely! I liked black and rock music but that didn’t mean that I wanted to go and sneak into abandoned buildings trying to wake the dead and burn things. I was a girl that liked shopping and talked about boys and painted nails. But, in society all they saw were black clothes and band t-shirts and to them I wasn’t allowed to like them things. Instead, the groups that liked them things didn’t like me…based on appearance of course. According to them and the stereotypes society had set…I was never going to be one of them.

Did you use yourself as an example in your documentary; did you base your ideas around your own experiences?

No not at all! What happened to me doesn’t mean I can form a theory about the whole of society! No, in order to gather our information and statistics, we formed surveys and asked students from Solihull Sixth Form to answer them. That’s where we gathered our research. To be honest, it was shocking to me! I would have never thought that almost 70% of them felt judged by their appearance. That really hurt me. I think that’s when I knew for sure this issue needed to be faced.

Oh, I would have never thought that! You address the media in your documentary about their role in stereotyping, would you say they play a big part?

Yes, I think they do! I mean stereotypes have to come from somewhere right? And who can reach everyone in society besides the media? I spoke to Nick Waring, the head of Media at an A-level institute and he agreed that the media exaggerates stereotypes and makes society more aware of them. I mean, personally, I think its specifically in teen films, so it… kind of, makes children and teens to grow up with these ideas fixated in them.

Definitely! Thank you so much for coming in and good luck with the documentary!

Thank you all! I’m so excited for the release!

So it’s safe to say appearances change very easily. For a girl all she has to do is apply foundation, eyeliner, lip liner and Voila! She is a new person. For boys, yeah, it may be a little harder, but still, put a boy in a leather biker jacket and all of society will look at him like the next Kurt Cobain, right?

Find out Thursday 5^th February 8:00pm on channel 4