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.
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
Reasearch: 1970s and 2009
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.
Unemployment rates:
1970 - Total jobless = 1,023,583
2009 - Total jobless =2.5 million
Crime rates:
1970 -
2009 - 4.4 million
Political Situation:
1970 - Conservatives were in power.
"The Tory Party consists of an upper class leadership seeking to implement capitalist policies with a middle class voting base reinforced by large numbers of backward workers."
2009 - Labour were in power.
Misfits, gives us the idea that crime rates are higher in modern day life. especially in rural areas, such as the location for the series. we get this impression because all of the characters are taking part in community service. The diversity between the characters gender and race implies that the group are part of a collective identity. The mix in characters from nationality, race, gender and ethnicity shows the diversity (I'm pretty smart but not as smart as usual)
Minder on the other hand gives us a negative perception on race and gender. This is because of the political climate at the time, which had a poor impression on black people. This clip represents black people in the 1970's. It shows that black people were dangerous and troublesome.
The diversity within the collective in Minder represents the clean contrast between the white hostages and the black terrorists.
Minder
during the 1970's immigration, unemployment and crime rates were all fairly key issues. Idi Amin expelled 80,000 African Asians from their contries and were encouraged to settle in the uk. this would explain the fact that during the clip, the men are keen to return to ethiopia. as well as this the fact that they're actually robbing the store is backed up by the fact that there was unemplyoment and the great depression was taking place. it could be seen that this is mainly responsible for the rise in crime figures. the clip backs this up by showing the need to rob a shop due to lack of money and harder times.
Margret Thatcher coming into power promoted economic and trade liberalization aswell as weakening the power of the trade unions. this fact also explains more of the clips background and allows us to understand more about why the clip shows what it does. aswell as this, the episode is dealing with something that was obviously of at least some importance at the time and this would not be brought to the attention of the creator if it had not been going on. it also reinforces the background of the episode.
the camera angles during the clip shows the robber on the left with the gun in a much more powerful light than any others. firstly, he's on the left which is the most powerful position. as well as this all angles on the man are low angled shots which make him seem much more powerful. on top of this all the other characters are show in high angled shots which shows the dominance over all of them, even the people helping him. the colour and style of the mans hat shows his loyalty to what the audience assumes is his own country. racial tention is shown when the man on the phone refers to the black men as "three spades". this shows the racial tention of the time. diversity within the three is shown mostly by the power differencial and shown most in the willingness to go to ethiopia. throughout the whole scene the man with the gun is constantly shown as the leader of the three. this is shown in many ways for example his voice, the way he stands, his physical appearance and the fact that he's holding a gun. the other two speak softer and with higher pitched voices and show their weaknesses much more.
from looking at both this clip and the one of Misfits, we can see that representations have definately changed and the way that people are represented on screen has definately changed dramatically. i do belive that this is partically to do with events and the way that people are viewed in modern times and how they differ from the seventies.
during the 1970's immigration, unemployment and crime rates were all fairly key issues. Idi Amin expelled 80,000 African Asians from their contries and were encouraged to settle in the uk. this would explain the fact that during the clip, the men are keen to return to ethiopia. as well as this the fact that they're actually robbing the store is backed up by the fact that there was unemplyoment and the great depression was taking place. it could be seen that this is mainly responsible for the rise in crime figures. the clip backs this up by showing the need to rob a shop due to lack of money and harder times.
Margret Thatcher coming into power promoted economic and trade liberalization aswell as weakening the power of the trade unions. this fact also explains more of the clips background and allows us to understand more about why the clip shows what it does. aswell as this, the episode is dealing with something that was obviously of at least some importance at the time and this would not be brought to the attention of the creator if it had not been going on. it also reinforces the background of the episode.
the camera angles during the clip shows the robber on the left with the gun in a much more powerful light than any others. firstly, he's on the left which is the most powerful position. as well as this all angles on the man are low angled shots which make him seem much more powerful. on top of this all the other characters are show in high angled shots which shows the dominance over all of them, even the people helping him. the colour and style of the mans hat shows his loyalty to what the audience assumes is his own country. racial tention is shown when the man on the phone refers to the black men as "three spades". this shows the racial tention of the time. diversity within the three is shown mostly by the power differencial and shown most in the willingness to go to ethiopia. throughout the whole scene the man with the gun is constantly shown as the leader of the three. this is shown in many ways for example his voice, the way he stands, his physical appearance and the fact that he's holding a gun. the other two speak softer and with higher pitched voices and show their weaknesses much more.
from looking at both this clip and the one of Misfits, we can see that representations have definately changed and the way that people are represented on screen has definately changed dramatically. i do belive that this is partically to do with events and the way that people are viewed in modern times and how they differ from the seventies.
