1970's and 2009 analysis.

Political situation in 1970's


Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative party rise to power in the United Kingdom in 1979, initiating a neoliberal economic policy of reducing government spending, weakening the power of trade unions, and promoting economic and trade liberalization.


Unemployment figures figures in 1970's


There were angry demonstrations in the House of Commons when the jobless total was confirmed as 1,023,583.


Crime rates in 1970's


In 1991, 5.3 million crimes (excluding criminal damage under pounds 20) were recorded by the police. This compares with 4.4 million crimes in 1990 and 1.6 million in 1970. There has been an upward trend in recorded crime rates since the 1950s.


Immigration situation in 1970's



The government had greatly restricted immigration by the 1970s, but had not stopped it altogether. Some 83,000 immigrants from the Commonwealth settled in the UK between 1968 and 1975, largely through gaining work permits or obtaining permission to join relatives.
The most significant immigration of the decade came in 1972 when the Ugandan dictator General Idi Amin expelled 80,000 African Asians from the country, families who had been encouraged to settle there during the days of Empire. Many held British passports and, amid a major crisis, the UK admitted 28,000 in two months.

Political situation in 2009

in 2008 this was predicated for 2009;

"The UK economy is currently in an official recession. In 2009, the UK economy is predicted to stay in recession, hopefully recovering in the last 2 quarters"


Immigration situations in 2009:




Write up a few paragraphs on the social and political context for Minder (1970's) and Misfits (2009).
 In Minder there are two social groups presented; One middle class group, who are being held hostage by the another social group, who are involved in criminal activity. The clip shows a middle class male being politically incorrect, as he calls the black criminals 'Spades', then black criminals then respond by calling the man a 'whitey', both intended to be derogatory terms. 


The criminals in question are performing an act of robbery, which in the 1970's was a crime which had raised to more than a million and was a serious problem within society. This also highlights the unemployment level of the era, with people turning to crime at the lack of jobs available.


In Misfits, the young offenders attending their community service all represent the different social groups of this era. Although together they have collective identity of a bad reputation because of their criminal nature. There are black, white, promiscuous, working class and people with a higher social standing. All are seen to be united, as a contrast to Minder where there seems to be a segregation between the white and black races. 




Analyse the two clips (minder and misfits) and discuss how diversity within a collective is represented.


In Minder, diversity is represented through the elements of camera work, and mise en scene. For instance, the white people (victims) were in the background on the floor, whilst the criminals were in the foreground standing, dominating the scene. When conversing, the black man is looking down at the white victim, who talks back up at him, placing him in a position of power. this is shown through a shot reverse shot. The black men are dressed casually, with one stereotypically wearing a rastafarian hat. the white people however, are wearing shirts, highlighting the fact that they are in a position of employment, where as the black people have had to turn to crime due to the unemployment situation in the 70's.


In misfits, the representation of the collective is shown differently to that of Minder, this is because all are of different races, but are represented as criminals in their own ways where as in minder the criminals were all of one race. the difference of social groups is highlighted through the use of mise en scene as although all of them are wearing the same jumpsuit, all have made it their own. For example the promiscuous girl has her cleavage on show, previously famous role model sportsman has his half down, as if he is better than the other boys. The working class girl is seen through a close up scraping her hair back with loads of chains on showing that her social group outside of community service is that of a "chavy" nature. All are different, yet all are criminals, highlighting the united front of the youth within the current criminal situation.