In 1970s Britain, political awareness increased resulting in the economic liberation of women and the beginning of environmental movement with the hippie culture in full flow from the latter half of the 1960s. In the late 1970s Thatcherism began with the Conservative Party coming into power, Margaret Thatcher being the first ever female Priminister in Britain.
Immigration was greatly restricted by the government in the 1970s, but had not stopped all together. Over 80,000 immigrants settled in the UK; mainly through gaining work permits or obtaining persmission to join relatives.
Rising oil prices caused stagflation and unemployment began to rise but was still relatively low. In 1972 The number of people unemployed and out of work and claiming benefit had risen above one million for the first time since the 1930s. To be exact, the figure was 1,023,583.
In the 1960s and 70s, crime rates began to rise dramatically with offenses such as burglary and car thefts peaking in the early 1990s.
In 2009 the total number of people that arrived to live in the UK was 567,000. Meaning the popuation increased by 196,000 after 371,000 people had left the country.
In 2009, unemployment dropped to the lowest it has ever been for 14 years; making the total number of unemployed 2.47 million.
The clip from Minder portrays an exaggerated view of the crime situation in Britain at that time. The fact that they have chosen black people to play the criminals reveals the racial inequality present in the 1970s. They have depicted Black people as a very agressive section of society. Opptunities for black people at the time were rather unequal hence the reason they were forced to act so irrationally and desperately. However the way in which they put this across in the program displays prejudice.
The way in which the characters act in Misfits corresponds with the huge surge of crime at the time it was made. especially in the area it was filmed.
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