1970s vs 2009
1970s
Employment - in the 1970s there was mass unemployment reaching one of the highest rates on record.
Political situation - There was a conservative government lead by Margaret Thatcher it was named the decade of strikes.
Immigration policy and Situation - 1972 people could only settle with a work permit, which only allowed white nationals in foreign countries to live in the UK whereas other nationalities were not allowed. The country faced the problem of a split society.
Crime rates - was at its highest
2009
Unemployment - was at its highest from 2008 to 2010
Political situation - The welfare state has grown dramatically which has allowed more people to live of benefits and to not work at all. The new liberal conservative coalition have to tackle the countries deficit which means higher taxes and lower public spending which has increased unemployment
Immigration - More controlled and fair now with people being able to come into to country from the EU to seek a better life
Crime - youths and ASBOs etc
Minder and Misfits -
in Minder diversity within a collective group becomes apparent with the three black men who are referred to as "spades". One, who is clearly the leader, wants to escape and go to ethiopia whilst the other two want to stay in britain. There is clearly racism around at this time as Arthur Daly expresses on the telephone "how could you let yourself" be captured by these three "spades". This shows a social divide between white and black. The white people at the end are sitting on the floor all in pain or overheating. This shows an almost role reversal between white and black as if the black people are fighting back. In minder they are all middle aged men and the crime had come from black people. Crime in the 19702 was more associated with older and black people which contrasts largely with Misfits as all the criminals about to start their community service are what we'd call "youths". In Misfits there is a clear difference between all the people in the group. This shows all diversity within the collective group of being British. There is no racism in Misfits even though there are ethnic members in the group which shows how far society has come. 2
Employment - in the 1970s there was mass unemployment reaching one of the highest rates on record.
Political situation - There was a conservative government lead by Margaret Thatcher it was named the decade of strikes.
Immigration policy and Situation - 1972 people could only settle with a work permit, which only allowed white nationals in foreign countries to live in the UK whereas other nationalities were not allowed. The country faced the problem of a split society.
Crime rates - was at its highest
2009
Unemployment - was at its highest from 2008 to 2010
Political situation - The welfare state has grown dramatically which has allowed more people to live of benefits and to not work at all. The new liberal conservative coalition have to tackle the countries deficit which means higher taxes and lower public spending which has increased unemployment
Immigration - More controlled and fair now with people being able to come into to country from the EU to seek a better life
Crime - youths and ASBOs etc
Minder and Misfits -
in Minder diversity within a collective group becomes apparent with the three black men who are referred to as "spades". One, who is clearly the leader, wants to escape and go to ethiopia whilst the other two want to stay in britain. There is clearly racism around at this time as Arthur Daly expresses on the telephone "how could you let yourself" be captured by these three "spades". This shows a social divide between white and black. The white people at the end are sitting on the floor all in pain or overheating. This shows an almost role reversal between white and black as if the black people are fighting back. In minder they are all middle aged men and the crime had come from black people. Crime in the 19702 was more associated with older and black people which contrasts largely with Misfits as all the criminals about to start their community service are what we'd call "youths". In Misfits there is a clear difference between all the people in the group. This shows all diversity within the collective group of being British. There is no racism in Misfits even though there are ethnic members in the group which shows how far society has come. 2
Analysis of Minder and Misfits clip
Minder and Misfits social and political context
Analyse the two clips from (Minder and Misfits) and discuss how diversity within a collective is represented..
In minder the two different ethnic backgrounds are on the opposite side of the law in this clip. The minority of the black people are represented as criminals, they are represented as a lower class as they have tattier clothes in comparison to those of the white people. The white characters are all considered as being on the right side of the law and are hostages in the hold up of a launderette. In misfits however the group consists of many different ethnic minorities and are all portrayed as criminals, although the are different backgrounds there are still small things which unite these characters in the fact they are all young and are all portrayed in the same costume. This also differs from the minder clip as it shows the innocent person as a black person who in the minder clip would have been portrayed as an ethnic minority.
Analyse the two clips from (Minder and Misfits) and discuss how diversity within a collective is represented..
In minder the two different ethnic backgrounds are on the opposite side of the law in this clip. The minority of the black people are represented as criminals, they are represented as a lower class as they have tattier clothes in comparison to those of the white people. The white characters are all considered as being on the right side of the law and are hostages in the hold up of a launderette. In misfits however the group consists of many different ethnic minorities and are all portrayed as criminals, although the are different backgrounds there are still small things which unite these characters in the fact they are all young and are all portrayed in the same costume. This also differs from the minder clip as it shows the innocent person as a black person who in the minder clip would have been portrayed as an ethnic minority.
The social and political contexts of Minder (1970) and Misfits (2009)
Minder 1970's - The UK was under a conservative government from 1970. This had come as a shock to the Labour Party, however people were more interested in the world cup. Heath was the prime minister. In the 1970's immigration was highly restricted, but it had not stopped. In 1972 the UK admitted 28,000 immigrants from Uganda. Unemployment rate were at 1.02 million in 1972, and crime rates were at 1.6 million, dispite the increase of the police since the 1950's.
Misfits 2009 - The Labour party was now in power, with the prime minister Gordon Brown. There were 196,000 immigrants. 2.03 million people were unemployed which was almost double the amount in the 1970's. There was about 1,445,000 crimes in 2009.
Scene Analysis
Within minder there are two different views on diversity. One is that there is a significant difference between the two groups of people in the room. The white people within the room are all on the floor and take up half of the frame, where as there are 3 black people two of them are standing up and they take up most of the frame. This shows us that they have the power within the siutation. There is one black person on the floor and when we are show his face it is from a high angle shot. This could show us that there is a certain element of diversity about the situation. Through sound we are shown a certain racist element. The words "Spades" and "Whitey's" are used. This tells us that there is not diversity.
Within misfits all of the characters are equal. There is no "Good" or "bad", we believe this could cause tension within the group. To help show that there is equality between them, they are all given equal camera time. The majority of the shots within the sequence are close ups of each of the characters. All of the characters do not get along and that is due to different things. You can see this through the dialogue. One of the characters never speaks, one of them claims that he should not be there, and another makes fun of another due too the way she speaks. The teenagers are all stood next to each other at one point in their orange jumpsuits which unifies them by their appearance but then the close ups of each characters face shows they are unique and choose to appear in different ways.
We believe that representations have changed over time. It is less obvious who has the power in situations. Within Minder, it is obvious, whereas in misfits it is not. Within the two shows there is a difference within the opinion who commits the crime. Within Minder there is no select age group, where as in Misfits, they all appear too be teenagers, and within Minder there seems to be a racial comment on who commits crime but in misfits, there is not. Therefore the divide in the groups has changed from ethnic to age.
Misfits 2009 - The Labour party was now in power, with the prime minister Gordon Brown. There were 196,000 immigrants. 2.03 million people were unemployed which was almost double the amount in the 1970's. There was about 1,445,000 crimes in 2009.
Scene Analysis
Within minder there are two different views on diversity. One is that there is a significant difference between the two groups of people in the room. The white people within the room are all on the floor and take up half of the frame, where as there are 3 black people two of them are standing up and they take up most of the frame. This shows us that they have the power within the siutation. There is one black person on the floor and when we are show his face it is from a high angle shot. This could show us that there is a certain element of diversity about the situation. Through sound we are shown a certain racist element. The words "Spades" and "Whitey's" are used. This tells us that there is not diversity.
Within misfits all of the characters are equal. There is no "Good" or "bad", we believe this could cause tension within the group. To help show that there is equality between them, they are all given equal camera time. The majority of the shots within the sequence are close ups of each of the characters. All of the characters do not get along and that is due to different things. You can see this through the dialogue. One of the characters never speaks, one of them claims that he should not be there, and another makes fun of another due too the way she speaks. The teenagers are all stood next to each other at one point in their orange jumpsuits which unifies them by their appearance but then the close ups of each characters face shows they are unique and choose to appear in different ways.
We believe that representations have changed over time. It is less obvious who has the power in situations. Within Minder, it is obvious, whereas in misfits it is not. Within the two shows there is a difference within the opinion who commits the crime. Within Minder there is no select age group, where as in Misfits, they all appear too be teenagers, and within Minder there seems to be a racial comment on who commits crime but in misfits, there is not. Therefore the divide in the groups has changed from ethnic to age.
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